However passionate we are about our businesses, however motivated we are to build a better working life for our own sake and for our families, we all have dips in motivation now and then.
When you think about it, that’s not very surprising.
People who work from home tend to be really hard on themselves. Working alone means that you can lose perspective and set standards for yourself that are hard to live up to.
Mums and women in general tend to be tough on themselves too. As most of us fall into all three categories, we’re bound to be giving ourselves a hard time!
If you’re self-employed, you don’t have a boss expecting you to get down to work at 9am every morning, you’re responsible for doing that yourself. If you’re like me, your day in the office begins at 8pm after a full working day of being a mum. Plus you have to resist the temptations of an evening in front of the TV.
So can we just agree one thing? To have got this far, you must be fantastic at motivating yourself.
Struggling with motivation every now and then is just part of life. You can’t be ‘full-on’ all the time. (Click here to tweet this)
So what can you do?
– Write a (short) list of what you absolutely have to do and just do those tasks. Remember the 80:20 rule? 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions, so now is the time to put this theory to the test!
– Put anything creative or new on the back-burner. Just focus on the stuff that has to be done. Sometimes trundling through some non-demanding tasks can give you a sense of achievement that helps get your get-up-and-go back.
– Is your drop in motivation trying to tell you something? Life moves fast when you have kids, maybe your business is a couple of years old and you’re ready to take it to the next level? Or perhaps sell up and try something new? Now is probably not the time to do anything hasty, just watch out for the signs and mull over what your next step might be.
– Do you need to reconnect with why you started this business in the first place? What was the spark that fired you up? How can you get back in touch with it?
– Try the simple stuff. Take a little time out and chat to a friend or read a good book. Sometimes we get so engrossed in our work we end up living in our own little bubble and eventually we get sick of it all. Step outside your bubble.
– Go cold turkey. Yes, social media is wonderful, but if you’re feeling low don’t you just feel overwhelmed by it all? Switch it off for a couple of days. Focus on your own stuff and don’t try to compare it to what other people are doing.
Give yourself a break for just a while and your motivation will soon return.
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Photo credit: kirainet
