How to stay consistent when you don’t feel like it?

Are you tired of being inconsistent on a regular basis? Do you want to know how to stay consistent even when you don’t feel like it?

Staying consistent regularly can be tough sometimes. We all, unknowingly, struggle with staying consistent in our lives, or have struggled at some point. I have personally struggled with it myself. It’s a normal part of life. But when it gets out of hand, it becomes a real problem. It consumes valuable time and energy, which you could potentially spend on something productive or useful.

Life is full of things and distractions that can easily steer us away from our path. But it doesn’t need to be like this! I am going to give you some tips that have helped me stay consistent, even when I didn’t feel like it. Make sure you implement them in your life to see results.

Set long-term goals

Setting long-term goals will help you know what you want to do in the long run. It will allow you to focus and set your mind in achieving them.

Whenever I struggle with staying consistent, I always set long-term goals and focus on how I can try to achieve them. Setting goals just give me a reason to know I have these specific goals written down, and I need to accomplish them; these are the set of things I need to do to achieve them.

Remind yourself constantly of these goals so that they are vivid and clear in your mind. Reminding yourself of these goals will give you a reason to push yourself in being consistent to achieve them.

Know the consequences

It is always easy to give in and do something else that is unproductive and consumes valuable time. But know that there are consequences for it!

For example, the assignment that you sometimes work on would have consequences. You can miss your deadline because you were unable to finish it on time, hence getting a low mark. The project you have been putting off will result in you not finishing it on time, or it might suffer from quality issues. This could cost you your job, and then you would have a hard and long-time finding another. One consequence will lead to another consequence.

Only you know what consequences you would face for not staying consistent. So, whenever you feel yourself being inconsistent, remind yourself of the consequences.

Know your reasons

Knowing why you are doing whatever it is will help you be more consistent when you don’t feel like it. You simply need to know the reasons why doing certain things will help you. Maybe relate them to your long-term goals.

This is quite helpful, as it motivates you to keep going and push harder. Reasons can help give you meaning, and that meaning will translate into action. For example, knowing that being consistent with completing this particular project on time could help you get a promotion, and even excellent compliments from your boss.

Practice being consistent

It goes without saying ‘’you are what you do, not what you say you’ll do’’. Practice being consistent at times when you don’t feel like it. This will help you build a habit, which, in turn, allow you to be stay consistent on a regular basis.

Practice being consistent with tasks daily. For example, you brush your teeth every morning without thinking about it, or have breakfast every morning. It’s a habit you have built daily that is now ingrained in you. It’s the same with being consistent. Practice as much as you can, and don’t think about it, or say I’ll start tomorrow, as tomorrow never comes.

Get rid of distractions completely

Distractions are a major factor for a lot of things. This is why tackling distractions is of utmost importance.

Get rid of all the distractions that you have whilst focusing on your task. For example, if you feel yourself getting caught up with social media during work, switch off your phone so you are not tempted to even look at it.

If you can’t eliminate distractions completely for whatever reason, then try to reduce them as much as you can. The more distractions you can work on reducing, the better.

I agree that being consistent all the time can be tedious and exhausting. It does require a lot of effort sometimes. But, if you follow these simple strategies and really implement them, you will become better at staying consistent. They have helped me over the years.

Also, do take a breaks, occasionally, as we all need it. Without break you might actually burn out. However , the trick is to plan breaks, strategically, so that they don’t affect the quality of your work and ingrain a bad habit of being inconsistent.