Conquering Low Motivation

Do you remember a time or a day where you didn't want to do anything at all but to sit on your couch and watch T.V. or stay in bed? The pile of assignments directly starring at you, but you can't seem to get started on them?

If you have, well, the good news is that you are not alone, and some strategies may help increase your motivation.   

The Motivation Dilemma

When it comes to motivation, one of the several myths behind it is the belief that motivation will strike when appropriate. The opposite is true. For example, have you ever had a day where you decided to stay home in your pyjamas and do nothing? Although you might find yourself needing to go grocery shopping or do errands on your day off, you justify and tell yourself that you will do it later on in the day, only to realize it is now 6:00 pm or 7:00 pm and you didn't do any of the tasks you wanted to?  What is interesting is that you perhaps found yourself feeling sluggish and tired, even though you didn't do anything rather than feeling relaxed.

If that scenario seems familiar to you, next time, try the opposite of what you intend to do and see how that works out! Chances are, and I hope that once you get the momentum going, the next task will be easier to tackle!

Strategies at Overcoming Low Motivation

Begin your day with an easy task that you may accomplish with some level of confidence. The objective behind this is such that you would start your day off with a sense of reward and accomplishment.

Examples of easy tasks may be:

Making your bed once you wake up

Changing out of your pyjamas

Making breakfast

Taking care of your hygiene

Sending out e-mails you have drafted from the day prior

Proofreading a document you’ve written before submission

Changing out of your sleepwear into outfits, you would typically wear into outfits you wear going into work/school/social outings.

Even though you may very well be staying at home for most of the day, by activating this momentum of changing into outfits you wear outside of the house may just very well motivate you to go out in the first place. Doing your hair, putting on your make-up can be the bonus to this!

From a neuroscience perspective, the neurotransmitter that plays a role in our level of motivation is Dopamine. Previous research has shown that individuals with low dopamine levels are less motivated. In contrast, those with higher dopamine levels in the striatum and prefrontal cortex (Motivation and Reward areas) are more motivated. Our goal is to find ways of increasing the dopamine level in our brains by creating rewarding experiences.

Break down your goals into smaller, more achievable sub-goals

The use of S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting may help may this step a bit easier! If the goal you set out for yourself is too ambiguous or too overwhelming and you have no direction in approaching it, it will perhaps leave you feeling defeated and procrastinate in getting it started.

Here is a brief example of using SMART Goals.

Goal: I would like to have a healthier lifestyle

S – Specific (What exactly needs to be accomplished?)

By eating more vegetables and fruits and lowering on non-healthy food

M – Measurable (How do you know you have succeeded in your goal

Have five servings of vegetables and fruits daily

A – Achievable (Is the goal realistic to attain?)

Create a grocery list including the variety of vegetables and fruits

Re-evaluate the amount of non-healthy snacks consumed daily

R – Realistic (Taking into other factors at play, is the goal defined realistic?)

Should start with three servings of fruits and vegetables per day and reduce non-healthy snack intake by substituting gradually with fruits and vegetables

T – Time-Bound (Target date for achieving your objective)

Three-months' time (October of 2020)

References:

Lee, K., & About Kevan Lee Freelance writer by day. (2019, April 09). The Science of Motivation: Your Brain on Dopamine. Retrieved July 1, 2020, from http://blog.idonethis.com/the-science-of-motivation-your-brain-on-dopamine/

Mindtools Content Team. (n.d.). SMART Goals: – How to Make Your Goals Achievable. Mind Tools. Retrieved July 1, 2020, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm