5 Easy Ways to Boost Motivation and Productivity to Achieve Your Goals

By Robert G. Jesky, PhD | Jan. 22, 2022 | Strategies |

Do you ever feel like your productivity is lagging behind? Ever feel like you lack motivation? Do you have trouble accomplishing things? I have been there. Procrasinating is always easier than sitting down and getting important things done. This is why I have come up with 5 tips to boost motivation and productivity to achieve goals. When we’re not motivated to work, our productivity plummets and our goals drift further into the future. One reason for this is that we are creatures of habit and routine. Whenever we’re not in the mood to work, we revert to old habits we’ve developed over time. And these often hold us back from achieving our goals.

Simply put, the things that don’t require a lot of motivation are things that we do automatically. We don’t have to think about them, so they don’t require a lot of focus. This is why tasks that demand significant effort are more difficult to motivate oneself to work on. It is always easier for us to fall back into our comfort zones and avoid the things that make us feel uneasy. The good news is that are ways to increase your motivation. Keep reading for 5 tips to boost motivation and productivity to achieve your goals!

Make Time for the Things That Really Matter

We all spend too much time on activities that don’t bring us any real value; social media is one culprit. We might spend hours each day scrolling through Twitter and Facebook, watching cat videos, or browsing through articles that have no real value for us. This is because our focus is on the wrong things. One thing we need to do to achieve our goals is spend more time on the activities that bring us value. We exert more energy and drive as the value of something increases. Hence, it is essential to decide what is most important. This is where the difference between productivity and motivation comes in.

When you have the motivation to work on a desired task, you’re more likely to put the necessary effort into it. So, you may ask: what are the things that really matter? Simply, your goals dictate the activities and tasks that truly matter. If the goal was losing weight then modifying your diet and beginning an exercise regime would be two very pertinent activities. On the other hand, if it was setting up an e-commerce site then exploring platforms like Shopify and/or identifying a niche product would be great places to start.

Set SMART Goals

There are certain things that you should do when you want to increase your motivation and level up your productivity. One of those is setting SMART goals. The goal that you set for yourself should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-constrained.

Specific – You have to have a very specific goal. This means that you have to know exactly what you want to achieve. You can’t say “I want to be more productive,” because that’s too vague. You have to say, “I want to focus more on my work because I’m not getting enough done.”

Measurable – You also have to measure the goals that you set, so you know how you’re doing. This means that you have to set goals that have a way to measure their success. This could be how many words or emails you write per day, how many deals you sign or how many new customers you sign up.

Attainable – You can’t set goals that you know are definitely impossible to achieve. You have to set goals that are within your reach.

Relevant – You also have to make sure that your goals are relevant to your business/personal growth and objectives.

Time-constrained – Prioritize the most important activities with the time available each day. You have to know how much time you have in each day and block out the time that you need. By focusing on the activities that are most important for the business, you will ensure success.

Break Down the Goal You Want to Achieve

To increase your motivation and productivity, it is pivotal that you break down the goal that you want to achieve. This is how you do it. First, identify the reason you’re not motivated and why it’s hard for you to work on certain activities. The key here is figuring out why you’re not motivated. This will take some time and some honest critical thinking. Importantly, be honest with yourself so as to arrive at the reasons why. Once you’ve done that, you can break down the goal that you want to achieve. An easy way to do this is to divide your goal into smaller goals. To approach this, organize the goal into manageable chunks by grouping similar aspects together and creating separate tasks.

How to Break Down the Goal

A good example of this is the task of writing a book. Firstly, you ought to draft an outline of the chapters/contents you’d like to include, and then from there draft an outline for a specific chapter. Then, you may begin that chapter by writing a few paragraphs from the first subheading of the chapter, for example the introduction wherein you define motivation and the importance of motivation in personal and professional life. In such a manner, each group of paragraphs would be a completed section of a chapter, and after completing each of the subheadings the chapter would be complete.

This simplified example illustrates how the daunting task of writing a book can be broken down into smaller chucks that are far more achievable and offer gratification as each smaller goal is completed, which we know then increases motivation. A kind of positive feedback loop that ups your productivity.

Find a Mentor or Coach Who Can Hold You Accountable

Another key to increasing your motivation and productivity to achieve goals is to find a mentor or coach who can hold you accountable. A mentor is someone who helps you achieve your goals. A coach is someone who helps you level up your performance so that you can achieve your goals. You can find mentors or coaches through online sites like Fiverr, LinkedIn, Facebook, or via Google search. Here though it is worthwhile raising one caveat, which is that the use of such sites could lead to the discovery of a fake guru that would ultimately be of no help.

You can also find exceptional mentors or coaches by seeking out experts in a particular field, whether they be sports coaches, business owners, entrepreneurs, professors, or authors, to name a few. This later option is certainly the better of the two and more likely to provide the kind of mentorship that will steer you towards success.

Use a Daily Habit

Daily habits are a great way to increase your motivation and level up your productivity. These are the types of activities that we do every day without really thinking about them. If you feel you don’t have many positive daily habits then this is definitely a good place to start making some changes. Some of the best daily habits are waking up early, getting out into the sunlight for 15-20 minutes upon waking, reading a few pages of a book, writing down your weekly goals and/or good ideas you have, meditating for a few minutes, and doing yoga or compound exercises like squats and push-ups and pull ups. This will set your day off on the right foot and will increase your motivation and productivity throughout the day. Ultimately, your productivity will compound throughout the week and month and move you closer to achieving your goals.

Conclusion

There are many things that can affect your motivation to work and get things done. Utilizing these 5 tips to boost motivation and productivity to achieve your goals will bring about measurable progress. One of the best ways to increase your motivation is to give some real thought towards identifying why you’re not motivated and then break down the goal that you want to achieve. Stay positive throughout the process. Mindset is a key element in having the necessary resilience to overcome challenges. You can do this by finding something positive every day to focus on, such as the progress you’ve made so far and the new habits you have developed.

Stay engaged by setting daily goals and keeping track of your progress. You may also find mentors or coaches who can hold you accountable and keep you on track. Another excellent method is to use a daily habit to wake up early, do simple compound exercises, or do yoga for a few minutes. All of these are a useful means of providing us feedback on daily productivity. Last, but not least, find a goal that you’re passionate about. It’s important to have a goal that you find meaningful and something you truly want to achieve. This will keep you intrinsically motivated, and finding a goal that your passionate about will not only be much more rewarding, but will ensure your success.

Robert is a neuroscientist, lecturer, science educator, athlete, and musician, who has dedicated his life to studying the intersection between brain function, nutrition, and health and wellness. He is committed to equipping others with vital information about health promotion and disease prevention. Robert is keen to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the public at large by sharing cutting-edge brain health and evidence-based biomedicine that helps broaden people’s understanding of how their brains work and what they can do to maximize their potential.