For those of us lucky enough to get a break over Christmas and the New Year, there lies the issue of motivation. It can be so tempting to simply spend your time off sleeping, eating and lounging around watching television. While you certainly should treat yourself to a bit of the aforementioned behaviour, it’s also really important to make the most of your free days and New Zealand’s gorgeous weather. Here are a few helpful pointers on how to keep motivated during this time:

Set an Alarm

Unless you’re one of those people that wakes up at a decent hour automatically, definitely, definitely set an alarm each morning! There would be nothing worse than going back to work in January and realising you spent your entire holiday sleeping until noon each day. Try setting your alarm for 8am during the week, and 9am during weekends – this way you still get the best of the day but aren’t up with the sparrows. Of course, if you like getting up at the crack of dawn, go for it! The more daylight you give yourself, the more time you have to both relax and do activities. 

Have Attainable Goals

This one is really important. It’s hard to be motivated about anything if you don’t have something to strive towards or look forward to! Whatever that goal may be is completely up to you, your personal interests and desires. It could be as simple as building a herb garden, or as complex as hiking the Heaphy Track. Pick something (or several things) that you want to accomplish over the coming weeks and work on achieving them each day. Not only will this stop you from spending the majority of your break lazing around, but it will leave you feeling proud and inspired when you see the end result.

Be Organised

If you aren’t an organisational freak, there are a couple of things you could take from those that are. Having a little organisation in your day-to-day life can work wonders! You don’t have to write lists or plan everything you do right down to the final point (though if that desire is in your nature, I wouldn’t discourage you!), but following a few basic tips can really help with staying motivated. First, keep your space literally organised. By this I mean: don’t live through your holiday in a mess. Try to maintain a tidy house so you actually feel like moving around in it. More importantly, however, know what you need to before it needs doing, and have an idea of what exactly you’ll be doing each day. Even simply deciding that tomorrow you will go for a walk somewhere is enough to set your mind on that channel. You don’t need to establish where or when, just know that you are going to do that. This gives you something to work your day around.

Reward Yourself

If you’re still finding it hard to stay (or get) motivated – I know reading in a hammock by the beach all day can be VERY tempting – give yourself a small reward upon completing your goals. Establish what this reward will be when you first decide upon your goal, so that you have an incentive throughout the achieving process. It could be a chocolate bar, a spa or an evening watching your favourite chick flick – you decide!