Getting things done - Holiday Motivation

[caption id="attachment_685" align="alignright" width="300"][] My Morning Workspace[/caption]

By reading the topic, "getting things done", you may think that I have a silver bullet that will solve all of your procrastination problems, especially through the holidays. However, that is not and never will be the case. I have as much motivation as the next person, which can be very little or an obsessive drive to complete a task.

Now, that being said, holiday season always tend to look good on paper to complete those tasks you wanted to complete. "Oh, I have a week off, so I can write my blog, finish that woodworking project, clean the garage, watch that movie, and still have hours upon hours remaining". For those who experienced Thanksgiving yesterday, your day probably went more like this: "Woke up at a family member's house (didn't have your office to do something you thought you were going to do), turned on the TV to watch the Macy's Parade, help prep some thanksgiving dinner food, watch some football, have an amazing meal, watch a little more football (as you fall asleep), wake up and have dessert... you get the point. The thing about that is we tend to beat ourselves up over not completing "our plan".

Here are my suggestions to feel accomplished, and still enjoy the holidays.

Set realistic goals

That may seem obvious but be honest with yourself about what a realistic goal is. Example: "I want to paint my house this thanksgiving weekend." Have you considered that you may not even be AT your house this thanksgiving weekend, or what if it rains/snows, are you going to be ok with not completing that task? I like to set simple goals that I can do early in the morning when I first wake up, it generally gets my "task-mind" working and then I get some momentum, which leads to suggestion two.

Get some momentum

Momentum is a dangerous thing. It can be positive or negative. We often don't think of momentum being negative, but depending the path it is easy to see the difference. That goes back to what I just suggested, set small tasks when you first wake up, doing 5 minutes of exercise, or taking 3 minutes of silence/meditation can lead some strong momentum. If you start early, the momentum is cumulative, so keep going!

Have a simple routine

If you have a simple routine on how you start your day, I have found that I truly enjoy the rest of my day, but if I miss a little part of it, I get out of whack. I think the final suggestion is the most important.

Don't beat yourself up

A good friend of mine said something that has stuck with me. I had a tendency to beat myself up for not being perfect, not finishing something, or worse, not starting something I wanted to do. He said, "put down the bat, you are hurting a friend of mine". I was beating up myself and not paying attention to the world around me. Not really considering how my self-destructive behavior actually hurt others. However, when I am a force of happiness and being present, then the world around me looks much better.

Enjoy your holidays, be present wherever you are, celebrate family, friends, and realize you can create your own momentum. The world may not always fit into "your plan", but the plan that happens is often better than what you wanted.

Thanks for stopping by and have a WONDERFUL holiday season!

Merry Christmas!