In ‘normal’ everyday life I struggle with motivation. One week I am in the gym 4 or 5 days, the next I don’t go once.
Most of the time this is because I have thrown myself back into increasing my fitness levels and toning up. But more often than not this just leaves me feeling burnt out, I start hating the exercise that I have been doing and start prioritising everything other than keeping active. I’ll blame this on working late, other responsibilities, and feeling tired. A week or so later, I’ll start feeling sluggish, and then eventually I commit myself back into it.
I’ve found it really hard to break the cycle and also not to force myself into a routine, especially with the current circumstances it’s normal to try and overcompensate by constantly keeping busy and trying to distract yourself.
To stop my overthinking and to improve my overall mental wellbeing I have started to complete a colouring book that I’ve had for ages. It seems silly but it’s something that you can do without much thought, but you still need to concentrate which will distract you from any negative thoughts. There are loads of similar alternatives such as puzzles, listening to music or a podcast, drawing, or maybe even completing one of many online courses that are free at the moment. Try to keep your mind active but also not tire yourself out by constantly being on the go, exercise is fantastic for your mental wellbeing but giving yourself a rest is equally as important.
Committing myself to complete a set amount of exercise per week isn’t always doable and if anything, sometimes makes me feel even less motivated to get moving.
It’s important to set small goals that won’t over face you and that you will actually enjoy doing. If you’ve found yourself feeling unmotivated and sluggish, do 15-20 minutes or so of something active that you like. For me this is Yoga, (there’s loads of free easy to follow apps available to download that suits most abilities at the moment too) it’s important to feel some accomplishment and not to feel like you’ve failed after not completing a run or a workout class for example. This doesn’t have to be something that will burn loads of calories and get your heart rate up, I’ve found that it’s better to start with something that will ease you back into enjoying and feeling the benefits of being more active, not something that will put you off it.
Give yourself options for different types of exercise.
Depending on how you feel that day, choose something that will make you feel good. Here’s my own list of options; 20 minutes or 60 minutes yoga, walking the dogs, going for a run, 20 minutes or 60 minutes circuit workout. Depending on how I feel that day, there’s always something that I can do, no matter how big or small, that I will enjoy doing once I am doing it and might encourage me to do a bit more the next day.
My new routine is to do something every day, not to do a set exercise that I have already planned in. This way I don’t guilt-trip myself into doing something that I won’t enjoy but I am still as active. I might not be doing 4 to 5 high-intensity workouts in one week, but across the month I have kept more active, I’m feeling better and I am actually enjoying the exercise that I am doing.
Don’t make yourself feel guilty for not doing as much as you might think you should. It’s completely normal to lack motivation in everyday life, never mind in this current situation when it may feel like there’s little to look forward to each day. Keeping trying to find little things that you will enjoy and that takes up your time in a positive way each day. And (obviously) keep active – whether it’s a 15-minute walk or a high-intensity workout it doesn’t matter as long as you feel better for it.
Here’s a list of free resources that I have found useful…
- Calm, take a look at this if you feel that you’d benefit from some easy mindfulness exercises, resources to help you sleep and meditations look here.
- Crayola, free adult colouring pages
- Couch to 5K app, NHS app and online guidance that will help you to ease yourself into jogging
- Podcasts, there’s loads of different podcast apps and websites and plenty of choices no matter what your interests. Examples include SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, BBC podcasts.
- Free online courses, by the Open University
- Online camera course by Nikon
- Virtual Pub Quiz
– Jess Heaton
