Lack of Motivation

So during the pandemic, I’ve had not only a lack of motivation but a complete job change. I now work for myself, which is what I’ve always dreamed of but I wake up and I’m in this sort of quarantine mindset. On top of that, I’ve always had trouble staying motivated when a low or high blood sugar creeps in. Sometimes the low gets me down so much that I recover longer than expected and I have trouble not getting distracted after I feel better. Some days are so bad that I just throw the towel in. Any tips for motivation and hanging on to the diabetes rollercoaster? I think sometimes undiagnosed ADD might come in to play but I’m certainly not getting checked for that until the virus subsides. (sidenote) I have excellent control but these days happen, just the nature of the beast.

I used to work from home years ago. I also used to hire all sorts of people and it was up to them how productive they wanted or turned out to be. It really is about self discipline. I used to tell people no matter how you felt for the day, or how difficult because of things going on, if you wanted to be successful “you would show up for work.” If you have a job you need to go to, you go even when you aren’t feeling the greatest. You have to treat working from home the same way. You go to work even when you aren’t feeling the best.

The benefits are you get to pick the times you can work to a certain extent, but that’s also the downfall. It’s way to easy to say I’ll do it in a few hours or tomorrow and then tomorrow comes along and something else gets in the way.

If you have always dreamed of working from home, if you don’t “go to work” it won’t last and hopefully you can remind yourself of that. Set a routine to “show up” and stick to it whether you feel like it or not or even if you aren’t getting that much done. But I would say setting up a routine and sticking to it is a big key.

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This is Jen’s pandemic video that she posted early in the year…

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I love that video @mohe0001 !!! I must have missed it when Jen posted it.

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I’m not looking to advertise any products however my dex tandem loop really takes over on days when I don’t have the will to control it.
I can still react faster and do a better job, but when I don’t want to think about it, it takes over.
It’s my wing man. Something I never had before.

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Thanks Marie20 this is sound advice. I think my biggest obstacle right now are my online masters courses. It seems the schedule for each class changes every two weeks so I’m finding it difficult to keep changing my routine to suit the most important thing right now, college. I put the most important things first but the business sometimes takes a back seat for.

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Timothy I’m on the same system! I think the fear of it not working certainly holds me back, even though I know this is a much better system that I was on. I dealt with hell for so many years it’s hard to grasp this new, amazing concept of being whole.

These are some awesome tips! I’m going to get my ■■■ up and work out right now, something I should have done this morning before I was consumed by social media in my “workspace.” It feels a little claustrophobic confining myself to an idea of a spaceship but maybe a fancy pirate ship. :pirate_flag:

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Congrats. I"m self employed and I recommend you should try to take advantage of the flexible timing to work out and keeping your meals on schedule. This should help out. When going high, you might be able to take a walk etc. Keep the faith as it is a constant battle!

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Maybe spend a few mins first thing everyday focusing on gratitude? Or watch something inspiring? Or do a gratitude meditation? It sounds like you are already aware how lucky you are, but with anything it’s hard to maintain the focus on gratitude for things we have, so making a point to reflect on it first thing might be that extra motivation to enjoy it and use that opportunity to the fullest?

I am lucky enough to work from home during the pandemic, and I went from a strict routine, and finally feeling like I had the time to get everything done to 4pm rolling around and still being in PJs. It wasn’t until I was talking to a close friend that desperately wished she could work from home to give myself a little motivation to focus on the opportunity (and extra time) I have again to create a tip top routine for myself. She was also searching to find an elliptical online and humming and hawing about spending the money. It made me go home that evening and jump on my elliptical and be grateful that I have it again! Especially with the gyms around me closing down.

I bought a simple white board from the $1 store, and I list things (and relationships, experiences, work, etc.) I have that I’m grateful for and it’s the very first thing I look at in the morning. It helps set the tone for my day. Not for everyone, but these are some things that have helped me.

Good luck!

