Lack of motivation can throw cold water on the best of plans. So let GenuLines help keep you on the path toward realizing exactly what you want in life.
You get your work assignment. You know what you have to do.
You’ve got to get started – but somehow, you lack the motivation to get off square one.
Success won’t be had without motivation.
Where’s the source of your motivation?
Where can you turn for the inspiration that will propel you forward? We’re all different and we’re all motivated by different things.
You may get motivated by visualizing completion of the task and reaching the goal. There may be a job promotion in it for you and a bigger paycheck.
Or you want to finish another chapter in the book you’re writing, or you look to lose five pounds by the end of the week. Seeing the goal in your mind could motivate you toward success.
Visualize completion
Never lose sight of your ultimate goal. Know you’re going to get what you deserve and push forward with renewed motivation.
You know that success is not only an option but is a real fact. Keep this in mind and motivation comes easier.
Preparation
Motivation without the skills to achieve your goals is not enough. If you know you’re lacking something to move forward motivation is hard to summon.
Knowledge fuels motivation, and to a lesser extent, so does persistence.
Change your environment
New surroundings often give you a renewed outlook on your life. It can be something simple.
Put a new plant in your home or office, hang a new picture or open the curtains and let in the light.
This also includes surrounding yourself with positive people. When you’re around positive and successful friends their attitude rubs off on you.
You absorb their energy. But you’ll also absorb the energy of negative people or depressing surroundings.
Other methods
Find the source of your motivation and re-evaluate your tasks. Brainstorm and look for new information.
You can do this by taking a break. Go for a walk, exercise, work in the yard or relax with an inspirational book.
Using your brain in different ways will stimulate it. And stimulation leads to motivation.
Do something for others
When we do for others we find motivation within ourselves. Many times the way to achieve your goal is to assist others in reaching theirs.
Seek to serve and you’ll become energized and motivated when people rely on you. Disappoint them and you disappoint yourself – and you’re not going to let that happen, are you?
Listen
Some find a motivational source by talking or reading aloud to themselves. Keep an inspirational book handy at all times.
When you actually hear the positive affirmations they become more effective.
Motivation comes from many different sources. Look within and find what works for you.
Believe in yourself. Look forward to the good that will come into your life.
Do these things and expect motivation to come your way..
Creating a time management plan keeps you from wasting time. Having a plan makes every hour count.
You work at a good pace. And your time gets good distribution over the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks.
Creating a time management plan is an important key to success.
* Be Realistic With Your Plans –
Don’t go against your own internal clock when planning each day. If you know you struggle to get up in the morning, don’t schedule things in the early morning hours.
If you can manage the tasks you like first in the morning, try that.
* Set Time Limits –
This is especially important for both tasks you dislike and for the ones you like. There’s a risk of procrastination when you spend too much time on tasks you like.
* Say no to Distractions –
One of the biggest killers of any plan is distractions.
These include television, phone calls, social media, even children and spouses. You can head off most distractions by planning ahead.
Turn off the TV. Turn off the phone.
Use social media only at certain times- and use a timer. Explain to kids and spouses the importance of not bothering you while you’re working.
* Differentiate Important from Non-Important Tasks
Understand what is important and what is not important. If you make it a habit to do the most important things first, you’re going to feel more accomplished and get more done.
* Calendars and Technology –
Use Google Calendar or another system synced to your phone. This is a great way to ensure that your calendar is always with you and that you don’t forget things.
You can even set reminders and alarms to help.
* Kick Urgency out of Your Life –
For instance, if you’re a service provider, stop taking last-minute work orders. Train your clients to give you plenty of time to work tasks into your schedule.
Set family time and playtime into your schedule too. That might avoid a last-minute meltdown from the little ones, too.
* Create and Use Lists –
It’s one thing to note on your calendar the words “work on project A”. But it’s quite another to list what you’ll do when you work on project A.
This is the most effective way to schedule your time so that you meet your goals. Be very specific with lists so you don’t waste time.
* Create a Daily Action Plan –
Have at least four or five things that you can do each day toward any goal that you have. Plus, having a variety of things to do each day can avoid boredom and procrastination.
Creating a time management plan is an essential element in creating success. Most successful people live and die by their calendars.
There is a lot more to goal setting than just picking a goal and moving forward. Yes, this is important.
But it’s also important to make sure that you’re setting the right goals at the right time. These questions will help you head in the right direction:
Are You Setting Specific and Realistic Goals?
It takes a little research to ensure that a goal is realistic. If you’re not sure if something is actually achievable then you haven’t done enough research.
Once you know that the goal is realistic you need to give it a clear description. This will let you work backward to make a schedule of action you’ll need to succeed.
Are Your Goals Multifaceted?
Focusing on only one part of your life is a bad idea. To feel successful people make goals for all areas of their lives.
