[purpledaisy]

This is the fifth week since I was fired, and I have not accomplished anything.

I have a long To Do list.

I was going to work on my freelance business to increase my clients and workload. So far, I've just stayed up-to-date with the clients that I alraedy had. No new ones. But I haven't even tried to get new ones.

I've also been helping a family member get a website and marketing plan together so he could take his 25-year-old business online. I have a nice To Do list for that, as well, but I haven't done squat.

Once that site has clients coming in, I'll make a cut. You would think that would motivate me, but it hasn't.

I'm starting to sleep late, even though I'm not tired. I'll wake up around 7:00 a.m., give myself another hour on my phone's alarm clock, and lie there.

I'll turn on the TV and watch stuff even though I don't care.

I'll play online all day.

I'll go somewhere to have lunch and get offline so I can make a list of things I need to do, start making goals for 2013, etc., and I jot all of this stuff down. But then I don't do any of it.

When I was stuck at that office all day, I used to think, "Gee, if only I were at home. I have so much to do in order to build my business and do better."

Now that I'm home, I'm just blah.

Part of the problem is the holidays and feeling blah about them.

Part of the problem is I feel like I have no life purpose.

Each night, I get mad at myself because I did not make progress during the day. Then I figure I'll go to bed, get plenty of rest, and be able to wake up and do great things the next day.

But it doesn't happen.

Instead, I wake up again when my alarm goes off, give myself another hour, lie in bed until I feel like my joints are sore because I've slept too long. Kind of like when you were a kid and you had the flu or a cold and you spent so much time in bed that you were no longer comfortable in bed.

Kind of stiff and sore. Ready to get up and move. But do I get up and move? No.

My whole life is taking place within a 30-foot radius. I go from my bed to the couch, with a few trips to the kitchen and the bathroom, and then back to the bed. That's it.

Please tell me it's normal to feel blah. That I'm not a horrible person because I am having trouble getting motivated.

[wildchild r]

wow Purple, you got alot going on,I feel for ya on the you Sons new frontier of Sexual behavior most of all..dunno what to say so I'll send you a hug and lots of prayer.
And yea, feel as Blah as long as u need to.the time will come when you are ready to conqure your mass of things to do..L&R from me to you..

Originally Posted by purpledaisy

When I was stuck at that office all day, I used to think, "Gee, if only I were at home. I have so much to do in order to build my business and do better."
Now that I'm home, I'm just blah.
Part of the problem is the holidays and feeling blah about them.
Part of the problem is I feel like I have no life purpose...
My whole life is taking place within a 30-foot radius. I go from my bed to the couch, with a few trips to the kitchen and the bathroom, and then back to the bed. That's it.

Please tell me it's normal to feel blah. That I'm not a horrible person because I am having trouble getting motivated.

You better NOT be considered a horrible person for that, or I'm in really deep doo doo!
I totally know that my big problem is not having a purpose. (Depressed or not, doesn't matter.) It's not exactly motivating(!) So, yeah, that could definitely be a considerable factor. Hopefully others will have some ideas on that front.

30'. Sounds about right. (One reason I look forward to getting back home. MUCH better about that there. Kinda adventuresome even. ) You do get out a bit though, yes? Hardware store or something? Use that as a kick start for #1. My 2 biggest "get things done" tips are these:

1) Do not sit down. It's so easy to sit down when you get back to the house. BUT if you don't, and just do some little thing, it'll tend to build momentum. For instance...I've worked a lot of physical jobs over the years -- dog-tired stuff --and have found that starting something up right away upon getting home produced MORE energy! Got stuff done and actually LESS wiped out than if I'd have sat down(!) Strange, but definitely true.

2) Don't turn the computer on. Now, this probably wouldn't work for you in the usual way because... you're work is on it, yeah? But maybe, say.... you do some non-computer things, then turn the computer on just for work things. Don't allow yourself to wander off to non-work computer things (even to take a quick peek, because we all know how that goes!). Why the non-computer things first? Because even if you do sometimes get off track on the computer, you still have the other accomplishments already to your day's credit. Oh! Maybe for you one thing could be not to turn the tv on. (I tend to forget that one because of not having a tv for years!) Whatever variation on the theme, where tv/computer time is the reward, not the go-to.

Oh! Right! 3 things. Shorten the to do list. A LOT. Just write a very short list on a separate sheet of paper. That's TODAY. Think of the other (main) list as "so as to not forget", not as "the list". Too overwhelming. Chomp away at it in small bits. The separate paper really makes a difference.

Now if I could only get off my own *** and do these.... (They really have worked, just not currently in use...)

Good luck, pd!

[purpledaisy]

I just sat there and watched a DVD for 2 hours when I knew I had things to do.

I've put together an all-day event for a nonprofit group that I've been involved with for many years. This event is something I dreamed up and it was very successful last year, so we're doing it again. It's in 1 week and 1 day.

I still haven't sent confirmation emails to the people who registered to let them know I've got them on the list.

I still haven't sent out the big list of tasks that need to be done for the event so the volunteers can choose which tasks they want to take care of.

My To Do list is VERY long because I'm a big procrastinator. It's all stuff that must get done.

You're right. It is overwhelming. Maybe I should break it down like Inner suggested.

Thanks, everyone.

Tomorrow is another day.

[BlackPup]

Self motivation is a really hard thing to do so I totally understand where you are coming from. I recently finished my phd which involved lots of self motivation and there were so many days like you describe. Now I'm unemployed and still find it hard to self motivate.
Some things that helped were:
Getting out of the house and into a coffee shop first thing in the morning especially if you can do some work there. It helps to get things rolling.
Break your tasks up into little bits - the smallest possible bits - and have a couple of set things planned to do while you are out for coffee or when you get back.
Don't plan too much for any one day or you will get demoralised if you don't accomplish it, start small and reward yourself each time you achieve something.
If you find it hard to start working on something then commit to doing 15 min of work, often you will get into the swing of things and work for longer but if its not going well then you can stop and take a break after the 15 min are up.
Remember that some days you are not 100% and be kind to yourself and forgiving on those days.

i'm sorry purple!

hugs to you..

btw- did you ever figure out about counting the days?

i saw your thread about it and replied but no idea what it was for