Motivation is that driving energy that moves us toward achieving goals and accomplishing tasks. It tends to go relatively unnoticed when we have it, but we often really notice when we don’t. Many who talk about motivation focus on strategies for increasing motivation when it is lacking, and there are a number of helpful things to try if this is an area where you’re struggling. But I don’t want to talk about any of that. I want to talk about how one of our major assumptions about motivation gets in the way of our success when we’re not feeling particularly motivated. Specifically, it seems to be a widespread assumption that we must feel motivated in order to be productive. The truth?

Motivation is a helpful, but not at all necessary, component of productivity.

It is great when we feel that enthusiastic energy moving us toward our goals and supporting us as we work to check items off the to-do list. Yet on some days (or for some particularly “icky” tasks) it just isn’t there. If we operate from the assumption that we should feel motivated for a task before we do it, we become dependent on that feeling and begin to live our lives at its mercy. When it comes time to get things done and motivation is lacking, we can pour our energy into trying to find feelings of motivation, or we can try a different approach. Consider an alternative:

• Accept that you’re not feeling especially interested or invested in the task at hand. This allows you to focus all of your energy on the task, rather than splitting your energy between tackling the task and trying to change how you feel about it.

• Challenge yourself to just get started with doing what needs to be done. Initial action increases the likelihood of continued action (think about the “object in motion” principle here), so a good start is often all it takes to find the energy you need to make it through the rest of the task.

• Remind yourself of the feelings of relief and accomplishment you will experience when you are finished. So often, avoiding what we don’t want to do leads to feelings of frustration and disappointment which lead to even less motivation. Focusing on the feelings associated with being done can help us approach the task instead of avoiding it, and can move us through the difficulty to a time which will feel much better.

If you consistently struggle to feel motivated, there may be more going on and it may be helpful to consider getting support to directly address factors contributing to that concern. But for those who only occasionally struggle or who only struggle in certain areas of life, remembering that motivation is not a prerequisite for getting things done may help you accept your feelings about the task and get you moving again.

– pm