Say you have a wonderful business and career but your personal life suffers. No matter how successful you are, you won’t feel successful.
Make sure your goals include something from each aspect of your life.
Does Your Scheduling Show Real Need?
For instance, you want to exercise 30 minutes per day. But setting aside only 30 minutes isn’t going to be realistic.
You’ll probably need to set aside an hour. This will cover getting ready as well as cooling down or getting cleaned up to go back to work.
Are You Learning from Failure?
You might feel like giving up when setting goals and schedules. You put your plan into effect but you notice there are things you’ve forgotten to take into account.
Don’t quit. Learn from the failure and change the schedule to be more realistic.
You might find that in practice you have to rewrite all your goals and your schedule. This is natural.
Failure feels like a negative. But the truth is if you don’t fail sometimes you’re not going to learn much and it’s likely your goals are too easy.
Do Your Goals Represent Your Needs and Wants?
A lot of people set goals that represent what someone else wants instead of what they want. This can cause a lot of bad feelings and resentment.
And it can derail the best-laid plans.
As you set your goals for your life, ask yourself if they’re what you want for yourself or what someone else wants for you. Ask yourself if you’re okay with any goal you make being for someone else before you embark on your journey.
Are You Checking in Often to Stay on Track?
To-do lists pale in comparison to a well laid out calendar of tasks and activities that get you from point “A” to point “B”. Make sure that you look at your schedule often.
Make note of when you succeed in sticking to your schedule and when you don’t. Noticing a pattern of activity can help in improving your schedule.
And it can help you stay realistic about whether you’re sticking to the plan.
Do Your Goals Have Positive Focus?
Try writing down a goal and then changing the words to sound more positive to see if it isn’t more motivating. For instance, “losing weight” seems like a good target.
But for some people, it might signify deprivation. Instead, frame the goal as “improving my BMI by 10 points” or “improving my cholesterol by 10 percent.”
Do You Have Too Many Goals Set at One Time?
Just as setting too few goals can be a problem, so can setting too many. Instead, pick one personal goal, and one other type of goal to focus on until you reach them.
Later you can add more as time goes on. You don’t need to do everything today.
Slow and steady wins the race is a good motto to hang on to.
Setting the right goals for yourself takes some thought and consideration. Don’t try to set them all in one day.
It’s better to set some goals in different stages and in different areas of your life. And give a lot of thought to why you’re setting the goals in the first place.
Practice makes perfect. We’ve heard that mantra since we were kids.
But more to the point, this phrase embodies persistence. That’s the key to mastering most anything.
You can practice something once every two months and not get very good at it. But persistence will usually deliver results.
There are so many distractions. From video games to the internet, to television.
It can be a difficult proposition to keep focused on persistence. Putting aside the distractions frees you to become better at something you want.
It’s important to balance being persistent with not being too pushy. It’s one thing to want something and do whatever it takes to get it.
But that could encroach on others’ personal space or even their rights. You may have to take a different approach or back off and find another way.
This doesn’t mean backing away from something you desire. Persistence is the key to getting it.
If it’s within your rights to have it then you should go for it. Maybe you’ve been trying to get a promotion at work.
Your persistence may be the aspect that makes you stand out above the others.
You might remember the 1970’s television series, Columbo. On that show, Peter Falk played a detective who tended to be persistent with his inquiries.
This paid off for him since he was always able to catch the perpetrator. Of course, this is a fictional story, but the concept carries over into real life.
Many people believe that if you want something enough, you’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen. Usually, this is a result of persistence.
There’s some truth to this. But sometimes your limitations keep you from doing what’s necessary.
Try to determine what’s blocking you.
Say you failed at something, only to try it again later, It doesn’t mean that your efforts were lacking.
You just weren’t ready for it during the first attempts.
People can also persist in bad habits or unwanted behaviors. In this case, it’s best not to embody persistence and try to deemphasize the negative behavior or traits.
One great way to do this is to replace these negative aspects with positive ones. The effort is the same.
Clutter is a real nuisance for millions of us. What you may not realize is that it can affect your mind and body.
How does your living space make you feel when you walk in the door at the end of the day? Do you feel peaceful and glad to be at home because it’s your sanctuary?
Or, do you feel dread because there’s a mountain of unfolded laundry on the chair? Or there’s a stack of magazines spread all over the floor and a sink full of this morning’s dishes?
Mind Control
Research finds that the state of your house reflects the state of your mind. Disorganization tells you that there’s something out of balance.
The trick is learning what’s off-kilter and how to set it straight.
Living in a cluttered home is stressful – for everyone. Mom’s pulled away from what she needs to do to help someone find their homework.
Dad’s late for work because he can’t find his car keys. As the pressure to find those misplaced things mounts, so does the tension.
Before long, something or someone snaps.
Lost And Found
Think about how you feel when you’ve misplaced something. You may berate yourself for being careless.
