"The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that's when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it." John C. Maxwell. Willpower is the ability to do something even when it feels like work. It's vital to build and maintain your willpower if you want to complete challenging projects. It's also vital to understand that you only have a certain amount at any current time. For instance, you might have noticed that on some days, you're sensible about food, going to the gym but going all the same, and sitting down to your work with only a small glance at the television and one quick email check. The next day, however, your willpower appears to not only have deserted you, but taken normal decency with it. On the way home from work, the thought of trying to make it to your house before eating seems impossible, so you stop on the way. The muffin you buy disappears in a puff of icing sugar. You start the usual fight with yourself about the gym but suddenly realise you're just not going to win, and so flop down in front of the TV and the rest of the night is (oh so forgettable) history.
So what happened? Where was all the glorious willpower you had the day before? These are the times when you have stretched, strained, used, drained, soaked up, dried up and generally bailed out your willpower. The saddest thing is that you probably didn't even spend it on anything good. So let us look at where willpower can go, and how we can plug up these holes to maintain a steady stream of it throughout the day.
There are three big willpower destroyers: Hunger - Sleep Deprivation - Stress
Hunger
How many times have you been told to stay away from shopping when you're hungry? It's based on our complete inability to resist every bad food that leaps into the trolley, because hunger kills willpower If you rationalised it you would realise that if you ate that, and that, and the other thing in there right now, all at this moment, you would explode. But all you can here is your stomach, and your brain is curled in a corner, hugging said stomach, "Moaaare! More food!"
Of course, food cravings are directly related to your hunger; however, hunger also takes away your willpower to do other things as well. It affects your concentration, your mood and your general ability to think about anything that isn't food.
Now, if you the other two willpower killers are under control, you might be able to battle through hunger. If you're planning on going on any severe diet, do everything you can to keep the other two Willpower Destroyers satiated. However, why make things more difficult for yourself than you have to? If you're trying to complete a challenging project, make sure you eat sensible meals at regular times.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep has been receiving a lot of attention in magazines and self-help books. By now, surely someone has surely told you that you need more sleep. I agree that it is very individual, and there are some people out there who really do only need four hours, but for most of us, we generally need around eight hours of good quality sleep (sometimes more in winter or at different times in our personal mood cycle).
Good quality sleep cannot be underestimated. If you want to do one thing to reenergise your creativity, joy and peace with life, look first to your sleeping habits. After years of having broken sleep, you might think it is normal, but it is definitely worth taking the time and effort to improve it. You owe it to yourself as a writer, so think of this as part of your job requirement: get better sleep.
But some sad news for those who were already leaning over to tell their partner not to wake them before midday tomorrow: it's the hours before midnight that seem to do the most for people. Some people do appear to work well after midnight, but first let's check: are you waking up after eight hours of sleep feeling refreshed? It might be that you've just messed up your natural circadian rhythms, rather than being a true night owl. However, if you have a system that is working for you, or you have to have odd hours for work, don't let me interfere. I only offer food for thought.
Simple Steps For Better Sleep Hygiene
There is a lot of information out there on how to improve your sleep, most of which focuses on your 'sleep hygiene'. Sleep hygiene relates to good sleep habits, and addresses common sleeping problems that are caused by bad habits, which you may have had for many years. So, it is time to start retraining yourself to get the most out of a night's shut-eye.
Here are five practical tips you can put into practice immediately, and build into good habits (more can be found in my book "The Five Day Writer's Retreat").
1. Upgrade your mattress. Considering we spend a third of our lives in bed, it is amazing how little time people spend on choosing the right mattress for them. If you constantly wake up with slight aches and pains, or feel you need to crick your neck every time you get out of bed, you should think about investing time and a bit of money into finding a better mattress.
2. Turn off the computer screen. We now think nothing of staring at a computer screen all day and night. Yet research is showing that the backlit screens are affecting our ability to switch off and get to sleep. And yes, this includes your smart phone as well. E-readers that have e-ink and no backlighting are okay. So the recommendation is that if you want to fall asleep more easily, turn off the computer/TV etc about an hour before you want to go to sleep. 'But what will I do?' You exclaim. Well, aren't you a writer? You should read of course! Jump into bed after your well-developed ritual and snuggle down with a good book.
3. Get rid of noise. It can be difficult to do much about this, but try to think of ways to reduce the noise in your room. Some people wear earplugs to help with this, but I understand that they can be uncomfortable, and don't really like them myself. (The only time I've used them religiously was when I was traveling with my parents and we shared a hotel room. My father's snoring is atrocious.) Which leads to the question of what to do with noisy partners. Well, if you have suggested and tried various snore-reducing steps, then you will either need earplugs, separate rooms, or just get used to it. My mother somehow did. So do whatever is within your power to reduce noise, but if it affects your relationships, maybe just learn to live with it. A good partner is difficult to come by, after all.
