How To Handle Fatigue and Unmotivation During Pregnancy

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I am currently pregnant and boy am I happy to be in the second trimester! The first trimester was a little rough for me. I had no idea just how tired, unmotivated, and overwhelmed I would feel when I got pregnant. Some of you may have felt all of these things when you were pregnant and could even go so far as to saying you felt depressed.

I am doing much, much better in the second trimester (although I hear that the fatigue and lack of motivation comes back in the third trimester…). But for now, I am going to take advantage of how great I am feeling!

Needless to say, during the first trimester, I struggled to get anything done. All I wanted to do after work was come home and rest.

Cooking dinner, grocery shopping, working on my blog (something I am most passionate about!), got put on the back burner because of how I was feeling.

No, this has not been the most fun part of my pregnancy so far, but in most circumstances I think we can learn a thing or two.

And since I am someone that strives to lessen the overwhelm in mine and others’ lives (and how could fatigue and unmotivation not make us a little overwhelmed?), I thought it was important to share with you what I learned during that trying time of my first trimester. (And it’s possible you may find some of these tips helpful even if you’re not pregnant!)

Will I also feel this way in the third trimester? Time will tell!

Update: My son is now here and for me, my lack of motivation did come back, but thank goodness the low energy never resurfaced! I would have to say the first trimester was definitely my most challenging.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Please do not take any of this as medical advice. If you are truly feeling depressed, cannot get over being tired, or are experiencing other negative feelings, consult a medical professional. I am only basing these tips on my own personal experience.

This post was updated March 9, 2019.

It is OK to not get everything done that you want to

I used to have a difficult time not crossing off everything on my to do list in a day. I was always go, go, go. But I have come to realize that if I don’t get to vacuum today like I wanted, or grocery shop, or even get the bed made, the world is not going to end.

I know this might seem a little counter-intuitive to some of the things I write about such as being productive and not procrastinating, (in fact, I even have a post on not pushing things off until tomorrow) but sometimes we need to give ourselves a break – that break could be exactly what will help us get back to what we really want to do. (We just need to be smart about when we allow ourselves to do this.)

When you are constantly feeling tired and unmotivated, of course it is going to be a struggle to get done everything you want to. During those times, ask yourself if everything will be OK if you left some things off your list. Push those tasks off to another day. I know that goes against a lot of what we want to do, but sometimes we just have to. Just make sure they aren’t priorities that can’t really wait.

There might be some things you need to start saying no to

Do you struggle to say no? It is certainly not uncommon. Many of us either want to please others or just enjoy being social that we hate it if we are unable to do so.

But I challenge you that when you really don’t feel up to doing something and you can’t find the motivation, start giving the word no a try and see how it goes for you.

For me this time around, I had to say no to some things that I had committed to.

For example, I had a second job (I guess a third job if you include blogging!) that I just couldn’t do anymore. Although I loved this job and appreciated the extra income, I realized it was just one more thing that was weighing me down.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because my husband just graduated school and got a wonderful job!

There have also been other activities and social events I have had to say no to. Thankfully, most people are pretty understanding when you’re pregnant and don’t feel like doing much because you’re so tired 🙂

Take it one step at a time

I have written about this before, but whenever I am overwhelmed by what I need to get done, I write it all down and tell myself to focus on just one thing at a time. Doing that makes it not seem so overwhelming and a lot more manageable. The same can be said whenever I am feeling tired and have absolutely no motivation to do anything.

If you have to, put your to do list together in a way so that you can only see one thing at a time (e.g. one task to a page) so you’re not constantly telling yourself that you have so much to get done. Then prioritize the top 3 things you need to get done and just focus on those – one at a time.

Break it all down – you will be happy that you did!

Related Post: When You’re So Overwhelmed You Can’t Even Get Started

Remember that it’s just temporary

I know for me, I felt like I was never going to feel better. I thought that I was never going to find the motivation to work on my blog again and that scared me.

Of course this was ridiculous. I wouldn’t be pregnant forever so of course I wouldn’t feel this way forever. (It’s kind of like when you have the stomach flu and you can’t remember how you felt before you were sick and you think it will never end.) Plus, there are many different pregnancy stages so of course I would feel differently at times all throughout my pregnancy.

Eventually the way I was feeling subsided and I truly did (and still do at the moment!) feel better.

When you aren’t feeling the best, remember that it will pass. Just be a little patient, spend time in prayer asking God to help you through it, and you will make it!

(As previously mentioned, if you are truly feeling depressed or have other negative feelings that are just not going away, I suggest seeking a medical opinion. I am not a doctor and am only basing this post off of my own personal experience.)

I wish I had a way to tell you how to just snap your fingers and stop feeling the way you do. But as far as I know, there is no magic formula. So give yourself a break and remember something that I had to be reminded of many times so far during my pregnancy: YOU ARE GROWING A HUMAN! It’s OK to be a little tired and unmotivated 🙂

Have you been through this before? How did you handle it? Please share in the comments below!

Side note: If you are currently pregnant, one thing that could be causing overwhelm (aside from your hormones) is everything you need to prepare for. Have you started preparing to breastfeed? I love Milkology because it is only $19 and teaches everything you need to know to be prepared to breastfeed including why it’s important, how to produce milk, and how to get the baby to latch. You can read my review of the course at the following link The Ultimate Class To Make Breastfeeding A Success.

If you found this post helpful or think it can be of benefit to others, please share 🙂

Related posts:
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8 Surprising Things No One Told Me About The First Trimester
How Keeping A To Do List Can Help You Get A Lot More Done In A Day
These Tasks Take Less Than A Minute To Do But Will Save You Hours
5 Surefire Ways To Being More Productive

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