You may feel frustrated and ready to give up. When your child comes in to ask a question, you may not respond in a loving manner and feelings get hurt.
Clutter drains you of energy and makes you feel tired. And that can leave you feeling overwhelmed.
You know you need to do something but you don’t have the energy.
Take time to clear the mess from one small area. It can help you and your family feel more energetic.
And they’ll be more inspired to work on decluttering in other areas.
Body Of Clutter
Did you know clutter could be making you physically sick? No one wants to think about it, but clutter can be the breeding ground for germs, dust, mold, and mildew.
It could even hide a problem with mice. If you don’t believe clutter can make you sick, think of the stress mentioned above.
If you have too much stress, you may develop high blood pressure. Dust and mold can cause allergies or worse.
Clutter can also affect your body weight. People with clutter are usually sedentary.
In an uncluttered home they’re more active. Part of this may be because the clutter in the home makes it hard for you to move.
You may also be using clutter, like being overweight, as a means to protect yourself. Clutter keeps people at bay and so there’s less chance of getting hurt.
Get Started
Now you understand some of the ways clutter can affect your mind and body Consider what you’re going to do about it.
Will you take a step forward and begin decluttering? Or will you let it continue to ruin the lives of you and your family members?
Intending to be productive is a worthy pursuit. But over time and with overuse the definition of productive has become a little fuzzy.
Now “Productivity” is a sort of buzzword. It’s used in employee training seminars and self-help techniques.
If you don’t get the true meaning of this word you might waste valuable time that could be better spent.
In a fast-paced driven society we’re expected to produce more in less time. Unfortunately, this can often have the opposite effect.
Here are a few things to consider when looking at how you spend your time,
Busy & Productive Are Not Synonymous
This might be the biggest misconception about what it means to be productive. Staying busy and on the go doesn’t always mean you’re being productive.
Being productive means you are actually getting something done.
It’s easy to jump from one task to another. Could be you shift your focus and attention every five minutes, all in the name of “multi-tasking.”
Now and then ask yourself if you’re actually accomplishing anything. For example, after a five-hour stint on your computer at work, take a look at the end result.
Have you produced something of value that was not there when you first sat down at your desk? Never confuse being busy with being productive.
Progressing Towards Something
This kind of piggybacks off of the previous thought. But this tip deserves its own discussion.
You can get into a kind of “grind” mentality.
You spend hours working at irrelevant things. Again, this may or may not help your productivity.
With anything that you dedicate a lot of your time to, there should be an end goal in mind.
Have a well-understood plan of how you’ll reach it. Productivity involves a linear path from where you are right now to what you want to get done.
If you’re working hard only for the sake of working hard, you run the risk of wasting valuable time and energy. It’s always important to consider your “why” before you commit your valuable time to any task.
Balancing Productivity
Achieving anything worthwhile often involves hard work and focus. But it doesn’t mean neglecting every other area of your life in the process.
For example, you want to transform your body and get in better shape. Will it help if you neglect your closest relationships and other commitments, too?
True productivity includes nurturing every aspect of who you are. Even during the pursuit of something specific.
Sure, there are going to be times when more of your time and energy goes toward one thing in particular. But make sure that not ALL of it is!
As a human being, you are a lot of things at the same time.
And he scraps the old carrot and stick types of reward systems.
Instead, Pink argues that a scientific approach gives us a better view of the subject. This, he says, helps us come up with strategies to power up motivation.
Three Elements of Motivation
Pink says research shows that autonomy, value, and competence drive motivation. Autonomy refers to the amount of control or independence we feel over a task or action.
He says studies point to a connection between input on a task and better follow through.
The second component of motivation is value. This is the amount of personal significance or importance you place on a matter.
In other words, if something matters to you on a personal level, you’ll feel more motivated to take it on.
Competence comes from a feeling of mastery as it relates to practice and hard work. This doesn’t mean you have to have natural abilities.
Spending time developing competence seems to increase chances of reaching the goal.
Strategies to Increase Motivation
Now you have an understanding of what matters most with regard to what motivates us. So let’s look at some strategies to increase motivation.
With autonomy as a guide, let’s consider ways to add a sense of control or involvement in activities. One way to do this is to take ownership of a chore or add some aspect of self-direction to it.
Let’s say you’re having difficulty starting a project such as submitting a paper. It may help to think of all the ways doing this will set you apart as an expert in your field.
You’ll see that turning in the paper is a necessary part of sharing your unique views with your colleagues.
To add value to your task, you want to make it meaningful or personal. Find a way to add purpose to that item on your to-do list.
This involves changing your perspective or the way you look at that item.
Doing your taxes is a chore you might dread. Add purpose to it by focusing on the work you’ve done that’s represented by the numbers on the page.
Or the contribution you’ve made to your job and community through your efforts. Paying taxes is a symbol of good citizenry.
