Five Steps to Getting Organised and Feeling Motivated

It’s a cliché I know where does the time go? It seems like only a few weeks ago that we were waving goodbye to summer and now here we are welcoming another month and racing towards… dare I say it?… Christmas! I know, too soon to mention it but I find that things really start to ramp up after Bonfire Night and I for one, tend to feel overwhelmed and overcommitted by early December but I’ve got high expectations for this month and I’m feeling positive about my workload.

November is going to be a sort of new beginning for me. There is a lot I want to achieve on the blog front before the end of the year and of course there will be the usual Christmas prep running alongside it. However, I am determined to get organised and enjoy a productive and stress free (ok – less stressful) run up to Christmas.

If like me, you feel like you could do with a few ideas to help you to organise your time better and feel motivated to reach your goals then my Five Steps To Getting Organised And Staying Motivated guide is for you.

Visualise and be inspired – I’ll admit this is a tough one but it really helps to visualise what things will look like once you have achieved your goal. Whether it’s tidying your garage or starting a new business, imagining how you will enjoy reaching your goal can be a great motivator. Let the thought of reaching your goal, no matter how big or small, spur you on!

Also be inspired by others, look around you, who do you admire? I can think of a few people who I have deep admiration for, they inspire me and I use that inspiration to keep me going. Inspiration comes in many guises and yours need not be a person, it could be a simple magazine cutting or a Pinterest board, think about what you value and what you want to achieve. Consider what you can learn from others and how you can get from A to B. Allow yourself the time to think about your goals and motivation. Turning inspiration into motivation can be hard but just keep that end goal in mind. I found myself in need of a boost recently and this post by Amanda Start was just what I needed to get me back on track.

Set goals – write down all your goals and when you have finished choose only one item on your list. We’ll call this single item your ‘major’ goal. Break your ‘major’ goal down into the smaller tasks you will have complete in order to achieve your goal – still with me?

In a nutshell: choose one goal, break it down into small steps and see it through, then repeat with the next goal. Monica from the Elgin Avenue wrote a brilliant piece on the ‘One Touch Productivity Technique’ here. I loved it and found it very helpful in terms for improving time management and productivity.

Set deadlines – trust me, you need these. Be realistic about what you can achieve in a specific time period but do set deadlines so you can reach your goals and move on.

Reward yourself – promising yourself a reward after a task has been completed can really help to keep you on track. I would suggest small reward for achieving mini goals or completing small tasks like ‘a cup of coffee once I have finished this blog post’ and a bigger reward like a new handbag for example for achieving a major goal.

Just start – that’s right, time to get on with the job at hand. You have organised yourself and formulated a plan so just make a start. Often this is the hardest thing to do but believe in yourself and your abilities and take that first step.

Now it’s over to you, what do you think? Do you have any tried and tested methods that you swear by? I’m all ears!

Antonia x

PS: Practicing mindfulness can be a useful tool for goal setting and motivation as it helps us to see the bigger picture, you can read a little more about it here in a post I wrote a while back.

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