Feeling Unmotivated? Try These Psychotherapist-Approved Tips to Get Things Done

No matter how dedicated you are in what you do, there are moments when you simply don’t feel motivated. There are days when your body and mind don’t want to cooperate despite knowing that you have to get up and accomplish the tasks.

Don’t worry, all, if not most, of us have been there and it’s quite hard to convince yourself to get out of the rut and start moving. However, there are some useful psychological tips that may just help you feel more motivated:

List of Why You Need to Do It

Our inner voice can easily find many excuses, which we deem acceptable, once we need to face our dreaded tasks. However, a list of reasons why you need to do them may serve as a nudge in the right direction.

GaudiLab/Shutetrstock — Make a list of ‘Why’s’ to help you stay motivated

For example, at the start of the year you may have decided to jump start your road to fitness. At times when you feel lazy to move, having a handy list of reasons will motivate you. It should include logical factors like good health, normal BMI, or to fit in your old jeans to make sure that you will feel motivated to do it.

Visualization of the Process, Not the Success

At this point, imagining may turn out to be a good use of time! Many people tend to visualize themselves winning or succeeding in what they do, however, psychotherapist Amy Morin said this creates more harm than good. This is a result of your brain reacting to the thought that you have already achieved your goal, but the motivation to actually go through the process declines.

Instead of dreaming that you have finished your work, the expert advises visualizing that you’re doing the task. Imagine that you are painstakingly tolerating the activity and you might just cross the finish line in no time!

10-Minute Rule

When you feel that you really don’t want to do something that you know you ‘should’, apply the 10-minute rule to get the most out of a very limited time. Tell yourself that you only have to do the activity for 10 minutes — nothing more, nothing less.

GaudiLab/Shutterstock — Convince yourself to accomplish a task in 10 minutes

Once the allotted time is over, you’ll likely find yourself wanting to do more. Remember that starting anything is the hardest part of a task, so once you get the hang of it, you will continue doing what you do.

Label Tasks as ‘Now’

There are urgent tasks and then there are those that can be put off for later. You are more likely to do chores that are labeled ‘now’ because when you see deadlines that are still at least weeks away, they allow room for procrastination.

Smolaw/Shutterstock — Label your tasks as ‘urgent’ or ‘now’

To avoid falling into this pit, make small objectives that you can accomplish every day. For example, if you have a report due on the last day of the month, you can write a page per day.