A motivational speaker gave blood, what was his blood type?
…B-Positive
It’s hard to deal with university work in general, but when you have a mental illness that often leaves you with no motivation and feeling worthless, it’s hard to be motivated and deal with the workload. I’ve found that it’s best to find ways around it than dwell on it. So here are some tips on how to effectively get motivated and get your work done.
First thing’s first, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT AND YOU ARE NOT LAZY, putting yourself down won’t help anything.
#1 Make a motivation board or wall! I have a whiteboard where I write my weekly schedule and generic things that I need to work on, as well as some little quotes to get me through the day. I also have a wall in my room where I have pictures of when I am happiest, cute postcards, and little wooden stickers with quotes on them. Let yourself be creative and make something that will inspire you! Pinterest is a must for this! And Paperchase is FULL of cute postcards with nice quotes and sayings on them.
#2 Don’t plan for the whole week because you never know until you wake up what kind of day you will have. Instead:
- Plan at the start of each day
- Make the plans and goals simple to achieve
#3 When you are having a good day get as much done as possible.
#5 Preparation is key!! Get things done early and in small increments. You don’t want to have the worst nightmare ever when you leave work until two days before the deadline and you’re having a down day and can’t bring yourself to do it.
#6 Reward yourself adequately. If you check off all the items on your list, then celebrate it. I’ve seen myself simply buying grapes, or go for that skirt I’ve been looking at for weeks, or even better, some chocolate!
#7 Don’t be scared to not finish everything on your list – sometimes we need some more time and we shouldn’t spread ourselves too thin. Reschedule and rearrange, nothing is set in stone.