Finding Motivation In January

January is a weird month because it's the first month of the year but it's the only month that seems to last forever. One minute it's January next minute it's August and you wonder where the time goes. It's also confusing because you're expecting every year to come up with goals and resolutions for the years that you stick to them for a week before forgetting all about them for the rest of the year. Unless you have a birthday in January there's nothing much exciting happening in January. Even the new year just comes and goes then everything is back to normal. Xmas decorations come down. The weather is rubbish because it's too cold or too wet to do anything exciting. It's a struggle to find the motivation to be either productive or keep fit. It's a struggle so I thought I'd make a list of how to find motivation in January. 

1. Go Outside

This may be a struggle. Especially if it's cold or wet but all you need is your coat, hat, scarf, gloves, and an umbrella. Just as long as your layered up you should be fine to get outside. The reason I say to go outside is because you're not going to find the motivation cooped up inside your home. There are too many distractions. Go for a walk down your street or if you live near a wooded area or a park go there for a long walk. Fresh air honestly does do you some good and it's a chance to clear your head. Make you focus on what matters. When I go for a walk, I like to listen to an audio book when I'm out and about because it makes the walk less boring. Heck even listening to music and pretending like you're in a musical can make a walk even more interesting. Trust me though, going outside can help you to feel motivated because it forces you to get dressed and get moving. Whether it's to just buy some milk from the shop, at least you can say you've left the house today and done something productive.

2. Tidy Up

I don't know about you, but I cannot work if I'm surrounded by clutter. It will bug me while I'm trying to do something productive. I don't know about you, but I find tidying helps me to feel more motivated to be productive. Whether it's tidying your desk or your bedroom or even a room in your home. It just feels good and if it makes you feel any better, at least you're doing something productive. There's the saying tidy house, tidy mind and I do believe that is true because you can't work surrounded by mess because your mind will always go to the mess so have a tidy up. It's also a satisfying feeling when you finish tidying up and it may motivate you to do something else productive which is a win win in this situation. 

3. Switch Off 

One of the biggest distractions of this generation is social media. It can be so easy to spend endless hours just scrolling or watching YouTube videos. I've found I'm using social media less and less. I've deleted Facebook and Twitter off my phone, and I've found I get bored easily just scrolling through Instagram mainly because I don't follow a lot of people. However, YouTube videos may be where I use my phone a lot because there's just so many videos to watch. If you find yourself getting distracted from being productive then switch your phone off or turn it to airplane mode at least so you're not distracted by notifications. Hide your phone if you have to. Just switch off from social media and distractions of the internet to allow yourself to focus on what you need to be motivated for. Plus it might just make you feel better to switch off from social media especially for your mental health because it can be a toxic place sometimes. 

4. To Do Lists

There's nothing wrong with a good old fashioned to do list. The amount of lists I make on a weekly basis is ridiculous, but it really does help me. It keeps me focused and helped me out a lot especially during my uni years. It doesn't have to be huge lists but writing down four or five things you need to get done for the day can give you a focus for what you have to do. Plus it feels good to cross it out once it's done. My big tip is to always start with what you're looking forward to the least or the hardest job then go down until it gets easier. Heck even give yourself a little reward if you complete everything on the list. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what will. 

5. Self-Care

Obviously sometimes we may have to force ourselves to be motivated but if you really can't find the motivation to do something then there might be something a bit deeper going on. It's really important to make sure your own health and wellbeing is okay. Make sure you look after yourself too. If you're struggling then talk to someone whether it's a parent, a friend, a teacher, a doctor. It's important to look after ourselves and not put so much pressure on our mental health. Everyone has bad days so if you can, take a day off and you can always be motivated to be productive tomorrow. It's not the end of the world if something doesn't get done just as long as you're okay then that's all that matters. 

Anyway, that's all my tips for finding motivation in January. I hope you found it useful. I'm sure there are plenty more things you can do to find a motivation so if you have any other suggestions then let me know in the comments below. I'm sure me and everyone else reading this would love to hear them. 

Thank you for reading my blog and I'll be back again soon with another post. 

See you then.

Megan x 

*This is not a sponsored post* 

For business enquiries or just a chat email: megantimeblog@gmail.com