Motivation Monday

When was the last time you stopped and just enjoyed the moment?  This is something I ask myself on a fairly regular basis and is something that I am becoming more and more aware of especially as the daily pressures of living mean that we are often rushing from place to place and thing to thing, not really taking a moment to actually savour the moment.

When I did my mindfulness course this was something that I was taught and has helped me to control my stress and anxiety levels, just to stop what you are doing, even just for a minute, breathe deeply and just take a moment to appreciate the environment that you are in.  The brilliant thing about this is that it can be done anywhere – in the office, at home, travelling, literally anywhere.  Notice how you are breathing, what feelings your body is experiencing, the quality of the light, the sounds around you and just enjoy those things for a moment.

You can take longer than a moment if you are out walking then spend some time noticing all the little things you are enjoying, all the sensations you are experiencing, or if you are taking a break with a cup of coffee, just take time to notice all the little things about it.

when was the last time you took time to enjoy the moment?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Motivation Monday – Stretch

Today’s Motivation is all about stretching.  We spend much of our lives sedentary, sat in front of computers, the tv, sat in transport, whether we are the driver or being driven and our bodies can become achy and stiff due to this.  Today I am motivating you to take time out of your day, maybe once an hour to stretch out those limbs and back.

I have felt the benefits of stretching, part of my physio for my shoulder injury was to stretch the muscles in my shoulder and arm in order to regain movement, but, not only can stretching help to repair damaged muscles and tendons it can also help to rid built-up tension and stress.

One of my favourite stretches is to sit on the floor with my legs out straight in front of me and bring my head down toward my knees before holding for a short while.  This stretch helps the tension that has built up through the day to dissipate and helps with any backache I may have.

Another easy stretch to do is to realign your posture, it is so easy for us to sit and slump or slouch and I find that checking my posture and bringing myself back into a “straight spine” posture can help too.  Just imagine that someone has got hold of the hair on the crown of your head and is pulling you upward.  I find that my breathing is better, I feel more awake and my concentration improves as well!

Do you have any favourite stretches that you like to do?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Motivation Monday

There is always something that we are wondering how to do, a skill we would like to master, or something we wished we knew more about and today’s Motivation Monday is a call to you to use this week to learn something new.

Whether it is using a new cooking recipe, mastering the settings on your digital camera, learning a new craft or just brushing up on skills that you haven’t used in a while, there is nothing better for boosting self-esteem than getting to grips with something that we want to know.

There are lots of places that offer tutorials such as Pinterest, YouTube, WikiHow or Skillshare that offer really useful and enlightening step by step tutorials or you could get together with a friend that already has skills or knowledge that you would like to learn and have a skill swap day where you both can learn something from each other.

I recently hosted another Crafternoon with my friends, we all got together and another friend taught us all about buttercream icing and we got to decorate our own cakes with different piping attachments and I was amazed to learn that the nozzles we used, while all looking similar, produced vastly different effects.  We had a really fun day and raised some funds for Mind along the way!

What are you thinking about learning?  What sources are your favourite for tutorials?  I’d be really interested to hear all about them so let me know in the comments!

Motivation Monday – Get it Done

I am a huge procrastinator and love nothing more than putting off things until the last minute instead of getting them done and dusted as soon as I think about them.  This goes for chores, phone calls, emails and any other task that I should do.

But, I have started to get things done as soon as is possible which has made a huge difference in my life.  I used to feel pretty guilty for stalling on doing things, and the task would lurk at the back of my mind so I couldn’t fully enjoy whatever I was doing in place of getting that task completed (mostly reading a book or watching something on the tv).  I’d also get stressed out when I finally got around to doing that task and end up making a rush job of it.  Since I started to get into the mindset of getting things done I have started to feel less guilt, stress and worry, and also, surprisingly, I have gained motivation for doing other tasks that I had otherwise put off.

So, today’s motivation for you is to “Get It Done”, whatever that thing maybe!

What have you been putting off?  And what have you been doing instead?  I’d love to hear about how you procrastinate in the comments!

Monday Motivation – Me Time

Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the New Year are over and things are starting to get back to some kind of normality it is time to start scheduling in some “me time”.

Whether it is half an hour, or a few hours here or there, having some time to yourself is a must.  Take some time when planning out your week to book some time to do something just for you.  This time could be used to catch up on a tv program, make a call to chat with a friend, a long bath, a coffee and catch up with a mate, a meander through the park or just time to sit and watch the world go by.  Taking time out of your busy schedule to do something you want to do or to treat yourself can do you the world of good, both mentally and physically.

I like to spend “me time” getting lost in a good book, snuggled up on the sofa with a hot cuppa and Roxy for company or spending time with my journal or sketchbook and just doodling away for half an hour.  I find that it can re-energise me and changes my mood to something a lot more positive.

So, when you are planning out your time for the day or week, schedule in some time to yourself!  What will you do in that time?  I’d love to know in the comments!

Motivation Monday – Make A Plan

It is customary for most people, that January is all about setting goals and I am not averse to setting goals of my own in January either.  In fact, there is nothing better than sitting down with a new diary, reflecting on the past year and then setting some new goals to achieve in the coming year, month or week.

The thing with goals, if you want to reach them, then it is not just a case of having the goal in mind, a plan is needed to get you there.

Today’s Motivation Monday is just that – a call to you to make a plan, and it doesn’t matter if the goal is a small one or something big.  Think of your plan as being like a road map, a way to get you from your starting point to where you want to be.

My plan for the next few months is to get a mailing list up and running but in order to do that, I need to plan what content I want to e-mail out to my subscribers, write up some content, choose a mailing provider and learn how to use the software, create an opt-in form and link it all to my blog.  In amongst all of that are lots of little steps that I need to take including searching online for tutorials and other online learning so that I can learn the necessary skills involved with email subscriptions.

As the saying goes “Plan your work then work your plan” and that goes for all sorts of plans that you make!

What are some goals and plans that you have for the year?  Let me know in the comments!