Motivation

Biblioklept

How do you motivate yourself?

Every night I go to bed disappointed at what I haven't done that day and convince myself that tomorrow I will do ALL THE STUFFFFFFF and my life will change and I will succeed and just do things. And each morning I wake up thinking I will too. But within about 10 minutes my mind and mood changes and I'm struggling. Rinse and repeat  

I know part of it is my conditions but I'm so tired of being disappointed in myself, but even that isn't enough to motivate me. Even having the drive and desire isn't enough.

How do you motivate yourself? How do you ... do things?

Do you reward yourself? Berate yourself if you don't? Or do you just find it easy?  

SueHeath

Yes i can agree with you @Biblioklept it can be very hard to motivate yourself when your tired or in pain all the time - i try and set myself one task a day to do and if i achieve that it does make me feel good and not wasted my day. Todays job i got my hubby to put ironing board up for me in the living room so i am looking at it all the time ha ha, so can you guess what i will be doing when my day starts. x

Biblioklept

That's a good way to make yourself do it, if it's right in front of your face it's harder to ignore!! 

66Mustang

Sorry that this isn’t a post with any advice, it’s just how I feel and maybe someone can relate.

I find it easy to motivate myself to do something if the “reward” is immediate, for example making some food. However I find it hard to motivate myself when there is a delayed reward that you have to work towards.

An example of this is when my support worker tried to get me going out on my own. He told me at first just to go outside and stand there for 2 minutes on my own, then maybe do a 2 minute walk round the block, then a 5 minute walk, and after several months or even years I might be walking to a shop on my own. In my mind, though, standing outside on my own causes me all sorts of anxiety and it’s just not worth it as it’s not immediately going to get me to the shop if that makes sense?

Sandy_123

I do lack motivation a lot. Especially house work, I wake up saying right I'm going to do everything but I don't.  Half the time I don't have the energy, I also have to use a helping hand stick to pick things up. It's the jobs like wiping doors cleaning windows etc

Biblioklept

Sandy_123 said:

I do lack motivation a lot. Especially house work, I wake up saying right I'm going to do everything but I don't.  Half the time I don't have the energy, I also have to use a helping hand stick to pick things up. It's the jobs like wiping doors cleaning windows etc

I hate that feeling as I wake every day with it. Right I'm going to do all these things... and then it doesn't happen. And then at night I stress that I've not done it and commit to doing it next day, and then don't. And it goes on and on and on. 
It wasn't perfect but I did it so much better when taking my ADHD medication but it's just impossible to maintain getting my prescriptions and the meds reliably. 

Tori_Scope

I can find it difficult to motivate myself to do things too @Biblioklept. 

Have you ever heard of the 'no zero days' mindset, or 'eh, may as well?'? I realise they might sound a bit random if you haven't, but they can be quite helpful I'd be happy to explain if you're not familiar with them. 

It wasn't perfect but I did it so much better when taking my ADHD medication but it's just impossible to maintain getting my prescriptions and the meds reliably. 

Have you spoken to your GP surgery or pharmacy to see if they could support you with this at all? I use my local pharmacy's text service so that they let me know when my prescription has arrived, which I find useful. I set reminders on my phone for when I need to contact my GP to get a new prescription, too. 

You could also look into getting your prescription delivered, if that'd be easier for you?

Teigr

My obsession with lists helps,I get a stupid amount of satisfaction out of ticking off each item.

Sandy_123

I've got Spotify on playing, while i tidy round, i recommend music 

Biblioklept

I've had music on today @Sandy_123 and it has really helped

janer1967

O always have music on when doing house work gives me the lift to get up of the sofa and get jobs done 

I'm really into smooth radio at the moment they play lots of music I can sing along to 

L_Volunteer

I absolutely agree with you all about the power of music! 

Starlingbird

I make a list of all the things I need to do. If anything is more urgent, then I put a star by it. Every morning I check my list and, depending on how badly my med condition is affecting me, I choose one thing off the list that I feel capable of doing that day. Some days I do more than one thing, other days I only manage a five minute task, but whatever I do it gives me a sense of acheivement because I can cross the completed thing off my list. 

Biblioklept

@Starlingbird that's a good idea, I get so much satisfaction ticking stuff from a list

Tori_Scope

You might like to consider downloading an app like Daylio @Biblioklept  

L_Volunteer

Oh, a new one for me @Tori_Scope! What does it look like?

leeCal

Depends on wether you are a moving towards or a moving away person. Moving towards positive outcomes or moving away from negative outcomes. So the latter would do a task for fear of negative outcomes if the task was not completed. Ie penalties of some kind for not doing something. Etc.

Biblioklept

leeCal said:

Depends on wether you are a moving towards or a moving away person. Moving towards positive outcomes or moving away from negative outcomes. So the latter would do a task for fear of negative outcomes if the task was not completed. Ie penalties of some kind for not doing something. Etc.

I'd never considered there being different reasons for doing things, only that they needed doing. I like this approach and think I'm a mix of both depending on the task. Which are you?

Tori_Scope

It's a diary and mood tracker app @L_Volunteer It allows you to record what you've done each day, as well as set yourself goals. I don't use it myself, but I have loved ones who find it helpful. 

SueHeath

I had a power surge yesterday @Biblioklept and dusted the house.
Mind you the dusters had been looking at me for a couple of days, in the lounge, but it got the job done x

Biblioklept

Well done @SueHeath!! I hate dusting and always feel like I'm missing something when I'm doing it. 
Housework in general makes me feel stupid like I never know if I'm doing it right or what should be included.
Example this morning it struck me, do people wash their door handles?! And if so how often? I wipe mine every day with antibacterial wipes because of OCD but do people clean them generally and how?
When dusting what exactly am I meant to dust?