How to get crankin’

A recent NAIWE prompt: How do you handle it when you are not motivated to work?

I just have to push myself into it.

Oftentimes that means threatening myself: “Do you want to end the day with unaccomplished tasks in your daily planner?” or “Do you want to have the awful experience of missing a deadline for the first time?”

Sometimes taking a walk will do the trick; the fresh air clears my mind for the next task.

Sometimes working out will do it; the blood flows to my brain and gets me wanting to do something.

Most days, my husband works from home due to COVID-19, and I sometimes imagine him thinking negative things about me if I am being lazy: “Hmph! She has no work ethic.” (I don’t know if he actually does think such things–he never actually talks that way– but the thought scares me enough to make me want to work.)

The vast majority of the time, I don’t need motivation to work on my editing, truth be told. Instead, I need motivation to do housecleaning.

The thing that works best to motivate me in any case: Coffee!