Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. in other words, the term “motivation” is the driving force behind human actions.
No matter how generally motivated you are, all of us have some tasks that we don’t want to do. Maybe we find them boring, pointless, draining, time consuming, annoying, or anxiety producing. So how do you get moving in these types of situations?
The first step is to recognize that getting motivated doesn’t mean that you have to experience a particular feeling, like excitement or anticipation. Instead, motivation is simply one or more reasons you have for acting in a certain way. You can decide to do something without ever getting excited about it.
There are many different uses for motivation. It serves as a guiding force for all human behavior, but understanding how it works and the factors that may impact it can be important in a number of ways.
Motivating factors includes:
- Money and Rewards.
- Desire to be the Best. Some people just cannot accept to be number two in their lives.
- Helping the Others. Some people are motivated by helping others.
- Power and Fame.
- Recognition – this play an important role in workplace when an employee is motived for work done he strive to do more
- The Passion – having passion in what you do can be a self motivation for you
Impact of motivation:
- Help improve your efficiency toward goals
- Help you take action
- Encourage you to engage in health-oriented behaviors
- Help you avoid unhealthy or maladaptive behaviors such as risk-taking and addiction
- Help you feel more in control of your live
- Improve your overall well-being and happiness.
Action-taking motivation methods
Involving other people in the process. This positive social pressure can provide the impetus to get something done. This could look like delegating part of the task, teaming up with someone else to complete the activity together, getting accountability, or simply being present with other people who are also working.
Structure your approach to the work. These types of strategies, each illustrated with an example, can help you to gain momentum when you have low drive to move forward:
- Put a low-frequency activity ahead of a high-frequency activity. For example, I can’t open my email until I’ve filed my expense report.
- Give yourself a standard time. Every Friday from 2-3 pm, I have time blocked in my calendar for weekly planning, and I honor that time as sacred for that activity.
- Limit the time commitment. I need to work for 10 minutes a day on this task and then I can stop if I want to do so.
- Set the bar low. I just need to take one action step a week on this activity.
- Get it done. I want to get this entirely off my plate so I’m setting aside a whole day to complete the task.
Pairing unpleasurable activities with pleasurable ones to boost your overall mood. This could involve giving yourself permission to do a more difficult task, like writing or putting together a presentation , in a location you really like, such as a cozy coffee shop or even a park if the weather’s nice. You can also try layering tasks, such as listening to music or a podcast while organizing your office. Even getting a little physical activity in during the process can help. I may have been known to practice speeches while going on walks. I probably look a little funny, but I get two activities done at once.
When you employ one or more of these strategies, you may not make speedy progress or perfect progress. But you can move tasks forward, slowly but surely, and get the things done that you don’t naturally want to do.
