Choose Your Own Adventure: Staying Productive

I have a confession to make.

I’m not always On the Jazz.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that I’m a frequent sufferer of bluedom. It’s not quite as deep or dark as depression, but it’s a relative.

There are many days where all I want to do is sit on my butt, watch TV, eat a bunch of unhealthy food and play on my phone. But to tell you the truth, the days when I sit around and do nothing are the days I feel the least On The Jazz. In fact, I usually feel pretty lousy.

)

Recently, I’ve been feeling convicted about how many days I’ve allowed to slip by me with very little accomplished. And I’m not just talking about work stuff; I’m talking about things that I expressly have the desire to do.

But 

HOW 

do 

I 

find 

the 

kind
of
energy
and
  self-discipline

it
 takes
 to
 shake
 myself
 free
 of
  apathy? 

Maintaining a zest for life certainly isn’t easy, but in the end, my motivation is to create the most beautiful life I can have. Life is a choose your own adventure story…you can choose to waste a day or you can choose to take action.

The following is a list, some tips and tricks that help keep me focused and jazzy. I hope that on your blue days these ideas will help you.

Pump Yourself Up

Getting some exercise greatly increases your chances of having a good day. This is what I start my days with (most of the time.) Not only do I get the benefits of keeping myself healthy and strong, I get a hit from nature’s happy drug: endorphins! Believe me…endorphins are your friends.

Get Ready

When I was a kid and I would be slothing around the house in my pajamas, my mom would say to me, “Why don’t you get dressed?” Honestly, I always resented it when she’d say that. If I had the opportunity to lounge around in my PJ’s why wouldn’t I do it? Well, my mom is a smart cookie and she knows a few things about blue days, too. As an adult, I’ve found that getting ready like I’m going somewhere greatly ups my chances of productivity. Take a shower. Get dressed. Brush your teeth. Smile. You’re ready to take on the world.

Put On Some Tunes

          Music is magical. The things you listen to greatly affect your mood, whether you realize it or not. While sad or angry music has its place, never underestimate the power of happy music. Put on some music that makes you smile! My personal favorites include You Sexy Thing, Get Up Offa That Thing, and Jungle Boogie. Oh! Also Superstition! Apparently funk is a blue day eraser.

Write it Down

           Sometimes the thing that keeps us from wanting to do anything is not having a clear picture of what we need or want to do. If your mind is a swirling vortex of tasks it can be overwhelming to choose to do even one of them. The simplest solution to Taskmageddon is to make a to-do list. Simply writing down your goals for the day will allow your brain to calm down and more readily focus on something.

Environment Matters

Let There Be Light!

           Make sure you have some natural light. Many people suffer from the Winter Blues or S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) but don’t realize it. I used to live in a basement apartment that only had one window.  For the 2 years I lived there I struggled and couldn’t fathom what was wrong with me...until I moved to an apartment with windows galore! It was as though I was different person…sunlight made all the difference.

Clean It Up! 

You’re gonna hate me for this, but let’s get real here. Make sure your workspace is clean. (I’m guilty of this one.) Trying to accomplish much in a messy space is an uphill battle. I’m not suggesting that you have a perfectly organized and flawless work space...but a little cleaning goes a long way.

Get Out of the House

            Get some fresh air. Take a walk. Soak in a few rays. Even if it’s just 5 minutes, being outside can be incredibly rejuvenating.

            Another option is to take a project to a local library or Starbucks. There’s something focusing about isolating yourself with one task out in public.

[Addendum 3/30/14: I just found this little tid-bit on another blog. Someone agrees with me!]

Take the Day Off

         If you just can’t seem to get your butt in gear, go with it and allow yourself to have a day for you, but make it a day about uplifting self-care. All those things that you “just don’t have time for” might be on the agenda:

1. Read a book
2. Journal
3. Create something
4. Write an old fashioned letter
5. Give yourself a pedicure
6. Use that gift certificate you’ve been saving for a rainy day
7. Watch that movie you borrowed from your friend a couple of years ago…

The possibilities are endless. You might just need a day off.

