Mental Tricks to Find More Motivation in Life

Don’t you just hate it when the alarm goes off early in the morning, and you have to get up and go to the gym – or do you? It’s easy to hit the snooze button and go to sleep, or leave a dirty pile of dishes in the sink, hoping that they’ll just wash themselves.

What about the unanswered calls on your phone and unopened emails in your inbox? They won’t answer themselves either. There are a million different things we need to do every day, but it isn’t always easy to find the motivation to take necessary action.

Here are some top tips from productivity experts on finding the motivation to take control of your life and set yourself on a path of success.

Visualize Success

When you’re lacking motivation to complete a task, the best way to get out of the rut is by visualizing yourself finishing the task successfully.

Think about how you’ll feel when you won’t have to worry about the work, how the outcome of the project will be and how much you will learn from the process.

While you’re envisioning these things, you’ll automatically start getting into a productive mindset because your brain can’t tell the difference between a very strong imagination and reality! Use the power of visualization to your advantage and get things done on time.

Plan Ahead

Failing to plan is planning to fail. This saying is applicable to everything in life including your work, personal life and weight loss goals. To iron out a plan of action, you first need to realize what your goals are and what tasks need to be done first.

Now tackle each task one by one, starting with the one that is on the top of your priority list. Don’t overwhelm yourself by doing everything in one day, instead make a to-do list no more than 5 items every day.

Trick Yourself

A trick to get stuff done quicker is by putting fake deadlines on the calendar that are earlier than the actual deadline. This makes sure that you work faster on a project and don’t waste too much time procrastinating.

Let Others Inspire You

Sometimes you feel so low on motivation that you simply want to throw in the towel and quit your job – but hang in there! You can overcome these productivity dips by reading or watching other inspirational people to find the strength to get through the day.

Read some inspirational quotes or watch a documentary on successful people you admire, and it’ll quickly get you back into the right mindset.

Eliminate Distractions

Distractions are the bane of productivity. Most successful people turn off their phones, social media and any other source of distraction when they work on an important project.

If you get distracted frequently during work, you’ll take much longer to finish work than if you gave it all your attention. Once you eliminate all sources of distraction, you’ll be able to work with a clearer head and get the work done much faster.

Stop Waiting

Sometimes we wait for the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity to do things, but the longer you put off your responsibilities, the longer you’ll take to make progress and achieve success.

If you have a big task at hand, you may not be able to do it all at once, but if you take out just 15 minutes every day to work on it, you can get it done in no time.

This technique works with most projects, where doing the entire thing at once requires a lot of motivation. You’re less likely to put off a project if you attack it in smaller steps every day until you reach the end goal.

Pick a Reward

Incentives are a great way to get things done when you’re lacking motivation. Go for a fancy dinner, movie night, massage or a yoga class to reward yourself every time you finish a big task that you’ve been postponing for a while.

Sometimes it can help to visualize a reward when you’re lacking the energy to take action. For example, every time you feel like skipping the gym, think about how good you’ll look once you shed a few extra pounds.