How to Motivate Yourself to Work

Motivation is one of the hardest things to do when working by yourself. The problem isn't in working; it's in starting the task. Sometimes just starting is enough to generate the necessary momentum, but here are a few simply tricks to help kick start and maintain your motivation.

Keep an "accomplishment journal": Everyday record anything significant you accomplished that day. If you worked out for 2 hours, record it in detail. If you wrote 2 chapters on a book, record it. If you raked your entire yard, also record it. These will be bigger tasks that encompasses many of the micro-tasks. Having that sense of accomplishment staring you in the face each day is a powerful, rewarding motivator.

Micro-task: When creating your to do list, break it into small, easy to accomplish "micro-tasks". For instance, if you were writing this article, then "1. write motivation article" would be too broad and hard to focus your efforts. However, if you broke that into several micro-tasks, such as "1. identify key points", "2. write brief outline", "3. flesh out body of article", "4. proof-read", "5. spell check article", "6. finalize article", and "7. submit article", then it's much easier to manage and keep your momentum flowing.

Reward yourself. Nobody likes working for nothing, and everyone's motivation will eventually wain if they never receive any positive reenforcement. Schedule in 30-60 minutes during the work day to do absolutely nothing. Eat your lunch and watch a TV show, or workout if that's your thing. You want to break up the monotony and reward yourself for your hard work. Endless work is unmotivating to say the very least. Work toward your rewards. And if you feel you've accomplished something extra special, let the reward also be extra-special: treat yourself to your favorite restaurant or a night at the movies. Rewards will keep you on target.

Create a "to do" list: Sometimes the biggest hurdle is figuring out what you need to do. Maybe there's so much to do, you simply don't know where to begin. Take the time to write out a list of tasks you have to accomplish. Not only will this focus you, but there's also a rewarding sense of satisfaction when you check off completed tasks. The last item on your to do list should be writing the next day's list.

Don't work everyday. You'll burn yourself out. If you're self-employed, the temptation to work 7 days is very real, but you cannot sustain that pace. Take at least 1 day off during which you do nothing but have fun. My Physics professor in college told us a story, before going on Fall break, about a man who walks up on a lumberjack frantically chopping a daunting pile of wood with an exceedingly dull axe. The man casually suggests he stop and sharpen his axe. The lumberjack replies, "I don't have time". The point of the story is sometimes you have to take the time to sharpen your axe, so that you'll be more efficient in your work and your productivity will improve. That said, my Physics professor forbade us from doing any homework over the break, so we could "sharpen our axes".

Difficulty: Moderately Easy