How to Stay Motivated

Not sure how you can stay motivated during these challenging times? These tips are ones we’ve tried personally over the weeks since this pandemic began. Some days one works best; other days, a different one does, but they have all helped. Find the ones that work well for you. We need to stay motivated to keep going despite the virus and its all-encompassing effects!

Take a Broader View

It’s very easy to get bogged down in every day routines, minutia and deadlines. These pile up and drain your energy when they’re all you can see. Before you get to work, remind yourself of your larger end goal. It could help to write it down again to keep it front of mind and to keep you focused on where you’re headed.

Find One Good Thing

At the end of every day, try writing down at least one positive thing that happened to you and at least one thing you’re excited about for the next day. Doing this fires up your motivation because you’re now focusing only on the positives and minimizing the negatives.

Try Different Locations

Another way to stay motivated and focus yourself is to try working in a different physical location. If you work best near natural light or where it’s cool, find spots in your home that share those qualities. Give them all a shot when your motivation needs a boost.

Small Wins Count

You don’t have to wait until you compete the whole project. Grab small wins along the way. Set up smaller targets you know you can achieve. When you hit them, enjoy the positive feelings of winning … more motivation and energy to keep you going for the big one.

Learn From Your Heroes

Who do you admire most for their achievements? Look for ways to learn more about them and what they do to get and stay motivated. How can you apply their ideas and approaches to what you’re trying to accomplish? How can their motivation tips help you stay motivated?

Think About the Benefits

Instead of thinking about how difficult your current task is, stay motivated by thinking about all the benefits you’ll enjoy once you’ve completed it. When you focus on benefits instead of difficulties, your energy – and your motivation – surge.

Ride Out Tough Times

No one can be “up” all the time. Motivation isn’t like that. It comes and goes … and comes and goes again. But tough times, when your motivation seems to disappear, never last. As long as you stay the course and persist in taking the right positive actions, the tough times pass. Before long,your motivation returns and you feel “up” once again.

Read Inspiring Stories

Try reading inspiring blogs, success stories and books from others who have achieved what you want to achieve. Reading about others’ successful achievements helps motivate and focus you … if they can do it, you can, too.

Set a Timer

If you’re starting to feel stuck completing your task, pretend you’re running a timed race. Put 30 minutes on your phone and see how much you can get done. When you have a time limit, it’s easier to focus your efforts and get a lot more done … a big motivator. After 30 minutes, you can give yourself a short break and start back at it.

Change Your Approach

When something isn’t coming together for you, and you’re starting to dread doing the work, stop and take a step back. You may find you need to change the way you’re approaching the task to make it work better for you. If you usually approach a task from beginning to end and can’t get past the first step, move on to a step you can tackle. That way you’ve made a positive start and are motivated to keep going.

Break It Up

Projects are often big and completing them can seem overwhelming, especially now when emotion and anxiety are running high. When you visualize a project as a series of small tasks, it becomes much easier to complete. You can attack the small tasks one by one and check them off once you complete them. Completing one task motivates you to go on to the next. Before you know it, all the tasks are done, the project is complete, you feel great and your motivation soars. 

Minimize Multitasking

Give your full and undivided attention to only the task you’re working on at the moment to stay motivated. Try to avoid losing your focus by spending energy on unrelated activities and potential distractions … email, texts, social media. When you do, you’ll give your motivation a huge boost.

Just Get It Done

To boost your motivation it sometimes helps to complete a task as fast as you can and be done with it. Everything you do doesn’t always have to be perfect. Getting it done is often the more important thing. You’ll feel good about completing it and that’s what motivates you.

Lighten Up and Laugh

A final tip to stay motivated … take a few minutes to laugh. Watching a funny video or texting good friends with a joke always gets us pumped up and feeling good. That new boost of positive energy keeps us motivated and ready to tackle what’s on our to do list for the rest of the day.

So …

Fire up your motivation with one or more of these tips whenever you feel it slipping. Staying motivated is one of the best ways to get through or even thrive during challenging times.

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