I don’t have to wake up on the wrong side of the bed to not be in the best mood. Some days I just don’t wanna…
So when there’s not necessarily a problem that can be fixed, but I just feel meh, there’s a few things I do.
Eat chocolate
Some recent studies have shown that it’s healthy to eat chocolate cake for breakfast. Yeah, I’m totally on board with this kind of science!
Chocolate apparently can improve your memory and cognitive function. Who doesn’t want to be able to think outside the box a little better? AND it can be a better time of day to satiate your sweet tooth as our bodies convert food into energy most efficiently in the morning!
I maybe don’t partake in pastries every morning (let’s be honest, a chocolate muffin is just the morning version of cake), but I do actually have chocolate almost every morning. In my homemade yogurt bowl I top of a mixture of coconut yogurt, frozen blueberries, and a banana with chocolate chips. And when I’m running out the door for early morning run club, I grab a handful of chocolate covered almonds. The sugar and protein wakes me up and gets me ready to run!
When in doubt, throw it out
Sounds like a closet purge is big on the fall organization list for a lot of us. Don’t get me wrong, I love shopping. Obvi. Probably a little two much. But right now I feel like my closets and laundry are consuming my space. And it’s causing me anxiety. Plus, I end up re-wearing the same few things. Some of that is because I wear my favorites, and some of it is the ease of choosing what’s on top of the drawer. So then why do I need all the other items of clothing under my favorite few that rarely get worn?? It’s a difficult process, especially for a sentimental borderline hoarder like myself, but I feel so relieved once I finally do the deed.
Need a little extra help? Here are some great resources to turn to:
- 7 Tips for Cleaning Out Your Closet from Buffalo Exchange – The top tip is one of my favorites and what I did for my first purge in June: take everything out of my closet. I’m looking forward to doing it again, and maybe trying out that roast.
- The classics are always in style from Fit Approach and prAna
- Tidying Up – This trend right now has literally changed some of my friends’ lives.
Sweat it up, sweat it out
The BEST way to motivate is always to get my sweat on! It gets up off the couch and moving my body, which inevitably gets my mind off the proverbial couch, too. I’m always able to focus better after a good sweat. Or maybe it’s a day to return to vegging, but I’m still able to chill and relax way better after working out.
I felt utterly “meh” and beyond this morning. I’m coming down with a cold and am still pretty sore from our half marathon on Saturday. I was nervous before teaching HIIT & Flow, a kick-butt class on even my best day. I can’t say it was my best class, but I can say I feel better having moved, sweat, and flowed.
Get your mind right
We talk a lot these days about better ways to get focused in a world of soooooo much stimulation around us constantly. Most of the time I prefer working in coffee shops. I have since college. Libraries are too quiet. I like the white noise of the espresso machine, typing keys, quiet conversations. But sometimes distractions happen: I love people watching, Instagram, I end up eavesdropping to the conversation next to me (and try so hard not to interject “Oh no he didn’t!”), adorable babies that want to play hide and seek, Instagram. Home can be just as distracting with cleaning, laundry, roommates, and dogs. Remember that disaster of a room that’s staring at me when I’m at home?
Sometimes you just need a little extra boost to get your mind going. Nibbling helped me study in college, but I got a cavity from all the jelly beans after my first semester. And carrots just aren’t as satisfying. Coffee is undeniably my go-to when I need help waking up and focusing. But there is in fact such a thing as too much coffee. (This is the only time I will ever ever ever admit this.)
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What else do I try and do to get my mind right and my GSD on?
- Get going in the morning. Things come up as the day goes on. Energy flags. Coffee wears off. Morning is the best time to be productive, bang out that to do list. A morning sweat always helps, too.
- Make your soul sing, and cut the other shit out. This one is a little bit more big picture. Do I want to email my accountant today answering all of her questions? Absolutely not. That does not make my soul sing. But it’s absolutely necessary. Sometimes I just have to suck it up and deal with the adulting, but I don’t have to be an accountant and deal with taxes every day.
- Play mental games. Setting small, achievable, and realistic goals can really help! Alyse’s is so treal (true and real): “Must respond to two emails before I mindlessly scroll FB and IG for an hour.” It’s working right now; I’m finishing this post before I’m allowed to leave this coffee shop. And it’s working because I really have to blow my runny, stuff nose. (How can a nose be runny and stuffy at the same time?!)
So when you’re just feeling “meh” and not in the mode to do anything, let alone Get Shit Done, what do you do? Sometimes it only take one little thing to get my up and at ’em. Sometimes I start with the chocolate for breakfast and have to work my way all the way through to playing mental games. How do you get motivated and focused?
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Amazing Grass. All opinions are my own. I truly appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.