Procrastination or Motivation?

Have you ever felt that twinge of procrastination? You just can’t find the energy, the gumption, the motivation to do what you need to do? You hear yourself saying to yourself “I should do……,” “I must…”?All guilt inducing phrases which do nothing to move us from procrastination to motivation!

So, I am known as an eternally optimistic individual. Always see the bright side of life, cup half full, all of that…. however, this year has been a particularly emotionally challenging year, with the loss of my beautiful mother on 28 February 2022. Those of you who have read my book Holding on To Hope, Finding the ‘New You’ after a Traumatic Brain Injury, will have some notion of what a huge role she has had in bringing me back from the brink of death on more than one occasion. She was my anchor when I felt lost at sea, and who role-modelled resilience like a second skin.

My key tried and true strategy for ‘moving’ through grief is to keep busy, throw myself into my work with laser focus (bury grief under the proverbial carpet!). It worked for a while however over the last five weeks, the wheels started to fall off. You know…. that feeling that everything is too hard, it is too hard to engage in your regular exercise routine, work becomes a chore, you feel lethargic, comfort eating, and you want to isolate yourself from others……depression….

Now like I said, I am an optimist. I am motivated and ambitious. These behaviours were not ‘normal’ me. I suspected I was depressed but pressed on. Except I did not. After not exercising for a couple of weeks, feeling tired of everything feeling too hard, and not being excited about a family reunion coming up, I took stock. I indulged in a little self-reflection, mindfulness, and analysis. My conclusion: “If I don’t change something, things are going to get a whole lot worse.”

I had slipped into an unresourceful zone, and it is easy to do after any trauma or loss. One of my favourite sayings is “We can be a victim of our circumstance or empowered by our decisions.” I decided to take my own advice!

I bring up my Retiink memory management app, and I start to book myself full of positive actions. Aligning our desired outcomes with our goals, followed by conscious actions, can create the pathway to a more resourceful and happier you. I also found that once I put these actions in my Retiink app, I felt less stressed.

It has been five days now since I undertook this reflection and the following actions:

·???????Booked into and have completed two Pilates sessions ??

·???????Set a routine of walking the dogs each morning ??

·???????Doing one 10–15-minute Mindfulness Meditation before I even get out of bed

·???????Made a list of all my To-Do’s and scheduled them in my Retiink app

RESULT: A happier, more energised, more motivated, and productive me!

My challenge for you, is to take two things you have been procrastinating about, and put it in your diary, Retiink app, Google calendar…. whichever medium you use to keep organised. Visualise your outcome. Studies have shown that visualising an action, or practicing a skill through visualising it, is almost as good as actually doing it! The power of the brain! That is why professional sports people visualise their skill, and their outcome!

Taking action is looking after you when it includes the balance between self-care and fulfilling responsibilities and goals. What is it you need, and which you are not giving yourself enough of?