How to Keep Yourself Motivated: 10 Best Tips and Tricks

Employee Motivation

How to Keep Yourself Motivated: 10 Best Tips and Tricks

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” —Walt Disney

The majority of people want to change at least one thing in their lives. However, it can be difficult to find the motivation to get started. If you are wondering how to keep yourself motivated, this guide is for you. 

Motivation is the desire to accomplish something, and it propels us to become successful. Having the motivation to achieve your goals and dreams, whatever they may be, is crucial.

Motivating ourselves is important since it enables us to change our behavior, enhance our skills, develop creativity, create specific goals, broaden our interests, formulate plans, discover talents, and foster employee engagement.

Motivation is a critical resource that enables us to adjust, operate effectively, and maintain our well-being under a never-ending stream of opportunities and threats.

Related: Do you want to motivate your employees? Check out these tips!💪

What is Motivation?

“Hard roads lead to beautiful destinations.”

The act of motivation is the process by which a person organizes, guides, and sustains a goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is a state of mind that desires change, whether it occurs inside of us or in the outside environment. 

Motivating ourselves is all about the internal drive to accomplish something that is important to us.

Motivating yourself – self-motivation is an important skill that encourages us to continue progressing towards a goal even when it feels challenging. 

Types of Motivation

Some of the types of motivation are explained below:

Extrinsic Motivation: In this type of motivation, behavior is driven by external rewards such as money, frame, grade, and praise. 

Extrinsic motivations examples include winning trophies in sports, working for money, and receiving customer loyalty discounts.

Intrinsic Motivation: In this type of motivation, there is engagement in a behavior because it is personally rewarding, not for an external reward. 

A good example of intrinsic motivation is engaging in a sport for fun instead of aiming for prizes. Another example is studying a new language because you like to challenge yourself. 

Why is Self-Motivation Important

Self-motivation helps you accomplish what you want to do. In order to be self-motivated, you must be passionate about your life and have a desire to succeed.

Having the capability to motivate yourself is a critical skill that enables you to take advantage of new opportunities despite disappointments. 

Reasons Why Self-Motivation is Important

Self-motivation doesn’t allow you to depend on others. The importance of self-motivation for a successful, happy, and fulfilling career and personal life can be explained by several factors. 

Find out why motivation is the key to career success. Check out a few here!

1. Achieving Personal Goals 

Having goals is the first step toward achieving your dreams. Therefore, you need the motivation to keep you pushing forward toward your goals.

Motivating yourself brings determination to achieve personal goals. Motivated people have a strong desire to change their lives for the better.

A person’s motivation propels them towards success by pushing them to change. Motivation allows you to define your goals, so you know exactly what you’re striving for.

2. Increases Productivity

Motivated people perform better at their jobs, and motivation directly impacts their productivity.

According to Psychology Today, motivation predicts success more than anything else, and success requires high performance.

The more you understand what motivates you, the faster you will succeed in your career or reach your personal goals. 

Read More: Are you searching for ways to increase productivity? Here are some great ideas!

Tools to Measure Productivity

  • timeTracko – Employee monitoring software

timeTracko is a productivity monitoring tool that enables employees to track their work hours and determine how productive they are during their work. 

  • Slack – A Team Communication Tool

Slack is a workplace communication tool designed specifically for workplace productivity. 

A real-time collaboration tool like Slack is designed to connect your workflows and software and share information with others for better outcomes.

  • Asana – Project Management Tool

Would you like to end your workday with a sense of satisfaction? You can and so can your team by making the most of your time at work with Asana’s team productivity software. 

Asana is designed basically for large companies to achieve their organizational needs.

  • Zoom Meeting – Video Conferencing Tool

Zoom is among the most commonly used video communication tools, allowing team members to connect in real-time, enhancing productivity. 

Training, meetings, online classes, seminars, and other types of events are held in this software-based room.

  • CalendarTime Management Tool

A calendar is one of the time management tools to become more organized and better manage your time. 

