One easy way to motivate yourself when you’re overwhelmed

I missed a few days of writing here, so I hope those of you who are regular readers will forgive me. I was a bit overwhelmed with life last week, and things are still a bit sad now. Still, I’m pushing on with my routines, as I know I’ll feel better if I can accomplish a few goals. Even if sometimes the goal is just to get dressed.


Setting tiny goals


I was listening to an interesting podcast on psychology last week, with Mark Manson. He noted that sometimes achieving a small goal is what we need to push ourselves out of a rut to accomplish the next, slightly bigger goal and so on. Before you know it, you’re feeling better and smashing it out of the park. Okay, that’s a huge generalisation, but you get the idea. I heard this after struggling to just get out of bed, so it resonated with me.


Today, my goal was to work in a nearby cafe for the morning and write a blog post. Yesterday, I could barely face the day, slobbed about in my track pants and was pretty miserable. Today, I got dressed, enjoyed a coffee and croissant, and accomplished quite a few work tasks before lunch. Now, I’m writing the post that I’ve been delaying for so long. I haven’t magically become happy, energies and carefree. However, setting a fun and small goal helped me to get even more done, just like Mr Manson said.


It’s hard to keep the momentum going when things feel a bit directionless and the future is cloudy. But you make progress by doing little things, however small. Easier said than done, you say? It doesn’t take a lot of effort to make your bed. It isn’t a huge thing to put on a nice outfit. Maybe that’s all you manage today, but that’s something. It boosts your mood and helps you accomplish a bit more tomorrow.


Upcoming content


This might be a little depressing, but I hope it encourages you if you’re having a rough time right now. I’m creating more content for the blog, with a focus on slow living. Recently, I’ve reflected on slowing down, and that’s promoted me to consider new topics for the blog and new practices for my life.


Let me know what you think. My regular readers are very important to me, I want to make sure I’m providing content you enjoy and find useful. Is there something you want to see more or less of?

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