You’ve tried everything – from watching motivational videos on YouTube to taking screenshots of inspirational quotes on Pinterest.
You’ve consumed what feels like your one-hundredth snack. Plus, the bathroom breaks – the carpet is worn out from all of your trips to the loo.
There’s no denying it: You just can’t get your stuff together.
You’re so frustrated.
The same old stuff is on your task list that was there last week… so annoying. You want to crush it, but you just aren’t motivated. What gives?
Take a deep breath. Stop Googling “How to Get Motivated.” We’ll get through this together.
Being unmotivated happens to the best of us.
Like a nasty cold, it sneaks up on us when it’s absolutely the least convenient time possible. The haze of being in an unmotivated stupor leaves us feeling frustrated, perplexed, and defeated all at the same time.
It’s like you’re caught in a messy love triangle – your motivated self wants you to come home, behave, and get to work. But you’re actively being seduced to “Netflix and chill” by your indifferent self.
It’s tempting to try to push through – to try to channel your inner beast mode and try to get stuff done.
But, often that strategy doesn’t quite work. That’s because a lack of motivation is usually a signal of greater misalignment in your life.
Without addressing where you’re falling out of focus, your motivation will continue to suffer – requiring you to exert incredible amounts of energy to get anything done.
The fix? Well, it’s going to require you to do something that society discourages us from doing.
Stop. Just stop.
When your motivation is suffering, the best thing that you can do is to completely stop.
Stop trying to go after it and just give yourself what is probably a much-needed time out.
In today’s society, we’re so consumed with being busy and doing activities that we’re afraid to take a break.
Often, a break is exactly what we need, though.
Give yourself some time off. Step away from the tasks, to-do lists, and goals. Get out into nature. Spend time with loved ones and family.
Realize that being productive isn’t the end-all, be-all solution to life. Just be. No technology or meetings or tasks. Just be a being, being.
Once you’ve given yourself a break, it’s time to reassess.
Most of our days are filled up with meaningless, mindless tasks and stuff that is based on other people’s agendas. No wonder we feel unmotivated sometimes.
Often, the drudgery of uninspiring, ridiculous things to do saps our energy and creativity. It’s time to radically rethink what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it.
Ask yourself these critical questions:
- What is my greater “why” and purpose in life?
- What do I spend 80% of my day doing? Are these tasks leading me to my greater why in life?
- What can I get rid of to free up my time and energy, so that most of my day is spent doing things that contribute to my greater “why”?
- What do I need to outright quit?
- Are there goals that I’m trying to achieve that I honestly don’t even care about anymore? (Scrap those goals now.)
- Are there people and/or environments that sap my energy? How can I spend less time with these people or remove myself from these environments?
- Am I being unrealistic with the number of things that I’m giving myself to do? Do I need to outsource and ask someone else for help?
Once you’ve reassessed, it’s time to re-align. This is not the time for massive to-do lists. This is the time to ask and answer just one question:
“What is the most important thing for me to do?”
Then disrupt – find a way to break the monotony of life by doing something different.
Walk a different route to work, call someone that you haven’t spoken with in a while, or make something different for breakfast.
Finding a small way to disrupt your day can re-energize you and add a bit of spring back to your step.
And who knows? After battling with a bout of feeling unmotivated, you may find that you come back bigger, stronger, and faster than ever before.
