5 Evidence-Backed Strategies to Boost Motivation When You Have None

1. Slow Down to Speed Up

Instead of worrying about feeling stuck, rest and recharge. Good sleep hygiene impacts how we feel physically, mentally and emotionally. Ferris Jabr explains, “Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life.”

2. Tap Into Your Imagination

Mindset and imagination fuel both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the motivation to do something because it’s personally rewarding. Extrinsic motivation happens when outside forces compel you to move forward in order to earn a reward or avoid a punishment.

When you are feeling drained or unmotivated, spend a bit of time visualizing the intrinsic and extrinsic results of reaching your goal: the way it will make you feel or the reward you will receive (or give yourself!).

3. Reverse Engineer

Once you have the big picture worked out, you’re on your way. You know how you want to feel. You believe that it’s possible to get there. The next important step is to reverse engineer that big picture into small steps. Taking small steps will help you sustain your motivation to keep going.

4. Feel What’s Real

Many of us tend to push through the hard bits in life without actually processing them. But the heavy bag of unresolved emotions can be a burden that drags us down and holds us back. Stuffing down emotions in an effort to forge ahead doesn’t get rid of them. They will just bubble up later — usually when it’s most inconvenient. In order to truly move the energy, allow yourself to feel what’s real, especially the hard stuff.

5. Divert Your Attention

Instead of beating up on yourself for slowing down or procrastinating, view your attention as your superpower. Be intentional about where you put your focus. Reset by putting your attention on something that feels good right now. A study by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for instance, found that “deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused.”

Go for a walk, call an uplifting friend, listen to music, have a bath or shower, get out in nature, or do whatever it is you enjoy doing. Do it with intention. And then come back to your task with fresh eyes. What feels different?

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Reflection:

Would you try these strategies to boost your motivation?

#Motivation #Productivity #MentalHealth

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