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How To Get Motivated On A Monday. Motivation Techniques.

Updated on October 8, 2012

Well any day really.....

I stipulated Monday only because that's the day that most people seem to have trouble mustering up much enthusiasm for. But the following principles can be applied to any day of the week, especially at times when facing another day seems like all a bit too much of a bother.

Life is not always a bowl of cherries is it, and all manner of unexpected events can throw our lives into a bit of a state. You can end up feeling tired and stressed and the last thing you seem to have any of, is motivation. Thankfully there are some very simple steps, activities and exercises you can do to help increase your feelings of motivation and feel a bit more optimistic about the day and your life generally.

Be prepared.

Prevention is better then cure, offence is the best defence, if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail. You have probably heard of at least one of these sayings before and they go some way into helping me to demonstrate my first point. Start Sunday, whatever you need done for the next day, that you can do now, do it. Trust me it will make your whole day run all the more smoothly, I'm talking from experience.

Go to bed an hour earlier then you usually would. A good nights sleep will help your mind and body be all the better prepared for the following day. Try to get at least seven hours in as this is recommended for optimal recovery.

Start with a stretch.

When you get up in the morning, even before you get out of bed, start stretching, as much as you possibly can while you lie under your covers. Then when you get out of bed stretch some more, start with your neck, then your shoulders, your back etc all the way down to your toes. When you feel limbered up, loose and have freed up your body you can then go about your business as usual, hopefully feeling a little more optimistic then you usually would and feeling more able to cope with the tasks ahead of you in your day.

Do some exercise.

After your stretch it is also beneficial to do some light exercise for about 5 minutes. I know it's probably the last thing you want to do first thing in the morning, but it will release some endorphins and put you in a positive frame of mind. It will also enable you to feel energized and increase your chances of feeling more motivated for the next sixteen hours or so.

It doesn't have to be strenuous or particularly difficult or even high impact, a few jumping jacks and running on the spot will be enough. Personally I dance around in my kitchen for about fifteen minutes before I make my breakfast, it never fails to realise some happy hormones. I have also gone for a walk in the woods on the occasional morning if I have had the time.

Source

Write an easy to achieve list.

Write a short list of only about four or five things that you can achieve easily and throughout your day as you have achieved one tick it off with a big tick. Acknowledge everything you achieve no matter how small. Have you washed some dishes or done some hoovering? Feel proud of yourself for every task or chore no matter how trivial they seem, this will motivate you and spur you on to do more and greater things. Keep the lists because everyday you do a list the things on it will get progressively greater, because you will feel more capable as the weeks and months progress. At the end of the day you will be able to see what you have done. You can also add the things that you have done to your list throughout the day, even small things.

Snack.

Eat throughout the day, it is better to refuel little and often, than to eat big meals just three times a day. This will enable you to be more alert, keep energy levels up and sustain you as you go about your daily tasks. Ideally snacks should consist of fruit, fresh or dried. Nuts, seeds and grains. Vegetables sticks or cereal bars. Although tempting, do try to steer away from, junk food, crisps, sweets and chocolates. These will give you a temporary sugar rush, but it will be short lived and you will soon come back down and with a bump.

Keep hydrated.

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day, is beneficial in so many ways. It's proven to be good for your skin, concentration, eyesight and will help prevent you from reaching for food unnecessarily. We lose so many fluids throughout our day, via sweat and moisture release. Our body is made of mostly water so it makes sense to drink more of it. Experts recommend that you drink two litres a day.

Take regular brakes.

Your biorhythms work every ninety minutes so try and aim for a brake once every hour and a half. There may well be times when you have to plough on through a certain situation, or may not have the opportunity to stop and relax even for just five minutes, if this is the case try and take a brake as soon as you are able to. When I say brake I mean a complete brake, not a half brake where part of your concentration is still elsewhere, because lets face it we've all done it. After you have taken some time out, you will be more focused and less stressed as you go back and continue with your work.

Don't procrastinate, exhilerate.

procrastination is the killer of dreams, the only thing standing between you and what you want is what you do. We all have times in our lives when we feel like hitting a wall, when this happens you have to find a way to get past it. Weather it means taking a quick break and approaching it again with more velour, or refueling or just by means of pure determination and true grit.

The longer you think about a problem or ummm and ahhh over an issue your attempting to deal with, the greater the struggle it will appear to be. However once you make a start and things start getting done, there will be no stopping you. One of the most important secrets of motivation is the more you do, the more you will want to do.

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