Have you been feeling unmotivated lately? Not getting much done? losing track of time? Don’t worry, you are certainly not alone! At times we ALL feel unmotivated and dread doing the things we should be doing. Please know that it is completely normal to feel that way. But now, Let’s dive deep into why you may feel unmotivated and how to become Motivated and productive again!
Do you ever scroll through social media and wonder how are these highly successful people always so motivated, energised and light up with passion each and every day? You think to yourself, ‘why am I not like that as well, why am I not as motivated’. Yeah, same! Let’s see how they keep up.
Disclosure:
I am not a professional in any way, nor is this advice. It’s just information that I’ve found useful in helping me stay motivated. This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through my links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
What Causes Lack Of Motivation
1. Your Mental State
Although there can be numerous reasons as to why you feel unmotivated lately, research suggests that feelings such as stress, anxiety, worry, hopelessness and life problems can make us feel unmotivated. Make sense right? If you are not in a positive mental state, you will struggle to focus on your ambitions or work for that particular time.
2. Lack Of Faith In Yourself
Research also suggests that lack of motivation is caused by a lack of faith or belief in yourself or the things that you are working on. The Lifehack Blog post about the reasons why people feel unmotivated stated, “unmotivated individuals have a terribly pessimistic view on their chances of success.”
3. Lack Of Commitment
Lack of motivation could be due to a lack of commitment to work on a goal or the things you do. If you are not committed to putting in the hard work then you’ll hardly ever feel motivated to do the things you need to do. This has to do a lot with procrastination. You may procrastinate and say things like ” I don’t have the money now” or “I don’t have the time”.
4. Being Overwhelmed By The Many To-Do’s
Being overwhelmed by the many goals, tasks and responsibilities you have can make you feel unmotivated and uninspired. You may have a lot going on in your life, many things you need to take care of, and lots of things you have to work on. You may feel unmotivated to even start or put in the work because there’s just so much to do.
5. No Clear Purpose
If you are not 100% sure WHY you’re working on something or WHY you should work on it, you will most likely feel unmotivated. You should have a clear goal or purpose for the things you’re doing, without it, you’ll feel lost and uninspired as if you’re just drifting through life without any awareness of the direction in which you’re heading. Click here to find your purpose in life when you feel lost.
6. You’re Unhappy With Your Progress
This is what I have experienced and I’m sure you have at some point as well. We feel unmotivated when we are unhappy with our progress. Brian Tracy in his book The Power Of Self- Discipline No Excuses talked about how self-discipline and productivity increase our self-esteem. We feel good about ourselves because we completed the task or goal. The same happens in reverse.
Lack of self-discipline or un-productivity makes us feel bad about ourselves because we didn’t reach our full potential at that time. If that stays consistent, we will eventually feel unmotivated to keep going because we feel as if we are already super behind, in our mind it’s “Why should I even try when I never do good enough”.
How To Become Motivated Again
1. Think About Why You Feel Unmotivated
Have you been feeling unmotivated for quite a while now? if it is more than a day or two, there may be something that is bothering you and therefore keeping you unmotivated. Look back and think about what happened to make you feel this way. Try to get to the bottom of it. Write down your thoughts, you’ll be more clear about them and then be able to identify the things you now need to do to resolve those issues.
2. Find Your Purpose
Finding your purpose will enable you to stay motivated and inspired each and every day. It will help you to keep doing the things you set out for yourself to do because it will be that driving force, that light at the end of the tunnel. It will push you through the toughest times, your constant reminder to keep going.
Suppose you feel unmotivated at work, your purpose of proving for your family can be your driving force to keep going and stay motivated to work even harder. To find some guidance on how to do that click here.
“Activity without purpose is the drain of your life”
– Tony Robbins
3. Set Clear Goals
Setting yourself clear goals will enable you to stay motivated and on track. Whenever you feel unmotivated, your goals will be a reminder of why you should do it anyway. Your clear goals will help you to visualise the ideal future you seek and keep you motivated ongoingly. To learn how to set yourself clear goals, again, read here.
4. Plan Out A Routine
Once you have your purpose in line, and you identified your goals clearly, it’s time to make a plan! Plan out how you’ll go about achieving those goals. What are the next steps you need to take? What tasks, resources or information gathering will help you to get closer to that goal?