Finally, there’s competence. Feeling mastery over an act requires practice.
Try to look at the job at hand as one in which you are working toward an end goal of skillfulness.
For instance, you’ll soon see the treadmill as less of an adversary the more workout sessions you endure. As you get fitter you’ll see exercise as a little easier.
And, you’ll get a feeling of accomplishment.
Motivation is not always easy to come by. But with a little knowledge of science you can be more effective in moving toward your dreams.
In time you’ll be mastering your goals. And that will fuel your motivation in the future.
No matter how focused you are, some days, it’s hard not to get distracted. And, in a time of societal upheaval, those distractions can get out of hand.
Let GenuLines help you with this list of points to bring back your focus.
Life can sometimes get in the way of meeting your goals, but it doesn’t have to derail you.
Here are some expert tips on how to stay on track, no matter what else is happening around you.
1. Get Organized
It’s easier to focus if you’re not distracted by the small, daily tasks. Commit to a nightly practice of preparing for the next day.
Decide what to wear, what to have for lunch and the other necessary things that are part of your routine. Have your gym bag ready and packed so you can just pick it up and go.
It can help to get organized for your week on a Sunday evening. For example, have all your work clothes clean and pressed and ready to wear.
You might even consider a minimalist work wardrobe of similar garments to mix and match. You can also bulk cook and freeze meals so that you don’t even think about dinner during the week.
2. Do the Tough Things First
You can free up a lot of mental energy by putting the difficult tasks and decisions at the top of your to-do list. Do the hardest tasks when your brain is still fresh first thing in the morning.
This way you can get on with your day without a nagging dread at the back of your mind.
3. Keep Your Energy High
It might surprise you to hear that fatigue can be a distraction. If your energy is low, you won’t be performing at your best, so make sure you take regular breaks.
Get out of the office and get some fresh air. Eat your lunch in the park and give your eyes a break from looking at a screen.
Eat lots of fresh foods and stay hydrated by keeping a water pitcher on your desk.
4. Manage Your Priorities
Chances are, many of the requests you get during the day don’t deserve to be your top priority. Instead of responding straight away, decide on how urgent the request is.
Do you really need to answer that email now? Learn to focus on requests and respond as you see fit.
5. Keep Your Eye on the Prize
There are so many distractions in modern life that it can be easy to lose sight of what you want to achieve. Have a visual reminder of what you’re working toward.
This could be a mission statement or a post-it note on your computer. Check-in every day to see how you’re tracking and make sure you keep a line of sight on your big goal.
We’ve all experienced mental fog. Its symptoms include:
• Difficulty concentrating
• Diminished memory
• Focusing problems
• A drop in communication skills
• Low motivation
• Easily distracted
Origins
Mental fog is due to any type of imbalance in the control center of the brain. This area is the hypothalamus. The imbalance can be a result of inflammation or free radicals. Or any type of stress brought on by several factors, such as:
• Multi-tasking
• Exhaustion
• Anxiety
• PTSD
• Imbalanced hormones
• Infections
• Not getting enough sun exposure
• Substance abuse
Mental fog is natural given our busy, nonstop lifestyles. But it can become frequent. If this is the case with you there are some simple changes you can make that will help.
• Eat right
It’s amazing how much power our food has over us. Processed foods, foods high in saturated fats, and gluten all have a negative effect on the brain.
In fact, research links gluten sensitivity to low concentration and focus abilities. Also, not getting enough water into your system can lead to brain freeze.
• Take your vitamins
Your diet is lacking in antioxidants. You want vitamins, such as D and B complex, and minerals, such as calcium, zinc, and magnesium. Supplements could help you here.
• Get better sleep
We all sleep, but it’s the quality of our sleep that can either make us or break us. High quality sleep improves brain function as a whole.
While it’s ideal to get the full 8 hours each night, some people only need 6 for optimal effectiveness. Find what works best for you.
Regulate your sleep using a relaxing bedtime routine and a comfortable sleeping area.
• Work out
When you exercise, you send fresh, oxygenated blood to your entire body, mainly your brain. This boosts its cognitive functions and diminishes brain fog.
Studies have shown how exercise can improve learning and study skills. It helps with concentration and memory ability, too.
• Find a hobby
It may seem like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do to get things done. And it could be tough to squeeze in a hobby.
But there are ways to incorporate fun, relaxing activities into your weekly schedule. The first step is to carve out some “me” time and stop thinking it’s selfish, like many of us do.
The second step is to find something you enjoy doing. It could be meditating by yourself in a quiet room, or a class or club where you’ll meet new people.
The final step is to decompress and enjoy.
Conclusion
Brain fog is reversible. You need to do the work and find out what works for you.
Each one of us is unique, so it may be a bit challenging at first to find that perfect fit. But you’ll be glad you put in the effort once you regain clarity and you’re able to perform at your best.