Carve Out The Same Time Every Day
To develop a habit, doing it at the same time every day will help it stick. Your internal clock will start to know when to work on it.
- Figure out what time of day works best for your schedule.
If you want to start working out, it might be best for you to set a time in the morning before your day starts.
Ive personally found working out later in the day a challenge. There are more things to distract me and a lot of things tend to come up later in the day.
But, if you enjoy doing things later in the day then just find a time that works best for you. The goal is to find the best time that helps you do it every day consistently.
Substance Abuse And Mental Addiction
Another mental illness that can make you lose drive is substance abuse and mental addiction. Abusing a substance like alcohol or another drug, legal or illegal, can lead to mental illness, substance abuse and mental issues, and other health issues. If you’re addicted, it can lead to various health issues, but there are ways to overcome them. Here are some ways to overcome your addiction.
Choose The Best Type Of Exercises
Exercises are known to be the best way to ease symptoms of both depression and anxiety, so dont overlook it as it should be a part of your weight loss plan. Wisely choose exercises for yourself as a type of exercises you prefer will entirely depend on your requirements, interests, physical abilities as well as geographic location. Several people love the outdoor exercises and are happiest walking the local trails or else bicycling in the park. However, others love the water and a trip to the pool or beach for a long swim as the best exercise for themselves to get motivated. Keep in mind that Whatever you do, dont be scared to change up your routine and mix power training with flexibility, aerobic conditioning, or additional forms of fitness. In simple words just find something thats fun for you and stick with your program.
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Be Mindful When Using Technology
Zoom fatigue? Weve all been therea series of grueling back-to-back Zoom calls, flickering eyelids, the mental fog at the end of a long day fuelled by caffeine and inhaled lunches, and the urge to write just one more email.
But stopthis is not what the future of work will look like. There is a dire need for the consideration of building a technology detox into the normal routine of the working day of every employee so that it is adopted and becomes common practice.
Mindfulness in the workplace is another method of improving engagement, cognitive focus, and productivity. The mistake is reconciling that longer hours equal greater results.
Instead, having flexibility around walking meetings, in-person catch-ups, and time away from the requirement to be contactable boosts positivity and makes employee motivation levels sore. Imagine if every employee felt this burst of life.
The pandemic has shown that work can be done outside of the office, but there is a giant opportunity waiting to be unlocked. Those companies that find the appropriate balance will prevail.
Exercise In A Comfortable Environment
Every fitness coach recommends exercising in a place where you feel most comfortable. That can be a gym, a park, or your living room. If you feel overwhelmed with the idea of leaving the house, its completely okay to work out at home.
Some people find the outside very soothing as long as there are no people around. You can drift away from the main roads and go for a jog in the local forest. Music can also help you zone out. If youre listening to music while jogging, be careful about the traffic though. Even if youre far away from the city center, there are always some cars on the road.
Water can also have a relaxing effect on someones mind. Consider swimming or running near the river, lakes, etc. The surroundings have a lot of influence on the workouts. For the best results, you need to find a place that makes you feel better.
You need to be in a relaxed state of mind, so cut out everything thats making you stressed out. Change the place you exercise, your clothes, etc. You can wear whatever you want, so dont worry about having perfect gym clothes. If youre at home, you can even exercise in your pajamas. As long as you start moving, everything is allowed.
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Find Positivities To Motivate Yourself
Your brain absorbs everything. In other words, if youre creating some thoughts in your mind try to create a positive and healthier one. Try to involve in those activities which have a positive effect on your brain.
Talk with people who have a positive mindset. Express gratitude. When surfing the internet or reading a newspaper find motivation.
Understanding The Connection Between Depression And Motivation
Depression is a horrible paradox. When youre feeling down, it may seem like all you can do is watch TV or lie in bed.. Feeling low and unmotivated makes it difficult to do the things needed to help facilitate recovery, such as eating well, exercising and seeking connection with others.
If you are experiencing low moods and feeling more and more tired, youre not alone. Feeling unmotivated, even for ;basic self-care, is largely due to an imbalance of the brain chemicals that are responsible for emotion and behavior. Motivation is the result of a complex network of chemical and electrical signals in the brain. Things can and will go awry with both mood and motivation when these chemicals are off track.
