This Magic Monday, we focus on ways you can stay motivated and energized when faced with overwhelming tasks or workload at home and work.
It’s difficult to believe we’re nearly an entire four months into 2021. While the promise of an eventual return to normalcy looms ever closer, it can still sometimes be difficult to maintain motivation in our daily work and personal lives, and sustaining drive through a task or project can often feel draining.
So, what can we do to keep pushing forward, even if we may not always feel like it? Is “fake it ’til you make it” really the answer?
Professor of Behavioral Science Ayelet Fishbach sheds some light on the topic in an article she put together for the Harvard Business Review magazine. She describes a few key behaviors anyone can adopt to push their motivation to the next level:
1. Set specific goals that are intrinsically rewarding
Instead of setting general goals like “I want to be a better communicator,” set specific goals like “I want to use more storytelling in my presentations to communicate in a more relatable manner.” This goal is also intrinsically rewarding, as we can immediately start to witness improvement in communication while working toward the goal, motivating and inspiring us to keep at it.
2. Focus on elements of work that you find rewarding
We don’t always get assignments we enjoy, but instead of focusing on the daunting nature of something like a backlog of files that need organizing, divert that focus to the value we create by making things run smoother tomorrow can make it easier to get through otherwise overwhelming tasks.
3. Find effective rewards
For example, only allow yourself to listen to an episode of your favorite podcast while completing mundane chores or tasks or allow yourself a chapter in a book you’ve wanted to read, only after completing that task.
4. Sustain progress
Break down large tasks into smaller sub-tasks that you can easily achieve to keep your motivation going, such as weekly instead of quarterly goals.
5. Remind yourself where you’ve been along the way
It’s often intimidating to face weeks of challenging project time ahead. A trick to help – look back on how far you’ve come already and recognize specific accomplishments along the way.
It may feel challenging to master self-motivation, but the reward is well worth it. What are some ways you can find motivation in your tasks today?