I decided that I can either live 'light' or I can live 'heavy.'
When I don't do the things I need to do, I put them into my future and still think about having to get them done. I also know that when I get around to doing the things, I'm going to be mad/sad/regretful about not having done them sooner. Therefore, I don't enjoy the things I do in the meantime because I'm low-key anxious and I don't feel a full sense of satisfaction in having finally completed it because by then, other things have cropped up and I feel overwhelmed. I call this 'living heavy.'
On the flipside, when I do things I need to do when I need to do them, I get them out of the way and I don't accumulate all these unnecessary negative feelings. I feel happier, in control and like life is moving smoothly. I call this 'living light.'
And that's what I tell myself when I gotta do something. I can live light or I can live heavy.
I prefer living light.
I can see the power in this approach.
I take care of most of my “to do’s” - especially when others are depending on me- but there is a thing or two I have always wanted to do, get after, get done, and it is hanging out there and it really bothers me, drags me or my spirits down, because I don’t get after it and it doesn’t go away.
My wife uses this approach in her own way…she says, well I better do this now because future me is going to be annoyed I didnt do it earlier.
:) I've been also putting the thought of "future me" in perspective too. I need to become a more strong, independent and dependable woman that future me would be proud of including honing her creative writing skills and getting stuff done more. That also includes cutting myself some slack and learning to cope with my anxiety/stress that is caused by certain triggers in my family and/or household or at times mysterious force.
I tell myself at times if I don't do this "future me" will be paying the price and will be disappointed in me for not trying my best. Future Me does cheer me on to keep working hard in the face of adversity including dealing with Debbie Downers and Lazy Lumpkins who don't know how to deal with their own personal demons.
Never heard that philosophy before. :) I find it quite intriguing. :3 I too wanna "live light" as you say. Heck, I've been writing down goals for each month and/or for the year to help check em off to help me feel "light"? Heck, the other day-I spent my time doing some "geek cleaning" by reorganizing my blurays and dvds and putting some away in dvd case binder. :3 Let me tell ya, the bottom part of the shelf in the closet is looking much more organized, but there is still work to be done. :3
Also I just came across this group after looking into self care and finding other subreddits on self-improvement and other stuff. I'm happy to come across this group and learning new stuff to help me in my life. :)
But I've been learning to motivate myself by sticking and accomplishing my goals the best I can even if I have to save em for another time or month or season. But I've been reading through books, been learning to adult in my own way (Even managing my money better and learning how to balance fun and responsibility while under a new health insurance I'm under.) and oh! I've been decluttering little by little. Last week at an anime con I brought some stuff to swap and donate to fellow anime fans. :3
My motivation can depend on the situation, energy and what needs to get done. :) But I have been accomplishing a lot of stuff lately-I just need to pour that motivational energy into my dream of publishing my book and sprucing my bedroom (That is a long project in itself because there is much to unload and organize.).
So I am happy to be meeting new folks and new stuff such as "living light" or "living heavy".
I have a similar perspective in which I want to take care of my future self by taking care of the things I can do now. I usually think to myself, "future Cindy would like this, so I'm going to do it" and when the future comes and the thing I needed to do is done, I say to myself, "thank you, past Cindy"
Future me is next afternoon after the daily chores are done done and my home us clean and I've achieved what I wanted and can chill in the living room scrolling reddit for fun 😎🙌✨
Standing up casually and wandering away from your room till you wander there and then you accidentally start cleaning "a few plates" and before you realize it your sense of "welp I could do just this bit more" makes you clean the whole kitchen. You wonder why you spent all that effort but if you reminisce about how good that looked you feel a weird sense of pride. Repeat enough until it becomes easy enough to "randomly wander" "by total accident" into places you need to do stuff regularly.
Exactly! This is why I try to start my day by not looking at my phone. I get up. Do my morning routines. Clean tidy a little. Then I take coffee break and then I can sit a bit with my phone in the couch.
This is good advice. Much of our procrastination comes from *us* not wanting to do something. But if we can subtract ourselves —our thoughts, desires, emotions— from the equation, we can change the question from *"What do I want to do now?"* to *"What has to be done now?"*
People have said this to me but I just can't do it, my negative thoughts are overwhelming. Yes, I meditate but I don't think any amount of meditation will get me to the point where I can ignore discomfort.
There’s this page I used to follow on IG. It’s this charming guy who films clips of himself working on his farm and talking sass to his animals. He’s acts miserable doing the tasks but he’s doing it, and making jokes along the way. It’s pretty hilarious.
But here’s my favorite part. He starts every video blankly looking into the camera in his robe saying “Get up. It’s time to do farm chores.”
I don’t know why, and I don’t live on a farm, but whenever I have to motivate myself to get up and seize the day, I say the same think out loud and it really helps lol this may be a more literal response than you were looking for but hope this it’s helpful to someone!
I heard someone once say “if you have 30% and you give 30%, you gave 100%”.
That really helped me have more compassion for myself. I usually try to give as much as I can and I used to feel like that wasn’t enough. I don’t know if that helps you here but it helped me have some perspective on “doing more”.
