How To Motivate Yourself: 14 Different Ways To Regain Motivation
Knowing how to motivate yourself whether for school, work, or other tasks is an important hack to learn. There are many underlying causes to a lack of motivation you might not even know about. You may be going through things that are causing a lack of motivation and you might not even realize it. But like anything lost, you can find it again.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the many ways you might be losing motivation and how you can regain it.
Why We Need Motivation
You’ve all asked at some point whether there are ways on how to motivate yourself. As much as we try to keep up with life and stay according to the plan, the goal, or the schedule, not every day is your day. There are days when your energy is low, ideas are scarce, and nothing seems to be right. On days like this, it feels like there’s nothing worth doing and so your motivation dissipates. The sound of staying in bed sounds so enticing and soon you’re trying to rationalize how to skip class or work.
Motivation is important because it is a driving force to achieving our goals. Without motivation, it can prove to be quite difficult to get anything done.
Reasons Why You Could Be Losing Motivation
There are many factors that lead to a lack of self motivation and it’s important to not beat ourselves up just because of it.
You might be asking what causes a lack of motivation and according to Choosing Therapy, there could be 10 potential reasons why.
1. You could be experiencing adjustment disorder
An adjustment disorder refers to a person’s inability to cope with traumatic life events. While children and adolescents are predominantly diagnosed with adjustment disorder, according to John Hopkins Medicine, it can also affect adults.
Examples of this could be family conflict, a stressful situation at work, or financial hardship. People can have difficulty adjusting to these events which don’t necessarily have an immediate solution. Because of this adjustment disorder, some people can struggle to maintain their daily routines and have difficulty finding motivation to do things they enjoy.
2. You might be stuck in a toxic stress cycle
If you’re having difficulty finding ways on how to motivate yourself, you’re possibly stuck on a cycle of toxic stress. Unlike normal stress, toxic stress is chronic. This abnormal frequency of being stressed is much more harmful to mental and physical health which means it can directly affect a person’s motivation.
3. You might be feeling sensory overload
According to the director of LEAP Ellen Braaten from Massachusetts General Hospital, sensory overload happens when something in our environment overstimulates one or more of our senses. This could come in the form of loud music or a crowded area.
Having too many goals or tasks can lead to feeling overwhelmed. This is especially true when time constraint is a factor. If you are someone who is easily overwhelmed, finding motivation could be particularly harder. There could also be too much going on in your life that is pulling your attention in many directions and leaves you unmotivated.
4.You might be lacking in interesting life activities
If you’re someone who doesn’t have a lot of hobbies or there aren’t a lot of things that interest you, you might be prone to experience low motivation.
5. You might not be taking the time for yourself
You can also lose motivation quicker when you are constantly pouring onto others and not yourself. Even though it’s a good thing to help others and you value the people you do things for, neglecting your own needs is detrimental to your motivation.
6. You might be feeling burn out
Being “burnt out” is a result of chronic stress usually caused by school or work that leads to feelings of exhaustion and anger. This cynical view of life caused by fatigue lowers your motivation levels.
If you’re looking for ways on how to regain motivation for school or how to motivate yourself in college and are possibly experiencing it, read this blog on Burnout Syndrome In College. There are plenty of tips you can use to avoid and overcome burnout syndrome.
7. You might have difficulty changing your mindset
The inability to change negative thoughts and perceptions can lead you down a dark path where motivation goes to die. Unhealthy thinking patterns and obsession with perfection is linked with losing overall motivation because you’re stuck with rigid and fixed perspectives. If you want to know how to find your motivation in life, you need to be willing to accept that not everything goes according to plan.
8.You might be experiencing stressful or life-changing events recently
Sometimes the lack of motivation comes from external factors that we cannot control at all. Life-altering events like a death of a loved one or a loss of a relationship can weigh you down heavily and affect your motivation.
There isn’t a lot you can do in times like this but to allow yourself to grieve and allow yourself time to process such difficult events.
9. You might have feelings of frustration or self doubt
Completing difficult tasks can harbor negative feelings. If your goal was to write an essay, just thinking about the amount of work surrounding it like researching and having to write can make you feel anxious and frustrated. These feelings hinder your ability to start the task and it directly affects your motivation.
If you’re thinking of ways on how to motivate yourself for school and find yourself anxious and unable to even write an essay, you can always count on Homework Help Global. Whatever topic you need an essay on, our team of essay writers can surely help you and that can alleviate your feelings of frustration or anxiety.
10. You could be suffering from depression
If you’re constantly low on motivation, it might be a sign that you are experiencing a depressive episode. Overwhelming feelings of sadness and hopelessness can completely eradicate motivation to do anything. It’s always best to consult with professionals if you think your lack of motivation is caused by something bigger. It’s important to not lose hope and remember that help is always available. Read these blogs on how to exercise your way to good mental health and why disconnecting from social media can be good for your mental health.
