Productivity Hack #6: Increasing Motivation

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”
~ George Horace Lorimer

Written by Kevin Tyler Smith. You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed people play the old proverbial “not motivated” card as an excuse for not getting things done.

Whether they realize it or not, this is a polite way of saying they weren’t productive because of laziness.

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve played that card once or twice myself (ok, ok…hundreds of times).

Regardless of how many times that card has been played, we must not lose sight of the fact that:

In the real world, where productivity and success are essential, motivation is a key element. It’s congruent to productivity.

If it does not come naturally to you, pick yourself up, examine ways to increase your own motivation and put it into action every day.

“Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in one sitting. It needs continual and regular top up’s.” ~ Peter Davies

Simply put, the more motivated you are, the more you will get done.

Enjoy and Appreciate Accomplishments

This is one way to increase your motivation. Instead of holding off until you have attained your goal, begin by enjoying and appreciating every task you complete along the way.

While you do not want to waste time or become side-tracked, giving yourself a figurative pat on the back for tasks completed well and correctly can be a great way to increase your motivation.  You will want to do more and you will want to continue to excel.

The Motivation and Energy Connection

Congratulating yourself will also help to increase your stamina.  Rather than feeling overwhelmed by one main goal on the horizon, which can leave you tired and stressed, it can energize you, maintain positivity and better prepare you for the next task.

It is easy for a person to lose a sense of motivation when he feels that he is treading water and not moving forward in accomplishing anything.  This can result in negative feelings toward what he is trying to accomplish resulting in even doing less.

Fortunately, this mindset is not difficult to reverse.  When you get into the habit of feeling glad about every task you complete and have pride in each and every accomplishment, it will increase your motivation to do even more, and to do better each time. The Essential Motivation Handbook can be a vital tool in this process.

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

As motivation and energy are connected, you will see that you have much more energy for all of the tasks in front of you.  No matter how large your ultimate goal happens to be or how much time and work you need to put into it to accomplish that particular goal, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much more smoothly it all progresses.  As both your motivation and your energy increase, you will get more and more done. This is why staying motivated daily is such a beautiful thing.

See Also – Productivity Hack:

#1: Set A Game Plan

#2: Reduce Distractions

#3:  Large Projects First

#4: Self-Discipline

#5: Doing The Impossible

Editor’s note: Zen To Done is one of the best resources I’ve ever seen in regards to cultivating productivity. If you want a concise “nuts and bolts” system on structuring your “to do” list, look  no further than Zen To Done.

Disclaimer: I will only ever recommend products I have used or own personally. Trust is a hard thing to build (especially online) and I wouldn’t break it by putting my name behind something that I don’t believe in.

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*photo credit: Random Shenanigans