Nan’s “Triple M” Marbles Motivation Method

If you’re ever feeling lost or ungrounded, unproductive or stuck, burnt out or unmotivated, here’s what you can do:

Find your marbles*

*It doesn’t have to be marbles, it can be any collection of small things

How I found my marbles

I found the old marbles collection in a storage closet.

They’re just as pretty as ever!

Let’s use them to take action.

Put the marbles near your workspace.

Find a nice receptacle; I had this nice glass bowl that makes a nice clinking sound when I drop a marble into it.

Put the marbles and the receptacle in a central but personal location.

Here’s the formula: one thing equals one marble. Big thing equals big marble?

For example, in doing my morning routine, I pick out a marble and put it in the glass bowl for each small task.

Why???

To work on my bad morning habit. Over the years, I’ve tended to dive head first into my projects without taking care of life and limb first. Water, coffee, healthy food, washing, brushing, dressing, admin, and prepping for the day.

Yes, it can take this level of self help at times to make progress!

Having a solid morning routine moves me from getting out of bed to getting things done even on the days when I friggin don’t want to, on the days when I only have 40%, on the sunny days, on the rainy days. By the time I get through the routine, in my mind I’m ready to work.

The idea is to build small good habits and discontinue bad ones.

Sometimes I reward myself with a marble if I do NOT do something, e.g., if I’m trying to END a bad habit. This one can be a little tricky. It requires you to notice what isn’t there…

Tackling the to-do list.

Throughout the day, each task done gets a marble. Positive reinforcement works. You may be surprised to find what a little thing like a marble can do for you.

Before you know it, the bowl fills up!

What progress looks like?

What?? No marbles? What else might work

Use what you’ve got. Coins? Blocks? Hardware? Buttons? Friggin pasta? Things that build something? Things that clink when they drop? It doesn’t have to be a gazillion of them, either, just a few of something works. You can use a small bowl.

Here’s a 20-second mobile (vertical) video I posted on social media about my simple marbles formula. (Swanky jazz music added on each platform.)

Using this method has helped me work through countless projects, be on my game around the house, and take care of things generally.

It has also helped quiet my inner critic and be nicer to my inner child, who does well when she’s doing well. If that makes sense.

Heck, sometimes I walk by and pick out a marble and drop it in the bowl just because I need a little pick me up, dammit. I’ll think of something I did (or didn’t do) that deserves a marble.