How to motivate myself to be productive

[bubblesforlife]

The past couple of years have been very busy for me with lots of demanding things happening all of the time.
All of that is now over and I have time on my hands again for the first time in a very long time. I want to use this time wisely while I have it. I do have some new personal projects planned to begin. I also really want to prioritise exercise again. But the problem is that I am struggling to motivate myself to 'just do it' and be productive where I find myself just faffing about.
There isn't anything on my list that is urgent and maybe that's why I'm struggling a little.

Any tips MN on how to overcome a motivation rut?

Set small daily targets, no matter how small, especially with exercise. I find it naturally snowballs and you start doing more. If you fall into a rut, back to small daily targets and start again.

Once I get going in the mornings, I get some momentum. If I am struggling to get going after the kids have gone to school, I watch a 'clean with me' video and after about 30 seconds I am itching to get on with jobs. Then the more 'project' type things are easier to roll into, if that makes sense.

Or I make a list and break it down I to small steps.

Other ideas: meet up with a friend who also wants to do a similar project and bang some ideas around. Watch a video about your project area.

On exercise:
Meet a friend for a swim/exercise class. Get a personal trainer once a week for six weeks to get you in the habit. C25K.

Thank you both.

I went out yesterday and bought a small 2020 diary and starts a daily list of productive to do items. Small yet achievable. I feel like it has already helped