I recently participated in a Virtual Clutter Clinic with some fellow SBO Partner Program Professional Organizers. It was a quick hour and we were only able to scratch the surface on some of the topics we’d prepared. An hour isn’t very long when women are talking! As we signed off the meeting, I got to thinking about all the things we didn’t get to say; all the practical advice we weren’t able to share! So here I am!

The first of our talking points was why time at home doesn’t always translate into motivation! Anyone else experience this while you’ve been forbidden to gallivant around during our Coronavirus Stay At Home orders?

I think many of us went into this forced downtime intending to get so much done. No carpools to drive; No school drop off or pick up; No evening sporting events; No weekend sporting events! We were gifted with all this time to just be in our homes. Can we agree that this time is a blessing and a curse?

The first two weeks we were home, I ate every meal like it was my last meal and then I realized I could no longer hold all my kids’ activities as the reason I wasn’t exercising. I had nowhere to be and I still wasn’t getting myself into the garage and onto the treadmill. At some point, I had to make the choice that I can either get bigger or get better! So I started this week – the beginning of our 5th week – tracking WW points.

Here’s what some of us are trying to overcome when it comes to our lack of motivation.

Our own personalities

I am a believer that each of our unique personalities, the way God wired us, plays a big role in how we handle these situations. Introverts, like myself, need time alone to recharge. We thrive when we’ve had a chance to pull away to get our thoughts together. We aren’t energized by crowds of people.

Now we’ve been grounded to the inside our homes with our families with no chance for a break. I love my kids, but they can find me, even my older ones, like heat-seeking missiles! The constant interaction, or the constant need for something from us, is exhausting!

Another part of my personality I have to deal with is perfectionism. Wanna talk about motivation killer? If I know that I’m not going to have the perfect block of time, with the perfect elements for perfect work, and a program or device that’s going to work perfectly – I procrastinate! Can you see how this can be a problem?

If you’re an extrovert, I can only imagine how being isolated from your people, your crowd, your audience, would be debilitating. One of your major energy givers has been ripped right out from under your feet. Zoom and Facetime aren’t great substitutes for personal interactions!

Barrage of Distractions

I’ve already touched on my perfectionism so you can see how distractions would be a major issue when it comes to my lack of motivation with all this time at home! I have 4 kids of various ages, personalities and neediness. Throughout the day, they need help with schoolwork, they need something to eat, they have a question to ask, or they’re simply bored and looking for something to do.

Our ability to focus on a single task grows weak when our attention is diverted to someone else’s urgent issue at any given moment! I’ve joked that I’m going to post office hours and require the kids to request an appointment just so I can have a few uninterrupted minutes to accomplish a task.

While I’ve been working on this section alone, my youngest has had a conversation with me about eating ice cream at a Valentine’s party, what she can use the magnet for on her new whiteboard, and being the audience to her pretend ballet performance! If there are incomplete thoughts in this post, you know why!

Overwhelm by all you “should be” doing

Let’s face it! Our eyes are inundated with the messages of expected productivity. We’re told we should be constantly hustling. Keep Calm and Hustle On. We’re told we need to maximize every hour of the day. Time Blocking. Task Batching. Don’t let the world pass us by! We’re the only thing standing between us and our dream, besides that load of laundry!

Do these phrases ring a bell? Now take the fact that we have been tossed into this abyss of time, where we are discouraged to ever leave our homes and all of our activity has been canceled! What else should we do? Be productive, of course.

Many of us are often paralyzed by the overwhelm of what we think we should be doing – the never-ending, constantly growing to-do list! But in our current predicament, it’s hard to know where to even begin! And in our overwhelm, we totally freeze. I’ve been there and if I’m being honest, I’m a little there right now! Which task is most important? Which is most urgent? Life-altering? Revenue producing? I quit!

Fear or Hopelessness Related to COVID-19

Let’s be real, here. This final thought likely is the biggest motivation killer of all of these I’ve mentioned. So many different trains of thought are filling our TV speakers, our Facebook feed, and our conversations with friends. Statistics from all different sources. We are isolated from the people we love. Some of our loved ones are high risk and could, will, or have passed away from this deadly disease. Some of our businesses are financially taxed, with no end to this loss of revenue in view. We know there are children in our schools who are suffering greatly because they aren’t receiving the resources they would if they were attending school.

These fears and worries are devastating. The fog and uncertainty is more than many can fathom or have the mental or emotional capacity with which to deal. Not much can stop us in our tracks than very real and present fear.

So how can we overcome this lack of motivation obstacle? How can we move forward every day with some sense of productivity? I have a few suggestions.

Internalize that this situation is ultimately temporary.

There will be an end to this level of social distancing and we will resume some sense of new normalcy. We will, Lord willing, share space with our friends and families. Our kids will one day return to a school building. People, for the most part, will return to their workplaces.

Write down all the tasks and thoughts that are weighing us down.

Many call this a brain dump. Get those thoughts, positive and negative, down on paper. Visually see that list. Release what is beyond our scope of control. Prioritize the tasks and to-dos that are filling our minds and overwhelming our thoughts.

Set a goal to do 1 or 2 productive tasks each day.

This could be as simple as making the bed, running the dishwasher, or sweeping the floor. It could also be as complicated as tackling some home improvement projects or decluttering the garage. We just need to complete some task so each night we can drift off to sleep with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Establish boundaries with our families.

Do you need an uninterrupted hour to take a business call? Do you want to sit and read for 30 minutes? Do you need to respond to emails or do you want to declutter a drawer or closet? We need to communicate to our families what our needs and expectations are. They’ll continue to interrupt if they have no idea what our needs are! Trust me on this one!

Find a quiet place to recharge.

Us introverts may need to find a few minutes every day to be quiet and recharge your emotional batteries. Figure out some way to sneak away and be alone! Observe the rhythm of the day. There may be a time when everyone is naturally occupied, where it wouldn’t be a huge deal for us to slip away to a quiet corner to just be alone!

I realize this is not an exhaustive list of motivator zappers or helps to find motivation! We are all different – vastly different. The way we function in our homes and with our families varies from house to house. Our ability to cope with stress, boredom, and overwhelm run the spectrum. I do hope this is food for thought or a springboard for us to think differently about how we are, or aren’t, being productive with this ‘gift’ of time!

What’s your quarantine motivation look like? Are any of these struggles for you? Have you found some ways to cope so that you haven’t lost all motivation to get stuff done? We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!

Listen to a replay of the Zoom call that spurred these thoughts here.