How to Stay Motivated on Your “Off” Days

This post is dedicated to women like me who are working towards certain goals and want to enjoy the occasional day off without the guilt. Let’s face it we all deserve a day off (a mental health day) doing absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, and we should take those days. This post is purposefully for those weekend days when we have free time to lounge but still desire to be motivated

It’s a Sunday morning (or whatever your off day is) and you literally have nothing pressing to do (well, you probably have a little laundry and some cooking or grocery shopping to do, but if that’s it, you’re probably winning) and nowhere to be (no events, no birthday parties or baby showers). It’s safe to say that that day could easily turn into a lazy Sunday/day where you stay in your pajamas and watch HGTV, Lifetime or Netflix all day while laying in your bed or on the sofa. If you have kids you may even contemplate letting them stay in their PJs all day as well and just have a no structure type of day. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, there’s that little thing called guilt that will nag you and make you feel bad about doing nothing on your off day even though you haven’t had an off day in a while. When I get one of those days, which is not often, I think about all the things I could be doing like laundry, preparing food for the week or working on my blog or other projects I have lined up. There’s always going to be something that needs to be done, so let’s get that out of the way, but it’s important to learn how to take advantage of a good ol’ day off when you have it! I’ve learned a way to enjoy an off day of doing what I want, which is being lazy, watching HGTV and/or Lifetime and snacking, without the guilt. So, to satisfy that you-could-be-doing-something-guilt while still satisfying my inner laziness I do these things:

Read Something That’s Inspiring

Whether it’s a devotional thought or a blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, on my off day I try to read something that will keep me inspired, something that I can keep in the back of my mind throughout the day. I also like to see what some of my favorite bloggers are up to which is inspiring as well. This gives me the motivation I need to not lose site of my goals. Adding a cup of chai makes this the perfect off day morning!

Create To-Do List For The Week

I love my planner and writing out my weekly to-dos, so on an off day to keep me motivated I will look over a previous or current to-do list and create a new one for the week. Making some plans in my planner makes me feel like I’ve done so much when I’ve really only done one thing. I even plan out when to tackle the laundry and cleaning I put off! Planning out your week or month gives you a sense of accomplishment and it’s one small task that can help you feel like you were super productive.

Review Long and Short Term Goals

I have my goals written down in various places and when I accomplish something, I write it down. I also have a few vision boards that I like to go over from time to time seeing what’s been done. This is a great thing to do to help stay motivated on a day off. It’s just something wonderful about looking back at how far God has brought you and how He has allowed certain things to take place in your life. I like going back to old notes where I’ve written goals and see where I am in reaching those goals. It’s important to check in with yourself and those off days are perfect for that.

I hope this has helped to guide your next off day. There’s nothing wrong with using an off day to just focus on you. That laundry, the meal prepping, the cleaning, the hubby and the kids (just kidding, but no judgement if you were going there lol) can wait! Sometimes we need a day to refocus, relax and just stay in our PJs and watch movies all day! We deserve it, we work hard!

So, let’s chat! What are some things you like to do to stay motivated on your off days? I’d love to hear your routine.

Until next time…