I’m currently enjoying a week of sun and fun in Fort Myers, Florida for Spring Break. It’s been fantastic, but I just can’t seem to get anything done. I know, I should be enjoying by vacation (and don’t worry party patrol, I am!), but I still have a number of things I’d like to accomplish this week. Unfortunately, a lack of motivation is stifling all productivity.
Whether you’re on the beach or at the office, you probably have some things you’d today. Emails to send, books to read, people to follow up with, and projects to work on.
We all undoubtedly have a full plates, but we often rationalize a few things right off the edge, especially when we’re laying in bed in the morning or playing our eighth game of shuffleboard with retired people.
“I’ll work out later”
“I’ll start that project tomorrow.”
“I don’t have to get that done today.”
Why is it that our to-do list is so easily rationalized to a tomorrow list?
For me, it’s a lack of motivation.
7 Chains Locking Up Motivation
These are the top seven chains that hide away your motivation in a dank, dark cellar, and how you can snap them right off like a hot knife through butter.
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Rest. Either too much or too little slurps motivation right out of your body. It’s when I have slept too long, napped too much, and laid around too often that I’m unmotivated. Even when you have a chance to sleep in, don’t sleep longer than an hour more than you usually do. For me, seven hours is just right, but over eight and my day is shot.
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No sense of urgency. Don’t put yourself in the mindset that you can do something tomorrow. Act is if it must get done today. When you view things through an urgent lens, you get motivated and things get done.
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Distractions. If you’re feeling unmotivated, do not, under any circumstances, let yourself sit down in front of a TV or a computer with nothing to do but surf. Time flies when you’re consuming media you don’t need. Say no to the Reality TV and the open web when you need to be motivated.
4.Undefined goals. It’s tough to feel motivated to do anything if you don’t have an end in mind. Set some goals, reread goals you currently have, and then strive for them. A lack of goals leads to a lack of progress.
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Eating habits. It’s crazy to think that the food you eat makes you less motivated, but think back to every single Thanksgiving in the history of America. No one does anything post feast but lay around and watch football. Now I love doing that just as much as the next guy, but hold back on the carbo-loading unless you’re running a marathon and eat some brain food like fish and peanuts if you want to get motivated. Bad food leads to bad results on your to-do list.
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Too little to do. This is the one that gets me every time. If I have one thing to do for the whole day, it will take me the whole day (at least) to get it done. On the other hand, if I have twenty things to do, I’ll crank them all out with no problem because I know I’ve got so much to do. If you really don’t have more you have to get done, put learning a new language, reading a book or playing an instrument on your list to motivate you to accomplish more.
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Lack of structure. I like being a free bird just as much as anyone, but when you have no structure in your day at all, you’re inevitably going to float through the day without any direction. Set time constraints, schedule a meeting or two, and decide on personal deadlines to finish things throughout the day to feel like you’re accomplishing things and increase your motivation.
Your thoughts: What is keeping you from being motivated? Does your list of motivation muzzlers look like mine? I’d love to hear how you overcome your lack of motivation!