One Simple Thing to Do When You Don't Feel Like Doing the 'Thing'

I have this friend. You could say she's got a mild-ish addiction to motivational videos.

You know the type of videos. 

All fur coat and no knickers.

An explosion of rah-rah set to a backdrop of cheesy, highly emotive music.

Whenever she's feeling in need of a pick-me-up, she heads over to YouTube and searches her playlist for something to help get her out of a funk. 

A daily dose of butt-kicking. Her words.

Staying motivated, especially with chaos ransacking our attention isn't easy. We strive so hard to find the motivation to act, then beat ourselves up when we lose it.

For most of us, it's a cycle that plays out like this:

1. Uncertainty creeps in
2. Quickly followed by panic
3. Time for a break
4. Distraction tactics (phone scrolling, cat videos, dirty dishes... anything)
5. Try the work thing again
6. Nope, not happening
7. Time for a nap
8. Refreshed! Back to work
9. 20 minutes later it's back to step 4

We all get to ride the motivation struggle-bus from time to time.

Motivation is fleeting. We've got to accept that.

Connecting to our values and having a compelling purpose or reason for doing the work we do is important. But even then, there are moments when drilling for motivation can feel like drilling for oil. You know it's down there somewhere, but you're not sure when it's going to hit. Or if it's going to hit at all. 

I've watched the same videos as my friend. I can see the appeal. 

Those videos make you feel good in the moment. 

You think you can do anything. 

Be anything.

You experience spontaneous outbursts of joy. 

Next thing, you're leaping out of your seat, punching the air and shouting: 'Yeah! I've got THIS'.

30 minutes later you're slumped over your computer. Staring blankly at the screen. Drumming your finger tips on your desk. You're back to being stuck.

I call this motivational carb-loading.

It feels great to hear encouraging words from someone who's been through struggles, and then 'made it'. 

Before you know it, you find yourself returning to that tired, frustrated, hungry state, and developing cravings for more motivational juice.

It's the same with inspirational quotes. We add them as screensavers and share them on social. Sayings like these flood our feeds daily:

'Never give up'

'Stop wishing, start doing'

'Control your thoughts. Focus. Take action'

That's nice and dandy. In theory. 

But how do you make yourself do something, when you don't want to do it?

Don't get me wrong. I love a good inspirational quote. 

It's just, in those moments where I'm not feeling it, but have a deadline to meet, I've found there's only one thing that gets me moving again.

Activating DMAOF mode.

Drag My Ass Outta Funk mode. 

It involves making small, but meaningful pacts with yourself.

Don't feel like writing... Make a pact to do it anyway. Write something. Anything for just 10 minutes. 

See how you feel when the time's up. More likely than not you'll want to carry on.

That mundane task you've been pushing back from when time began... Spend 5 minutes on it. Say to yourself 'I'll do this for 5 minutes, then I'm done'. 

Guess what happens when you hit the 5 minute mark? You'll want to keep going.

Test it out for yourself, then tell me how you get on. 

Advice Worth Sharing:

(hand-picked from around the web)