5 things to help you boost your motivation and stop procrastinating

If you have been feeling out of place these days, don’t worry too much. We have all lost our rhythm. But if you are looking to get back up and strive for the best routine when staying at home, then you’re on the right pathway already. If you are already here, it means that you are determined enough to look for your motivation and I am sure you’ll find it!

Here are just 5 things that help me stay focused and enjoy working/studying from home.

1/5 Get into a daily routine that gets you moving

Probably the most dreadful thing to do when I am staying home all day long is to get out of bed in the morning. I usually don’t have any problem waking up when I need to leave my home early for university, but when I don’t have anything planned for the day it gets much more difficult. So, as you could have already guessed, switching to online classes from home didn’t actually help me with my routine. This happens especially because I can join them without even getting out of the bed.

Instead of waking up, lying in bed for one hour only to scroll through the whole Instagram, you should try to find something more rewarding to do in the morning and make it a routine, so it can’t be postponed ’till afternoon. I think that some of the best morning routines are writing in your beloved journal, drinking that extremely aromatic cup of coffee, or even stretching or doing sport, but in the end it’s up to you to find that thing that gets you going.

To be honest, what motivates me the most is a cup of flavorous coffee, even if I am not a regular drinker. I don’t drink my coffee for that boost of energy that everyone seeks, but just for the aroma and the experience itself. That is why I always invest in the best-grounded beans from my favorite local coffee shops, like Beans&Dots or BOB Coffee Lab (you can check here my favorite coffee places). Drinking coffee at home is not a habit of mine, but I started this practice only during the exams session for university and it worked like a charm to motivate me to start the day. With or without exams, this routine helps me get out of bed and take this time I have in the morning for reflecting, enjoying the morning chill, or planning my day.

2/5 Handwritten to-do lists

Since I started using a bullet journal, I have been obsessed. Not only that this helps me keep in place the special events, posting routines, brainstorming boards and many more trackers, but it helps me finish my assignments for the day. It feels so rewarding to check your to-dos after you have completed them! But a journal won’t work like a charm and the first thing you need to learn is how to use it to your advantage!

Writing to-do lists is a very easy thing to do, but you have to be honest with yourself, Are your goals SMART? Are they Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-specific? If not, you should definitely rethink your day. Just writing a long to-do list won’t help you get things done if you do not start with small objectives that you could actually finish at the end of the day. Being proud of yourself of the little things you have finished will help you find more motivation to keep on going than stressing all day long and complaining about your neverending tasks.

 

 

3/5 Find solitude

Silence it’s a great friend when you need to get yourself together. Even some music could be helpful in some situations. While I love to start the day with a boost of good vibes from one of my favorite playlists, that won’t help me throughout the day, especially when I need to focus on important studies. Music distracts me, and playing Youtube on the TV or in the background is even more annoying because of the visuals stimuli that provide about 90% of all the information from the surroundings. The most I can do is listening to some classical or Lo-Fi music, but only while I am working on more simple tasks.

Another important thing for me while seeking solitude is to find my place of work. I never study in bed and I always find an active position, either standing or staying on the chair. Every time I lay on the bed or the couch I end up falling asleep, no matter how interesting the subject that I am reading about is.

4/5 Do not disturb

Unfortunately, I can’t deny that keeping my phone, laptop, or tablet away doesn’t help me big time. But I bet you’ve already experienced this, right? So why shouldn’t we take advantage of the silence and focus on the things we have to do first, only after that to check up our social media notifications?

Whenever I need to keep my focus, I automatically switch on the do not disturb button on my phone. What works even better is when I decide to hide my phone underneath my pillow so I wouldn’t cross paths with it. Call me crazy, but we both know that “a scroll on Instagram” ends up in 2 wasted hours.

5/5 Dopamine detox

Probably the most efficient and difficult step would be a dopamine detox. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates the reward system, being one of the most important players behind our motivation and satisfaction. Nowadays, we have a lot of daily activities in our lives that deliver large amounts of dopamine, from getting that notification that we have been waiting for, swiping through photos on social media, listening to music or playing games, watching a film or a TV show. We are constantly on high levels of dopamine. These are only some examples of action-reward systems that facilitate the dopamine release instantly. Unfortunately, working and studying are much more complex pathways that will not deliver the rewards right at the moment. Either that, or the fact that we might have developed some kind of tolerance to these high daily doses of dopamine, they might be some of the reasons behind our lack of motivation. (read more about dopamine here)

I can’t tell you to get rid of all the distractions in your life, because I couldn’t possibly do it myself, but we can try and have a detox for a day or even a week (if you feel like it). Thus, we give our bodies the chance to reset their needs and get better responses to dopamine, helping us to find the strength to do all our assignments.

 

I hope you found this helpful and if you have any other tips, please let me know in the comments or on Instagram. I would love to see what works for you! Stay safe and sane until next time 🙂