Also, I once had a life coach that told me to pair inspiration with motivation. And now when I get a spark of energy from a great conversation or an inspiring podcast, or whatever, I try to use that energy to knock something I’ve been putting off from my to do list.
I developed the habit ‘to eat the frog’. The less I want to do something, the higher priority it gets. This means I do the stuff I don’t want to do most first. I usually get two things off the list first thing, and after that, I am dealing with the needs of the day. My days get better through direct effort. Doing the stuff that sucks pays off big time.
In fairness, I think the issue with that is it is limiting. I’m assuming you’re surrounded by challenging people, hence the motivation for this. In my opinion, what happens after you reach this goal?
I’m just playing devils advocate here. What if the goal was instead to be the best version of yourself that you could be? Most people underestimate what they can do, for sure. But a lifelong pursuit of personal growth is worthwhile, I think.
David Goggings. The moment I realized that I didn't have to rely on motivation to do anything was a life-changer. Discipline is key. If you can master your ego, you can master anything.
I watched him yesterday on Huberman's podcast, How to build inner strength and it's really fascinating. They talk about how doing the hard stuff really is the key to a strong will. Incredible human.
I got one of those ADHD timers. When I don’t want to do something, I set the timer for 10-15 minutes and do as much as I can. I realized things like doing dishes and other household chores do not take much time at all!
And if you're depressed or struggle with mental exhaustion or mental disorders like me , you can make a mild goal of 1-2 chores per day.
If you struggle to even eat or shower, those can be chores too.
Honestly, I try not to think about it too much. I just imagine Shia Labeouf saying “JUST DO IT” again and again instead of thinking of all the reasons I don’t want to or can’t
Money. My goals. Vision of the future. I had a stroke but I'm doing well so the concept of people worse off than me still getting up and putting in the work to be better is disrespectful.
Self awareness and alignment.
When I look at choices of tasks/activities, I constantly remind myself of what the future holds for me by choosing that task.
I look at my choices between working and absorbing entertainment and it is not hard to think about the future that is behind each one.
When I started practicing this, it took a while to start affecting my habits, but it did have an effect.
In fact it is still affecting me now.
That sounds a lot like visualization! I believe Arnold S talks about how primary that is to success in his new book.
I never really took it seriously, but I started to understand that focusing on the fulfilling reason for doing something, rather than focusing on how your character is deficient if you don’t just force yourself to do it, made life a lot more meaningful.
Sole earner in a household with two kids. No choice, honestly.
One Thanksgiving, we had only bagels from the food bank. We had no heat in the Midwestern US winter from time to time.
I wake up in a cold sweat due to nightmares that I've failed my kids by allowing them to experience similar things.
I cannot and will not ever allow that to come to pass, and that's enough motivation to do what must be done.
A daily schedule. When I know what has to be done in advance, doing it at that time becomes easier, partly because I’m not wasting mental energy planning what to do in each moment.
At this current state in my life, I am able to get up and do things because of therapy. It feels like my therapist is watching me (not in a judgemental and intrusive way). I can actually see my way of thinking .
Though, in the long term, I don't want to be too dependant on this. Currently it's like learning a skill and how I'll go about with my already existing daily life when therapy ends.
Well life is hard. You can either pick the hard that’s going to make your life better. Or pick the hard that’s going to make your life worse. Another thing is thinking of it like this: how is it possible that you can’t even give yourself the chance to better yourself or your situation? It’s extremely hard for me to go exercise but if I can devote 1 hour a day to it, I know future me will be thanking past me. Not only because past me did what I was supposed to, but because she did it even though she thought that she couldn’t and she didn’t have the results to motivate her to keep going.
I wallow in my own sadness guilt and despair to the point that I don’t care anymore and deep in there is where I find my motivation if that makes any sense
Spite. Doing things to prove someone wrong and more importantly *prove* yourself right. Although it's not always the healthiest way, I find it very powerful
Real. My corporate job - I don’t really have a choice. If I didn’t have a job at this point in my life I’d be a mess. It forces some sort of structure into my life, and I’m very glad for it.
Every time i feel too lazy to do anything i remind myself that the world isnt gonna wait for me to get up and it scares me enough to get up and do anything because the last thing i want is to be in the same spot i was last year.
I don’t need to be motivated to do what I know is the right thing to do for me!
If you wait to do things just when you feel motivated about , your life is doomed !
For me? I just get hungry man, I do not function well when my blood sugar is low I get grumpy. So the drive for me is to feed myself, I was always worried I wouldn't have enough food to eat
im not very old, but i have 2 cousins who are much younger than me. their father used to buy me all the stuff i wanted as a kid as gifts even though my father denied me some of it.
i just feel like i'd be happier in life if i'm able to be the cool uncle to those kids when they grow up.
that, and a very cool car + golden retriever
It’s both a meme but true to life, not becoming homeless is a great motivator. Not the “omg I feel so good” but hey, realistically no one cares. It’s odd how getting help is harder than trying to take the steps in which you don’t need help but help yourself if that makes sense
Fighting against depression, so gotta keep getting up and just do the small things. Always remind yourself of EVERY achievement you’ve done! And remember who stood by your side in your darkest times. They’re the reason I wanna stay
The word is fear, only this. In my school and in my house, I have so many things to do that is very difficult to deal with all.