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This is a little personal to share and a detour off the topic, but I thought I would ask. My diabetic son graduated with As from highschool but is now stuck. He is to paralyzed with social anxiety and panic to interview for jobs and be surrounded by people. He is dead set against medication or sharing with a psychiatrist. I often try to think there may be an online career that would work for him as he is quite smart. Or an online career that he could take courses for and achieve. I work in healthcare and don’t really have a whole lot of experience with online careers. I am trying to find an online career that he would not have to interview in person or face others. Maybe I am just desperately dreaming in today’s competitive world. I am seeing a lot of virtual assistance jobs. We are in Canada, not US if that makes a big difference. If anyone has any ideas in this diabetic forum, please toss them my way. With great appreciation.

He needs to get therapy for his phobias. Maybe meds are not needed but likely he will become unable to function on his own if he can’t leave the house.
Sure an online career will allow him to work, however his quality of life is greatly affected.
How can he cultivate close friendships and business relationships not to mention romantic relationships
He is 18. This is when the excitement happens.
The taking steps and standing on your own.
The whole covid thing might have been a trigger for him, however you can’t let it derail his life.
At least get him to mask up and go to the market.
We all need human interaction, diabetes or not.

I have a 16 yr old with the opposite problem. Wanting to be out with friends. Wants to get a job at Target. Hates wearing her mask. Socializing takes precedence.
So I have to teach her some restraint and some impulse control.
No one is truly normal. We all need a nudge sometimes.
You son is struggling now. I hope you can encourage him to experience the world

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Susan how did your son manage to get through high school with social anxiety? Did he just keep to himself? Poor guy. Our son had a bad case of Tourette’s, and early onset bipolar disease plus anxiety. It was rough. He is now doing well at 32. He is also quite intelligent like your son.

If you think I could help at all feel free to message me. My son works outside his home, so I would be of no help with on line work unfortunately. He does not have diabetes.

Thanks Marilyn. My son forced himself through school, the mandatory routine and a few friends helped a lot.

You are very luck to have a normal teenager. :slightly_smiling_face:

Separating your areas of activity is the one take out that I should somehow drill into my head. I started my own consulting business in October and half-way in November I already feel worn out, having to work from home in the darkness of the Finnish autumn. Separating activity areas is something that doesn’t exclusively pertain to the spaceship model and I find I am not the only adult who tends to forget this. Thanks for the link, @mohe0001!

@Jen posted it early in the lockdown. Took me a while to dig it up.

Your in Finland?!?!?! Thats interesting. Is it Finland that has the highest incidence of type 1 in the world? I think so. My people come from there a couple generations back (and Denmark and Sweden), so I think Finland is why I’m a diabetic. I’ve always wanted to go there because I imagine it as some kinda strange land where everyone is diabetic - “diabetic land.”

I’m in Minnesota, where lots of Nordic people settled in the US, so we also have higher incidence I think. I think we will be vaccinated in December. I think that many doses will go to Europe as a priority since they did the research to develop the vaccine. I’m a bit worried about what happens to our neighbors, though. @Jen is back at work in Canada.

Grad school is the best place for ya’, @Elyssia_Reedy. The recruiters are calling me for jobs that are untenable or super dangerous. I think its because of my EMT work history. MT wanted someone to go into the hospitals and set up the software/hardware for the ventilators. :grimacing:

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About 1% of Finns have T1, would you believe it? And I am not even Finnish. I moved in to study and 4 years later - baaam - type 1! And my own folks hadn’t even heard of it back then. Yeah - don’t come to Finland :slight_smile: Or well, since you already, you know, got it :wink:
tenor

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I am an American with Celtic ancestry and we all know the Vikings conquered that region.

I ended up with three Viking diseases.
Type 1 diabetes
Duputrens contracture
Ledderhose disease.
The last two are really the same thing although ledderhose disease is so very rare outside of Norway Sweden and Finland.
Because of that, I blame my Viking ancestors.

I couldn’t get the thick red beard,and giant muscles.
Like cartoon Vikings had.
No I got diabetes and lumps in my hands and feet.

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