How to Get Yourself Motivated to Get the Job Done

We’ve all been there. A project, deadline, or task is looming over you, but you just can’t make yourself do the work. Or you’re working on it, but you don’t feel excited and you have to force yourself to complete the project. Here are tips on how to motivate yourself through these less pleasant or difficult tasks so you can still succeed.

 

1.           Break It Down

Sometimes, it can feel overwhelming to see your abstract goal on paper and it’s hard to know where to start. When you can’t figure out how to begin, you lose motivation because you feel stressed out, overwhelmed, and worried. In those instances, you need to break the goal down into its smaller parts: easily digestible, achievable steps you can take with a clear finish line. That way, you’ll know if you’ve succeeded or not. Even if you fail to achieve some of your benchmarks, this failure can motivate you to work harder to make up for those initial stumbles. And if you do succeed, that rush of pride and adrenaline will propel you forward to the next step of your goal.

 

2.           Look At The Big Picture

Conversely, when you have a large, long-term project or goal with a deadline far in the future, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. All the minutiae of everything you must do can make you feel overwhelmed or confused about how to proceed. I have seen people who have set a goal at the beginning of the year and then three months later, had barely made any progress toward completing that goal. When I asked why I learned that they had broken that goal down into so many steps that they couldn’t even feel excited by what the end result would be. Sometimes you just need to reset, go back to the basics, and remember what you’re working toward in order to keep that motivation burning.

 

3.           Remember Why You’re Doing It

When you have to work on the parts of your job you don’t necessarily enjoy, remind yourself of how they’re connected to the parts you do enjoy. Consider these examples: The business owner who dislikes writing emails. The manager who doesn’t like to hold meetings. The wordsmith who hates pulling numbers at the end of each month. Every job has aspects you’ll like and aspects you’ll dislike. The key is to remember the parts you do like and to intersperse your work day with both. That’s because it is hard to be motivated if you spend your whole day only working on tasks you hate. Instead, make yourself a “motivation sandwich.” Do something you enjoy, then something you don’t, and then finish with a task you like again. This will help you get through those negative parts and remember why you love your job.

 

Different things motivate every person. If you would like to discuss what motivates you, contact me here. I can help you explore the different types of motivation and how to use them to get the results you seek.