Motivation is a rollercoaster feeling for me. There have been months at a time when I am motivated every single day. There have also been months at a time when I am more apathetic than motivated. During my apathetic months, it is so easy to go into this downward spiral where I get frustrated that I am not motivated, which makes me less motivated. A positive feedback loop in all its glory. So how can we get the motivation back when it doesn’t come easy?

Be Kind to Yourself

It can be so easy to get down on yourself for behaving in a way you don’t want to act. Similar to how easy it is to be rude to a parent, sibling, child, etc. for misbehaving. Do you ever feel good about snapping at your kid in public? Do you ever feel good about being snarky with your mom? The answer is probably, “no.” It doesn’t feel good because you know you shouldn’t be cruel to people for making mistakes. We all make mistakes! So why be cruel to yourself? This, I think, is the first step to regaining motivation: Be kind to yourself. Acknowledge that you’re a little down or lazy or whatever it is and tell yourself, “It’s ok for this to be hard, but let’s try to move past it.” WOAH, I literally just got choked up. I think I needed to tell myself that, too…..

Accomplish an Achievable but Simple Task First

In the Extreme Productivity podcast, Kevin Kruse talks about the MIT, which stand for your Most Important Task. He suggests that you block out a time, early in the day, to work on the MIT because it gives you a sense of accomplishment and ensures that you are working on what will pay back most, compared to your other tasks. Genius.

Some days, though, just thinking about my MIT can be intimidating so I like the idea of creating a simple task that involves my MIT. For example, I am finishing a first draft of an ebook. I don’t want my MIT to be “work on ebook”, but rather, I want my MIT to be “write for 30 minutes to 2 hours in Word document for ebook.” This specific MIT title lets me start writing for 30 minutes and if I am done after those 30 are up, I’m done, I can move on and return later. If I am still feeling good after 30 minutes, I can keep writing! It’s a win-win. Furthermore, I simply want to write in my Word document for my ebook. This could mean writing an outline, some chapter titles, working on the Table of Contents, etc. The point is that I have options so if I open my ebook document and am super excited to write the Table of Contents…that is exactly what I am going to do.

Tell Someone About Your Little Victories

What are friends for, if not for boosting your ego? Tell your friends, or the guy sitting next to you at the local coffee shop, that you just finished working on your MIT. Get excited about taking steps towards regaining your motivation. YOU ARE DOING IT! That is so awesome and you deserve to get some credit for being awesome.

If you have any other thoughts on getting motivation, leave a comment! I know I’m always looking for helpful hints.