5 Motivation Killers

Have you ever sat down at your desk to start the workday and realized you wish you were anywhere else? And it’s not because you hate your job or anything, you just lack the motivation required to tackle the day.

Are you supposed to be productive when you have no motivation?

The only long-term solution to deal with a lack of motivation is to dig into the cause of the problem. What are your motivation killers? To start your journey, let’s discuss five of the common motivation killers that people face.

1. A Lack of Focus

You feel as though you have loads of energy, but you don’t feel motivated because you just can’t focus. You don’t have a plan; you don’t know where you’re going. Let’s put it another way. You booked time off work, and you know there are tickets waiting for you at the airport.

But you don’t know the destination so you don’t know what type of clothing to pack. Is it a ski trip? Is it a vacation on the beach? It would be difficult to get up the motivation to pack and head to the airport when you don’t know what you’re walking into.

How do you solve a motivation killer like a lack of focus? There are two ways to address a lack of focus.

The first solution is to plan. Let’s continue with the vacation example. If you knew where you were going, you would have the motivation to pack, and you would be excited to get to the airport on time because you have a plan.

A plan can help motivate you to get to where you’re going. So, a to-do list gives you a systematic way of working through your priorities and keeps you energized to keep going.

The second solution is to pace and race yourself. This one is ideal for people who are distracted easily. All you need is a timer and luckily, your phone comes preset with one. However, if you do use your phone, be sure to switch it to focus mode or put it in airplane mode. Work down your list of tasks and give each an assigned amount of time.

If it should take 15 minutes to complete, then set your timer for 15 minutes and go for it. You can do this for each task and see how empowering it is to achieve. Not only will it motivate you through this set of tasks, but it will keep you motivated for the next set of tasks as well.

2. Overwhelm

Sometimes, just looking at a to-do list is enough to send you spiraling into a state of overwhelm. When you reach this point, addressing it like it’s a lack of focus will not do the job. The key to dealing with overwhelm is to prevent it by managing your workload. Don’t overcommit yourself. And when you do have a list, focus on one task at a time.

3. A Fear of Failure

Fear of failure is perhaps the most common motivation killer. How do you overcome a fear of failure? You have to reframe your view of failure and instead of seeing it as the end of your journey, see it as an opportunity to change tracks. Failure will define you if you let it.

4. Negativity

Negative thinking, negative people, and negative content can all destroy your motivation. Your mind is powerful, but if it’s constantly fed negativity, then it will defy you. Avoid negative people, turn off negative content, and reframe negative thoughts with more positive ones. You will see your motivation shift.

5. Procrastination

I’ll get to it tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, you put it off for another day. Ah, procrastination, the ever-present friend, ready to drag you down at a moment’s notice. Break things down into smaller steps and goals, and you will find it easier to deal with them.