I’m actually writing this in the middle of the night, because the I’m the person on staff who has the hardest time meeting a 24-hour-advance deadline. (Shh! I’m hoping my charm and server-kicking skills will continue to carry me.) When most of you read this, we’ll be smack in the middle of Monday.
Since it’s Monday, and I obviously need to figure out better ways to motivate myself to get my writing in on time, today’s poll is about what motivates you. Is it something basic, like coffee and your favorite song first thing in the morning? Maybe something more spiritual or emotional? How do you get yourself going on a Monday?
7 replies on “LTP: 5/16 Monday Motivators”
Food, music or Murder She Wrote. I work at home and I get to have TV in the background to keep me company, so I drag myself over to the worktable with promises of cheesy old crime dramas on Netflix.
I watched Murder She Wrote yesterday to help me focus on cleaning my bedroom! It is Perfect! I also got the kitchen cleaned, make lunch and organized my closet while watching. :)
Go, JB!
Motivation = Environmental control, for me.
If I can wake up early, follow my morning routines, get in before everyone else, have a tidy desk and an organized inbox, I can kick some serious ass.
But, I’m sure you can all see the flaws in my motivational logic. Though it works more often than you’d think. Then again, sometimes it just comes down to a deadline and fear.
Once I find a song that works, I will just listen to it on repeat over and over and over until I get done what I need to get done. Sometimes it takes a while to find that perfect song on shuffle, and it’s usually a different song each time. I finished/edited a “final” draft of my MA thesis listening to You Can’t Always Get What You Want on repeat for ten hours straight the night before my deadline. I once did a late-night five hour drive listening to Make Me Lose Control on repeat the entire trip. I have to find the right one for my mood and my project, but once it clicks just right, it’s repeat-one until I’m done.
You might be surprised to find that I still like these songs, too. :-p
And now that song is in my head, so I’m going to get it in all of yours. :)
I love that song! I’m pretty sure it came out the summer I learned to drive, and all the songs from that era make me think of freedom.
When I’m starting a long and seriously mind numbing project for work (it generally starts on a Monday too, just to make it more painful), I grab a cup of tea, pop in the ipod and prepare to sit for hours. I can’t move around with the ipod so it literally tethers me to the desk. The best music to keep me moving and focused on the project? Lady Gaga. Seriously. I can plug her in and go for hours. When I need something new and fresh (generally known as Tuesday), I switch to La Roux and Kylie.
It saves, y’all.
(at home, it’s Netflix Instant TV series- one episode right after the other.)