6 Quick Ways to Boost Motivation

Originally posted on habitbliss.com

Sometimes we just need a little extra something, a quick boost to get through a tough task. Whether for business or personal it always helps to have a few techniques in our back pocket to pull out whenever we need a bit more gas in the tank.

Below are a few of my favorites. Find one you like or combine a few of them together to amplify your motivation mojo.

Visualization – Visualization unlocks endless doors to the subconscious. Developing excellent visualization skills will give you an edge in anything related to habit development and self-mastery in general. When using it to dose up your energy, keep in mind our natural desire to move towards pleasure and away from pain. Create visual scenarios that attach as much pleasure as possible to the completion of the task while creating intense pain for not getting the work done. Remember, visualization is not just about what you see. Turn up the volume of your imagination by including your sense of hearing, taste, smell and touch. Use all your senses to fully engage your inner world and bring your visualization to life.

Break the task down – Create smaller sub-tasks. This allows for ‘breathers’ in between and small victories you can feel good about. Allowing yourself short periods of rest will keep you fresh and focused and full of energy!

If you find this method especially attractive, you may be interested in a popular lifehack called the Pomodoro Technique. It takes this concept even further by breaking up the day into 25-minute blocks. Each block is called a pomodoro. Between each pomodoro, you get a 5-minute break. The goal is to stack up as many pomodoro’s as you can. To receive credit for a pomodoro, you must maintain your focus on the task, without interruption, for the full 25 minutes!

Turn distractions into rewards – So we can all agree distractions are a bad thing, right? They rob us of time and energy. They leave us unfocused and with a sense of guilt. But… what if we could flip the script and make them useful?

We can. Instead of allowing distraction to guide us, let’s use what distracts us to our advantage, by turning our tendencies into motivation. Allow yourself to engage in your distraction of choice, but only as a reward for productivity.

Make plans for later – So you’re a bit a procrastinator, maybe? Some of us like a little extra stress in our lives before we get moving. It’s cool. If you have a task you need to finish by a certain time, make plans for later. Being unavailable after the designated time of completion will give you the extra pressure you crave to finish up your work on schedule.

Employ an accountability partner – This could be a friend or family member, but it’s probably better if it’s a business associate or mentor. An accountability partner can infuse the needed energy to fast track your project, but it needs to be with someone you’d rather not let down. If you think they’ll let you off the hook (easily) it can defeat the purpose they serve as a motivation trigger.

Create a motivation music playlist – If you have a repetitive, layered task to complete – such as getting ready for work in the morning – create a motivation music playlist and select a song to each part of the task. Then, make a game of it. As each song plays, execute its corresponding mini-task. Your goal is to finish each mini-task within the song’s time limit!

Whatever method you use to ensure your work gets done, be kind and find ways to reward yourself once you’ve completed your work. A simple acknowledgment of a job well done works wonders as it imprints in the mind the idea that you always finish what you start. The more you practice techniques like these when you feel your motivation dipping, the less stuck you’ll feel in the future. These tools are a great way to combat the energy slumps we all sink into from time to time.