By Maddy Turner
Procrastination and motivation – two things that everyone is bound to struggle with at some point in their lives. I know (from a whole of 18 years of experience) that it can be extremely difficult to break the habit of procrastination and climb out of the slump in motivation, so I am here to help where I can with ‘Maddy’s three tips to smashing procrastination with a hammer and stealing back your motivation,” (the title’s a work in progress).
Tip 1: Don’t be hard on yourself – embrace the slump
- It’s bullshit that ‘once you find your passion, you’ll never work a day in your life.’ You could be working in your dream job and still have days or weeks when you just don’t want to do anything. It’s okay to feel unmotivated, because it’s a part of being human. Don’t fight the slump – recognise you’re in it, and then you can only go up from there my friend.
Tip 2: Treat yourself well
- This doesn’t mean you get to have six weeks off work or doing what you love because you’re unmotivated. It means, buy yourself that Chatime if it will help cheer you up in order to get something done. Dress nicely, do your makeup and style your hair. Staying in trackies and sweatshirts all day is not going to help you feel like your best self. Take baby steps in improving yourself, and this will translate into your work.
Tip 3: Just do it
- The first step is to embrace the slump, but the last is to just get going – once you start, you’ll more than likely slowly become more motivated to finish your work and do it well. But remember to take small steps, and not to pressure yourself. While you’re pushing through, take regular (but short) breaks. Go outside for a walk or work outside if you can – it sounds cheesy but getting some fresh air and Vitamin D really helps lift the spirits (even if you’re an introvert and hate going outside). Walking/exercising releases positive endorphins that will help you feel better – also staring at a screen all day will give you bad eyesight and posture so stretch it out. I promise, you’ll feel 100x better once whatever you’re procrastinating doing is done.
But then again, remember that nobody is perfect. The slumps in motivation and bad habits are going to come, it’s just important to push through, and you’ll come out the other end stronger than ever.
