Feeling Unmotivated?

You know that feeling all too well. You wake up refreshed, having gotten north of 5 hours of sleep for the first time in weeks, and you’re ready to take on the world. Immediately your mind is flooded with all of the amazing things you’ll create and get done for the day and it’s evident that nothing will stand in your way. That is, of course, right up until you sit down to do the very thing you were so hopeful to knock out of the park, only to discover a massive deficit in energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. Even after your second espresso, you find yourself still doing nothing, but accompanied by a jittery sense of anxiety.

As adults, we don’t always have the luxury of taking a nap or trying again another day, so what can you do to make the most of today in spite of these lackadaisical feelings? I had a teacher in High School who would say, “find a way to win,” and so that’s what we’re going to do! Today I will outline two things you can do to immediately change your perspective, and one thing you can do proactively to ensure this never happens again!

Change Your Strategy

Life happens, and what worked for you last week, or even yesterday, may not work for you today. Is there a more relevant topic you can slip into the rotation and pick up where you left off next week to buy yourself some time? Maybe you’ve gotten used to the same format, recycling variations of the same content and it’s stealing your enthusiasm for the very thing that made you so excited to do in the very beginning. Instead of another blog post or video, try hosting a live Q&A session with your followers and clients. Are there some free resources you could offer to help others? It’s more important that you continue to engage your audience, and less important how you engage with them. As long as they see you showing up to deliver value, that’s all that matters.

Change Your Environment

When I’ve struggled to come up with new ideas, I’ve found that it’s often because I’m stuck in some kind of invisible, mundane loop. Almost like an ear worm of that catchy song you can’t get out of your head (it used to be The Final Countdown for me, but lately it’s the theme song to Paw Patrol). The best way to break this cycle is to change your environment, which could be as simple as moving to another room. It could also mean getting some fresh air outside or breaking for a quick workout. Anything you can do to break up the pattern that has you stuck and then make your way back to the task at hand.

Quick disclaimer here: I am not saying you should go scroll on social media for the next 45 minutes as this would have the opposite effect of what we’re trying to achieve here. Social media is such a trap because you might say you’re looking for inspiration when in reality it becomes a battle of comparison, and instead of inspiring your own unique creativity, you get sucked into believing you have to regurgitate exactly what everyone else is doing. Don’t fall into the trap! Take a walk and get some fresh air, then come back to your work and see what follows.

Create a Content Roadmap

Now that we’ve identified a couple of ways to get out of the slump, let’s talk about something you can do now to make sure it never happens again.

One of my mentors, Graham Cochrane, suggested the idea of a content roadmap, and it’s a great way to remove the guesswork from your content. Here’s what it looks like… There are 12 months in a year and roughly 4 weeks per month (this method assumes weekly content posts). Break your content down into 4 or 5 “bucket topics” that you can discuss throughout the year. For example, these are my five buckets for Guided Productions:

1. Pre-production 
2. Production
3. Post-production
4. Video Gear
5. Freelance Video Business

Now all I need to do is come up with 10 ideas for each category and I’ve determined all of my content for an entire year! No guessing or wondering what I need to create next, I just skip right down the line. You don’t have to follow the same order every week, especially if you are running a series on a particular topic, but once the series wraps up, you’ll know exactly where to pick things up. Take a weekend at the beginning or end of each year where you can step away, relax, and build your content roadmap, then you’ll never have to worry about feeling stuck or unmotivated ever again.

Don’t be Afraid to Try Something New

We’re all human… well… these days you can’t be so sure. But for those of us who still are human, we have good days and bad days. That’s the beautiful thing about being human! We get to experience all that this life has to offer and it’s often those bad days that shift our perspectives and help us to appreciate the good days all the more!

If you’re feeling stuck or unmotivated, congratulations! You’re human after all! Just don’t let it get you down or prevent you from serving your community. There is a blessing on the other side of that wall and you’ll never know who needs to hear your message today. As Coach Myers would say, “find a way to win,” and go make something amazing.