How to Fill Your "Bucket" to Increase Motivation, Energy + Decrease Irritability!
Aug 15, 2023
Written By: Laure Saint Georges Chaumet, Mental Health Therapist
First, what is a “bucket”?
When I say bucket, I mean your battery or emotional reserve to be able to face your life with energy, optimism, motivation, smiles, and hopefulness.
When our bucket is full, we feel at our best and able to handle life's challenges with grace. We are excited to spend time with friends and feel motivated to go out and backpack, ski, climb, and all the fun things!
When our bucket is empty, we are irritable and even the small things feel overwhelming. We feel drained and unable to muster the energy to see our friends or do the wonderful outdoor things we know we love.
Everyone fills and empties their bucket differently. So here is an exercise you can do to figure out how to fill your bucket! It may take some reflecting and trial and error but if you can narrow it down, you will be one step closer to understanding yourself and meeting your needs effectively.
EXERCISE: Here is a list of activities and tasks (use these as examples and feel free to add others). Go through them and place them in 1 of 4 categories:
Cleaning the kitchen
Watching a movie
Reading a book
Going for a walk
Visiting family
Making dinner
Going to the gym alone
Meeting friends at the gym
Spending all day at home with no plans
Going to work
Meditating
Spending 1 on 1 time with a friend
Going to a group gathering
Climbing
Hiking
Backpacking
Working out
Skiing/Snowboarding
Doing the dishes
Laundry
Doing my taxes :)
Grocery shopping
Bucket Filling
1. Enjoyable activity that increases my energy
2. Slightly annoying task that makes me feel relieved and motivated afterwards
Bucket Emptying
3. Enjoyable task that leaves me feeling depleted afterwards
4. Slightly annoying activity/task that always leaves me feeling depleted afterwards.
When you understand what empties or fills your bucket, make sure never to let your bucket get too empty each week (as much as you can control of course). For example, if group activities are fun but feel draining, make sure only to schedule 1 or 2 a week rather than filling your weekend with group activities. Or alternate weekends (one weekend with group activities and the next with plenty of alone time).
Finally, DO NOT COMPARE YOUR BUCKET WITH OTHERS! It is not helpful because we are all different. Instead, celebrate how your body and brain work for you!