Today we’re going to talk about what to do when you don’t feel like doing anything. And this happens, it is completely normal. I feel like that from time to time I feel like that. I feel like that right now and so I thought it was a great opportunity to actually make a video about what I do when I don’t feel like doing anything. I think there is a lot of talk has happened lately where people are realizing that maybe motivation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be because a lot of times you don’t feel motivated and you still have to get shit done. So I am sharing some things that I do when I feel like doing absolutely nothing.
Do nothing
I often think that we’re like, “No, you have to push through,” but sometimes you really do just need to do nothing. Sometimes you need to listen to your body, your instincts and just rest. Like this weekend I wanted to get so much done and in the process of that, I think I just felt so exhausted. So I just pretty much slept and watched American Dad and it was great. The previous weekend I’ve been an event and I hadn’t really had a weekend and I had just been like working for 10 or whatever day straight with no downtime, my body just needed to rest and sleep and that’s completely okay.
Journal
It depends on who you are and what works for you, but some people like to go find prompts. Some people just like to free write and set a timer and just see what comes out. And a lot of times I find when I do that I unleash whatever it is that I’ve been feeling stuck with. And sometimes I’ll realize things that I hadn’t even noticed or a problem or something that was frustrating me or keeping me stagnant. So what I personally do when I decide the journal is I have Alexa, play some zen music and I just sit there and turn off any other distractions, put my phone away or put it on airplane mode or turn it upside down and just write and try to fill up a page and see what comes out. I feel a lot better after that normally. And sometimes it’s just a matter of I needed to get some ideas are needed to identify what feelings I had that I wasn’t really noticing. And a lot of times that will come out in your journaling.
Dance Party
The third thing that I like to do, which I have mentioned before, as you probably know, I’m a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan, I have a dance party. There are days I’m sitting in this exact spot and I have so many things to do and I’m like I just can’t. And once again I call my girl Alexa and I tell her to play a song for me and I just have to dance to one song and just get my body moving and it feels so good it just to move your body and step out of where you’re at and step into something else and just feel free and in the moment.
Workout
I know it’s hard when you’re saying, “Oh my god, I have so much to do,” or when you feel like doing nothing to get yourself up and go work out or whether that’s working out in your home, a gym where you live or going in leaving to go to a gym. I know that that can seem like a lot. But once you get there, it usually is really helpful. And if you’re feeling like doing nothing in this sluggish way, where all you want to do is sleep, sometimes that’ll be the kickstart that you need to really set you back on track. After I work out I need to shower, the shower helps wake me up, and then I’ve burned calories in and gotten rid of some energy. And a lot of times not that productive energy, but the anxious energy that can come when you have on your plate or you have anxiety and depression. And so I need to like refuel. And of course you know, I can’t really sleep if I’m super hungry, I can’t fall asleep. So it just kind gets you going and helps you out there.
Work on a different project
I find that sometimes when I feel like I can’t do anything else, I need to shift gears and come back to it later. I think that’s one of the best things that you can do. When you feel stuck or frustrated or unmotivated on a particular project just switch to something else. You can switch to something that is either really mundane, you could do with your eyes closed, or you could do while you watch something on YouTube, or you can switch to something that lets you be really creative. It just really depends on where you’re at and what your mind is dealing with to just try some different things. Play with it.
Meditate
I like to meditate I like to just you know to find a minute meditation on YouTube or on Insight Timer or even some that I’ve received IN programs I’m a part of. It just makes everything really really calm and makes me fill very capable. Like with working out it helps you to check in with yourself and get out of the moment and be present in the moment instead of being in the moment that moment over there where you felt stuck. You can be in the actual moment and not tied up subconsciously in the what-ifs.
Nap
So, sometimes when I meditate, I end up taking a nap. Sometimes you just need to let your brain rest. And that means you don’t need to watch Netflix right now. You don’t need to text someone, you don’t need to call someone. You literally just need to shut down and refresh and reset. And I know some people have really strong feelings about naps. I personally set the alarm for like 30 minutes later. That way I give myself some time to fall asleep and then only get like a 20-minute nap. Which is literally just like a refresher. It’s not asleep. Anything over 30 minutes I call a sleep. If it’s more than 30 minutes you didn’t take a nap you took a sleep. Sometimes you need sleep. For example, Friday I was just so broken down like so exhausted. And I got done with my last meeting and I’ve done a lot of stuff. And I said, Well, I’m going to lay down for a little bit. And I didn’t set an alarm and I ended up sleeping for two hours and my body needed it and that was fine. And then I woke up, I finished the work I needed to do then I called it a day. So it’s about being responsible and knowing if you have a meeting a certain time, what time you need to wake up in order to show up and be present in that meeting. You can’t say oh, I have a meeting at 2pm, I’m going to wake up at 155 and then you show up and you’re like, “Huh, what?” It is really, really important to give yourself that room to play. And if you are one those people who aren’t really used to meditating, try to make sure that you’re in a place when you meditate that you probably won’t fall asleep if you don’t have the bandwidth to take a nap after you meditate.
Breath
I know a lot of times that seem counterintuitive to say you need to breathe because we breathe naturally. We don’t think about it. But so often I catch myself holding my breath and whether that’s my actual physical breath or like my mental breath of just being like, just, you know, caught up in holding my breath. So it’s really important to just stop and breathe and my coach taught me this exercise where you put one hand on your forehead and one hand on your heart, and you just take a few deep breaths. And a lot of times when I’m feeling really anxious, or like I’m short-circuiting, that just makes me pause. And let’s meet a reset. So just taking some deep breaths. And if you don’t have time to do a full meditation, just taking three or five deep breaths really will help you pause.
This is a mini-episode so I won’t go on too much longer but so, eight different tips that you can use when you don’t feel like doing shit. Do nothing. Embrace it. Journal, dance party, work out, work on another project, meditate, nap, or breathe. All right. Thank you so much for joining me and I will catch you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai