- No matter what walk of life you belong to, regardless of what type of person you are – demotivation, procrastination and feeling of lonliness are universal problems.
From cleaning the window panes of your home to completing a college assignment, lack of motivation is the biggest obstacle to reaching your target.
In my book, when you have no motivation to complete or even start any task, when you feel you are not enough, consider why you got there in the first place? you struggled so hard, came so far ;just to quit??
Well, my book is not for everyone to read and accept because a single strategy doesn’t turn to work out for everyone and that’swhy i have brought a spectrum of reasons and their cures for you to take your pick. However, one tool should be and has to be adopted by everyone: ” God helps those who help themselves.”
1- Argue the other you
When you’re struggling to get motivated, you’ll likely convince your brain with a list of reasons why you can’t get there and not taking any action is justified. You might think, “It’ll be too hard for me, ” or, “I’ll fail anyway.” These types of thoughts will just keep you moving in circles and you won’t get anywhere.
Be an opposite and fight with these thoughts mercilessly . When you think failure is your destiny, argue all the reasons how you have got the potential to succeed. Or when you think you can’t finish a task, list all the evidences that show and remind your ability.
2- Practice Self Compassion
A 2011 study conducted by researchers at the University of California found that self-compassion increases the motivation to recover from failure.
A 2012 study published in Clinical Psychology Review discovered that self-compassion decreases psychological distress, reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduces the harmful effects of stress.
So, always pushing yourself hard and criticising yourself won’t increase your productivity; a kinder but logical inner dialogue would sooth your mind and you could carry on your tasks better with a relaxed mind. However, you have to remember that kindness is not equal to self-exaggeration like, you don’t need go tell yourself that you are best in this world.
3- Spend time amongst nature
Many studies have backed up the fact that spending time in nature gives you a sort of mental escape.A little walk in a botanical garden or early in the morning, a small chunk of time dedicated to exercise could do wonders to your mental health.
4- 50-50 trick : Pair a task you love with a task you avoid
Everyone can quote his own example here- Phone a friend while cleaning your house, listen to your favorite music while doing your due assignments or working on computer, invite a friend when you have to travel for business etc. But, you have to take care that fun doesn’t impair your performance.
5- Set a reward for yourself
Create a self reward for yourself – at the end of the task or at short intervals. Let’s suppose you have a task to write a 2000 words paper. You can either:
a) Earn yourself a chocolate or 30 minutes music break after every 500 words.
b) If you have a deadline of let say four days, plan a day skip if you work steadily for first two days
c) After fully competing the task, you can claim a shopping day with a family member or a friend.
6- Pay special attention to self care
Create a healthy and balanced self care plan. Sleep-deprivation, poor diet, and lack of relaxation and leisure break can make trudging through the day worser than before. Here are some tips:
- Take out short time break for exercise
- Get adequate sleep.
- Drink atleast ten glass of water a day and and eat healthy .
- Take time out for leisure and fun.
- cope with stress and anger in a healthy way
- Avoid unhealthy habits, like over eating and substance abuse.
The Bottom line
Feeling demotivation doesn’t mean at all that you are a looser or you ain’t enough. It just means that your brain needs a bit break or rewiring. While everyone’s case may be different, the solutions which best suit them may be different – Self – care and a feeling that no one can help you more than yourself is a game changer for everyone.