Calendars can be used as a time management tool, aiding in the creation of schedules and increasing productivity.

Learn More: Are you looking for the best productivity applications for employees?

3. Build your Confidence

When you’re motivated, your confidence builds up, and you start to think positively. Even when you face several issues, self-motivation keeps you going by never giving up and continuing to try to solve the issue.

4. Makes you Happy and Satisfied

When you continue to motivate yourself, you can achieve your goals. It gives happiness, and it gives you the pleasure of succeeding and reaching your goals. 

Whenever you feel depressed about the work you have to do, focus on your goals. Getting motivated and setting and achieving new goals can make you feel happier than you have ever felt before.

5. Increase your Commitment

Self-motivation gives you the power to decide if you like your job. Your employees’ motivation and commitment motivate them to do their best work, while commitment energizes them to accomplish tasks.

6. Put yourself in a Positive Environment

Although keeping a positive attitude is not always easy, you can still try your best. Adopting positive beliefs can help you cope with difficult circumstances. 

Otherwise, you will lose hope and become discouraged. Develop positive habits and embrace positive thinking to avoid negative emotions.

What are The Elements of Self-Motivation?

The four elements that makeup motivation are:

  • Personal drive to achieve, a strong desire to reach set goals. This passion allows for growth and improvement. An individual’s motivation for achieving something can be classified as passion, growth, determination, empowerment, or motivation.
  • Commitment to goals is the second element of motivation. In order to stay motivated, one must set goals, give effort regularly no matter what, not give up, and keep focused and committed to achieving their goals.
  • Initiatives: The third element of motivation, is the ability to effectively grab and take advantage of the opportunities whenever they occur. It is defined as ‘readiness to act on opportunities. Generally, you spend a lot of time overanalyzing, worrying, fearing, and hesitating which robs your opportunities. Make sure you take advantage of any opportunities that come your way by taking the initiative to act on them.
  • Optimism: It is the ability to keep going and achieve goals despite obstacles. Optimism is the fourth component of motivation that describes your ability to overcome obstacles, pursue, and achieve your goals.

10 Best Tips and Tricks to Keep Yourself Motivated

When you are going through a difficult time and are having trouble focusing on your work and losing motivation, these 10 best tips for staying motivated can help you get through the difficult time and motivates you.

1. Put Your Goals on the Calendar

A goal gives you something to aim for and can help you to keep yourself motivated.

Having goals and working toward them is very important. We may not always efficiently achieve our goals, but goals make life more fulfilling and help us stay motivated.

Making a plan gives you a better picture of what you intend to accomplish. Scheduling your task on the calendar encourages you to prioritize the tasks that will help you achieve your goals.  

Using a calendar allows you to schedule time for important activities and ensure you accomplish them. Calendars are useful for organizing upcoming meetings, deadlines, and milestones, providing you with a visual representation of your schedule and reminding you of important events. 

How To Track Goals on a Calendar

When you set a deadline, you’re more likely to stay motivated, track your goals on a calendar, and know how far you still have to go. This can greatly improve your performance.

  • Analyze what you have accomplished
  • Plan ahead
  • Decide when the best time is to evaluate your performance
  • Keep track of your weekly goals
  • Set up automatic timers for your goals
  • Meeting with your accountability partner
  • Set a reward system
  • Schedule time for distractions
  • Calendar it all. 

2. Reward Yourself for Your Small Victories as Well as your Big Ones

Why not reward yourself for having worked so hard? Rather than waiting for someone to compliment or reward you, reward yourself once you achieve your goals. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRz7y2mqs0Q&t=118s

We all human beings require some rewards to motivate us. That’s why rewarding yourself as soon as you finish a major task is essential to keep yourself motivated.

You will feel refreshed after this break, and motivate you to work more effectively in the future. 

When you reward your success, you will feel a whole lot better. You can motivate yourself with any reward – even something as simple as a coffee break or a walk around the block. 

Quick Ideas To Reward Yourself

Wondering how to reward yourself? Here are some of the steps.