If you’re looking to be financially free, is reading finance books or learning from other successful people in your plan for achieving that goal?
Write down the things you need to do in order to achieve your goal/s and then think about how you’ll implement those tasks into your weekly/daily routine. By doing that, there will be no time for procrastination, it’s been scheduled, and you must complete the task. Eventually, it won’t be a task, it will become a habit. This will help you to stay motivated and say no to laziness.
Start small, don’t overwhelm yourself with long tasks when you’re just starting out.
5. Listen To Motivational Tapes
This is one of the very best ways to stay motivated. If you feel unmotivated now, listen to motivational audio or Ted Talk, I am certain by the end of that audio, you’ll get out of bed and start doing all the things you set out for yourself to do. This has helped me numerous times. It energises you. You feel empowered. Motivated to get things done.
4. Do It Anyway
Mel Robbins once said “Feelings are merely suggestions, ones you can ignore. To change you must do the same, you must ignore how you feel, and just do it anyway.“
Even if you feel unmotivated, get up and do it! Motivation doesn’t just come to you. You create motivation by action. You will feel motivated after you start. If you really don’t feel like doing it now, tell yourself when you will.
For example, tell yourself, In 30 mins I’ll get out of bed and just do it. If you REALLY don’t feel like doing it today, tell yourself you’ll start fresh tomorrow and get it done then. This is a scheduled technique, since something is scheduled, you feel more obligated to get it done.
There is no ‘right time’, there is just time and what you choose to do with it”.
– Mel Robbins
5. Tell Others About Your Dreams
I know there goes a saying around that says to never tell others about your goals, instead, you show them your accomplishments. That is very true to an extent.
However, many successful people had and have mentors who push them to achieve their goals faster. Only share your goals with someone you trust, someone you know will be happy for you and encourage you to keep going.
Speaking to others about your ambitions and ultimate dreams will boost your mood. It will excite you more. Have you ever told someone what your goal is and then feel more excited about it? Research suggests that sharing your goals will keep you motivated. Sharing your goals can also push you to keep going no matter what.
Also, naturally, we all dislike failure, especially when it’s seen by others. Therefore, since you already shared what you are working on with others, you will feel the need to make sure it’s done to avoid the embarrassment of not achieving it.
6. Create A Mood Board
A mood board is inspiring pictures of your goals, created in a collage style and stuck onto a board then hung somewhere where you can see it every day. This mood board will be the daily visualisation of your dreams. The mood board will keep you motivated and even more excited about your goals. It will remind you of where you’re heading. Whenever you won’t feel like doing it, this board will remind you of why you should do it anyway.
Sometimes all you need is to think about how you’ll feel when you achieve the goal to keep you motivated to do the things you have to. When you will be looking at those inspiring pictures of your goals, think about HOW you will FEEL once it’s done.
7. Organise Your WorkSpace
A couple of weeks ago, I felt extremely unmotivated and unproductive. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling that way. One day, I heard someone say something like “your room is a reflection of you”.
Although my room and workspace were always tidy, It wasn’t the way I liked it. It didn’t feel right. My desk had some pen marks on it, my chair wasn’t comfortable and I didn’t like how annoying my unorganised draws were. Once, I understood that this must be why I was just not feeling like doing the work. I bought a new desk and chair. I immediately felt motivated once I saw how organised and pretty it all looked. You don’t necessarily have to get a new desk or chair but just think about what triggers you and what you can do about it.
One tip is to have natural lighting in your workspace as well. This is what the Freedom Blog Post said “Most people are more motivated and productive when they have natural light in their environment. If the light is too harsh or flickers, it can be distracting and draining. Likewise, some people simply want to go to sleep if there isn’t enough light in their work area.” I can confirm this works. I now feel more motivated each day and in return more productive.
“Life truly begins when you put your house in order”
– Marie Kondo
8. Fall, Get Back Up! As Many Times It Takes
Sincerely Media
Don’t worry about the past, even if you haven’t done your best then, you’re now in the present moment. The present moment is your power. You cannot go back, but you can make a decision right now to get back up and get things done today! Doing something, even a small step is a step forward. You can do this!
“Fall seven times, get up eight”.
– Japanse Poverb
with love,
Nikol
xoxo
