The ‘What Day of the Week is it?’ Guide to Getting Your Mojo Back – Part 1.

After a few months of swimming in the ‘What’s the Point?’ pool of inertia, I feel it might be time to towel-dry ourselves off, my friend.

There is only so long a girl can go on (and still feel good about herself) whilst wearing sweat pants every day. And, sure, don’t get me wrong – day drinking is fun! But, for those of you who are feeling a little puffy and unmotivated, I thought I would slide into your inbox with some tips and tools that might kick-start your mojo.

Productivity MOJO: Parkinson law states that ‘Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.’ This is pandemic problem numero uno. Without the time suckage of the daily commute or all that non-essential nonsense, most of us have bags more time to fill. But, instead of doing more, we end up doing less. Alternatively, between your job, home-schooling and the pressure to bake bread, you might have SO much to do that you are suffering from total overwhelm and the only solution to that is Netflix and tears (obviously!)

How to be less crap: For starters stop beating yourself up, because we all know that multi-tasking is bollocks and you can’t be berating yourself for being a lazy loser or a rubbish parent and still expect to be getting stuff done. Next up – start time chunking – breaking your day up into bite-size pieces (15 mins / 30 mins / 2 hrs dependant on the task/s at hand) and for 100% of that time just do that ONE thing. I find the Pomodoro technique (work for 25-mins, break for 5 – repeat 4 x and then break for 15) usually takes care of my mornings. If you want to try it (or create a framework that better suits you) then this timer could be just the ticket.

Positivity MOJO: Even though we know all that half-cup-full business is proven to (actually) make us feel better, there is nothing like a daily death-count and extended lock-out laws to sap the last drops of happiness from even the brightest of souls.

How to be less crap: Feeling better (brighter) often comes down to finding a way to play to your strengths – what are you BEST at? Is humour your thing? Or kindness? Or curiosity? To start injecting more positivity into your day. the Science of Wellbeing course suggests you take those strengths and double down on them for a week. Naturally curious? Try learning something new, or ask your friends/parents questions that might provoke answers that could surprise you. Naturally funny? Send cards/messages to cheer up your friends/make them laugh, or set up a Netflix party and stream some classic comedy together. Not sure what your strengths are? You are not alone – research has found that only a 1/3 of people have an active awareness of their strengths. To find out yours you can take THIS TEST and then learn how to APPLY THEM to your daily life here

Relationship MOJO: Confined spaces are not always the best breeding ground for good relationships. Louis CK summed it up with the (rather bleak) equation ‘Love plus time minus distance equals hate’.

How to be less crap: Now more than ever (irony alert!) it is important to create healthy boundaries in the relationships with your loved ones. So, sure – tell them when you are too tired to talk or too emotionally sapped to fight back. But – and this is the mojo repairing but – try and balance those boundaries with moments or rituals in your day that are considered and special (okay – maybe special is a big call – let’s settle on cozy). Remember how John Gottman’s relationship advice was to make sure you have 5 positive interactions for every negative? It’s a bit like that. In my house, we have settled on some standard exchanges – my husband and I say almost nothing to each other during the day (saving the content) and at 6pm meet up in the garden for a glass of wine and a catch-up. My teenage son and I are barely on more than grunting terms during school hours, then we sit together and bond over the latest ep of The Last Dance. And you know I am a fan of the small stuff – so the occasional “I made you a coffee’ or ‘I tidied your room’ or ‘I like that weird thing you are doing with your facial hair’ goes a long way to creating peace and harmony in the hood.

For those of you looking for a little more brain mojo, you might enjoy learning to speed read or the Festival of Dangerous Ideas digital program. You can increase your recipe mojo with Half Baked Harvest and Pure Wow and for better sleep (the gateway drug to Mojo no less) I am listening to Stephen Fry’s sleep story whenever my lids fail to obey me. Sweet Dreams!

This GET HAPPIER post is brought to you by someone who gave herself a pedicure yesterday. The results confirmed this is not one of my strengths.