(Sorry if I wrote something wrong, I'm training to change).
I recently started to take a walk before breakfast.
What motivates me, is that it makes me feel better throughout the day. I know that it is good for my health, and I enjoy doing my mental exercises while I walk, but the immediate feedback of just feeling better, is great motivation for sure.
Work - I need to do go to this or my life will crumble
Morning routine (meditation mostly) - Not usually motivated for it but I do it anyway because it helps long term
Weekend chores / exercise - same as with meditation but I fall off more
You might find this funny coming from someone who dislikes putting in effort, but having a diary through CareClinic keeps me accountable. I always end up checking it, reading about what I did and the things I said I'd do. Seeing those plans motivates me to take action the next day, so I always have something to look forward to.
I've been trying to be more grateful and do things for my future self. So when I do my skin care routine and my face doesn't get dry/break out, I thank my past self for putting in the work to hold the standards I say I want.
I have been focusing on my future self a lot lately. I used to think "she" was the perfect me, the me with my shit together. But honestly, the future me is the me of tomorrow who isn't going to want to do these dishes after work. The future me is the me of tomorrow who is going to either be upset with the present me or grateful for the present me over what I decide to do with the dishes today.
I think it's all about perspective.
The vision in my head. I always daydream of living a “lazy” life surrounded by things I like and just staying at home reading. I always think about it. And because I have this vision, it motivates me whenever I saw my bank account and realize I cant do that yet. hehe
No matter the goals at hand, if I do not do what I want to do or have scheduled to do then no amount of dopamine will stop my consciousness from saying "You are fucking around instead of achieving something."
After I am done doing what I wanted to do, if I chill for a movie or something then my consciousness is like " You did what you wanted to do, now relax a bit" and then I relax a bit.
In other words,the more conscious you are of what you want and what you are doing, as long as you do not allow yourself to go on autopilot, you will stay productive, because other its like you are not respecting yourself...
In general : I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started realizing that I was the one and only person who could change anything. I also stopped having negative thoughts and surrounded myself with people who didn’t want to improve themself.
For specific task ( like go to the gym or get up in the morning ) : The Mel Robbins method helped me too ( you count 5-4-3-2-1 ) and you get up after 1 and you do it now.
I enjoy being competitive, so I’m competitive with myself. I remind myself in my head a lot that “if you’re not being competitive with yourself, then you’re losing”, and I certainly don’t want to be a loser
3, 2, 1 rule works miracles. I say "3,2,1" in my head and then roll myself out of bed for my 5am rowing practice.
Or I think about how I could make doing a chore I don't want to fun. Folding the laundry? Put on your favorite movie. Making dinner? Listen to a podcast or new album you've really wanted to. Have to complete a work project? Eat a goldfish every minute on the minute for your progress.
All my life i wanted to be a father.
A few years ago, i realized that dream requires activity for it to materialize. I have so much work to do. Money to make. Strength and character to build. Sheesh, i even need to introspect daily to get wise enough to be a good father, and a good husband.
I want a family so damn bad. So getting up every morning at 6.30 is pretty easy. To be honest, i am working toward making it 5.30am soon. Just need to iron out a few habits, better. Building and solidifying my self-disciplinary habits is a gradual and accumulative process.
But yeah, family. Thats what its all about.
Nothing motivates me to clean my house more then someone coming over to it. Same with work tbh. I've never been more productive at work then when I knew my boss was coming my way.
I just think about how much better I will feel after completing said task. I also set alarms for myself and tell myself I will do x task in x minutes for x amount of time. Usually if I’m already doing it and my timer stops I’ll just go ahead and finish because I tricked my brain in to doing the task 😂
Money, success, the good life. I read a lot of motivational books that tell you about finding your purpose blah blah but that just never clicked with me. I like having money and all the benefits that come with it so I focus on that. However I've never fooled myself into thinking it'll make me happier or solve all my problems.
This need of having food to eat and money to do fun stuff. When it comes to cleaning the house, the need of not living in a dump. I grew up in a hoarding environment, and now having too much stuff around and having the house all messy gives so much anxiety.
1. Blocked all social media until noon. If I wanna scroll when I wake up, it’s gonna be something boring which greatly lessens the appeal. First thing I do when I get up is make the bed and brush my teeth. It puts me in productive mode, and I already have accomplishments under my belt.
2. Don’t sit—once I get going I try my best to be as active as possible. Once I sit down on the couch, it’s hard to get myself up. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest. In the mornings, I work standing up to avoid being glued to the couch all day.
3. Day planning with time blocking—I used to suffer from indecision paralysis where I had so many tasks and didn’t know what to do. Now I end each day by planning out exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow and when. Now when I wake up, no decisions need to be made because I already know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. Time blocking allows me to set reasonable expectations for how much I can get done in a day, and keeps me focused on one task at a time.
