Lacking Motivation?

Do you have things to do but can’t bring yourself to do them? Your problem may not be motivation.

We all struggle with things we have to do and don’t want to. We procrastinate.  And then we chide ourselves for not being motivated. But what if the problem isn’t motivation? What if the problem is understanding.

I am a big fan of critical thinking and one of the most important questions you can ask yourself when diagnosing a “motivation” problem is why. Why don’t I want to do this?  Why do I need to do this? Do I need to do this?

By asking yourself why – you will either figure out - if I don’t do this something bad will happen. Or if I don’t do it, nothing bad will happen.  I find that reminding myself about the cost of failure is an excellent motivator.

Sometimes, by asking yourself why you realize, nothing bad will happen if you don’t do whatever it is. And if nothing bad will happen, perhaps you can get away with not doing it at all!  There is NOTHING like taking an unnecessary task off your plate to make you feel better.

But what happens when you figure out – yeah – you still need to do it but you still aren’t motivated and fear of failure isn’t enough to get you moving. Well, you can then ask yourself another important question.  How can I do this differently? How can I get this done in a way that isn’t a drudge? Can I outsource this task? Can I get it done a different way?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know that asking them is the first step to solving the problem.

Critical thinking, it’s a practical everyday life skill. Learn how to do this better and to find more motivation in your life with the online course – Planning for Personal Success: A Humanist Approach.

Maintaining Focus

Many people struggle to remain focused.  They get side tracked and procrastinate and never get around to doing what they are supposed to be doing. There is an easy fix for that. And it involves asking yourself a question. Or rather several questions.

The main question to ask yourself when you are struggling to maintain focus is, “why.”

Why are you working on whatever the project is? What is it you hope to accomplish by working on it? In this context, the question why can help you find the motivation you need to finish the task or stay on track. Instead of focusing on the task, you now know WHY you are doing it and WHY it matters if you don’t.

I often find that if I am stuck it’s usually because what I was doing wasn’t working and I just wasn’t’ willing to admit that to myself.  By asking myself WHY I am working on a project, I remind myself of what it is I am really trying to accomplish. Often, we get so caught up in the task itself we get blinders on and forget that the problem we are solving is actually just one of many possible ways we could be fixing our real problem. Asking why helps you refocus on your real problem and when you do that, you can find other ways of solving it.

The final way asking yourself WHY helps you maintain focus is because sometimes the answer to why I am doing something is nothing. I have no good reason to do it. And when I realize that, I allow myself to not do it anymore.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of things on my plate. Getting sidetracked is super easy. When I ask myself why I am doing any particular task, I can prioritize my tasks! What is really important and what isn’t can only be ascertained if you ask yourself WHY you are doing those things.  It’s a lot easier to maintain focus when you are able to concentrate on the things that really matter and ignore the things that don’t.

So the next time you find yourself struggling to focus, ask yourself why.

Procrastination

In my humble opinion, wasting time is never a waste of time. It means I was doing something I enjoy instead of doing something I obviously didn’t want to do. Now, my maxim about wasting time is one that only works in moderation, in accordance with Franklin’s famous maxim. Obviously, if you procrastinate too much, nothing will get done, and that won’t be good.

But my real point is that if your brain refuses to let you work on a project there is probably a good reason for it. Sometimes it is a good idea to allow your brain to play with other thoughts for a while, rather then force it to work on something it clearly doesn’t want to.

Case in point. I procrastinated on writing this article all morning. I got a lot of important stuff done; I just couldn’t begin to start working on it, mostly because I didn’t know what I wanted to write about. And then, while I was procrastinating on Facebook, it hit me, I should write about the value of procrastination.

Now I have my idea and I am excited to write this column. And in the meantime I had had fun brainstorming about different avenues in which to sell my new book (to be released in early Sept 2010). All things come in their own sweet time as another maxim goes. So, the next time you are procrastinating on a project, don’t fret. As long as you are not near your deadline, you will be fine. Waste time doing something your brain enjoys and eventually your brain will figure out how it wants to tackle the project you have been procrastinating on and then there will be no stopping you.