We are Jessica and Joelle, co-founders of Extraordinary Ordinary Project — a Toronto-based blog dedicated to providing parents who are entrepreneurs with inspiration, support, resources and a sense of community.

How to Get & Stay Motivated6 tips to help you stay engaged with your work

So you’ve come up with a kickass idea, the ball

is rolling, and things have been coming along

nicely. But how badly do you want to achieve your

goals? Are you willing to sacrifice in the short term

to gain in the long term? Are you motivated enough

to keep on moving forward, through the (inevitable)

rough and tumble waters of entrepreneurship—made

even more challenging by being a parent?

You’re here because you’re navigating the unique

path of being an entrepreneur while raising a family.

So while the typical motivational tools and tips may

work for most - when you belong to the XO gang,

you kinda have to eke out that little bit extra or

tweak your strategies a bit.

Why is motivation important? You need that push

to achieve your goals, or stagnation will become

your best friend.

No matter what goals we set or how detailed our

plans might be, if we can’t find the motivation

to take consistent action, those goals won’t ever

be achieved. But if we stay motivated and push

through, breaking the bad habits that tend to hold

us back, we open a world of possibilities.

We’ve absolutely struggled with motivation. As

working-from-home parents, our biggest sapper of

motivation in the past has been using the kids as an

excuse. “He’s sick and he’s been home for a few days

so now I just need a day or so to get back on track.”

“I’m so stressed with the kids that I can’t even think

about work right now.”

Sound familiar?

But we remained committed, even though it was

difficult and we wanted to give up sometimes.

Our journey is one of ups and downs, valleys and

peaks. So for those times when you’re stuck

in a deep valley - we have developed a two-part

resource, including some strategies that we’ve found

helpful in various stages of our entrepreneurial/

parenting journey, to get your ass in gear!

www.extraordinaryordinaryproject.com

We’ve all done it before. Uttered the

deadly phrases “Tomorrow”, “Next

time” or “Maybe later”. As tempting as it is to

tune out and watch reality TV/have a coffee/

do anything else instead of tackling that next

big task, procrastination is the number one

killer of motivation. If you want to achieve

all those big dreams of yours (or even just

scratch a bunch of items off your ‘To-Do’

list) then you have to squelch this habit and

quick.

One popular time-management technique

we’ve found that works for us is the 15

minute rule. It’s an awesome technique that

you can incorporate into almost any aspect

of your life. Don’t feel like doing the dishes?

Set the 15 minute timer on your cell and once

you’ve started, you’ll more than likely end

up finishing. Pushing off putting together

that big proposal for a client? Just work on it

for 15 minutes and again, you’ll find that the

momentum will likely end up carrying you

through to a longer span of time.

The worst case scenario is you’ve knocked

off 15 minutes worth of work on something

you were going to otherwise push off. The big solution to procrastination is pretty simple—just find a way to START.

1.0 - DO IT NOW/TODAY

How to Get & Stay Motivated

If you’re serious about your goals, then get

serious about your time. Create blocks

of time where you decide to limit your

distractions - this can coincide with those 15

minutes we talked about. What distractions

are we talking about? Email notifications, TV,

newsfeeds.

If you’re working out of an office/co-

working/shared studio space - try signalling

to your crew that you’re in deep goal-

crushing mode by slipping on headphones,

or closing your door if you have one.

The key to cutting distractions? Guard your time.

2.0 - BE A HORSE AKA PUT BLINDERS ON AKA CUT OUT DISTRACTIONS

“The big solution to procrastination ispretty simple—just find a way to START.”

www.extraordinaryordinaryproject.com

A change of scenery can be a breath of

fresh air (literally). Typically people are

creatures of habit and we like our routine,

but sometimes moving to a different location

can actually aid in our productivity and help

us stay motivated.

Find a productive place you can work from

in your hood. It can be a coffee shop, a

restaurant, a public park, or any other place

that will help foster your creativity, eliminate

some distractions, and motivate you to get

your work done. The key is, and it ties into tips #1 and #2 - choose a place that will inspire you and motivate you versus a space that will lead to either procrastination or distraction.

3.0 - SWITCH UP YOUR SPACE

When our bodies aren’t moving, it can

be tough to get the minds on track

and focused.

If running isn’t your thing, find some other

short burst of exercise you can do for at least

15 minutes. We like to use Peloton because it

has a ton of different options. Or make it to

one of the local gym classes. The point? Get

active. Get the blood flowing through your

body.

Yoga is the perfect way to flood positive

endorphins into the body that help to

stimulate the mind, helping to battle the

stress hormones (cortisol) that can build up.

Sometimes we can lose motivation because we have so much going on in our lives that we become completely overwhelmed. Physical activity can work to eliminate

stress and at the same time, clear our minds,

improving focus.

4.0 - MOVE THAT BODY

Speaking of clearing your mind,

meditation is a powerful tool.

Let’s face it, our lives are chaotic af - but

meditation centers us, helping to remove the

clutter in our minds, and renewing our sense

of spirit and motivation.

Staying motivated is work, and meditation can pave the way for our minds to accept the other motivational tools and efficiently leverage them.

5.0 - ZEN OUT

www.extraordinaryordinaryproject.com

DYK we have around 60,000 thoughts

that run through our minds in a given

day?

A large portion of our thoughts are fear-

based. You know, the “What If”s?

We ask ourselves fear-based questions

without even consciously being aware of it.

For that reason, if we want to get and stay

motivated, we have to squash our fears.

Try this. Write down (or, let’s be real, type

out) your fears. Then, write down why you’re

afraid of those things. Finally, write down a

reason why the fear should not control you.

Think about experiences where you’ve pulled

through or accomplished something you

didn’t think was possible at the time.

There is power in facing your fears and then being able to banish them.

6.0 - BANISH YOUR FEARS

Want more content like this? Don’t forget to sign up to our e-newsletter to get the second part of

How to Get & Stay Motivated - the straight goods delivered straight to your inbox.

Working Out // Peloton app

Meditation // Calm app

Time Tracker // Timely app

Head Phones // Beats Solo

RESOURCES WE LOVE

www.extraordinaryordinaryproject.com