8 Ways to Motivate yourself: Empower your work
Motivation seems to be a big part in my life: Whether its from folding a mountain of clothes or trying to come up with ideas for a new blog post, I constantly find myself needing something to speed me up or get me started.
So I decided to come up with some ideas to help y'all along if you find yourself in the same boat as me. :)
"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice."
-Wayne Dyer
1. Remind yourself why you want to do something.
When you remind yourself of this you tell yourself, 'what do I have to look forward to in finishing this?' You sort of set a goal mentally, but instead of planning and preparing, you automatically say, 'Yeah, I want that reward.'
2. Just get started: Let motivation catch up to you.
Even though you might not want to even think about starting something, if you get wrapped up in your work you get motivated to finish something. You started something, so its waiting for you to finish it.
3. Start small if starting big makes you procrastinate, or the other way around.
If a big project makes you procrastinate, then desize it. Don't overwhelm yourself. If you do a lot of small things, then you may find yourself doing to many things at once. Find what your comfort zone is, and use it to lessen the weight of the project and motivate you to work harder.
4. Get positive
If you are constantly negative about your work or what you are doing, you'll never be able to convince yourself that its going to turn out great and you'll quit. When you are positive you fill your mind with thoughts that uplift you, and motivate you to keep going.
5. Reduce your to-do list to just a few items.
If you have an insane amount of to-dos on your list, it can seriously burden your work and make it even harder for you to enjoy and progress with your project. It can do the opposite of motivating: slowing you down. You don't want all that extra stress.
Things like 'Gah, I have so much work to do today, on top of shuttling the kids to sports practices and my workout, yoga, and PTA jobs.' are all representations of an overfilled to-do list. Try spacing things out over your week. You could schedule a dance class on Friday, and workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, instead of it all on one day.
6. Be kind to yourself when you make a mistake
People are not perfect, and whenever we make a mistake we tend to say, 'Why? That was so stupid.' And we quit. But I'm here to encourage you to lift your chin up and remind yourself that, yes, we are not perfect and you are bound to make mistakes.
If you constantly push yourself down after a mistake, when they pile up you can't motivate yourself at all. Your just digging a deeper hole for yourself. Perk up, it'll be alright. :)
7. Break your work into smaller chunks.
If you want to tackle a huge project, is it better to take it all at once or piece it out, where you can slowly but surely put it together and have a less chance of making a mistake?
Chances are, the answer is breaking down your work. When you are able to see what you have to do, it's way less stressful that tackling it all at once. Breaking it down allows you to plan ahead and avoid mistakes, and allows breathing room and experimentation.
It also helps you to be able to put your best work forward. If you slow down and aren't stressed, you can perfect the things you might not have noticed before. You can add extra details to make it better, and you have more time to work problems out.
This helps to motivate because it takes all the stress off your shoulders. How are you supposed to work when you have the weight of a gigantic project in progress all at once in your hands? Bite off what you can chew.
8. Give yourself breaks
Don't overwork yourself. Too hard of a slog can ruin your general motivation, and can add extra stress that piles onto your continuous work.
Plus, it's really boring working all. The. Time.
So try to find times where your work slows down or you don't have as much to do. Take a walk. Get some coffee or a snack. Read a book that you enjoy. (Not a insanely hard business book that makes you think MORE) Just try to give your brain a break sometimes.
Now, you might be thinking, how really do I keep myself motivated? Remind yourself constantly of what works best for you in terms of these motivation tips. Write it on a sticky note. Set a reminder on your phone. Put these tips in your work space. Spice it up. Stay motivated.
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