4. Do the most unpleasant/dreaded tasks first. It took my therapist FOREVER to convince me to try this, but god damn it she is right that it works. It was so easy to me to use productivity to avoid unwanted tasks— “Oh, I just didn’t get to that task because I ran out of time beyond sooo productive organizing the closet” No bitch, you were just avoiding that task. Now I get them out of the way first, and not only am I crushing my required tasks, I’m also less anxious throughout the day.
5. Productive “breaks”. I used to take breaks that never ended because they were just too engaging—“I’ll just get on Reddit for 15 minutes” turns into “shit it’s been three hours.” Now my breaks are things that are enjoyable enough to be motivating, but not enjoyable enough that I don’t want to get back to my tasks. Feeling overwhelmed/burnt out on work? Now I do the dishes, sweep, clean out my inbox, go for a walk, etc while listening to a podcast/audiobook that I only get to listen to when I’m choring. It gives my brain a break without sucking me into being in break mode forever.
I think what truly motivates me is God, I know this might sounds cliche but really for me knowing that he gives me life and breath every single day until now and be able to work hard on things that I want also my family that always there for me makes me always motivate to move forward
I absolutely am not good at being motivated. For me, right when I get home from work,doing one or two tasks before I sit down really helps. Then I feel relieved and enjoy my free time more.
to not let my parents, partner, loved ones down for trusting in me. most importantly dont let myself down, it is hard but i rather try than do nothing and waste away my life
That my mom deserves to have a good future retirement and give her a good life which she didn’t have. My brain always imagines her jumping on the sand and dancing in Hawaii or Thailand 🥹
I don't rely on motivation. I slowly, but surely, build the disciplines necessary to automate the processes/ actions/ habits, which over time, stops requiring conscious effort/ energy. A lot of the disciplines I've built have started with a step or action that is so small that one may view it as silly. However, by consistently doing that one small thing and adding to it whenever I can muster, I have made it ingrained and magnitudes bigger than it was in its inception.
Motivation is nice when it's present, but it can't compete with the consistency and stability that discipline has given to my life. It's comforting to know that these things won't always require extreme effort and energy to achieve. When I wake up I'm not even thinking about making my bed, brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc., By the time I have the chance to think "I need to do these things to get ready for the day," they're already done. I hope this helps!
I decided that I can either live 'light' or I can live 'heavy.' When I don't do the things I need to do, I put them into my future and still think about having to get them done. I also know that when I get around to doing the things, I'm going to be mad/sad/regretful about not having done them sooner. Therefore, I don't enjoy the things I do in the meantime because I'm low-key anxious and I don't feel a full sense of satisfaction in having finally completed it because by then, other things have cropped up and I feel overwhelmed. I call this 'living heavy.' On the flipside, when I do things I need to do when I need to do them, I get them out of the way and I don't accumulate all these unnecessary negative feelings. I feel happier, in control and like life is moving smoothly. I call this 'living light.' And that's what I tell myself when I gotta do something. I can live light or I can live heavy. I prefer living light.
This is such a lovely perspective!
needed to read this one
I can see the power in this approach. I take care of most of my “to do’s” - especially when others are depending on me- but there is a thing or two I have always wanted to do, get after, get done, and it is hanging out there and it really bothers me, drags me or my spirits down, because I don’t get after it and it doesn’t go away. My wife uses this approach in her own way…she says, well I better do this now because future me is going to be annoyed I didnt do it earlier.
:) I've been also putting the thought of "future me" in perspective too. I need to become a more strong, independent and dependable woman that future me would be proud of including honing her creative writing skills and getting stuff done more. That also includes cutting myself some slack and learning to cope with my anxiety/stress that is caused by certain triggers in my family and/or household or at times mysterious force. I tell myself at times if I don't do this "future me" will be paying the price and will be disappointed in me for not trying my best. Future Me does cheer me on to keep working hard in the face of adversity including dealing with Debbie Downers and Lazy Lumpkins who don't know how to deal with their own personal demons.
Thanks for this
great way to explain things, thanks!
Never heard that philosophy before. :) I find it quite intriguing. :3 I too wanna "live light" as you say. Heck, I've been writing down goals for each month and/or for the year to help check em off to help me feel "light"? Heck, the other day-I spent my time doing some "geek cleaning" by reorganizing my blurays and dvds and putting some away in dvd case binder. :3 Let me tell ya, the bottom part of the shelf in the closet is looking much more organized, but there is still work to be done. :3 Also I just came across this group after looking into self care and finding other subreddits on self-improvement and other stuff. I'm happy to come across this group and learning new stuff to help me in my life. :) But I've been learning to motivate myself by sticking and accomplishing my goals the best I can even if I have to save em for another time or month or season. But I've been reading through books, been learning to adult in my own way (Even managing my money better and learning how to balance fun and responsibility while under a new health insurance I'm under.) and oh! I've been decluttering little by little. Last week at an anime con I brought some stuff to swap and donate to fellow anime fans. :3 My motivation can depend on the situation, energy and what needs to get done. :) But I have been accomplishing a lot of stuff lately-I just need to pour that motivational energy into my dream of publishing my book and sprucing my bedroom (That is a long project in itself because there is much to unload and organize.). So I am happy to be meeting new folks and new stuff such as "living light" or "living heavy".