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Remember Your Life Before Depression
Before the depression set in, what did you enjoy doing? Write these items down as they come to mind. Then rank them in terms of what you are able to accomplish, from most to least difficult. Until you have more energy and motivation, its best to start with those you can easily complete. Then think about what steps you can take to get back into a routine that includes these tasks or activities.
Therapist Erika Martinez implemented this strategy successfully by helping one of her clients get back into volunteering. During therapy he discussed how he used to enjoy volunteering at a homeless shelter. His next step was calling the homeless shelter, then setting a start date for the volunteering, then showing up. The momentum and motivation built from there.
In a similar vein, think about what motivated you before the depression. What inspired you? It could be anything from childhood to the present. Try to revisit those sources of motivation and get in touch with parts of yourself that might feel distant.
How Do Baby Steps Help
Taking baby steps towards your goals ensures that you stick to them in the long run.
Usually, when we set goals, we end up setting multiple goals and want to make a huge change all at once. Like start working out every day, eat healthy foods, stop drinking anything but water, write in a journal, etc.
These are all great goals, but the problem is trying to do way too much at once.
Each goal requires setting a habit, and it takes about a month to do that. Even after that it still requires consistency to maintain it.
When we set goals, we typically set big ones that are hard to accomplish. And we expect our whole lives to change within a day.
This might work for a few days or a week, but then it becomes way too hard to keep up with. Youre trying to change everything ingrained in your brain and set new habits all at once.
And if you’ve been in survival mode just trying to get through the day without having a panic attack, setting multiple goals at once is a lot of work.
This takes a tremendous amount of willpower, that even the strongest people sometimes cant do.
So, thats why baby steps are the way to go. They help you stick to your goals and make it easier to follow every day.
This way you can add in more self-care goals and slowly change your lifestyle for the better.
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Counter Depression With Exercise
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , getting regular physical activity can make you less likely to develop depression. Exercising three to five times weekly for 30 to 60 minutes can provide mental health benefits because exercise is a good way to get “out of your head” and focus on moment-to-moment sensations, such as your breathing and movements.
Understand Your Studying Style
To learn how to study when youre depressed, you need to remember how you studied before. What methods did make your study sessions easier? How did you make topics more interesting? Did you use flashcards or watched educational videos? People study differently and everyone has a unique studying style. Reflect on your style and see what works for you.
Some people try to summarise the information they receive. They achieve this with flashcards, bullet points, and writing summaries of each chapter of the textbooks. Other, more visual people, are remembering study materials by using pictures. They use colors to underline the important things, draw diagrams and schemes in notebooks, watch videos, etc.
Auditable types of people listen to podcasts and lectures about the subject theyre studying. Spending 20 minutes listening to somebody breaking the topic into simple terms can be more helpful for someone than sitting in front of the textbook for 2-3 hours. All of these approaches are viable. It only matters what can help you.
The point of studying is understanding the subject, not just memorizing facts. If you can understand it, the chances are you wont be able to learn anything. The internet is full of inspiring people who want to explain their expertise. Check the internet for resources, if your textbooks are not enough for you to completely understand the topic.
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Acknowledge Your Courage For Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone
As painful as it is, depression can become comfortable in a “devil you know” kind of way. You know what to expect, for the most part. You know the pain, you’re in the pain, you can predict that tomorrow will be more of the same. The idea of stepping out of this comfort zone can be quite anxiety-provoking. Steven Hayes, a psychologist whose work I admire, said, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.”
Set Your Messages Aside
A common symptom of depression is difficulty concentrating. If a constant flow of e-mails and phone calls is interrupting your train of thought, you may be diverted from the more important tasks you need to accomplish. If this is a challenge for you, resist the urge to constantly check your e-mail, and allow your phone calls to be handled by voicemail. Set aside several times throughout the day to respond to these messages.
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Recruit Support Or Ask For Help
Some of us have trouble holding ourselves accountable at the best of times. With little motivation or energy, it’s that much harder. Confide in someone you trust, and ask for their help. Ask a friend to hold you to your commitment. Ask your partner to accompany you to a yoga class. Pay for your support group, counseling appointment, or massage beforehand so you’ll be more motivated to attend.
