I know you’ve read all the advice about getting motivated and building habits. Lay out your workout clothes the night before. Meal prep on Sundays so healthy meals are easy to make throughout the week. Schedule blocks of time on your calendar and turn off your phone to do your creative work without distraction. I could go on. But what happens when you’ve done all the prep work, started off well, and then halfway through, feel like you’ve hit a wall?

We’ve all been there. We set intentions, make plans, and work hard, until we just can’t anymore. Maybe your problem is easy to fix – maybe working out 4 days a week is more sustainable than 6 – maybe allowing yourself to sleep in once a week rather than getting up before the sun and crushing it is good for your mental health. But maybe you’re just stuck. What do you do in those moments when you don’t feel great, you’re not excited about doing whatever it is you’ve said is important to you, your mind and body are screaming to lay down and turn on netflix, in short – you’re supremely unmotivated?

There are people out there who will tell you this is where you need to develop mental fortitude and just power through but I’ll be honest, that’s never worked for me. At least, not long term. So what else can you do?

Every morning, I write my to do list for the day. I categorize each item into “Self, Work, Family, and Appointments/Errands” I put Self at the top. Each morning, under self, I write the following:

• Drink 12 glasses of water
• Walk 3 miles
• AM Yoga
• Write 1000 words
• Study French 15 minutes
• and then either Exercise 30 minutes or Go to the Barn

Do you know how many days I actually do any of these? Pretty much never. Maybe I’m ambitious to try to do all that in a day on top of family and job work, but I get up around 6am most mornings – that’s plenty of time to do yoga, walk a mile, and write 1000 words before work. Then, if I spend 15 minutes on Duolingo at lunch (instead of scrolling social media) and walk another mile, I’m mostly done by the time work is over. All I’ve got left is to either go to the gym or the barn and then a walk after dinner. That sounds so easy. I should be able to do that. I could have written 3 whole books this year if I’d done that. My body would be fit and toned and healthy and strong. My horse would be fit and trained and ready to compete. I’ve got 9 years of formal training in French – if i practiced it for 15 min a day, I’d probably be fluent!

So why can’t I do this? Why can’t you do whatever it is that you’re trying to do? I don’t know. It’s beyond the scope of this post to delve into the psychology of creating habits and achieving our goals. Everybody has a different why and maybe if we figured that out and addressed it, we too could unlock the secrets to perpetual productivity and mental fortitude.

But in the meantime, here are some bandaids; some quick fixes to help with the symptoms of whatever cause is fighting against us actually doing what we say we’re going to do. Stephen Pressfield, in his book The War of Art calls it “resistance”. He says it’s a force from Hell (as opposed to creativity that comes from Heaven) and that it rears it’s ugly head anytime we try to do something that would allow us to live the life we want to live, rather than a distracted, placated life, merely reacting to the things around us.

Sometimes our brains just need a reset. Here are a few things that work for me.

For brain fog – Yoga with Adriene has this fantastic 12 minute mini-yoga for brain power and let me tell you, it works! Every time I do this I walk away feeling refreshed and ready to take on any task. Watch it here.

For when you just want to lounge – Make a cup of your favorite hot drink (no alcohol if you plan on exercising after, but a little might help a creative endeavor) and an ounce of dark chocolate. Serve the chocolate on a small plate and the drink in your favorite mug. Sit in the most beautiful place in your home (outside if weather permits). Sit quietly until your beverage is done. Don’t bring your phone, book, or turn on the TV. You don’t want anything that will encourage you to keep sitting after you’ve finished your drink.

For when you need a nap – Take a 20 minute walk. Take your dog, call your mom, or even better, get Optimized! This free app (or available wherever you get your podcasts) is full of 15-25 minute episodes meant to motivate and inspire you on a number of topics. Pick one relevant to what you’re trying to do next and listen while you walk.

For when social media is calling – instead of getting sucked in to the cute animal videos online (funny dog vidoes are my personal krypotnite) play with the real thing! Grab your dog and play a game of frisbee, or whatever game you and your pet prefer. It’ll get you moving and an object in motion stays in motion.

For when you can’t get excited about your creative project – are you ever in the middle of a project and just can’t make yourself work on it? Maybe you’re writing a book and just can’t get into the mind of your main character today. Maybe you’re writing a business plan and you’re stuck on a particular revenue stream. Habits are really easy to break. If you skip one day it’s like taking 10 steps backwards and will be that much harder to get back on track the next day. But who says you have to work on your big project in particular? Maybe you just don’t feel like writing your story. Okay, don’t. Sit down in front of your computer and write something else. What words come easy? Personally, when I struggle to get into the minds of my own characters, I can usually still get into the minds of my favorite books characters and I find that an hour spent writing a little fanfiction can do wonders for the quality of my own story. Maybe when you can’t wrap your head around your own business plan, challenge yourself to sit there and come up with a fantasy business – something you would never do, or maybe you’ll imagine a business that could never exist. Is your financial planning company feeling boring today? How would you organize your business if it existed in the wizarding world? Who knows, maybe you’ll actually come up with a great idea that will work in real life.

My husband, who is definitely in the “toughen up and just do it” camp, has two tools in his belt as well.

12 minute power nap – find a comfortable, dark place, close your eyes (or better yet, put in earplugs and an eye mask) and set your alarm for 12 minutes. Don’t open your eyes until the alarm goes off. To be fair, he had to train himself to nap for just 12 minutes, if that doesn’t work for you, start with 20.

Just commit to going – don’t feel motivated to work out? Just commit to driving to the gym. Once you get there, if all you do is sit in the car and play on your phone, that’s fine. But chances are, if you actually drive there, you’ll end up going in.

What helps you to get back on track when you’ve hit a wall? Tell me in the comments.