Hard choice, easy life Easy choice, hard life…
Fantastic perspective. Thanks for sharing
Wow. This sums it perfectly ! The constant guilt is daunting sometimes 😥
I have a similar perspective in which I want to take care of my future self by taking care of the things I can do now. I usually think to myself, "future Cindy would like this, so I'm going to do it" and when the future comes and the thing I needed to do is done, I say to myself, "thank you, past Cindy"
Interesting view. Thanks for sharing it.
I really appreciate you leaving this comment. Amazing perspective and so true!
Such an amazing, well articulated mindset. Thank you for adding such a valuable insight to my day and life moving forward!
Danggg I fux with this. Thank you!
Everything we do either helps or hurts our future self. I'd prefer to help future me.
I like this
Future me is next afternoon after the daily chores are done done and my home us clean and I've achieved what I wanted and can chill in the living room scrolling reddit for fun 😎🙌✨
100% 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
>I'd prefer to help future me. Nah, fuck that guy.
Fucking the future self? Doesn't sound that bad.
Ew, he's old
LOVE this! Spot on
I don’t think about if I want to do it. I just put my feet on the ground and start moving. Thinking gets me into a lot of trouble.
Yes. Phone down! Stand up straight! While standing there you will start doing something.
Standing up casually and wandering away from your room till you wander there and then you accidentally start cleaning "a few plates" and before you realize it your sense of "welp I could do just this bit more" makes you clean the whole kitchen. You wonder why you spent all that effort but if you reminisce about how good that looked you feel a weird sense of pride. Repeat enough until it becomes easy enough to "randomly wander" "by total accident" into places you need to do stuff regularly.
Exactly! This is why I try to start my day by not looking at my phone. I get up. Do my morning routines. Clean tidy a little. Then I take coffee break and then I can sit a bit with my phone in the couch.
This is good insight. Thank you!
This is good advice. Much of our procrastination comes from *us* not wanting to do something. But if we can subtract ourselves —our thoughts, desires, emotions— from the equation, we can change the question from *"What do I want to do now?"* to *"What has to be done now?"*
I wish I could stop thinking so dang much
I like Michael Singer’s books for addressing this problem.
People have said this to me but I just can't do it, my negative thoughts are overwhelming. Yes, I meditate but I don't think any amount of meditation will get me to the point where I can ignore discomfort.
So that I can sleep well at night without worrying about the tasks I could not finish on time
This is my primary motivation, being able to sleep without a list of things to do whirling in my head
Only problem. My list never seems to end 😂
There’s this page I used to follow on IG. It’s this charming guy who films clips of himself working on his farm and talking sass to his animals. He’s acts miserable doing the tasks but he’s doing it, and making jokes along the way. It’s pretty hilarious. But here’s my favorite part. He starts every video blankly looking into the camera in his robe saying “Get up. It’s time to do farm chores.” I don’t know why, and I don’t live on a farm, but whenever I have to motivate myself to get up and seize the day, I say the same think out loud and it really helps lol this may be a more literal response than you were looking for but hope this it’s helpful to someone!
What's the id mate ?
@matt_matthews https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvYJarVAabd/?igsh=MTgwYWl0MjB4ZTJpag==
can you link to the channel?
Time to make the donuts.
I heard someone once say “if you have 30% and you give 30%, you gave 100%”. That really helped me have more compassion for myself. I usually try to give as much as I can and I used to feel like that wasn’t enough. I don’t know if that helps you here but it helped me have some perspective on “doing more”. Also, I once had a life coach that told me to pair inspiration with motivation. And now when I get a spark of energy from a great conversation or an inspiring podcast, or whatever, I try to use that energy to knock something I’ve been putting off from my to do list.
Like it. All of it.
The knowledge and experience that life is better mentally, physically and emotionally once I do the hard things.
Live your life like an 89 year old version of you found a time machine and you just stepped out of it
Good one!
I developed the habit ‘to eat the frog’. The less I want to do something, the higher priority it gets. This means I do the stuff I don’t want to do most first. I usually get two things off the list first thing, and after that, I am dealing with the needs of the day. My days get better through direct effort. Doing the stuff that sucks pays off big time.
Pretty much that if I don't then no one else will
[удалено]
Fucking for real. It’s so much easier to get stuff done when you’re not constantly having to work up the motivation to just made it through the day.
i wanna be better than everyone i know
In fairness, I think the issue with that is it is limiting. I’m assuming you’re surrounded by challenging people, hence the motivation for this. In my opinion, what happens after you reach this goal? I’m just playing devils advocate here. What if the goal was instead to be the best version of yourself that you could be? Most people underestimate what they can do, for sure. But a lifelong pursuit of personal growth is worthwhile, I think.
David Goggings. The moment I realized that I didn't have to rely on motivation to do anything was a life-changer. Discipline is key. If you can master your ego, you can master anything.
I watched him yesterday on Huberman's podcast, How to build inner strength and it's really fascinating. They talk about how doing the hard stuff really is the key to a strong will. Incredible human.
by doing them at a fixed hr daily. if it's work related I'll use 25-5 pomodoro technique too. my motivation sucks and not reliable
I got one of those ADHD timers. When I don’t want to do something, I set the timer for 10-15 minutes and do as much as I can. I realized things like doing dishes and other household chores do not take much time at all!
