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Staying Motivated

Cover of Practical Creative Writing on a post about staying motivatedAre you having problems staying motivated? Can’t get the energy together to carry out your plans?

I’ve been through this myself and this is how I recovered my motivation.

Staying motivated isn’t usually a problem for me.

I say usually because I have experienced several episodes of depression during my life and at these times motivation was a big problem.

However, depression isn’t the only factor when we lose our motivation and I have learned that sometimes we need to simply take a break and relax.

I live the Burren in Galway. My husband and I chose this place because it is exactly a mile walk from the sea.

I thought living in such a beautiful and dramatic landscape would make it easier for me to feel positive and remain motivated.

Unfortunately, an accidentman walking on scenic road illustrating an article for writers on staying motivated soon after moving house put paid to my walking adventures.

It also meant we put off a lot of the jobs we had planned to do around the house.

Instead, we focused on my mobility and care issues.

I was forced to leave my writing for a while too. The medication I was taking made me feel groggy and sleepy – writing was impossible.

WHEN GETTING OUT OF BED WAS A PROBLEM

It was hard staying motivated enough even to get out of bed during this period. Getting up, washed and dressed took over an exhausting hour and a half – even with help.

It took the best part of a year and two operations before I could resume walking and even now I sometimes have difficulties.

When I recovered I felt this burning compulsion to somehow catch up on all the tasks I had been unable to complete.

Staying motivated was no longer a problem! The problem now was finding time to do everything I wanted to do.

As well as writing night and day, I wanted to complete other jobs on the house and develop my wilderness into a garden.

Oh and I’m writing about my garden now too. If you’re interested in seeing me working at transforming an overgrown tangle of briar and thistle into a garden you’ll find it here at www.gracelikestogarden.com

HOW I RECOVERED MY MOTIVATION

During my recovery, I was forced to stay still and spent my time sitting – reading, thinking and planning.

Making all these plans and noting my ideas helped me enormously. It made me feel nearer to the time when I would be walking and able to put these plans into action.

One thing I have learned from this is that stillness is great for creativity. Read this post on beating writer’s block with mindfulness – it helped me.

As I got better I discovered that all my ideas were pent-up and saved up, ready to be unleashed when I recovered.

So here I am – unleashed! Much recovered, much writing and very much staying motivated.

So if you have lost your motivation – I recommend taking some time off – as much as you can.

Simply rest and plan but don’t do anything to put those plans into operation.

Allow your creativity to take a break. This break will act as a reboot for your mind. When you return to the tasks you have planned you will find yourself rearing to go.

I have learned a lot from this experience so I do know how it feels when you lose your motivation.

Sometimes small things help. I personally love this poem.

Don’t give up we can’t be motivated and inspired all the time. Read this post here for more help on how to get motivated.

Bye for now – keep going and keep writing!

For lots more on inspiration click here.


PRACTICAL CREATIVE WRITING EXERCISES

You won’t be able to stop writing because these beautiful and inspiring exercises will banish your writing block right now.

Cover of Practical Creative Writing on a post about staying motivated

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