What is Motivation? Energy? Drive? Google defines it “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, or the general desire or willingness of someone to do something”.  Finding and keeping “Motivation” is a recurring theme with my clients and the rest of the world, too!

Below are 7 ways to increase our “desire or willingness to do something”, that worked for others this week.  Give one a try!

1. Recognize the BIG DEAL OF MOTIVATION isn’t so big after all. It’s one simple decision. Yes or No. Left or Right. Up or Down.  From moment to moment, choose to do the productive thing over the unproductive thing, organized over disorganized, the healthy choice or the unhealthy choice.  Motivation shows up in little tiny steps in the right direction, as opposed to large sweeping gestures or drastic life changes.
2. Change your Perspective.  Be someone else.  A friend hates filing his papers, and wants an assistant who would file for him. So, as silly as it sounds, once a week, he plays a little mind game, pretends to be his own assistant, and takes care of those mundane tasks that he dreads.  Knowing him, he may even send himself out for a cup of coffee as a reward.  If I lack motivation to take care of tasks, I might pretend to be my favorite concierge ever, Angelo, who helped me plan a girls’ weekend.  Step outside of yourself, be that helper for 30 minutes and take care of all those things you want to hand off to someone else.
3. Accountability.  Here’s how: Agree with a friend to accomplish a list of tasks, and report to each other via texting or email when you accomplish each task (phone calls take too long).  The act of reporting our successes can be so motivational!  On the other hand, wanting to avoid the embarrassment of having to admit we didn’t accomplish something may be motivating enough to get us to accomplish the tasks!
4. Tackle big projects in small pieces.  Perfectionist thinking says “I only want to start the task when I have time to complete it”, even when the task takes 10 hours.  And we rarely will get 10 hours in a row to dedicate to a task.  Try little pieces to move your projects along.
5. Employ Hard Stops.  Hard stops go together with “little pieces”.  We hesitate to start projects because we have no idea how long they’ll take to complete. Try scheduling time to just work on the task, not necessarily complete it.  Set a timer, commit to stopping at a certain time, then STOP! And go do something else!  You’ll make progress in a couple of areas, and feel more motivated to get back to your tasks next time.
6. Pay attention to people sapping your motivation.  Perhaps your boss, a needy friend, a cranky family member?  Even after you finish speaking with them, your brain mulls over the conversation, and your focus and energy are gone.  You can’t avoid them altogether, but you can take back your energy and focus.  Consciously decide to return to Yourself, Your Plan, Your Day.  I know, it is easier said than done, but it can be a powerful feeling, to take back your motivation.
7. Pay attention to other drains on your motivation.  I worked with a client recently who mentioned she felt terrible every Sunday evening.  So the question is not “How do we take off every Monday from work”, but instead, “What do we do differently over the weekend that makes us feel poorly by Sunday?”  Poor food choices, staying up late, sleeping in?  What if our headache or upset stomach are from anxiety about the coming week?  Be aware, and take action.

So, the next time your get-up-and-go gets up and goes, try one of these ideas to give your motivation a boost!