The Great Acting Blog: “Overcoming Post-Holiday Strangeness – Motivate By Degrees”

The Great Acting Blog: “Overcoming Post-Holiday Strangeness – Motivate By Degrees”

The transition from the holiday period into the swing of work for the new year, can be very strange. We want to get back into our old routine, we want our workload to increase to normal levels and we want to return to our previous laser-like focus, all of which have  been sidelined as we rest (laze?) and make merry. But now the parties over, the new year has well and truly begun and we need to crack on. But there’s a problem. As we rouse ourselves on day one, expecting to pick-up from where we left off, we find that we just can’t do it – all those mince pies have created a fog in our mind, we just cannot function at the level we want and need to, we’re just not match fit.

The problem is in trying to get back to our optimum in one fell swoop. It rarely works. Our bodies and minds just can’t make the leap in one go. This is where motivation by degrees comes in. Instead of trying to flick a switch within ourselves, failing, then entering a dispiriting downward spiral, we need to build ourselves back up using a series of small, short term wins. It’s like working on a script: we don’t try to act the whole thing in every line of dialogue. No, we break it down into it’s smallest units (beats) and focus on one unit at a time. Completion of work on the first unit gives us a little boost and encourages us to move onto the next one, and so on. By the time we have worked through the whole script, we are much stronger and more effective than we were at the start.

In order to build yourself back up, break the work down and give yourself a series of small wins. Motivate by degrees.

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