Cooking is a wonderful lifelong skill to learn because it can provide endless fun, enjoyment and delicious food. However, there will eventually come a point when you simply can’t be bothered to cook. Perhaps you’ve decided that cooking takes too long or maybe you’re too tired from work to cook. If this happens, you can quickly end up developing bad habits that make it hard for you to muster up the energy to cook.

If you’ve ever felt like you just want to throw in the towel, here are a few tips to help you stay motivated.

Every chef has their little cheats

Every home cook has their secrets to make things easier. For instance, if you want to make an easy and delicious turkey pot pie you could consider using pre-cooked chicken, frozen pie crusts, frozen vegetables or even canned gravy. This can speed things up, it’ll take out a lot of prep time and you won’t need to prepare everything. These types of ingredients can be kept in your pantry or freezer and put to use whenever they’re needed. This is one of those little chef secrets that everyone has, so don’t be afraid to use shortcuts if it helps you cook.

Get used to prepping in advance

A great way to speed up the cooking process is to actually prep ahead of time. For instance, you could chop up some vegetables or dry your salad in a spinner ahead of time when you’re not doing anything. You could even prepare things like stock on the weekend or even full meals at the beginning of the week. There’s no limit to what you can prep, so if you find that time is a limiting factor you should consider splitting up your cooking task into multiple steps.

Try cook something unique or different

A great way to improve your cooking skills is to cook something that you’re not used to. This sounds like a lot of effort, but some home chefs enjoy a good challenge because it helps them get into the mood for cooking more unique meals. Take a break from cooking what you’re used to and try to make something different. Perhaps now would be a good time to learn some new baking skills, or maybe you want to improve your deep-frying technique. Whatever the case is, try something new and different and you’ll be surprised at how much fun you can have with cooking again.

Don’t force yourself to cook–everyone deserves a break

While cooking every day is a good habit, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then especially if you’re tired or not feeling your best. Getting a takeout is a guilty pleasure for many people and while it might not be the healthiest thing (depending on where you order) it saves you time and having it every now and then isn’t bad. In short, don’t get too worked up if you don’t cook at home sometimes!