4. Don't work in bed. Okay, I will admit up front that I'm a total failure at this one. I love working in bed and do it all the time. However, I do know that it is reducing the quality of my sleep. If you are serious about improving your sleep, then your bed should be for nothing else than sleep and a bit of pre-sleep fun if you are in a relationship, or a good book if you are happily single. The reason for this is to you train your body to associate the bedroom with sleep and nothing else. If your body is sure of this, it will drift off much more easily.
5. Stimulants. Are you one of those people who believes stimulants don't affect you? Or, on the other hand, do you feel you need a glass of wine or a beer to help you relax at night? I'm not going to dictate to you about these matters - just know that I have my skeptical face on. You might have trained yourself to need these things. However, in a perfectly normal, urban way, I believe that trying to stay as natural as possible in the end allows your body to run along its normal lines. Yes, it might take a few weeks to 'detox', but you are on a retreat, so obviously you want to make some changes. Now is the best time to take action.
Stress
Time to address the third of the Willpower Destroyers: stress. We know that a little bit of stress can be an excellent thing; it gives you a kick of energy before a deadline, it helps improve your fitness when you run, and kicks in your body's natural self-preservation instincts. However, on-going or high levels of stress are bad for many reasons. And the worst thing is that we tend to encourage it in our lives, mistaking it for the benefit of good stress.
Reducing Stress
List what currently stresses you, from the big stressors to the little niggles. If the task seems difficult, put them under these headings: Work, Relationships, Home Environment, Personal, Finance. Try to be as specific as you can, narrowing it down to individuals or particular things. Defining a problem is a large part of overcoming it.
For example, under Work you might list: 'Dealing with client X makes me dread Tuesdays'.
Relationships: Something like, 'The expectations of my family' is too general. Instead try: 'How my mother subtly hints on the phone each time we talk about whether I have a new man in my life.'
Home Environment: Even little things can make a difference, such as 'The way the Tupperware always overflows from the drawers'.
Personal: These are attitudes and thoughts that bring you stress, such 'My weight is slowly creeping further up and soon I'm going to be a balloon.'
Finance: Credit card debt can be an ongoing source of low-grade stress, as can a silent fight with a housemate over who should pay the excess on the phone bill, since neither of you made those calls!
List as many stressors as you can, then divide them into three types of stress: things you can do something about Now, things you should be able to change in the Future and things that Can't be changed. Then list them by how much they irritate you.
Deliberately work through the things you can change now and get rid of as many stressors as you can. Every month or so, update the list and keep working on it. Reducing stress in your life is one of the most effective ways you can increase your general happiness and productivity, so don't just let it slide!
So what happened? Where was all the glorious willpower you had the day before? These are the times when you have stretched, strained, used, drained, soaked up, dried up and generally bailed out your willpower. The saddest thing is that you probably didn't even spend it on anything good. So let us look at where willpower can go, and how we can plug up these holes to maintain a steady stream of it throughout the day.
There are three big willpower destroyers: Hunger - Sleep Deprivation - Stress
Hunger
How many times have you been told to stay away from shopping when you're hungry? It's based on our complete inability to resist every bad food that leaps into the trolley, because hunger kills willpower If you rationalised it you would realise that if you ate that, and that, and the other thing in there right now, all at this moment, you would explode. But all you can here is your stomach, and your brain is curled in a corner, hugging said stomach, "Moaaare! More food!"
Of course, food cravings are directly related to your hunger; however, hunger also takes away your willpower to do other things as well. It affects your concentration, your mood and your general ability to think about anything that isn't food.
Now, if you the other two willpower killers are under control, you might be able to battle through hunger. If you're planning on going on any severe diet, do everything you can to keep the other two Willpower Destroyers satiated. However, why make things more difficult for yourself than you have to? If you're trying to complete a challenging project, make sure you eat sensible meals at regular times.
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep has been receiving a lot of attention in magazines and self-help books. By now, surely someone has surely told you that you need more sleep. I agree that it is very individual, and there are some people out there who really do only need four hours, but for most of us, we generally need around eight hours of good quality sleep (sometimes more in winter or at different times in our personal mood cycle).
Good quality sleep cannot be underestimated. If you want to do one thing to reenergise your creativity, joy and peace with life, look first to your sleeping habits. After years of having broken sleep, you might think it is normal, but it is definitely worth taking the time and effort to improve it. You owe it to yourself as a writer, so think of this as part of your job requirement: get better sleep.
But some sad news for those who were already leaning over to tell their partner not to wake them before midday tomorrow: it's the hours before midnight that seem to do the most for people. Some people do appear to work well after midnight, but first let's check: are you waking up after eight hours of sleep feeling refreshed? It might be that you've just messed up your natural circadian rhythms, rather than being a true night owl. However, if you have a system that is working for you, or you have to have odd hours for work, don't let me interfere. I only offer food for thought.
