You know that feeling, the one that says, “I still have a whole workday to go through”? It’s awful. The worst thing is having to get up, go to work, and be productive when you’re exhausted, uninspired, and ready to crawl back into bed. Even while you may know cognitively that you’re not the only one who has ever felt that way, the hardest part is that it can still feel very lonely in the moment.
Try these six strategies to boost your Friday motivation if you’re feeling down and want to get out of it.
1. Eat a Solid Breakfast and Plan to Eat Lunch
Have a substantial breakfast as the first step in boosting your Friday motivation. The adage “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is common knowledge. It turns out that our parents weren’t only trying to convince us to eat something before school. According to studies, eating breakfast can aid with mood, visual-motor functioning, memory, and recall. Yet, studies have shown that the advantages of the micronutrient boost from breakfast do eventually wear off. The body has to be refueled, just like a car with a full tank of gas that runs out after a long trip. Because of this, scheduling meals for breakfast and lunch on a day when you’re feeling under the weather may provide you with the extra boost you need to get through the day. By causing low blood sugar, skipping meals can make you feel weak and exhausted. If you already find it difficult to stay motivated, skipping meals can simply make you feel more lethargic and uninspired to accomplish anything.
2. Prioritize What’s Urgent
The cheat sheet has always been a favorite of mine. I don’t cheat, but I do enjoy being aware of what needs to be done. When you already lack motivation, no one wants to waste any of their valuable energy trying to figure out what has to be done. No matter who you are, there is a good chance that you have at least one or two tasks that you weren’t able to finish earlier in the week by Friday of any given week. Here is how I quickly identify what needs to be done right now.
Just consider these three issues:
Exist any tasks whose due dates have already gone but which must still be completed?
What undertaking is the most overdue among those?
Which of the unfinished projects will take the shortest amount of time to significantly advance or finish?
This should make it simple for you to pick out at least one project that you can concentrate on carefully for a while while feeling accomplished.
3. Tackle the Low-Hanging Fruit
Taking up the low-hanging fruit is another method to renew your Friday motivation. There is nothing wrong with starting with the simple tasks. Perhaps you are so exhausted that tackling the pressing responsibilities will sap all of your vitality. There is nothing improper with completing the obvious, simple tasks. Low-hanging chores that are simple to do include emails, filing, data entry, document reconciliation, follow-up calls, editing or modifying written work, and research.
Your sense of accomplishment will increase whenever you complete these simpler chores. You can use this sense of accomplishment to motivate you to take on some more difficult activities or to finish all the simpler ones so that you can focus on the more challenging assignments the following week.
4. Give Yourself at Least Two Scheduled Breaks
During the workday, allow yourself at least two scheduled breaks. Life is challenging. It is frustrating to feel obligated to work when you are not feeling up to it. Don’t make matters worse by making yourself spend the entire day seated in front of the computer without a break. If they aren’t already a distant memory for some, the days of thinking that “lunch is for punks and working 80 hours a week is what you should be doing” are passing.
Actually, researchers found that, despite the fact that “taking brief breaks during the working day may not have as visible an impact as taking a vacation, study has demonstrated considerable benefits. Research have shown that taking breaks throughout the day can help to maintain performance and decrease or prevent stress.
Make sure to set three alarms: one for lunch, one for two 20-minute breaks, and one before you settle down at your desk for the day. By making yourself miserable in front of your computer, you are not demonstrating anything to anyone. You merit kindness and adaptability. Allow your radical self-care throughout these breaks.
5. Listen to Some Upbeat Tunes
Adding some uplifting music to your playlist is another method to increase your Friday motivation. Music is therapeutic. It is no secret that sound vibrations can impact our emotions. Ancient societies were aware of this and welcomed it through rituals like chanting and the usage of singing bowls, chimes, bells, and other instruments of sound as therapeutic aids. Chanting is used in healing and energy-shifting techniques such as Kirtan and Bhakti yoga. Bells and chimes are frequently used in Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies for spiritual healing. We have adapted the usage of singing bowls for energetic healing throughout the modern globe.
Most people may think back to a time or two in their lives when music or sound helped them feel differently. The listener is demonstrated to be directly affected by music. According to studies, listening to music while working can improve both mood and quality of output. Your favorite album can be played in the background while you try to complete a few tasks if you are feeling particularly unmotivated. If listening to music with words makes it impossible for you to concentrate on your work and you don’t enjoy classical or traditional jazz, try genres like trip hop, house, ambient, beach house, and jamband. Also, you might appreciate musicians like Grammatik, Thievery Corporation, and Bonobo.
6. Give Yourself Something to Look Forward To
I’m a big believer in being in the present as a yogi. Yet, there are instances when the present is a little too intense, and being overly present won’t make you feel better. Because “knowing that something good is coming your way encourages you to finish those activities you may not really want to undertake,” positive anticipation might be your secret weapon in certain situations.
Everyone enjoys receiving praise, especially when they are completing a task they dislike. The best approach to ensure that you will be rewarded for the effort it took to get through the day is to give yourself something to look forward to. The compensation need not be very high. It can be as simple as eating ice cream, going for a stroll, hanging out with friends, or just relaxing for a few hours with your phone set to do not disturb. When I was in boarding school, I frequently utilized this trick. My friends and I would let ourselves get excited about tiny things, like sipping lime rickeys at Brigham’s, because the time between semesters in New England would feel so lengthy, especially in the winter. It did, believe it or not.
The next time you experience a Friday malaise, give it a try. Choose anything to look forward to, no matter how minor, and pay attention to how your energy changes.
