Motivation in Six Steps

It may be tough to stay motivated at work every day, all day, through the cold months and into spring. So, how do we get motivated when we feel overwhelmed with too much to do?

Practical information is the only useful thing I can provide. “Rah, rah, you can do it” is not going to work for people who procrastinate or who already feel like they can’t do everything they need to.

So, Step 1: Make a priority list! Think about the big picture and what things really matter at home and at work. What brings revenue into the home and workplace? Preserving your credit and keeping a job to ensure bills are paid may be at the top of your list. What keywords are important? In the home, you may include food, shelter, electricity, and credit cards payments. At work, it could be what you are selling, whether a service, oil, retail, or whatever is it that keeps the business humming along.

Step 2: Write up a task list, starting with the day to day tasks that need to be accomplished. Home tasks may include doing dishes and paying bills. Work tasks might include answering emails, pumping gas, or whatever those tasks are that you were hired to complete. Start with the small tasks that can get done quickly and work down to the heavy stuff that may take awhile. You will be more motivated to check things off the list that can get done easily, and this momentum should help you tackle the bigger projects once you get to them!

Step 3: Find someone to help with accountability, whether it be a friend, spouse, or co-worker. Then, commit to that person and to yourself that you will work through these lists with deadlines attached.

This brings me to Step 4: Give yourself some rewards! Think of small but fun rewards to help motivate you, like if I do the first five things on my list by Friday, I will buy that new CD I’ve been wanting!

Step 5 is to be okay with good enough. This one can be tough for a lot of people. Let’s be realistic; many of us are perfectionists and we delay starting things for fear that it won’t be good enough. Well, to kick start that motivation, you have to be okay with average. Just getting the task completed on time is good enough.

And lastly, for today, Step 6: work your way through these lists in ten to twenty minute increments. No one has hours and hours of spare time, but we all have at least ten minutes here and there to get our priorities straight, and complete the tasks that have the most impact in the shortest amount of time!

Congratulations, you are now on your way to working through that massive to do list!