As a creative individual, I gotta be honest. High levels of motivation come in waves. I have to be really inspired in order to be really productive. On the days when the level of inspiration is not so high? I need a few things in place to give me a little kick in the pants to keep myself on track.
First thing on that list?
1. LISTS!
I absolutely have to write it down. As an adult who navigates life with ADHD, no amount of RX meds makes me remember jack. I still have to put pen to paper or else it
Will. Not. Get. Done. Period.
I have notepads stashed everywhere. Including in both of our vehicles(And don’t even get me started on my addiction with post-its). This way, I can jot anything down that I think is important for me to remember so that I can add tasks to a project in Asana; remember killer bits of advice that pop up in a podcast episode to implement later; or anything else that strikes me at an inopportune moment when I can’t just take action, right then and there.
2.Project Management Software
I absolutely adore using Asana. It is a wonderful online Project Management Software that I’m pretty sure is a gift sent from the heavens above. I have no idea how I managed life without it before I learned about it from Tasha Booth, of The Launch Guild. It’s similar to Trello, ToDoist, or Monday, for those of you who may use something similar. I use it for the business of course, but I love the fact that it can be customized for just about anything, Including basic household management or party planning. The mobile app has been a Godsend as well. If I’m at the gym or out and about running errands, I can always access it quickly and I even love that I can set reminders and assign tasks to someone else if I need to delegate. That comes in real handy if I don’t feel like taking out the trash on Monday night. I can easily assign that to Officer Husband to handle it and he gets an immediate notification that it needs to be done and he’s in charge of that task. #winning!
3. Time Blocking
This is something else that is new to me too, but man is it effective! I use time blocking as a way to always know what to work on when and it’s especially effective for those repetitive tasks that you know have to be done on a daily or weekly level. I just use my planner, color code it in my Google calendar and certain tasks get done on certain days only, as a means to stay focused. Here’s a great article about it on the ToDoist site that covers the concept in-depth The Complete Guide to Time Blocking. It’s a pretty rad way of doing things if you haven’t tried it before. I am actually anxious to try day theming at some point, as well.
So there you have it! My three ways of staying motivated. What about y’all? What methods and strategies do you use to stay motivated? Leave a comment below with your suggestions and strategies!
Until the next post!
XO,
Katie