It's almost summer and it's starting to get hot in Texas 🌞. We have had a few weeks of temperatures over 100 (in fact one day was a record 108! 😱). I find myself having to work a little harder to get my work-to-do-list done. My motivation is lower. Does any of this sound familiar?
I've often wondered about the phrase "the lazy days of summer." Summer usually seems pretty busy, but now that I think about it, maybe the phrase is talking about people feeling lazy, not the schedule being lazy. But giving into the way I feel is not going to accomplish my goals, so how do I push ahead? Here are a few tips...
Get up and Exercise - I continuously have clients tell me that they cannot believe the difference in how they feel when they exercise in the morning. Productivity, mood 😊, food choices 🥑🥦🍅🥥, and energy are all heightened when we workout in the morning. I believe in a day of rest, but I do struggle with motivation in other areas on those days.
Meditate in the morning - When I spend time in prayer 🙏🏻 and Bible reading, I give God room to quiet and center my thoughts, show me His purposes for my day, and remind me why I do what I do.
Make a list - Great leaders seem to make a daily checklist. We get distracted by the "urgent". Having a list and checking it off ✅ as it is accomplished is rewarding - kind of like a gold star ⭐ from your elementary teacher. It just makes you happy.
Plan in 50 minute blocks - Then take 10 minutes out of the hour to walk around, call a friend, grab a drink🥤, or take a flight of stairs to get oxygen going back through the body.
Plan your rewards - When we were younger, we continuously got feedback for our work, whether good or bad. Now the feedback is more abstract, and sometimes we don't even receive anything tangible for our efforts. So I might as well give myself a reward for what I feel like is a job well done. This one feeds off of the last two points, but naming an actual reward for work accomplished makes it easier to do the work the next time.
Well, it was fun to chat about pushing ahead, but now I've got some tasks that need my attention. 😉 Right after I take a few flights of stairs 😃.