Motivating yourself to work when you’re not in the mood can feel impossible, but there are ways to kick yourself into action. Whether you need a boost today or you’re looking to motivate yourself generally, the key is to recognize your lack of enthusiasm and try to get to the root of it. Are you tired because you didn’t sleep well? Could having some healthy, brain-boosting snacks to hand that’ll help get you into gear? Or does your working environment leave you feeling less than inspired?
Whatever’s standing in the way of your motivation, here are four tips to help you get back on track.
Write Your To-Do List the Night Before
Before you go to bed at night, sit down and write down your to-do list for the next day. It may feel counter-intuitive to do something work-related before you go to sleep, but emptying your brain of those nagging tasks will help you sleep better and make you feel more prepared the next morning. Plus, when you wake up foggy-headed, you’ll already know exactly what you need to do just by looking at your pre-prepared list, which is a great way to start the day!
Set Small and Manageable Goals
Of course, you should set ambitious goals for your life, whether that’s changing careers, getting a promotion or saving up to buy your first home; but these goals are unlikely to be met unless you break them down into manageable mini-goals. When you sit down at your desk in the morning, set yourself small goals for the day and tackle the most straightforward tasks first. That way, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment when you tick them off which will motivate you to work down the rest of your list.
Don’t Forget to Refuel
It’s important to have a good breakfast in the morning to give you energy for the day, but you shouldn’t wait until you get home to eat again. Skipping meals or forgetting to hydrate throughout the day will leave you feeling sluggish, which is hardly good for motivation. By all means, have a coffee to get you through the afternoon slump, just be sure to drink organic beans from one of the many local coffee machines UK and try to stick to one or two cups a day to avoid over-caffeinating.
Start and Finish At a Specified Time
No one feels motivated 24 hours a day, and taking time to rest, socialize, workout and unwind is just as important for motivation as setting goals and doing the work. Therefore, you should respect your free time enough to give yourself specified work hours and limiting your overtime. Furthermore, if you work is open to work from home days, you can ask to occasionally work remotely, reducing the stress many people undergo on the commute to work.
Whether a company employs you or you work for yourself, decide at the beginning of each day (even better, the day before) what time you’re going to finish work and stick to it. If you’re self-employed, chances are there are times of the day when you feel more motivated than others. Try working early in the morning and late at night and see when you’re most productive. Once you’ve figured out what works for you, you can set your work schedule around that to maximize motivation.