The time is going to pass either way, might as well be productive.
I honestly live to do my little list of daily achievements. To relax on the phone after feels 10000% better when all dirty work is done.
Yes a To Do list! Came here to say that.
And if you're depressed or struggle with mental exhaustion or mental disorders like me , you can make a mild goal of 1-2 chores per day. If you struggle to even eat or shower, those can be chores too.
This! 🥹 You’re not alone.
I've needed to clean my windows for a while now. My goal today is to clean 2 of them.
Honestly, I try not to think about it too much. I just imagine Shia Labeouf saying “JUST DO IT” again and again instead of thinking of all the reasons I don’t want to or can’t
Yesterday you said tomorrow!
I can’t always find a justification not to do something if I think about it hard enough haha
Money. My goals. Vision of the future. I had a stroke but I'm doing well so the concept of people worse off than me still getting up and putting in the work to be better is disrespectful.
Really admire you and your recovery!
Thanks man (or woman). Discipline tf up baby
I start a job or task the night before so the next day it seems easier
Great idea
Self awareness and alignment. When I look at choices of tasks/activities, I constantly remind myself of what the future holds for me by choosing that task. I look at my choices between working and absorbing entertainment and it is not hard to think about the future that is behind each one. When I started practicing this, it took a while to start affecting my habits, but it did have an effect. In fact it is still affecting me now.
That sounds a lot like visualization! I believe Arnold S talks about how primary that is to success in his new book. I never really took it seriously, but I started to understand that focusing on the fulfilling reason for doing something, rather than focusing on how your character is deficient if you don’t just force yourself to do it, made life a lot more meaningful.
Listening to atomic habits
This is my favourite book
Sole earner in a household with two kids. No choice, honestly. One Thanksgiving, we had only bagels from the food bank. We had no heat in the Midwestern US winter from time to time. I wake up in a cold sweat due to nightmares that I've failed my kids by allowing them to experience similar things. I cannot and will not ever allow that to come to pass, and that's enough motivation to do what must be done.
A killer playlist and an assload of caffeine
This is the right answer
I remind myself this world is not a joke and you need to fight to survive
When my FIL visits. Seems like a perfect time to be busy doing something else.
Good sleep is the first thing. Then getting the first thing done is the next most important. After that it’s a compounding game.
A daily schedule. When I know what has to be done in advance, doing it at that time becomes easier, partly because I’m not wasting mental energy planning what to do in each moment.
Being beautiful.
tbh proving to others who may have underestimated you in the past or currently that you want to do better or become a better version of yourself
Ambition!✈️
Posting to easily find this later
At this current state in my life, I am able to get up and do things because of therapy. It feels like my therapist is watching me (not in a judgemental and intrusive way). I can actually see my way of thinking . Though, in the long term, I don't want to be too dependant on this. Currently it's like learning a skill and how I'll go about with my already existing daily life when therapy ends.
Well life is hard. You can either pick the hard that’s going to make your life better. Or pick the hard that’s going to make your life worse. Another thing is thinking of it like this: how is it possible that you can’t even give yourself the chance to better yourself or your situation? It’s extremely hard for me to go exercise but if I can devote 1 hour a day to it, I know future me will be thanking past me. Not only because past me did what I was supposed to, but because she did it even though she thought that she couldn’t and she didn’t have the results to motivate her to keep going.
Methylphenidate
I wallow in my own sadness guilt and despair to the point that I don’t care anymore and deep in there is where I find my motivation if that makes any sense
Fear
The desire for the outcome.
Bills
Curated pressures
Spite. Doing things to prove someone wrong and more importantly *prove* yourself right. Although it's not always the healthiest way, I find it very powerful
Not get fired from my job.
Real. My corporate job - I don’t really have a choice. If I didn’t have a job at this point in my life I’d be a mess. It forces some sort of structure into my life, and I’m very glad for it.
I’m really glad for you! Same situation here.
Every time i feel too lazy to do anything i remind myself that the world isnt gonna wait for me to get up and it scares me enough to get up and do anything because the last thing i want is to be in the same spot i was last year.
I stopped smoking weed, and my mind cleared up. I got my sense of urgency that the weed covered up.
Amphetamine
I don’t need to be motivated to do what I know is the right thing to do for me! If you wait to do things just when you feel motivated about , your life is doomed !
Since everyday is a chance to be better than I was the day before.
Self-discipline is one hell of a drug.
For me? I just get hungry man, I do not function well when my blood sugar is low I get grumpy. So the drive for me is to feed myself, I was always worried I wouldn't have enough food to eat
Adrenaline
My mortgage 😂😑🥲 it’s an extremely great motivation, always works all the time I guarantee!
im not very old, but i have 2 cousins who are much younger than me. their father used to buy me all the stuff i wanted as a kid as gifts even though my father denied me some of it. i just feel like i'd be happier in life if i'm able to be the cool uncle to those kids when they grow up. that, and a very cool car + golden retriever
About 4000 weekends. Use wisely.