  • Enjoy a short break
  • Plan a night out with friends
  • Spend a few time mediating
  • Enjoy your favorite snack
  • Read a chapter of your favorite book
  • Contact a friend or family member
  • Get outside and take a walk
  • Listen to one of your favorite albums
  • Exercise or try a new workout class
  • Take a hike with your friends

Related: Awesome reward your employees love to receive🏆🏆

3. Maintain a Healthy Life Style

Motivation is driven by your brain, and it’s what drives you to reach your goals and accomplish tasks. Therefore, you should maintain your mental and physical health in order to keep motivating yourself.

Quick Ideas To Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Keeping a healthy lifestyle will help you to become motivated. Check out the following tips to stay healthy.

  • Exercise at least twice a week.
  • Make sure you consume healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables, that activate Dopamine.
  • Keep your brain active and functioning properly by sleeping for at least eight hours every night.
  • Allow your brain to rest during work to be more productive. Take frequent breaks.
  • Maintain a healthy balance between work and life.

4. Don’t Stay in Your Comfort Zone

Among the most effective ways to stay motivated is to strive for new challenges and opportunities. You can achieve this by setting more challenging goals than you’re used to. Try to learn new skills to improve your performance at work or take on a challenging project at work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpcdUgYGN_U

As you go beyond what you’re comfortable with and strive to achieve new successes, you can learn new things. You are likely to achieve more by gaining experience and reaching higher goals. 

Quick Ideas to Leave your Comfort Zone

Below are some ideas for getting out of your comfort zone and doing something new for growth.

  • Make changes to your daily routine
  • Do everyday things differently
  • Take workouts to the next level
  • Challenge your beliefs
  • Expand your professional skillset
  • Put yourself in a new environment
  • Consider other points of view
  • Don’t pick the safe choice

5. Motivate Yourself to Think Positively

Maintaining a positive attitude and keeping things from getting in your way is important. Correcting mistakes and improving, as a result, can boost your performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLK9dBQn0g

In order to increase self-motivation, it is important to view potential opportunities positively and learn from them. When someone critiques your work, take it as constructive criticism that strengthens your approach.

Maintaining a positive mindset will help you improve your performance and produce impressive results.

Quick Ways to Think Positive Thoughts

You might be able to benefit from these mindset strategies for positive thinking if you struggle to think positively.

  • Focus on the good things
  • Analyze your areas of negativity
  • Every day, start with a positive attitude
  • Practice positive self-talk
  • Spend time with positive peoples
  • Consider the consequences of negativity
  • Take responsibility for your behavior
  • Establish and work towards goals
  • Spread positive thoughts by expressing gratitude

6. Organize Your Task into Smaller and Manageable Parts

As you would eat a large meal in small bites, no matter how long and complex the task is, you can accomplish the task by breaking it down into smaller, manageable parts. Break large tasks down into many sub-tasks if you’re struggling with motivation. 

By doing this, you will avoid stress and procrastination. Completing each step of a task makes you feel a sense of accomplishment, significantly increasing your motivation.

Completing the first simple step can often motivate completing the entire project.

Quick Tips for Breaking Large Tasks into Manageable Chunks

Below are some ideas for breaking up a big task into smaller, more manageable steps.

  • Take a broad view of the situation
  • Keep your focus by having a plan
  • Prioritize your tasks
  • Consider the logical order of completing each piece
  • Create a timeline for completing your tasks
  • Make sure to complete your task early enough to allow time for the final review.

7. Have a Support System

People around you play an important role and help you respond to challenges. You want to surround yourself with those people who are concerned about you and your well-being. 

Monitor your progress and track your progress from time to time by asking people you trust if they can help.

They can also help you if you start to feel overwhelmed. 

Benefits of Participating in a Support Group

Generally, a support group consists of people going through difficult times due to medical reasons, mental illness, or other personal struggles. Some of the benefits of engaging in a support group are:

  • Be aware of the fact that you are not alone
  • You get a chance to express your feeling
  • Reduce stress
  • Increase self-understanding
  • You feel less lonely, isolated, or judged.
  • You begin to express your feelings honestly and openly.
  • Improve skills to cope with challenges.

