Handy tips on motivation and the long weekend

In my search for motivation - you may have guessed I've spent a bit of time 'playing around' on the Internet (basically avoiding the work I need to get motivated about).

I've discovered that I'm not the only one out there: Lorna and Tamara from Freelance Parent have recently blogged about it too.

Bootstrapper has '50 ways to create a motivational workspace' and Cheryl Wright has detailed instructions on how to motivate yourself to achieve your goals.

It seems there are a few others out there with motivational problems!

My distractions this week have been: searching the web for posts on motivation :-), adding blogs to my bloglines account, Facebook, knitting a jumper for my god daughter, making an Easter hat for the toddler, playing on our new Wii and finally cleaning the house for my in-laws visit this weekend! However there has been some work done and I'm sure (I hope) that my motivation will return with a vengeance once I wave them off on Monday night.

Happy long (very, very, long) weekend - whether you are working, playing or biting your tongue over the amount of chocolate being shovelled into your kids.

Motivation's what I need

I've definitely left the holiday feeling behind with an urgent and taxing job during my first week back at my desk.

Since then though, well lets say I need a good swift kick up the proverbial. It may be that there was three weeks worth of Sky+ to watch (and that the box kept breaking down as it doesn't seem to be able to cope with being more than 40% full) or just the first signs of Spring but I just keep finding that the day has passed and I've done virtually nothing on the work front). I can't even say I've been doing much on the home front either - the dust that we left at the end of January is still evident (though if the in-laws decide that they are coming for Easter after all I'll have to get myself into gear on that too).



My usual motivation is money or lack of it and that should be the case here - bills to pay at the end of the month and insufficient funds to clear them. So what could it be? - wanting to be back on holiday? no. More pressing social and family matters? no. Boredom? hmm, maybe.



As much as I moaned about my client from another planet their project was the last one I worked on before I went away and another from them was the first one when I came back. It was all high pressure and confusion, frustration and talking at cross purposes - in short a bit like my old in-house job.



But the time has come to give myself a serious talking to. If work was always like that I'd have a serious burn out (been there, done that and got the t-shirt) or I'd blow my client relations by actually saying the things I'm thinking and blogging about. The 'boring' stuff is my bread and butter and something interesting is always waiting in the wings :-) Obviously my timing is as wrong as ever - as the preschooler is now out of nursery for the Easter holidays!



I'd be interested to know how everyone else pulls themselves out of a work rut.