Motivation sounds like such an abstract concept. Something intangible. Something that must come from within. Something we must think about and generate on our own.
But usually we do not know how to generate the motivation from within every time we need it.
At least I do not.
I do not have a fountain of motivation within me that I can turn on at will.
And if you are like me, it’s the case with you too.
But then, we also know we need to be motivated to finish a task. From something as mundane as maintaining a SuperList of tasks to something as elaborate as planning a month-long family Road trip.
I know because I have been there. There have been so many instances when I failed to enter a task in my SuperList, forgot all about it and remembered only when the deadline was less than a couple of hours away.
I have had to bear the brunt of such instances many times. And so I have thought long and hard about it, and come to a few conclusions.
One, what we call lack of motivation is many times pure laziness.
When we say I don’t feel like doing something — trivial or important — it probably means we are not inclined to move our ass.
Two, what we call lack of motivation is so many times simply a lack of energy.
If you are not physically and mentally fit completely, you cannot really do anything properly. You will just drag yourself through the motions even when you are telling yourself that you have successfully accomplished something.
Three, when you do not know “why” you are doing something, you will be disinterested and demotivated.
For, something as mundane as cooking or cleaning has a “why” associated with it.
Why do you keep your workplace organized?
To easily access all your files when you need them. Why do you want that?
So that you are not unnecessarily delayed when you are in a hurry. Why the hurry?
To you finish your task on time, without any hiccups due to unavailability of information. Why you want to finish on time?
To reach your career and happiness goals.
Thus, you are keeping your desk and desktop organized so that you are able to achieve your career and happiness goals!!
Knowing your “why” is an intrinsic motivator. But it is not possible to intrinsically motivate all the people all the time for all the tasks.
And that is where extrinsic motivation steps in.
External factors that motivate you to accomplish a task act as extrinsic motivators.
For example:
If you complete this project successfully you will be made the team lead (doesn’t happen all the time, I know 😉)
If you answer all the client emails, you are done for the day and can take the rest of the day off (wish it were true 😓)
If you watch your diet and exercise every day during the week, you can have one cheat day on the weekend.
The examples I have listed here are tangible, but intangible things like praise, respect and recognition from others can also act as extrinsic motivators.
Intrinsic motivators usually work for long-term goals but you extrinsic motivators work fine for short-term goals. In fact, at times they are the only ones that work. Because it is often difficult to define a concrete “why” for many of the tasks you need to accomplish in the short term.
However, there is a catch in using extrinsic motivation. It must be used in moderation, otherwise you get addicted to rewards for accomplishing tasks and fail to develop intrinsic motivation.
Which is not advisable. Because it’s intrinsic motivation that is permanent; extrinsic motivation is transient.
Here’s is what you can do to mix and match intrinsic and motivation in your own life.
- Generate intrinsic motivation for the larger life goals. Think financial goal, relationship goals, career goals, retirement plans, etc.
- When you break down those overarching goals into smaller tasks, set up a reward system for different categories of tasks.
- Use more of intangible rewards like praise rather than tangible rewards like money.
- Going forward, work towards replacing external motivation with intrinsic motivation.
What next
The moment you realise you are procrastinating on important tasks or not feeling energised enough to do something, know that you lack motivation. And then, using the techniques listed here, generate some intrinsic or extrinsic motivation to finish the tasks you scheduled for yourself.
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