Allow Yourself To Gain Perspective
Gaining a higher sense of perspective over my life is another healthy mental habit I have adopted to overcome anxiety and depression. When youre anxious or depressed, you lose all perspective because youre currently the one experiencing these things. Thats why its important to talk to someone else that has still got the perspective you need reminding of. Again, when I was depressed, it felt like there was no point getting up in the morning. Even things I deemed as good had no appeal to me. It felt like if I didnt exist, it really wouldnt matter to the world and Id be just another person who was born at some random point in history. Life seemed shit and pointless. Then I had to get perspective on things. I didnt regain a healthier perspective right away, but it was something I had to work on and still do have to work on. Im naturally pessimistic which means that I have to work twice as hard to ingrain healthier habits.
No matter how you look at the world, you won the lottery of life. A lot of us become depressed because we feel like there is no meaning in our lives but the truth is youve got the chance to give it its own meaning. Theres no right or wrong way to do life. Theres no way to do a day right or wrong.
Life is full of twists and turns and almost never occurs how we envision it to.;
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Pair A Dreaded Task With Something You Enjoy
Your emotions play a major role in your motivation level. If youre sad, bored, lonely, or anxious, your desire to tackle a tough challenge or complete a tedious task will suffer.
Boost your mood by adding a little fun to something youre not motivated to do. Youll feel happier and you might even look forward to doing the task when its regularly paired with something fun.
Here are some examples:
- Listen to music while you run.
- Light a scented candle while youre working on your computer.
- Rent a luxury vehicle when you travel for business.
- Invite a friend to run errands with you.
- Turn on your favorite show while youre folding laundry.
Just make sure that your fun doesnt impair your performance. For example, watching TV while writing a paper might distract you and slow you down even more. Or talking to a friend while youre cleaning the house might be so distracting that you cant pay attention to what youre doing.
How To Get Motivated When You Struggle With Anxiety & Depression
I understand all too well what its like to have a long list of to-do things, but then depression prevents any of that stuff from happening.
It’s very hard to get motivated when you struggle with anxiety and depression.
Ive gotten so used to being in survival mode that I forgot how to push myself to get things done and be productive.
If you know this feeling and are struggling to find the motivation to start doing things again, Im here to tell you that all hope is not lost.
Your anxiety and/or depression has had too much control over your mind.
And anyone out there who is telling you to just get over it and do something about it has never been where you are right now.
Ive realized the hardest part about having a mental illness is that nobody really gets it, unless theyve been there before.
And I want you to know that nothing is wrong with you or how youre feeling. Its honestly very normal to have anxiety and depression.
Its just that a lot of people dont want to talk about it. They may feel embarrassed or deny they have it.
So, I want you to take all of this pressure off of yourself. Stop thinking you just need to be doing more than you are right now. Stop thinking you need to just be stronger. And stop thinking you have to fight your mindset by forcing yourself to do things you hate.
These things will only make it worse.
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Meditate On Your Commute
For Ali OHara, taking time to center herself before she even arrives to work has had a hugely positive impact on her overall mood. “If I allow the city and subway to get to me, that sets a bad tone for the day,” she says. “So, I turn off my headphones and do some mantras in my head, focusing on my breathe and posture.” You can apply this to your own morning regardless of what your commute looks like, whether you’re walking, driving, or riding public transportation.
Not sure where to start? Consider downloading a meditation app that will guide you. Insight Timer is a popular choice that has a tracker which allows you to chart your progress as you go.
What To Do If You Lose Motivation
Setbacks are normal, but developing resilience can help you carry on and pick up where you left off. Here are some tips to help you find your motivation again:
- Review your goals and see if they are realistic in the timeframe you have set. You may need to break your goal down further into smaller and more achievable goals.
- Remember why you wanted to get motivated or reach that goal in the first place.
- Take motivation from others feel inspired by reading a book, talking to your mentor or friends or family who have reached similar goals to the ones you have set.
- Sometimes you just need to take a break and start afresh.
ReachOut.com has useful information on finding motivation when you are struggling to stay motivated.
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Set Deadlines For Yourself
To keep herself on track and help herself stay motivated with tasks at work, Brooke Jones* designates her own deadlines and then tells someone else, so that she feels she’s held accountable. “Just by telling it to someone else and knowing that they knowsometimes it gets me to get started on things,” she says.
The person you disclose your personal deadlines to doesn’t necessarily have to be your manager or boss at work, thoughit could be another coworker or family member. “You have someone who knows and cares about you to see how you’re doing,” she says.