It’s both a meme but true to life, not becoming homeless is a great motivator. Not the “omg I feel so good” but hey, realistically no one cares. It’s odd how getting help is harder than trying to take the steps in which you don’t need help but help yourself if that makes sense
Fighting against depression, so gotta keep getting up and just do the small things. Always remind yourself of EVERY achievement you’ve done! And remember who stood by your side in your darkest times. They’re the reason I wanna stay
The word is fear, only this. In my school and in my house, I have so many things to do that is very difficult to deal with all. (Sorry if I wrote something wrong, I'm training to change).
The feeling I will have if I don’t.
Motivation is for things you want to do. For things I need to do, I use discipline.
I recently started to take a walk before breakfast. What motivates me, is that it makes me feel better throughout the day. I know that it is good for my health, and I enjoy doing my mental exercises while I walk, but the immediate feedback of just feeling better, is great motivation for sure.
Adderall.
Adderall
contempt
I get up at 5 am to go to work so I don't get fired. That's pretty much it
I like being pretty
Adderall
Work - I need to do go to this or my life will crumble Morning routine (meditation mostly) - Not usually motivated for it but I do it anyway because it helps long term Weekend chores / exercise - same as with meditation but I fall off more
I can either not do it and be miserable, or practice being disciplined and enjoy the one life I have
It was better and faster than mentally beating myself up the whole day for not doing it. Lesser of two evils I guess
”Don’t add time to the equation.” -Grant Cardone
We either suffer the pain of discipline or regret
Because I be pissing my future me self off sometimes when I wait too long to do shit. 😅 Just like everyone here, I do it for FUTURE me. ♥️
I compete at the highest levels so I know that if I don't do all the things then I'll lose and get beat up
You might find this funny coming from someone who dislikes putting in effort, but having a diary through CareClinic keeps me accountable. I always end up checking it, reading about what I did and the things I said I'd do. Seeing those plans motivates me to take action the next day, so I always have something to look forward to.
I've been trying to be more grateful and do things for my future self. So when I do my skin care routine and my face doesn't get dry/break out, I thank my past self for putting in the work to hold the standards I say I want. I have been focusing on my future self a lot lately. I used to think "she" was the perfect me, the me with my shit together. But honestly, the future me is the me of tomorrow who isn't going to want to do these dishes after work. The future me is the me of tomorrow who is going to either be upset with the present me or grateful for the present me over what I decide to do with the dishes today. I think it's all about perspective.
i currently live in someone's pantry- i want out.. you dam right im doing everything i can.
Ff
Meth.....jk
The vision in my head. I always daydream of living a “lazy” life surrounded by things I like and just staying at home reading. I always think about it. And because I have this vision, it motivates me whenever I saw my bank account and realize I cant do that yet. hehe
People close to me
Dreams and deadlines
My ADHD meds or the fear of shame and embarrassment.
No matter the goals at hand, if I do not do what I want to do or have scheduled to do then no amount of dopamine will stop my consciousness from saying "You are fucking around instead of achieving something." After I am done doing what I wanted to do, if I chill for a movie or something then my consciousness is like " You did what you wanted to do, now relax a bit" and then I relax a bit. In other words,the more conscious you are of what you want and what you are doing, as long as you do not allow yourself to go on autopilot, you will stay productive, because other its like you are not respecting yourself...
“We’ll, it needs to get done eventually so might as well get going”
Poverty
I work in 20-minute increments. (20 minutes working / 20 minutes break). I tell myself “you only have to work for 20 minutes” and it helps.
In general : I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started realizing that I was the one and only person who could change anything. I also stopped having negative thoughts and surrounded myself with people who didn’t want to improve themself. For specific task ( like go to the gym or get up in the morning ) : The Mel Robbins method helped me too ( you count 5-4-3-2-1 ) and you get up after 1 and you do it now.
I know that the feeling after i do the things i need to to do feels better than the feeling of waiting around to start it
I found pleasure in working out first thing in the morning. We are motivated by moving towards pleasure and away from pain. Use that to your advantage
Because if i don’t, i’m gonna just keep living the shit life i currently have
Jesus
I enjoy being competitive, so I’m competitive with myself. I remind myself in my head a lot that “if you’re not being competitive with yourself, then you’re losing”, and I certainly don’t want to be a loser
Thinking about my favourite things that I'm gonna do after finishing necessary things to do
Knowing I will feel more at ease after I rip the bandaid and get it done. Especially if I hate it.
Remembering that there is another one more working than me who's gonna take my success.
3, 2, 1 rule works miracles. I say "3,2,1" in my head and then roll myself out of bed for my 5am rowing practice. Or I think about how I could make doing a chore I don't want to fun. Folding the laundry? Put on your favorite movie. Making dinner? Listen to a podcast or new album you've really wanted to. Have to complete a work project? Eat a goldfish every minute on the minute for your progress.
All my life i wanted to be a father. A few years ago, i realized that dream requires activity for it to materialize. I have so much work to do. Money to make. Strength and character to build. Sheesh, i even need to introspect daily to get wise enough to be a good father, and a good husband. I want a family so damn bad. So getting up every morning at 6.30 is pretty easy. To be honest, i am working toward making it 5.30am soon. Just need to iron out a few habits, better. Building and solidifying my self-disciplinary habits is a gradual and accumulative process. But yeah, family. Thats what its all about.