You could also benefit from listening to an episode on mental hygiene of the Homework Help Show. We interviewed student influencer Shalmali Jadhav, who shared tips on how to have good mental hygiene.
14 Ways on How To Motivate Yourself
1. Create better habits
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, had some really good advice on motivation. He says, “achieving a goal only changes your life for the moment, it’s actually not the thing you’re looking for, we think the results are the thing that needs to change but it’s actually the process behind the results.”
An example he gave to really understand the importance of creating better habits is having a messy room. If your goal is to clean your room, you can get motivated for 2 or 3 hours and get the task done. However, if you don’t change the habits that lead to your messy room it’ll always be a recurring problem. The goal isn’t actually to clean your room, the goal is to have better cleaning habits.
If you’re looking to know how to motivate yourself to lose weight or how to motivate yourself to work out, instead of setting the goal of losing weight, create better eating habits.
2. Get proper rest
There are numerous studies that suggest not getting enough sleep or how a lack of sleep quality can affect people’s health and ultimately even their motivations.
According to Michael Inzlincht, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto, “willpower is not a finite resource.” When people use up all their available willpower on a specific task, it causes ego depletion.
One of the ways to alleviate ego depletion is getting enough sleep. You may not have lost motivation for everything but have just exhausted all your willpower. To improve your mood and mental performance, make sure you are well-rested and use sleep to your advantage. Some people also sacrifice sleep in order to get things done but this will only prove detrimental in the long run. Since willpower is not infinite, we need to make sure we are replenishing lost energy and sleep should never be sacrificed.
3. Set a goal and follow through
The Zeigarnik Effect is a phenomenon where people are more likely to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks rather than the ones that have been completed. This effect means that once you’ve set a goal and started the process of achieving it, the chances of you following through and finishing the task are higher. This is because you will always be reminded of it until it is done.
Sometimes, just starting can be the hardest thing. There isn’t always the “right time” and we shouldn’t wait for signs or make excuses before starting. Instead of procrastinating and convincing yourself that there’s more time in the future, tell yourself “there’s no better time than now.” Starting today means you’re already starting progress and with the Zeigarnik effect, you’ll get even more motivation by constantly being reminded of what you have to accomplish.
4. Don’t underestimate the importance of a healthy diet
Eating right can mean the world to our productivity levels. Food is literally the fuel our body runs on. The type and quality of the food we eat makes a whole lot of difference on the type of energy it creates for our bodies to run on.
Not all foods are equal. For example, foods high in sugar can give you a rush of energy but after peaking it’ll eventually slump off. On the other hand, foods high in fat are better at giving sustained energy. Not eating the right foods can elevate your blood sugar levels which is a culprit in energy depletion.
To know the right types of food that can help improve study sessions, exam performance, and increase motivation, check out our blog on Brain Food For Studying.
5. Break your day into small tasks
Be specific about the goals you want to achieve in a day to not overwhelm yourself. By breaking your day into smaller tasks, you’re more likely to stay on track and be motivated because your brain only focuses on one thing at a time.
In learning how to motivate yourself, it’s important to know that we produce quality outputs when we are focused and not distracted. So in order to sustain motivation, start small and be organized.
6. Surround yourself with people who support and motivate you
Surely you’ve heard of the famous quote by Jim Rohn that says “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Whether we realize it or not, the people we surround ourselves with have a lot of impact in our lives. You start behaving and thinking like the people who are always in your immediate vicinity. It’s similar to how children pick up on their family member’s traits and ways of thinking and speaking. If you surround yourself with people who inspire you, this could help tremendously in getting your motivation levels up.
By surrounding yourself with people who are ambitious, growth-driven, and motivated, the chances of you adopting these traits are much higher.
7. Learn how to take breaks
You might not think so, but taking breaks can actually improve productivity. In a study by Tork in 2018, taking breaks can relieve some stress which improves employees’ mental health and well-being.
Completing a task takes a lot of mental and physical fuel that needs replenishing. Just like a car cannot run on an empty tank, people can’t sustain constant working without taking a break. Breaks allow us to recoup and re-energize. When we are coming from a place of rest, we’re able to make better decisions.
Taking a break might seem counterproductive when you’re trying to get something done. But overexerting yourself and not allowing yourself to take breaks will eventually put you off the idea of doing work in the future. By not taking breaks, you will eventually lose the motivation to even get started by already expecting the exhaustion you’ll feel along the way.
8. Be kind to yourself
In a study on Functions of Positive Emotions, authors Armenta et al equated feeling gratitude towards yourself with higher levels of motivation for self-improvement.
