Inside: How I lost motivation after lockdown and what I am doing to get it back again.
I don’t know about you, but I really don’t seem to have any motivation to do anything anymore. It has been going on for a while and it has only been today in fact that I realised that it all began with the covid lockdown in 2020 and 2021.
One minute I am juggling everything like a queen and the next I am sitting around, riddled with anxiety, wondering how I ever got anything done at all.
I am no expert, but if you feel like you’ve lost motivation these past few years then hopefully this post will help you feel less alone but also give you some tips for finding your groove again.
When did it all start to slide?
If I cast my mind back to pre-pandemic, I used to be really productive. I had a successful YouTube channel, I’d started a podcast, I was running several live chats on social media every week, had a great FB group, and of course was running this blog here. I was a machine.
And then we all got thrown into lockdown and I suddenly had 3 kids at home with me each and every day. All of my spinning plates had to stop while I took on the role of home educator for a few months. It was a different level of stress with all of the uncertainty we were facing but it was quite nice to take my foot off the pedal on my usual day to day routine.
Days were spent doing school work, with plenty of down time in between. I took up jogging for goodness sake – who even was I? I also took up crochet and made myself a cardigan – these definitely were exceptional times.
Lockdown ends… life goes back to normal?
You would think that schools opening up would have meant I jumped straight back into my old life. It wasn’t like I needed to adjust back to office life as I’d worked for myself since 2014. All I needed to do was get back online and start my projects up again.
Right?
Except I didn’t. And I still haven’t. My podcast lies dormant despite people asking for new episodes. My YouTube channel too – no new videos for years now. I lost all motivation and drive to ‘do it all’.
It all just feels a bit … meh. Productivity has gone out of the window and I cannot motivate myself to do any of it.
A response to trauma
Apparently, when dealing with trauma our natural response is to shut down all non-essential functions like decision making and goal setting. All of those things we once did suddenly seem unimportant, so we push them aside – all enthusiasm lost.
There is no doubt that the entire pandemic was traumatic, but I do wonder why I personally seem to be suffering with the effects of trauma when we didn’t suffer from any loss or difficulties. As stressful as home schooling was, it was no trauma.
And yet here I am… pushing aside those seemingly unimportant tasks. Everything feels like a struggle.
Lessons from lockdown
One thing that came out of our time in lockdown was the fact that we realised how little emphasis we gave to self care beforehand. We realised how nice it was to spend time at home, go for walks in nature, take up new hobbies, make time for ourselves.
We realised how busy we’d been, how much we rushed around, how much we tried to fit into our days. Burnout was real.
And so when the world went back to ‘normal’, we didn’t want to go back to rushing around and neglecting our health and wellbeing.
And that’s the nugget right there – we don’t want to ‘do it all’ anymore.
Moving on and finding motivation again
If you find yourself wondering where your motivation went, I guess the answer is that your brain just doesn’t want to do all of those things anymore. It’s taken over and is holding a coup until you alter your lifestyle to suit.
So the first step to finding motivation again is to ask yourself what you truly want out of life now. Because clearly those old pre-lockdown goals aren’t working for you anymore.
Redefine your values
What is it that truly matters to you? Here are a few common values to get you thinking…
- Achievement
- Adventure
- Balance
- Calm
- Commitment
- Community
- Contentment
- Creativity
- Faith
- Family
- Fitness
- Health
- Mindfulness
- Stability
Which jump out at you? For me, my top 3 would be contentment, family, and health. Pick your top 3 and allow those to guide you onwards.
Assess your day to day
What does your day to day life look like? How does it make your feel?
If you lack motivation then chances are your daily life does not align with the values that you view as important. If lockdown made us change our view on life, we need to get ourselves realigned to our new values.
Keep a diary for one day, making note of all of the things you do from the moment you get up to the moment your head hits the pillow. And next to each element of your day, make a note of whether it meets your value criteria.
Some things are unavoidable – work and taking kids to school – but everything else in between is a choice. And if you don’t want to do it, you either have to rediscover why it is something to keep or you let it go.
Get your motivation back on track
Looking at your average day, what is it that takes up time (besides unavoidable commitments such as your job and school) that do not align with your values?
For me, I realised that I spent far too much time looking at screens. Whether it was scrolling social media throughout the day or slumping on the sofa to watch tv for 3 hours every evening, I was wasting time on something that actually added nothing to my life.
TV is a funny one, because we have been trained so well to believe that sitting in front of the TV is relaxing. But actually, the flashing images are proven to stress our minds out.
With that in mind, I made it a personal rule that I would only ever watch TV if there was genuinely something I wanted to watch – a new movie release or a new series of a favourite show. Otherwise I would make better use of my time.
So what to do with any new found time?
What are your values? If you want to spend more time on your health, do activities that will nurture your physical health and mental health. If you want to spend more time with family, use the time to ring relatives or play games with the kids. If a tidy home is important to you, use that time to give a room a once over.
Setting new goals to bring you joy
A lack of motivation comes from having a lack of goals. It’s like going for a drive with no clue where you are headed – in the end you just get bored and pull over.
So where do you want to go? What is your ultimate aim in life?
For me, I realised that I already had everything I needed. I am married, have 3 kids, and a home I love. The reason I lost motivation with all of the hustle and bustle of social media, marketing, and everything else that I’d been doing before lockdown, was because none of it was important to me anymore.
So do I need to re-find motivation for it all? No. I just needed to redefine my values and recognise that actually I need to focus my energy on looking after myself, enjoying my family, and creating a home life that brings us all contentment.
Once you find your purpose, you suddenly find your motivation. Because you are working towards something that actually matters to you.
Redefine your values, set a goal that incorporates those values, and move on forwards towards a life that brings you happiness.
We may have lost our motivation after lockdown, but take it as a chance to do a master reset. And now it is time to press play again….. let’s go.