Your first step to unlocking your productivity
For when motivation doesn't show up.
Motivation
"the impetus that gives purpose or direction to behaviour and operates in humans at a conscious or unconscious level.” American Psychological Association Dictionary
It’s why we do something. It’s the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that initiates, guides and maintains our behaviour. Extrinsic motivation is that which comes from external factors such as awards, money, praise or recognition. Intrinsic motivation comes from us, it’s our desire to do the thing.
Researchers have identified 3 major components of motivation – activation, persistence, intensity.
Activation - the decision to initiate a behaviour
Persistence - the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist
Intensity - the concentration and energy that goes into pursuing a goal
Motivation is great when it shows up, but for many of us it’s elusive yet we often wait for it to hit us before we take action. Even if we’re passionate about a project, sometimes we still don’t have quite ‘enough’ motivation to get started.
This is what I want to focus on today. When we want to achieve something, but still don’t take the action (rather than finding motivation for doing the stuff we don’t want to do).
One of the most frustrating things is to know we’re capable of more, of doing and getting what we want, but being stuck in a cycle of self-sabotage and a state of inaction.
If we actually want to reach our goals, we can’t rely on motivation alone to help us get it done. In his book The Motivation Myth Jeff Haden argues that motivation is not the answer to success. Instead, what’s needed is consistent action.
The keyword here is ‘action’ – we need to actually do things.
The motivation may help us get started, but it’s the actions that build our momentum and that keep us productive when motivation doesn’t show up.
The key thing we need to do first when it comes to productivity, is to understand how we work best.
Some of us will respond to discipline and routine. We need structure and will put in the work before rewarding ourselves. For others we need to do something fun to build up our energy first. Have a think. Do you work best just before a deadline with that adrenalin going? Or do you prefer to get it done way in advance so it’s all done and ticked off and you can get on with other things? Do you like to go with the flow and just see what happens? Or do you like a detailed plan of what needs to be done when? All of these are okay – it’s just what works for you.
Just like our brains all work in different ways, everyone has different types and sizes of goals – some want to earn a million pounds, publish a novel, play at Wembley. Others have smaller goals – we want to own our own home, learn the piano or get a promotion. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter about the size of goal, without taking action, none goals will be reached.
So now we appreciate that our brains all work differently and we all have different size and types of goals, what do we do about it?
Sometimes you’ll hear that if you want it enough, you’ll do it. However, we can still want something very much, but allow ourselves or something to get in our way (such as fear of failure, of success, of judgement etc) and it’s usually something more than lacking motivation. It could also be limiting beliefs, low self-esteem, or maybe we just have too many other responsibilities and we’re burnt out.
Whatever the reason, we tend to blame ourselves for not being good enough or for being lazy, so it’s important to get to the truth of the matter so that we can do something about it.
One of the ways you can do this is through journaling. Grab a notebook, your computer, phone or even send voice notes to yourself.
Explore what’s really going on with questions like:
why do I feel that I don’t deserve to go after my goals?
why do I keep sabotaging myself and actions?
how do I feel about my goal
did something happen to make me afraid of being seen or being heard? or
did something happen to make me scared of being successful?
do I feel I’m capable of achieving this goal?
Getting to know how your brain works and the underlying real reasons why you’re not taking action is really the first step in getting to grips with productivity. People can offer you all kinds of tips, but until you know yourself well enough, you won’t know which is going to work for you meaning you’ll try it all and unless you’re lucky enough to strike gold first time, you’ll end up falling and getting disheartened again.
Sometimes we can make what we think is the perfect plan, but they still come to nothing. Either that or we spend all our time doing the planning and none of the actual doing. If this is the case, then it’s likely this plan hasn’t taken into consideration how you work best or combats your limiting beliefs.
Allowing yourself some time to work through this, might feel indulgent and a waste of time. However, think about the time that’s already been lost to not following through with plans, of not achieving those goals. Unless you do the work to determine how your brain responds to different working methods and unless you tackle what else is holding you back, then the cycle of setting goals and not achieving them will continue.
Understanding our own unique drivers and obstacles is essential to achieving our goals. While motivation can be a powerful force, it often wanes or eludes us when we need it most. This is why it's crucial to recognise that consistent action, not just fleeting motivation, is the true catalyst for success.
In my next blog post I’ll be offering you some thing you can try to help you boost your productivity, deal with motivation and get stuff done.
