By Maureen L. Bonatch
Do you ever have one of those days when as soon as you wake
up you know it’s going to be a fabulous day? You have a smile plastered on your
face, and you’re showing your to-do
list you’re the boss and you feel as if you can tackle anything that comes your
way today.
Then you go to bed and when you wake up the next day you
wonder how in the world you can muster up the energy to get out of bed.
What
the heck happened to all that awesome from yesterday? Just imagine how much more we could accomplish if only we could bottle
up all that feel-good energy .
Riding the Rollercoaster of Inspiration
This concept has fascinated me for some time but has been
almost as elusive as the fountain of youth. (Still
looking for that too! I could use a new back if you find it.)
The way in
which we can almost replica that day down to the amount of sleep, what we eat
and do, yet feel completely different on the next day. On my ‘awesome day’,
I’ll ride that invincible feeling to commit myself to a ton of projects, only
to start another day struggling to get each word on the page and feeling as if
I’m selling my soul 500 words at a time.
A Standoff with the Sloth
So far, I have not found the secret to avoiding the days
that motivation seems to take a nosedive and spending the day in a sloth-like
fashion seems like the most appealing, though unavailable, option. The closest
I have come is by writing a character in one of my books (Hope, from DestinyCalling) with the ability to give, or take away, feelings of hope and happiness.
Instead, I just have to try methods to keep moving through
those listless days and hope that the next day I wake it will be full of
awesome so I can go forth and conquer.
Resuscitating Your Motivation
Sometimes it’s not immediately apparent that my motivation
has taken an impromptu vacation. I might notice it when an hour has passed and
I realize I’m still aimlessly surfing social media or when I can’t seem to
escape from my emails.
Once I do I try to implement one of these strategies to get the day's productivity back on track.
- Take a break- Get up and move around, or attend to another task—just move.
- Rewrite my To-Do List- Taking the tasks out of my thoughts to organize them on paper often makes them seem more manageable
- Conquer the simplest tasks first- If I’m frozen with a major deadline sometimes it helps to stop glancing at my long To-Do list by doing a few easy tasks and then returning to the major one
- Change track- If I’m working on my fiction, I change to my freelance writing, or vice versa. That way I’m still getting things done, but my mind gets a little break.
- Do something else- Whether it’s reading a book, getting a snack, or closing my eyes for 5-10 minutes, often taking the time to stop thinking about what needs done is helpful when I'm feeling exhausted and/or overwhelmed.
How Do You Get Your Motivation Moving?
But when the woman who raised her is murdered by
something not human, she loses the only family she knew and discovers one she
might wish she hadn’t.
Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in
small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat
pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading
paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and
laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter
16 comments:
I know that feeling very well.
I once had an entire weekend free (which in itself is a miracle) to write, and I was so excited. I planned to finish my WIP because I had all that TIME! Instead, I milled around doing other stuff, trying to get motivated to write. I had to force myself to write, and every word was slow and painful. But on Monday, you know, when I had to go to work, I was all fired up to write. If only motivation could be bottled... :)
Isn't that how it always goes, CJ? When you don't have the time that's when the motivation is the best! lol
Yep, CJ, that happens to me every time. And then by the end of the day job on Monday, I'm too tired to write. But then there are the weeks--or even months--of no motivation that really hurt. Because I have to write anyway.
Is it because of winter? Fighting the blahs. I've had no ambition for over 2 weeks. I barely muster up the energy to read email. I was a ball of fire for the 1st 2 weeks of Jan. Now, nothing. Maureen, I hope your energy returns.
Thanks Diane. Sometimes winter gets me motivated because it's the perfect excuse to stay inside and write. I think some of the time I get stalled when I feel too overwhelmed. When there is so much to do that I do nothing, lol.
It's so nice to read blogs like this and realize that I'm not alone. Thank you, Maureen!
Lea, thanks so much for stopping by! I'm glad it was helpful. Believe me, you are not alone :)
I like the idea of doing something simple to get back on the right track. I'll have to try it.
I've found that when I'm stuck, despite all the advice to 'do the biggest task first to get it done for your day' that if I start with the easy stuff I can tackle the harder stuff better. Thanks for stopping by, Helen!
When motivation fails me, I clean. The tedium and rote mechanics (and the fact that I hate cleaning) gets my thoughts moving to more exciting things, like what my hero and heroine are doing . . . Many a plot twist was conceived over vacuuming!
Nancy I almost included cleaning. I often find that cleaning enables me to see some quick results and can revive my motivation. lol about vacuuming producing plot twists.
Gosh! Ambition is such a fickle friend. Oh and by the way ladies, cleaning helps me step away from the computer to do physical work, allowing my mind to think about other things--like hopefully my story. Thanks for sharing this, Maureen.
http://victoriamarielees.blogspot.com
Thanks Victoria! So glad you stopped by. Great to know that if our stories aren't done, that at least our houses will be clean, lol.
Motivation is fickle. I often get up from the computer and play the piano to sooth my spirit and thoughts. Then, I feel refreshed and rejuvinated.
Post a Comment