If we could maintain motivation 24 hours a day, we’d all achieve more than we ever thought in our wildest dreams. The reality is much different. There will be parts of your day where that motivation disappears, often when you need it the most.
Fortunately, there are ways to get it back. Deploy any of these five strategies when your enthusiasm and drive have taken a nosedive:
A Change of Location
Sometimes, all it takes is a change of scenery to kick your motivation into overdrive. A shared office, local café, or even a beautiful public park can be excellent options for working on a new project or completing an old one.
A shared office tends to be a desirable option for many. It allows you to bounce ideas off people from different industries and walks of life. It can also be a refreshing change of scenery if you’ve been working from home.
On the other hand, cafés and public parks can be fantastic for new ideas and creativity when you need it the most.
Pay some attention to the way your energy flows throughout the day. By learning about yourself in this way, you’ll discover when you are most productive and able to achieve particular tasks. You might be a night owl who thrives on late-night projects. Or, you might be a morning person who’d rather be tucked up in bed by 9 pm.
If you have flexibility with your job, there’s a lot of value in working with your body clock. Do those intensive tasks when you’re most alert, and leave those easier ones for when your interest levels are waning. You may be surprised at how this change of routine benefits your productivity levels.
Condition Your Body
Your health and diet can play a huge role in how much you achieve during the day, your concentration levels, and your motivation. Give your body the right fuel, and you may discover that you have more ‘get up and go’ than if you survived on energy drinks and chocolate bars.
There are many different food types to keep your brain and body nourished, such as berries, dark chocolate, nuts, eggs, and avocados. These foods can assist in brain function, mental fatigue reduction, memory, and reaction times.
While some people work at their best when they are alone, not everyone does. If you’re a people-person who needs others for motivation, make sure you align yourself with the right people.
This may require you to work in a shared office environment or join a working group. Once you do, you can start working alongside go-getters whose positivity and motivation inspire you.
When your motivation begins to wane, and you find yourself browsing social media and watching endless YouTube videos, it’s easy to feel bad about yourself. Instead, focus on celebrating your failures.
This might seem like a strange concept, but it offers an unusual opportunity. You get to learn from your failure by figuring out what caused you to become unmotivated in the first place.
Did a part of your project get too complicated? Were you due for a break? Were you tired? By identifying the core reason for moving your attention elsewhere, you can start to focus on stopping that from happening in the future.
Having unlimited motivation is an unrealistic goal. No one ever feels like they are ready to tackle the world as soon as they wake up. However, if you find yourself struggling to get through your daily workload, consider whether the strategies above may help.