8. Monitoring Your Progress

No matter how long it takes to accomplish a goal, we must track our progress to ensure we are on track. 

You must know how well you are performing to stay motivated. Tracking allows you to stay focused on the things that matter so you can move in the right direction. 

You can use it to identify possible obstacles and plan how to overcome them. This reduces the risk that comes in the way of meeting objectives. 

If you see yourself on the positive track every time you evaluate your progress, you will be motivated, eager to succeed, and stay positive. 

Quick Ideas to Monitor Your Progress

Follow these steps effectively to track your progress.

  • Identify what you want to achieve
  • Organize your goals into smaller tasks to help you accomplish them
  • Set a deadline
  • Build a schedule to follow
  • Review your progress regularly with time tracking software
  • Turn your goals into smart goals
  • Document and review progress

9. Eliminate Your Distractions

Eliminate distractions from work so that you can be more productive and, consequently, have more leisure time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md2TBEVsK_8

When distraction becomes a habit, you can lose the concentration required for work. You can minimize distractions and accomplish your most important tasks by planning and managing your time effectively.

Install a productivity extension in your browser if browsing the web aimlessly. With these extensions, you can block certain sites and restrict browsing times.

Quick Ideas for Eliminating Distractions

Consider using these strategies to minimize distractions at work and improve your daily work output while staying motivated:

  • Complete the most challenging task early in the day
  • Set time limits on your goals
  • Be aware of when you lose focus
  • Monitor your mind wandering
  • Take on more challenging work
  • Break the cycle of stress and distractions
  • Keep your place organized

Learn More: This list of workplace distractions that kill productivity

10. Give Yourself Breaks

Do not let your mind control you. We often eliminate breaks from our work schedule to accomplish more. No matter how determined you are, sometimes you may get stressed out.

A well-deserved break is just what you need. You can accomplish more when you take frequent short breaks as it helps you concentrate better.

Furthermore, a relaxing break can improve your mood, reduce stress, and motivate you. 

Benefits of Giving Yourself a Break

The following are some benefits of taking frequent breaks from your work schedule.

  • It serves as an energy boosts
  • Boost your performance and creativity
  • Improves the mental health of an employees
  • Boost employee engagement
  • Breaks are important for processing and retaining information
  • Breaks prevent fatigue and improve concentration

Learn More: Make the best use of your time with the Pomodoro Technique 

Conclusion

Motivating yourself is important for overcoming daily challenges, taking advantage of opportunities, and utilizing time efficiently to move forward and accomplish goals.

Try the above tips and tricks to stay motivated if you have been unsuccessful in getting motivated. 

FAQs 

1. What are the best tricks to keep yourself motivated?

We all lose motivation from time to time. When you feel motivated and want to know the best tricks to keep yourself motivated, look at these strategies below.

  • Create a clear vision
  • Set goals for yourself
  • Look for the bigger picture
  • Stop multitasking
  • Challenge yourself to learn new things
  • Starve your distractions

2. How do I stay motivated 24/7?

The best way to stay motivated 24/7 is to not think of anything else while at work. Set targets for yourself every day and work with dedication. Don’t overload yourself with work; take regular breaks, and do what you enjoy in the meantime.

3. How do I become less lazy?

These tips will help you overcome laziness and make yourself more productive.

  • Avoid distractions
  • Create a plan of actions
  • Understand your main source of laziness
  • Don’t expect yourself to be a perfect
  • Use your strength
  • In the case of fatigue or laziness, take a break

4. How to Motivate Yourself when depressed?

Fortunately, techniques and strategies exist that can help you gradually rediscover your motivation to live a fulfilling life.

  • Accept it, and don’t push it away.
  • Set small goals and reward yourself
  • Avoid negativity
  • Socialize
  • Create a support network
  • Don’t overschedule