How to Learn to Get Motivated to Work

Haven’t we all been in a situation where we know we should be productive and get a lot of things done, but somehow everything just feels meaningless and nothing you do seems to lead anywhere?

I know that feeling very well. Frankly, back when I was in my early 20s, I often felt like that. I thought that everyone else was on a trajectory to a good life, and I was stuck, unable to achieve anything at all.

But you know what? A lot can happen in a surprisingly short amount of time, especially if you take action.

And it’s not impossible to spark that motivation that is lingering dormant somewhere deep inside you. You absolutely can get motivated, even if right now it doesn’t feel like that at all. Sometimes I’ve gone from paralyzing stress and fear to feeling invincible in 15 minutes.

You need to practice getting motivated

Motivation doesn’t just mean feeling inspired to take action right then and there. It means that you have internalized the value of your goals, and you know that the work you do will take you there.

Most days you won’t feel an unstoppable yearn to work. That’s why you need to practice waking up that silent motivation that gets you to do what you’re supposed to do, day after day.

If you’re just starting a new big goal, or you’re trying to pull yourself out of an unproductive rut, give yourself some time. If you’ve been procrastinating for a short while but you have had a productive routine before that, it’ll likely take a couple of days to get back on track.

But if this is the first time you’re trying to learn to become more productive, organized, or efficient, it’ll likely take weeks if not months to change your habits and become your new self.

The way to find that motivation comes from figuring out how you can stick to your habits and goals, no matter what happens. Once you’ve done the same thing tens or hundreds of times, it starts getting a little easier and easier.

To quickly get more motivated:

Is work piling up and your to-do list somehow getting longer every time you look at it? Try these quick tips to get more motivated!

1. Set a timer

One of my most used little tricks to get back on track. Simply set a timer for a manageable amount of time, like 20 or 30 minutes, and promise yourself to work for that amount of time. It’s not too much to ask, and getting started will help you get in the mindset of working.

Remember: activity fuels activity.

2. small rewards

It’s a good idea to reward yourself sometimes, and don’t worry, you do deserve it.

Whether you’re best motivated by chocolate or a little scroll on Instagram is up to you, but you do want to use it to your advantage.

3. motivational quotes

Have you found your favorite motivational quote yet? Mine is “Everything you want is on the other side of fear”, usually attributed to Jack Canfield with that exact wording.

A powerful quote can get you into action immediately. Whichever quote out there speaks to you deserves to be somewhere where you can see it often.

You can find some good ones here:

30 Motivational Quotes for Hard Work

30 Famous Powerful Women Quotes

4. Music that gets you in the right mood

Music can change your mood and motivation in an instant. Try to listen to some powerful and energetic music if you want to feel unstoppable, or perhaps something mellow and peaceful if you want something to help you focus.

Sometimes all you need is that one specific song that reminds you of who you’re meant to be. Perhaps Hall of Fame or Unstoppable?

5. use app and website blockers

Nothing beats a good blocker. Once the apps that you use to waste your time on are blocked, it’s easy to focus on your work.

You want to do a little research on this to find an app that fits your needs the best, but for Android I can recommend Digital Detox.

6. check other people’s LinkedIn pages

I still do this sometimes and it worked especially well when I was in my early 20s.

LinkedIn is all about careers and achievements. Seeing your old coworkers and school friends have long resumes of increasingly impressive jobs, and some of them listing their own companies, or several languages they speak, can motivate you in seconds.

7. think about your heroes

If your heroes can’t motivate you, who can? Well, you hopefully, but a little help never hurts.

Think about the people who have done what you want to do. Maybe place a picture of one of them on your desk, or as your phone wallpaper.

I don’t know who your hero is, but I’m sure they didn’t sit on their laurels. They made things happen.

8. Remember that the faster you get it done, the faster you’ll have free time

Sometimes the best way to motivate yourself to get things done is to point out the sweet and obvious: if you just get it done quickly, you can rest in peace.

You might even want to list the estimated times it should take you to complete every task on your list.

9. Remind yourself of your goals and dreams

Sometimes you really need to remind yourself of who you are and what’s at stake.

You can take a few minutes to think or write about your goals and your dream life, or talk to yourself in the mirror. Being reminded about what your work will lead you to will motivate you fast.

longterm solutions

If you want to form strong long-term habits and you want to build solid, reliable motivation that will eventually help you reach your biggest goals, here’s what you need to do.

1. Daily habits and schedule

My most important daily goal is to write 1,000 words of fiction every day – and it really needs to be a daily habit, or else it will be harder to stick to it (and make steady progress).

Once you have built a solid system of habits that you can stick to or a schedule that will help you work on your goals, it will become much easier to see the value of your work and stay motivated even when you’re tired or suffer setbacks.

Whether you need to repeat the same activity every day, or structure your week in a way that helps you make progress on your goals depends on what you have your eyes on and what you need to do to get there.

2. Knowing that change takes time

One thing you always need to keep in mind is that change takes time. And you’ll often feel like you’re not making any progress, even though you really are.

Let’s say you want to become fluent in Spanish. Your daily goal might be to study vocabulary for 20 minutes. The mere number of words you need to learn might make you want to give up, and looking at what you’ve achieved in the past two weeks might make you think that it’s all for nothing and you’re not making nearly enough progress to ever become truly fluent.

But when a couple of years have passed, you’ll see that your daily work did make a big difference. Sometimes I feel like my daily 1,000 words are poor and good for nothing, but then I read something I wrote a year ago and realize that I’ve definitely learned a lot since then. Because I stick to my habit.

3. Be strict with the things that hinder you

The unfortunate truth about life is that sometimes you just have to be uncomfortable. No pain, no gain, as we all know.

You need to be honest with yourself when it comes to those things that hold you back and hinder your growth. If you know that you go to sleep too late or that having Instagram installed on your phone makes you waste your time, that’s a problem you need to fix.

Yes, sometimes it’s going to be extra hard to keep yourself away from the temptations and self-sabotage, but being strict with yourself will lead to the growth and goals you covet.

4. Remember to schedule free time and fun things

One mistake I still constantly make is forgetting that you need free time. You need to be able to trust that the work ends at some point and you’ll get to do something fun guilt-free.

There can be days when you don’t have any free time, but it can’t be like that all day, every day. If you don’t schedule any free time, you’re essentially telling yourself that the work never ends, no matter what you do. That will make it harder to be efficient and get everything you have planned done.

That’s why I like to break up all my tasks into more manageable chunks, and only plan to do so much in one day. 1,000 words is a much better target than “I’ll just write as much as I can today”.

It takes time to build up reliable motivation

I think that having big plans for your future unavoidably means that sometimes you feel like you simply have too many things to do, or that you need to commit every waking hour to doing something useful, or else you will never succeed at what you’re trying to do. It can be demotivating.

What is important here is that you stay consistent. It’s the tough patches that matter the most, the days when you’re tired, distracted, or busy with other things. They are the days that make or break your goals.

Don’t worry about the days when you fail and don’t get anything done. Just make sure that you always bounce back. The stronger the habit, the more it becomes part of you, and the easier it will be to stick to it.

Time to get motivated

We’ve all felt unmotivated and unable to lift a finger sometimes. But we all also have the ability to turn that feeling around and get back to work.

I know it can feel close to impossible right now, but I promise that you will find it easier to do your work and not procrastinate the more you do it. If you’re on a journey to becoming more productive, remember that changing long-rooted habits takes time.

And it’s perfectly ok to feel unmotivated sometimes, as long as you don’t give up completely and keep trying even if you failed at something or skipped a couple of days. You can always get back on track, or start all over.