In the attempt to create better outputs and have higher productivity, we can sometimes overlook the importance of nurturing ourselves. The simplest way to motivate yourself is to be kind to yourself. Accept that there are days where you won’t always be the most inspired. You’re not always going to have the motivation to do even the smallest of tasks and that’s okay.
There are already so many external pressures in life that hinder creativity and motivation and it shouldn’t come from you. Don’t forget to take care of yourself and your mental wellbeing and watch your motivation increase.
9. Start small
On days when motivation is low but things still need to get done, start small. If you’re looking for how to motivate yourself to study, try as little as five minutes of reading to get you started. It’s an easy trick that won’t overwhelm you. If you need to study and think to yourself you need to read eight chapters of a textbook you’ll only end up procrastinating and probably not get a head start.
Smaller goals feel easier to achieve so if you’re operating on a lack of motivation, trick your mind into starting smaller tasks and let it snowball from there.
10. Make your goals obvious
If you’re looking on how to motivate yourself to do homework, another simple trick even if you don’t have the motivation to do it is to create visual cues. If you have a goal, it’s easier to follow through if you have constant reminders of it in your environment.
If you’re looking for ways to motivate yourself to study, instead of keeping your books inside your bag, lay them out somewhere in your home where you can see it. That way every time you see your pile of textbooks, you’re reminded to study. Take making your goals obvious up a notch by writing them down or having a board of to-do tasks. Even having a checklist of goals helps motivate you because getting to tick off a box once you’ve completed a task can give tiny boosts of serotonin to our brain and motivates us even more.
Understandably though, there are days when even employing the best tips for how to be motivated doesn’t work and you’re left with undone homework. Whether it’s a term paper, a book report, or a case study you need to get done, Homework Help Global can help you. Sometimes there aren’t enough tips to motivate yourself that you can follow and that’s what we’re here for.
11. Plan for failure
We can never predict the outcome of everything we do but if one thing’s for certain, it’s the possibility of failure. Even the most fool-proof plan is susceptible to failing. You might get a boost of energy and be motivated to complete a task but not accounting for the possibility of failure and to have it happen can damage your future motivation altogether.
One of the tips for motivating yourself is to include failure in your plans. The idea of an inevitable part of any process shouldn’t be shunned but embraced. Planning for failure means having the tools to still proceed even if plan A doesn’t work out. Persisting through failure can motivate you even more because failure is just learning ways of how not to do something. Failure is just another word for learning something new.
12. Reward yourself
Incentivizing your goals can help with the lack of determination to get started on a goal. Besides being kind to yourself, rewards can be one of the best ways to motivate yourself. More often than not, achieving one goal can get us hyped to get started on the next one. However, it’s also important to sustain motivation by rewarding yourself. Rewards don’t always mean big or expensive things. It could be as simple as getting to eat your favorite snack after reading two chapters of a book for an exam. It could be planning a night out with friends after a long week of hard work. Whatever it is that sparks joy in your life, associate those rewards with your goals to have more motivation.
13. Do things that lift your mood
If you’re looking for how to give yourself motivation, it could be as simple as looking at the activities you already enjoy doing. According to a study by the Ohio State University, researchers found that an employee’s initial mood at the start of their day greatly impacts the rest of their day. That means your mood directly affects your productivity, the quality and quantity of your work, as well as your motivation.
You could be looking for ways on how to get motivated and it turns out all you need to do are your favorite activities. If your mood instantly perks up with music, food, doing art, or being with friends, then doing those things could help improve your motivation.
If you’re in a time crunch and need motivation right when you’re doing a task, there are also little things you can do to improve your mood, thus your motivation. Try spending some time outdoors and getting a little sunlight or fresh air. You could also just look at cute pictures of your pet or watch random cute animal videos online. These things might seem mundane but there are actual studies on how these activities can help mental functions and therefore increase our motivation.
14. Check your environment
If you’re looking for the best way to motivate yourself fast, you might just want to consider something called the Novelty Effect. According to an article by Clive Thompson, The Novelty Effect is “the short-term boost in performance that comes from changing the environment around you.”
Sometimes the environment we’re in is just not conducive enough to help produce motivation. If you’re looking for how to motivate yourself to study, you might want to consider revamping your study area or changing it. Maybe there are several distracting factors that make it hard for you to study there. Maybe it’s uncomfortable and for whatever reason it’s hard to focus there. You might want to try studying somewhere completely different and see how that boosts your motivation to study. Switching up your routine might just do wonders for your motivation.
Let Us Do The Work While You Focus On Getting Back Your Motivation
Whether it’s external or internal factors that are affecting your motivation levels, there are still ways to get work done whether you’re in school or at a professional setting.
Homework Help Global’s services range from professional and academic writing services to even helping you finish online quizzes or exams. Check out our complete list of services and when you’re ready, you can go ahead and fill in an order form.
Motivation could be scarce but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. There is always a way around any problem!
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