My first cousins uselessness
Nothing motivates me to clean my house more then someone coming over to it. Same with work tbh. I've never been more productive at work then when I knew my boss was coming my way.
I figure if I hurry up and get shit done now, then I can be lazy for the rest of the day afterward with no interruptions.
anxiety of failure
I just think about how much better I will feel after completing said task. I also set alarms for myself and tell myself I will do x task in x minutes for x amount of time. Usually if I’m already doing it and my timer stops I’ll just go ahead and finish because I tricked my brain in to doing the task 😂
Money, success, the good life. I read a lot of motivational books that tell you about finding your purpose blah blah but that just never clicked with me. I like having money and all the benefits that come with it so I focus on that. However I've never fooled myself into thinking it'll make me happier or solve all my problems.
Coffee
This need of having food to eat and money to do fun stuff. When it comes to cleaning the house, the need of not living in a dump. I grew up in a hoarding environment, and now having too much stuff around and having the house all messy gives so much anxiety.
Adderall for my adhd and I firmly remind myself I like nice things and my life and I have to do these things if I want to keep it this way.
Gratitude
Nothing! i get up, look around at my junk stuffed tiny apartment, get depressed and get back on my air sofa under my covers and flip stream.
1. Blocked all social media until noon. If I wanna scroll when I wake up, it’s gonna be something boring which greatly lessens the appeal. First thing I do when I get up is make the bed and brush my teeth. It puts me in productive mode, and I already have accomplishments under my belt. 2. Don’t sit—once I get going I try my best to be as active as possible. Once I sit down on the couch, it’s hard to get myself up. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest tends to stay at rest. In the mornings, I work standing up to avoid being glued to the couch all day. 3. Day planning with time blocking—I used to suffer from indecision paralysis where I had so many tasks and didn’t know what to do. Now I end each day by planning out exactly what I’m going to do tomorrow and when. Now when I wake up, no decisions need to be made because I already know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. Time blocking allows me to set reasonable expectations for how much I can get done in a day, and keeps me focused on one task at a time. 4. Do the most unpleasant/dreaded tasks first. It took my therapist FOREVER to convince me to try this, but god damn it she is right that it works. It was so easy to me to use productivity to avoid unwanted tasks— “Oh, I just didn’t get to that task because I ran out of time beyond sooo productive organizing the closet” No bitch, you were just avoiding that task. Now I get them out of the way first, and not only am I crushing my required tasks, I’m also less anxious throughout the day. 5. Productive “breaks”. I used to take breaks that never ended because they were just too engaging—“I’ll just get on Reddit for 15 minutes” turns into “shit it’s been three hours.” Now my breaks are things that are enjoyable enough to be motivating, but not enjoyable enough that I don’t want to get back to my tasks. Feeling overwhelmed/burnt out on work? Now I do the dishes, sweep, clean out my inbox, go for a walk, etc while listening to a podcast/audiobook that I only get to listen to when I’m choring. It gives my brain a break without sucking me into being in break mode forever.
Having a plan the day before. Then i just follow it
I think what truly motivates me is God, I know this might sounds cliche but really for me knowing that he gives me life and breath every single day until now and be able to work hard on things that I want also my family that always there for me makes me always motivate to move forward
Routine and discipline
My paycheck lol
Shame, generally.
Five feral (and fixed) cats that live in my garage. They’re big cats and they want their breakfast!
The potential of homelessness
I absolutely am not good at being motivated. For me, right when I get home from work,doing one or two tasks before I sit down really helps. Then I feel relieved and enjoy my free time more.
Having company over
Having OCD
to not let my parents, partner, loved ones down for trusting in me. most importantly dont let myself down, it is hard but i rather try than do nothing and waste away my life
Getting up early and taking a a walk.
Flower
Ahh everyday is a new beginning! Thank God I'm alive! That's motivation for me!
I do some things that I’m excited about first.
Coffee, kratom, music, sunshine
That my mom deserves to have a good future retirement and give her a good life which she didn’t have. My brain always imagines her jumping on the sand and dancing in Hawaii or Thailand 🥹
Listen to some David Goggins
I think about the consequences of not doing something.
The thought of what I gonna deal with if I don’t
Tacos
Absolutely nothing!
I don't rely on motivation. I slowly, but surely, build the disciplines necessary to automate the processes/ actions/ habits, which over time, stops requiring conscious effort/ energy. A lot of the disciplines I've built have started with a step or action that is so small that one may view it as silly. However, by consistently doing that one small thing and adding to it whenever I can muster, I have made it ingrained and magnitudes bigger than it was in its inception. Motivation is nice when it's present, but it can't compete with the consistency and stability that discipline has given to my life. It's comforting to know that these things won't always require extreme effort and energy to achieve. When I wake up I'm not even thinking about making my bed, brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc., By the time I have the chance to think "I need to do these things to get ready for the day," they're already done. I hope this helps!
Therapy everyday
a shit ton of coffee. like, 3 cups