How To Stay Motivated

First and foremost, I am a procrastinator.

I was the classmate in high school who asked you for your study guide the night before a big exam. And, unfortunately, that has followed me to my adult life.

I own my own photography/videography business, therefore I have to have a LOT of self control and motivation. I'm not proud to say this, but I put things off and reschedule on a consistent basis. I've learned that this is probably the reason I'm not as successful as I want to be, so I've come up with some tips to help you stay motivated, and hopefully we can all become proactive in our daily lives.

1. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

This infamous quote came from the one and only Benjamin Franklin—and it couldn't ring anymore true. With each day that passes when I put off a task, I get less and less motivated. I become stressed and anxious about the task, and sometimes I may not even do it. It's a horrible habit. I've recently found that the sooner I do it, the better I feel and the more motivated I am to keep the ball rolling.

2. Set rewards for yourself.

Because of my procrastination, I often feel discouraged when it comes to household chores. Sometimes, I just don't do them at all (which drives my fiancé crazy). We have three cats and a dog—and, of course, our least favorite chore is cleaning out the litter box. So, we came up with a points rewards system for any and all household chores. There are TONS of apps you can use for this, but we personally use OurHome. You can add multiple members of your family and assign chores/tasks. In return for doing said chores/tasks, you earn points with you can redeem for rewards such as movie nights, pizza, a new video game, etc. My fiancé & I's rewards consist of date night, massages, and other cute couple-type stuff we can do for each other. It definitely helps us stay on top of the household chores, and the rewards are great, too!

3. Track your progress.

One thing I love doing is journalling my progress. One thing I struggle with is drinking enough water—so, what I do is draw 8 glasses of water every day and fill each one in as I drink. It makes my accomplishments feel much more real and physical and it makes me happy to see all the progress I make!

4. Take breaks!

No one likes being burnt out. And some days, you simply can't avoid it—but you should always, always, ALWAYS take breaks. Get up, stretch your legs, go outside—just take a step back for a few minutes to regain your focus & avoid becoming overwhelmed.

5. Avoid distractions.

Of course, it can be easy to turn a 10 minute break into a 2-hour Stranger Things binge session—that's where study apps like SelfControl come in. There are tons of variations of this app out there, but the main concept is: you set a timer, it blocks any websites that may compromise your productivity (Facebook, YouTube, etc), and you get. Shit. Done.

Now, the biggest tip of all...

6. Make it fun!

Almost any of the most mundane tasks (cleaning, conference calls, grocery shopping) can be turned into a fun game. A cool study tip I found a few years ago was something I thought was completely genius—when reading a boring text book, put a gummy bear/piece of candy over each paragraph. After you read the paragraph, reward yourself with a gummy bear! When cleaning, put on some up-beat music or your favorite TV show.

I hope some of these tips will help you to become a more productive person and help you stay motivated with your daily tasks!