Lacking motivation is the desire to do nothing and waking up that you don’t want to achieve anything. It could be that you might need a rest, but when you start to feel this way for a few days it gets harder and harder to get you motivated again unless YOU choose to motivate yourself.

You may think that you are alone in feeling this, but you are not. And it’s more common than you think. A 2017 study found that 85% of employees are disengaged. We go about our tasks in a fog, and some of our days are so redundant that you can’t even remember what you did or if you did anything at all.

With lockdowns, stand-downs and borders closures happening constantly, the closest thing to feeling invigorated is ordering pizza or watching a new Netflix show.

The good news is you can get yourself back on track, and you just help in finding that motivation again.

We have asked around the WAYS office about what do they do to keep motivated, here are some tips on how to increase motivation when you’re in a slump:

1. Unplug from negative social media and blogs

Trust us, you will not miss it! When you are plugged into the negative space of media you find your mind wonders and it can increase fear. And fear increases your lack of motivation. Put your phone, tablet and computer away for 1 hour and find and do something that makes you excited e.g cooking, go for a walk, grab your bike out of the dusty garage.

It will not be hard to find something, as your brain will want to start it straight away.

2. The power of a good mindset

When you lack motivation, sometimes you need someone in your ear or brain to tell you to make a change. Find a podcast or good book to read that can provide you with the right motivational content to transform your thinking and attitude.

It’s even better when you sit outside in the fresh air.

There are heaps of content online like TED talks, Simon Sinek, Nick Vujicic. Just Google ‘motivational speakers’ and there will be 1000s to listening to.

And Google motivational books, there is too many to mention but we recommend 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Power of a positive mindset and Good vibes -Good Life.

There could be costs involved with the books, but what is it costing if you don’t listen or read them.

3. Focus and Give Back to Others

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” –Mahatma Gandhi

You will hear this all the time from people and podcasts/books, as the motivation of others will motivate you. When you start to focus on others, you will begin to feel accomplished and satisfied.

When you put your focus on others you find that your problems look and feel smaller and you feel empowered to overcome any challenges that you face.

Even if you send a gift basket or send a message this is still focusing on others.

4. Associate yourself with positive people.

Negative family and peers or even listening to negative people on podcasts creates cynicism and will slowly affect your attitude. And that doesn’t mean that you ignore your mum or dad, it is more to find the time to be around positive people more and turn to your mum and say you love her and then walk away.

There are heaps of virtual meetup sessions happening all over, just search in Google to find them.

The best question to ask is ‘Do you think that glass is half full or half empty’, if they answer half full then you know you are talking to the right person.

5. Write down what you are grateful for: 

If we look at this pandemic the biggest lesson that we take from it is that we need to stop and appreciate everything that we have.

This will not be the only crisis that you face, so start writing down everything that you are grateful for now so that you can refer to them later.

Start with the simple things like your taste, sight, eating meals and then think about family, friends, a car, a house. You will find that there will be at least 20 things that you could write down in less than 15 mins.

As time goes on, create a habit of writing one new thing every day.

6. Sweat it out!

Exercise is the perfect release for stress and can motivate you to do more. When you start your day sitting on the couch, you will end the day the same. The same goes for exercise, when you start with a walk you will continue with completing tasks all day.

Look at the most successful people that you like. The most common thing they have is exercise.

There are heaps of at-home workouts on YouTube or even heaps of fitness apps that can provide what you need.

Another tip is to end each workout with meditation or breathing exercises. If you refer back to your grateful list, think about all the things that you are grateful for and things that you would like to improve. Through this practice, you also gain the mental space to operate at peak motivation and inspiration.

To end, everyone encounters a slump at least once in their lives, but what differs from person to person is how they handle it.

AND You Can Always Ask for Help!

If none of these is helping, please seek professional advice and help. If you would like to talk to someone WAYS offers free counselling services for young people and their families, please call us on 9365 2500.