16 September 2016

STAY MOTIVATED AND INSPIRED IN SEPTEMBER

stay motivated, inspired, back to school, be creative, floral, flowers, pink flowers, blooms, hand inks, hand tattoos
Waving goodbye to the summer holidays and packing of the kiddo's back to school, I'm not sure if it's just me but some of you might find the shift from a slightly relaxed routine to throwing yourself into work a little daunting? For all of you who are self employed/freelance/creative/full time stay at home super hero parent *delete as appropriate* trying to stay motivated and inspired in September can be hard work in itself. A shift in the seasons is coming and soon people will start whispering the jolly ole C word and oh where does the time go.....spiral spiral.


So in an attempt to avoid falling down the rabbit hole of procrastination and after taking a break during the summer to spend with the small and deal with other life stuff, I've found it increasingly hard to stay focused on the bigger picture and generally get things done, add into the mix of general day to day  *and our car dying* you can imagine the productivity levels being at a bit of a low.
stay motivated, inspired, back to school, be creative

Instead I've decided to treat the start of the new school year like my five-going-on-15-year old and tackle it head on. So in an attempt to stay motivated I thought it would be good to share some tips, ideas and inspirations on how to stay creative when autumn comes calling.

SET YOUR ROUTINE
My morning routine is hectic to say the least, some mornings I'll struggle to wake with the kiddo's enthusiastic bed bouncing and other mornings I'm be raring to go, however I'll often reach for the iPhone to check Instagram or Facebook and get sucked in, then it ends with a mad dash for door with the hunt for school shoes and ultimately we leave late *yes I am that mama dashing to make the school gate*. The day tends to follow with coffee, emails, procrastination, lunch, panic and the amount of work needing done and then school pick up. Past the boy's bedtime I then stay up late catching up and to be honest it just doesn't work. So to stay motivated I'm planning a daily routine made up of coffee – obviously – admin, blog work, exercise, lunch, and dedicated play time for F. As well as creating a routine and keeping it on the fridge, to help me get into the groove I am also setting alerts on my phone to help keeping to the new routine. What works for you?

stay motivated, inspired, back to school, be creative, diary planning

GET ORGANISED
My biggest weakness is in fact the most important skill to have when working for yourself and one that I'm seriously lacking after all organisation allows you to manage your workload and time to be as efficient as possible. For this I have been looking at using google docs to organise my work load as well as paper to-do lists and oh yes I'm bringing in the whiteboard *hardcore*! Creating an office work like environment at home can really get you in the right frame of mind for the day. Also a big help sitting down for a weekly family schedule chat to get an overview of upcoming things, allowing you to prepare things in advance.

GET THE TOOLS
Making sure you have everything you need to get your day started right is so important. If you need a vat of coffee why not get your coffee machine/cup/stove coffee pot ready the night before, picking out clothes the night before can shave a good 15 minutes of procrastination off your day. If you're a freelancer making sure you have the right equipment is essential which you can do by checking out the best laptop deals, what camera works best for you, even the small things like a WiFi booster can help stop a stall in your work day *note to self get this! *

stay motivated, inspired, back to school, be creative

BE CREATIVE
The most important thing to me is to surround myself with inspiration and be around creative people. Whether that is taking the camera on a walk, going to an exhibition, reading inspiring blogs, 30 minutes on Pinterest, fashion, going out dancing, pretty much anything that allows a shake up in the old brain box. I've recently started listening to creative podcasts too. Ultimately travel is the top of my list for creating inspiration and I'm excited for the upcoming adventures I have planned!

TALK TO FRIENDS
Most importantly talk to friends, family or whoever is your go-to person. Laugh loudly, enjoy their company, be silly, share ideas. If you're struggling with a creative block or just feeling anxious that you can't get things done, letting people know can really help.

I'd love to hear what helps you stay motivated and inspired in September? Or what great planners and diaries you're using?

*This is a collaborative post
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19 comments

  1. Lovely post Lori and so many great tips. I've been procrastinating far too much this week!

    Have a great weekend. xx

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  2. I'm totally with you on the back to school chaos, I can be so disorganised and we've already been late a couple of mornings - eek! I love that pic of your creative mess!! Don't be too hard on yourself though Lori, you're raising an amazing kid (often singlehandledy) and running an inspirational online business xxx

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  3. Great ideas here Lori! I have a rule that I don't take my phone to bed or I'd never get out of bed in the morning as I'd be too sucked into looking at Instagram and Facebook! I also use Trello for organisation - an amazing free resource worth checking out if you haven't already. And I find sticking to small achievements in every day also helps me feel like I've got at least something done, even though it might not feel like it!

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  4. Sound advice. My fave thing for organising right now is the bullet journal. I love how you can get creative in decorating it and also customise it for what you need. If I buy 'day designers' and similar, so many pages get wasted.

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  5. I definitely think a professional environment at home helps - if you have a desk or just a corner of the kitchen that you can use for work. I also think it's important to get inspired creatively too - great reminder here. Being around creative people works for me too!

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  6. I actually find September a really easy time for motivation. I love it when everyone goes back to school and work and I get a bit more time to myself, plus then you've got Christmas on the horizon, cosier evenings - I love it!

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  7. Some great ideas here. I also struggle in September - I start the month with good intentions and very quickly feel like I'm failing and get demotivated. I'd love to know what creative podcasts you've been listening to, as I'm a podcast addict x

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  8. Good ideas!it's good to unplug- definitely helps with creativity!

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  9. Back to school chaos is the worst! I honestly don't know whether I am coming or going I swear. And these are great tips. I feel like I am running on empty at the moment so I definitely need to try and put some of these into practice. x

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  10. Working from home I very rarely see another person between 9 and 3, bad I know. I must try to socialise more!

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  11. These are some fantastic tips Lori as with the weather getting colder I do tend to hibernate and procrastinate this time of the year but really need to be more motivated than ever in the run up to Christmas. I really need to get a new laptop...mine has been slowly dying for months now, twice the hard drive has failed and I have replaced it but I just can't afford a new one right now...fingers crossed Santa brings me one

    Laura x

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  12. Such useful tips, its true now the boys are back in school I am finding it harder to get myself organised its too tempting to catch up on Netflix and drink tea leisurely! x

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  13. I have to make sure that I do not pick up my phone at all before the boys go to school, otherwise I am sucked down the rabbit hole!

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  14. September is my most motivated moth to be honest - it feels like a total fresh start and I'm always buzzing with ideas after the summer x x

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  15. Great ideas, I desperately need to get more organised. I have a planner from Pirongs and it is awesome x

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  16. Good ideas! I find that even though we're a home ed family, I have a real school mentality when it comes to September so I start organised and it gradually begins to frazzle! It's already happening so I need to work to stay on top of things.

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  17. Really helpful post Lori, it' always good to see what other people do to cope with this sort of chaos! Love the hydrangeas btw. I recently learned that you can turn them blue by changing your soil composition!

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  18. I swear I thought I would have more time when Wilf went to school but actually life feel so much more hectic! x

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  19. I have two separate books of to do lists that I'm working from at the moment! It's a good excuse to buy nice stationary too ;)

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