Simple Steps For Better Sleep Hygiene
There is a lot of information out there on how to improve your sleep, most of which focuses on your 'sleep hygiene'. Sleep hygiene relates to good sleep habits, and addresses common sleeping problems that are caused by bad habits, which you may have had for many years. So, it is time to start retraining yourself to get the most out of a night's shut-eye.
Here are five practical tips you can put into practice immediately, and build into good habits (more can be found in my book "The Five Day Writer's Retreat").
1. Upgrade your mattress. Considering we spend a third of our lives in bed, it is amazing how little time people spend on choosing the right mattress for them. If you constantly wake up with slight aches and pains, or feel you need to crick your neck every time you get out of bed, you should think about investing time and a bit of money into finding a better mattress.
2. Turn off the computer screen. We now think nothing of staring at a computer screen all day and night. Yet research is showing that the backlit screens are affecting our ability to switch off and get to sleep. And yes, this includes your smart phone as well. E-readers that have e-ink and no backlighting are okay. So the recommendation is that if you want to fall asleep more easily, turn off the computer/TV etc about an hour before you want to go to sleep. 'But what will I do?' You exclaim. Well, aren't you a writer? You should read of course! Jump into bed after your well-developed ritual and snuggle down with a good book.
3. Get rid of noise. It can be difficult to do much about this, but try to think of ways to reduce the noise in your room. Some people wear earplugs to help with this, but I understand that they can be uncomfortable, and don't really like them myself. (The only time I've used them religiously was when I was traveling with my parents and we shared a hotel room. My father's snoring is atrocious.) Which leads to the question of what to do with noisy partners. Well, if you have suggested and tried various snore-reducing steps, then you will either need earplugs, separate rooms, or just get used to it. My mother somehow did. So do whatever is within your power to reduce noise, but if it affects your relationships, maybe just learn to live with it. A good partner is difficult to come by, after all.
4. Don't work in bed. Okay, I will admit up front that I'm a total failure at this one. I love working in bed and do it all the time. However, I do know that it is reducing the quality of my sleep. If you are serious about improving your sleep, then your bed should be for nothing else than sleep and a bit of pre-sleep fun if you are in a relationship, or a good book if you are happily single. The reason for this is to you train your body to associate the bedroom with sleep and nothing else. If your body is sure of this, it will drift off much more easily.
5. Stimulants. Are you one of those people who believes stimulants don't affect you? Or, on the other hand, do you feel you need a glass of wine or a beer to help you relax at night? I'm not going to dictate to you about these matters - just know that I have my skeptical face on. You might have trained yourself to need these things. However, in a perfectly normal, urban way, I believe that trying to stay as natural as possible in the end allows your body to run along its normal lines. Yes, it might take a few weeks to 'detox', but you are on a retreat, so obviously you want to make some changes. Now is the best time to take action.
Stress
Time to address the third of the Willpower Destroyers: stress. We know that a little bit of stress can be an excellent thing; it gives you a kick of energy before a deadline, it helps improve your fitness when you run, and kicks in your body's natural self-preservation instincts. However, on-going or high levels of stress are bad for many reasons. And the worst thing is that we tend to encourage it in our lives, mistaking it for the benefit of good stress.
Reducing Stress
List what currently stresses you, from the big stressors to the little niggles. If the task seems difficult, put them under these headings: Work, Relationships, Home Environment, Personal, Finance. Try to be as specific as you can, narrowing it down to individuals or particular things. Defining a problem is a large part of overcoming it.
For example, under Work you might list: 'Dealing with client X makes me dread Tuesdays'.
Relationships: Something like, 'The expectations of my family' is too general. Instead try: 'How my mother subtly hints on the phone each time we talk about whether I have a new man in my life.'
Home Environment: Even little things can make a difference, such as 'The way the Tupperware always overflows from the drawers'.
Personal: These are attitudes and thoughts that bring you stress, such 'My weight is slowly creeping further up and soon I'm going to be a balloon.'
Finance: Credit card debt can be an ongoing source of low-grade stress, as can a silent fight with a housemate over who should pay the excess on the phone bill, since neither of you made those calls!
List as many stressors as you can, then divide them into three types of stress: things you can do something about Now, things you should be able to change in the Future and things that Can't be changed. Then list them by how much they irritate you.
Deliberately work through the things you can change now and get rid of as many stressors as you can. Every month or so, update the list and keep working on it. Reducing stress in your life is one of the most effective ways you can increase your general happiness and productivity, so don't just let it slide!
About the Author:
Need help with self publishing, The Five Day Writer offers consultancy and services to make self-publishing easy. Five_Day_Writer
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