Celebrate

        This is my favorite one. Positivity is infectious. Likewise, apathy begets apathy. So, fill your mind with so much gratitude that apathy and negativity can’t get a foothold. This can be a bit tricky, but all you need to do is look around you and find things you like. For those of you who are scoffing at me, let me tell you a story:

        Once upon a time I woke up in the Worst. Mood. Ever. I was stomping around grumpling about how much I hated everything and kept saying that I “hated my life.” I got in my car to leave for the day and stopped short. “Self,” I said, “If you keep talking about how much you hate everything, this is going to be the worst day ever. How about we focus on things we like?” During my 15 minute drive I began to list the things I was grateful for, starting with the dumbest little thing I could find and continued until I was bubbling over with gratitude and laughter!

        This has become a way of life for me, from “celebrating” seemingly small things, like my socks or a smooth rolling pen, to the big things like a roof over my head or the people in my life.

Never underestimate the
POWER
of self-talk.

        You know that old phrase, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Try flipping it around: “What’s right with this picture?” It may just change your life.

Now, GO! 

Choose your own adventure and stay 

ON THE JAZZ!

Now tell me...What will you celebrate today?

No Rest for the Weary

Do you ever have trouble sleeping?

I do sometimes.

Not a lot.

But now and again I find myself staring at the ceiling, waiting for the walls to melt.

My whole family struggles with sleeping. It’s like we’re an anti-sleeping gang, (except for my dad, who we lovingly refer to as the great sleeping bear.) Getting a smart phone certainly didn’t help. Sometimes I’ll play Candy Crush or surf Facebook until I realize that the rejoicing over an early bedtime was for naught, as the numbers ONE ZERO ZERO reflect in my glazed over eyeballs.

There was one night, when I was so worried about getting a restful sleep because of an audition the next morning that I took a single Tylenol PM to help.

NEVER AGAIN.

I could barely wake up the next morning, and I felt groggy and, well, drugged all day.

So much for that audition. Pfft.

Even though I wouldn’t say that I suffer from a sleeping disorder, or anything, I have tried a few little tricks to make getting to sleep easier. And now, I shall share them with you:

Limit Yourself.

This is on practically every list, ever, but just in case you forgot: Don’t drink any caffeinated beverages after 4pm.
I know.
Seriously.
That early.
If you think you're one of those people that aren't affected by caffeine and you can't sleep at night...well, just keep telling yourself that.

Get Quiet.

Allow yourself some quiet time before actually trying to sleep. 20-30 minutes of quiet reading, meditation, or prayer (whatever floats your boat) can allow your mind and body to start coming down into a restful state.

Get Noisy.

My brother used to have a white noise machine in his guest bedroom and I hated it and I kind of wrote off the idea of white noise. However, with the advent of my trusty smart-phone, I discovered an app called, you guessed it, White Noise, and it is now one of my most favorite things. There are several different ambient sounds to choose from. My favorite is crickets. It sounds like it did outside my bedroom window in the house I grew up in aka Happiness.

I can sleep right through it.

You can also choose options like Thunderstorm, Train, Plane in Flight…you get the idea. And the best part of all this? That sucker is FREE. Google Marketplace. You can thank me later.

You're Getting Sleepy...Verrrry sleepy!

Hypnosis is the bomb-diggity. Some people are weird about this one, but I’m telling you, it works wonders. I got interested in self-hypnosis when I was about 14 and then sort of forgot about it until a couple years ago. I now use hypnosis regularly and it’s really quite fantastic. Try using a hypnosis audio session designed for sleep or deep relaxation (i.e. there’s no wake-up call at the end.) Free Hypnosis Treatment has some good ones, plus your hypnotherapist has an adorbs Northern British accent. Hypnosis works differently for everyone, by the way. For example, I almost always go into a meditative state while listening to a hypnosis audio, but my brother said it helped him sleep by guiding his mind through the hypnosis session so his mind wasn’t racing through all the things he was going to have to do the next day.

Consistency is Key.

Go to sleep at the same time every night. My actor friends are laughing at this one. Heck, I'm laughing at this one. 

                         

While this one is nearly impossible for many of us, myself included, it’s probably one of the most practical ones on this list. We all have an internal clock. Our bodies know when we need rest, and if we’re consistent about it then we’ll get better sleep. Promise.

Well, those are my personal tips and tricks for helping ME go to sleep. What are some things you do to help yourself get a good night’s rest? Or better yet, what do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night?