January, amiright? We are only two weeks into the new year and it already feels like it’s been several months, and we all know this can make getting motivated to be good at life really damn hard. Long nights, short days, no funds and no social life can make actually getting stuff done feel pretty pointless, but we are here to tell you that you can definitely get your shit together and boss January like it’s any other month of the year.
1) Set realistic goals
Ahh the season of the million new year’s resolutions. This time around, set yourself some goals you know you can achieve in a short space of time instead of big things you have to do over a whole year. It will make you feel like you are achieving stuff and that will definitely help keep motivation levels up. When you set goals that can only be measured in twelve months time or even longer, you’re much more likely to sack them off and then feel bad about it.
2) Don’t do everything at once
It can be tempting to try to sort everything possible you don’t like about your life in one fell swoop at the start of a new year. The thing is though, a lot of this stuff will mean big changes and long term work on yourself. Trying to do it all in one go means that a lot of what you want to do will end up getting sidelined, leaving you feeling like a failure. Do bits and pieces, and take your time with it. You are awesome, and you don’t need to change everything about yourself to have a great 2020.
3) List list list
If it’s life admin you need to get sorted at this time of the year, make like Amy Santiago, Captain Holt or Monica Gellar or whoever and get organised. Put a list on your phone of small life admin things to get done, whether that’s job applications, redoing your CV, getting that project finally finished or even just doing your laundry. Being able to tick something off will give you a sense of achievement that means you won’t be beating yourself up about not doing something or forgetting about it.
4) Try bullet journalling
2020 is the year of the bullet journal. One of these handy little journals will help you stay on track with goals, but also let you write a little each day that can help you keep track of your mental health. Low motivation is linked to low self-esteem and emotion focussed coping, which basically can mean you ignore problems and tasks because a bit of your brain hopes they will eventually just go away. The thing is, they won’t. Doing this can help you keep track of why you are procrastinating and what things you are avoiding. With this, you might be able to see a pattern emerging and can come up with a plan to do something about it. Check out our guide to keeping track of your mental health here.
5) Don’t beat yourself up too much
So you haven’t got it all done in the time you gave yourself? Well, so what?! Sure, sometimes you might have a few things to do that are time sensitive, so make these a priority and let the rest of your stuff take a backseat. The key thing is to not beat yourself up about not getting stuff done or for maybe spending just a little too much time watching Netflix instead of cleaning or whatever. Basically, if you do, you’ll find it pretty hard to justify even trying to get the stuff done because if you don’t, you’ll feel rubbish. So it seems easier not to try. Trust us, cutting yourself some slack is the way to go.
6) Give yourself a break
Time might be tight, but you need a break too. The festive season might have given you time off of your obligations, but it doesn’t leave much room to chill. If you overwork yourself too much at the beginning of the year, you could be looking at being burnt out even before ther end of the month, and that’s no way to set yourself up for 2020. Work some time into your busy schedule to chill out, and stick to it! You’ll thank us for it.
7) Get some good stuff in the calendar
Similarly, the lack of social stuff at this time of year can be a bit of a bummer. Well get some things in the calendar to look forward to, and make this your goal to work towards. Like if you have a chill hang out booked in with a buddy, then try to get all your life admin done beforehand so you can really enjoy it. It’ll give you something to look forward to, which is motivation in itself.
8) Don’t compare yourself to everyone else
We all have that one friend that made all their revision mindmaps seemingly before they even learned the stuff that could come up on the exam. Or the person who has had 20 different versions of their CV ready to go since the day they finished their final exam. Well, you don’t have to be this person. That level of organisation will put us all to shame, and the most important thing to remember is that we all work at our own pace. So don’t compare, and just get stuff done your way.
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