Sometimes getting out of bed is difficult. Sometimes all you want to do is crawl back under the covers and stay there all day. I felt it just this morning. The urge to ignore all my responsibilities and push them off yet another day. 

Motivation is hard. And at Dirty Bourbon, we’re intimately familiar with how difficult coming up with motivation is when you suffer from chronic/mental illnesses. Which is why we polled our customers to ask for their best tips and tricks to get them motivated on days they’d rather go back to bed. 

Responsibility

The most common answer to our question “What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?” was a sense of responsibility. Someone or something relying on you to get yourself moving and make something happen. This included loved ones, jobs, bills to pay and other types of responsibility.

Along with the responsibility of caring for loved ones, responsibility included setting a good example for young kiddos looking up to the adults in their lives.

“I get up in the morning and get moving because I know my children are watching. I want to provide them with the best life possible and set a good example.”

“The need to make money to pay my bills is my motivation this week.”

Sometimes external motivation is all we have, and sometimes it fluctuates week to week, or even day to day. 

Music

The next most popular way to motivate yourself to get up and start the day was music. Unsurprising, from a bunch of former-emo kids, but putting on some tunes and dancing around the house seemed to get a lot of people geared up for the day and ready to tackle whatever gets thrown at them!

“Put on some good music, sit and take my time on the edge of my bed until I’m motivated enough to get up and get things done.”

“Personally, turning my music on. Can't even get out of bed without it. The power in music is everything.”

“My favorite ways to get motivated are first and foremost GREAT MUSIC! Gotta have tunes going all throughout my day.”

If you're looking for your own playlist to jam to, check out Dirty Bourbon Pop Punk playlist on Spotify!

Rewards

Many people also shared that giving themselves rewards helped them get (or stay) motivated. Whether it’s after completing a whole list of tasks, or just getting done what you have the spoons to accomplish that day, it’s satisfying to check something off the to-do list knowing there’s a nice reward at the end.

“I love giving myself rewards for tasks! Makes it 1000 times easier in my head somehow.”

Pets

Pets was another highly motivating factor for many of our fans. But a word of caution: If you're having trouble taking care of yourself, taking care of another living breathing animal may not be the best choice for you. 

But if you can handle it, and it motivates you to take care of another, then why not check out your local animal shelter!

"Looking at my dogs sweet face sleeping next to my bed motivates me, and knowing I have to get up to feed him and take him out because no matter how bad I feel he still needs to be taken care of."

"My three dogs. These sweet babies deserve the best in this world. They had a rough start to life and I'm determined to spoil them rotten and love them so much."

Coffee

While I'm not personally a caffeine fan, many people find it helps give them the motivation to get up and go in the morning (or all throughout the day!)

"Definitely a good espresso and some good music will do the trick to get me motivated in the morning."

 

 

And that's the top five! Responsibility, music, rewards, pets and caffeine were the most popular ways to get some motivation in the morning, but they weren't the only interesting answers. One person commented on how they like to chunk their tasks into short time blocks to get going.

“When I have a task at work that I’m just dreading and cannot seem to start, I’ll set a timer for some amount of time that is short enough to not be intimidating but long enough to at least make some progress - between 10 and 30 minutes depending on the task. Gotta close distracting apps/websites, put phone away, and focus for that time. When the timer goes off I can take a break and re-evaluate how I feel about the task. Most times, having at least started makes the path forward much more clear so I’m more motivated to continue.”

(Don’t mind me, writing this post with a timer going in the background to try it out…)

Check out the Pomadoro technique and this Pomadoro timer if you’d like to try out a virtual timer to keep you on track!

Other people prefer a task list and some tough love (plus a reward at the end! Your future self will thank you!)

“I write out everything I need to get done, then explain to myself why it cannot wait. I also tell myself the faster I get all these done, the faster I can go back to bed. How doing the things I need to do but don’t want to do will make the next day easier.”

Another runner up idea was to get yourself ready for the day, even if you’re not going anywhere. Something about getting ready lets your brain know it’s time to WORK.

“Definitely getting myself ready for a day! Even if I’m not leaving the house, getting myself ready to do that makes it feel like I’m ready to do tasks!”

“Sometimes when I’m super unmotivated I have to get up and get dressed like I’m going to leave the house. Something about wearing “outside clothes” makes me more willing to do things.”

Especially now when so many of us work from home, putting on “outside clothes” might be the key to unlocking motivation!

And in the words of Dirty Bourbon founder Jame McElroy, family, whether chosen or found, is one of the best motivators.

“My motivation comes from my wife, daughter, and the family we’ve created with Dirty Bourbon. Having the ability to be the person 14 year old Jame needed & continuing to be able to provide that advocacy and support to others gets me out of bed every day.”

Sometimes all you need is love, but coffee and music don’t hurt either.

And for the days you really can’t find any motivation? Check out Dirty Bourbon’s newest shirt, No Spoons, No Fucks.

May your motivation be plentiful, and your socks never be soggy.