Archives: Motivation

Our lives are a rush of different stimuli, from our multiple social media accounts to emails to phone calls and text messages.  In order to boost your own productivity, take a break from it all for a set period of time each and every day.

Since I started training for the 3 Peaks, which currently involves 5 trips to the gym a week and a lot of pain, I’ve discovered the enormous benefits of being in an environment with none of the usual distractions.

My creativity has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks as I give myself 45-60 minute periods every day of the week to be completely cut off from my communications, to enjoy some much needed thinking time and to focus my brain on the things that really matter in my life and work, rather than the things that too easily consume my attention when I’m in the thrall of social media maintenance and ever-flowing emails.

You may not be a gym-bunny, but if you can find the space in your day to force yourself to silence your phone, shut your laptop and spend even half-an-hour away from everything and alone in your head1, you’ll notice the benefits creeping into your headspace rapidly.

1. or with friends and loved ones [↩]

In one of those strange pieces of serendipity that come along now and again, no sooner had I Tweeted out yesterday’s blog post than I came across this Tweet from friend and fellow Twitterer, Jeanne.

A Twitter pimp extraordinaire, screenwriter and black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Jeanne is an inspiration to many, from her Twitter feed and blog to hosting the weekly US #scriptchat sessions.

And what wonderful timing as I resolved to give up fear for lent, for Jeanne to link through to her blog post about doing exactly the same three years ago and never looking back.

In 2008, I gave up fear for Lent.  It changed my life forever.

Jeanne V Bowerman, jeannevb.com

Read her full post here and be inspired to join me on my fear-shedding journey.

If you’ve established yourself a strict, productive routine, it can be hugely beneficial to give yourself some slack now and again.

As you probably know by now, I’m training for the 3 Peaks Challenge in June this year. Since I’m much further behind all the other members of the team, I’ve set myself a rigorous and punishing work, training and dietary schedule to get myself in shape.

Motivation for anything can be hard to maintain, but even more so when you’re limiting and/or being tough on yourself, restricting certain things and enforcing others. That’s why I’ve taken to giving myself a ‘cheat day’ once a week to allow me to indulge, slack off and generally slob around a bit.

Including a cheat day as part of your regular schedule – whether it’s a day off from work, a day with no internet, eating whatever you like or just enjoying something you don’t usually have time for – can be a much stronger motivational tool than a long-term goal; knowing that you’ve got a ‘rest day’ coming up can help you work harder and more efficiently as well as increase your positivity and productivity.

Don’t be so hard on yourself; cheating’s only cheating when it does you a disservice. Sometimes cheating’s just the best way to move forward.

I’ve been in a funk since the weekend.

Working too hard, not playing enough and feeling generally a little run down, I’ve been struggling to concentrate and get my head in order with no inspiration to get anything done.

Then, today, thanks to a friend on Twitter, I did the one simple thing that works every time. I got off my arse.

The simple act of standing from your sofa, your desk, your workbench and going and doing something can be all the inspiration you need to get back up and at ’em.

Next time you’re funking1, just choose something, get up and DO IT.

1. new word! [↩]

A natural part of life is looking back over the past and – occasionally – wishing you had a passport back to the “good old days”.

Yearning for the past, however, precludes us from looking to the future. Facing the in the wrong direction not only leads to heavy-hearted nostalgia1, but also stops us being open to new ideas and new opportunities.

Most frequently, we hark back to the days of “carefree joy” and “spontaneity” that marked our teenage years, but it’s vital never to forget that everything we’ve experienced – and especially all the good stuff – we were able to enjoy and consequently remember fondly because we were open to a wide range of possibilities and new adventures.

There’s nothing wrong with looking back; just make sure it’s a glance over your shoulder, not a 180˚ turn from your forward path.

1. or worse, sentimentality [↩]

Starting a debate is a great way to engage your creative muscles. Not only does it force you to examine your own perspectives, it also opens you up to taking on board new ideas.

Great debates create new angles to examine problems and new ways to solve them.

As a writer, stirring debate can also help you to write both sides of an argument. I frequently start writing scenes between two characters and realise that it’s totally one-sided because I agree strongly with one of the characters. By entering a debate with my friends and Twitter buddies, I can get different views and arguments that help me round out my characters in a much more successful way.

What debates have you used to aid your writing or creativity? How did you get them started – is the interactivity of Twitter the best way to go, or the public discussion of Facebook?

This weekend, I caught up on the BBC’s awesome BTS doc on COME FLY WITH ME, the new series from LITTLE BRITAIN creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

One thought from an interview with Matt Lucas really struck me. Inevitably, there was a question about how you follow up a series as successful as LB was1. Lucas commented, on topping LB:

Can we do something as big as that? No. Can we do something better than that? Certainly.

And there’s the rub: whatever we’re setting out to create, the aim should never be about creating something bigger, simply creating something better.

Striving for size and reach will bring pressures and compromises; striving for quality will not only better ensure excellence, but also come with its own–much wider–rewards and may end up being both bigger and better.

1. and love it or hate it, you can’t deny its success [↩]

Everyone has bad days. It’s a natural thing; life can’t always be sunshine and popping candy.  The trick is not to let bad days absorb you and pull you down into a spiral of bad mood, bad attitude and – as a result – more bad days.

One of the purposes of my original blog (archived here) was to constantly remind myself of the good things in life; the simple things that happen every day to make you smile.1

Getting through bad days is all about finding that kernel of goodness, that moment of levity, that scrap of positivity and grabbing hold of it with both hands. It’s not always going to make your bad day go swimmingly, but by looking for the good in every bad day, though, you’re opening yourself up to the positive experiences, rather than closing yourself off: that road leads to wallowing.

Don’t sweat the bad days, just try to find the good that you can carry forward into tomorrow so you don’t let the day that’s gone before rule the next day, or the next, or the next.

1. hence the title: Smile Through It [↩]