A step-by-step guide to getting your motivation back

Not feeling motivated is REAL and it is FRUSTRATING!!

Trust me, I completely understand because I’ve been there many times before & it is such a frustrating feeling. Knowing that you have so much to do & really deep down, you want to get them done but you can’t seem to get yourself to do anything.

Not feeling motivated can last either a short period of time, or it can linger & even turn into burnout, which is honestly the last thing that you want to happen.

After some trial & error, working through Extreme Burnout myself, I have been able to figure out some really works. I know how frustrating it can be to just want to feel motivated again & I wanted to give you some tips & guidelines to getting yourself back to feeling motivated & productive again!

Read through this post, test out some of my tips & strategies and see if they help you get your motivation back! 

Let’s dig right in!

PIN NOW, READ LATER!

DO AN AUDIT OF WHAT IS GOING ON

With just about anything, I always say that the very first step is always creating an awareness of what is going on. These times often come from our mind/bodies trying to tell us something. This is why I think it’s important to take a step back and think about what is causing this to happen. Here are some things to think about:

ARE YOU FEELING OVERWHELMED/BURNT OUT?

When you are feeling unmotivated, especially for long periods of time, it can mean that you just need a BREAK. Take a look at everything you are trying to get done. Sometimes, you have so much on your to do list that it can be very overwhelming & you just don’t even know where to start. The thought of everything you need to get done can be exhausting. 

>> If you think you are experiencing burnout, make sure you check out my post on Getting Over Extreme Burnout and my Handling Stress and Overwhelm Guide

REVISIT YOUR GOALS- WHY DID YOU GET STARTED?

Sometimes it can be easy to get lost in the tasks & forget about why you are doing what you are doing. It’s important to take a step back and really think about why you want to do this in the first place. Why did you get started?

>> For tips, check out How to finally start achieving your goals & download my guide on 5 Tips For Crushing Your Goals

IS FEAR CREEPING IN?

Fear has a funny way of creeping in and disrupting the flow of things. Fear also does a really good job of disguise itself to make you think that something else is the problem. For this reason, I think it’s important to think about if there’s something going on that you are actually afraid of. It might sounds a little silly at first, but the more you think about it & start uncovering pieces of information, you might come to realize that there are some fear & limiting beliefs that are creeping in & trying to disrupt the flow. 

Related: 8 ways you are probably holding yourself back without even realizing it, 9 things to stop doing to get the most out of life, 9 Simple Tips to Improve Your Life, How to know if it’s time to hire a life coach

Now that you’ve done some thinking about what is causing your lack of motivation, let’s talk about different ways to get your motivation back! 

Try some of these things, or all of them!

FINDING MOTIVATION AGAIN

DON’T PUT PRESSURE ON YOURSELF & TRY TO FORCE YOURSELF TO GET SOMETHING DONE

I know that some people really perform well under pressure & actually prefer it. But for me personally, I don’t work well under pressure AT.ALL. Trying to force myself to get something done just makes me even more frustrated & increases the feeling of burn out. If you can relate to that, this might mean holding off on that task or taking a step back for a little bit & let the ideas flow to you. 

Make sure that you are listening to your mind & body. If you simply cannot get yourself to be creative or get something done, don’t try to force yourself. This is only going to make you feel even worse and prolong the process!

JOURNAL ABOUT WHAT IS ON YOUR MIND

I think journaling is so important, I actually wrote a whole post on it in The Power of Journaling! Sometimes I can’t get something done because I have too much going on in my mind. Journaling about everything I have going on in my mind really helps me get it out and clear my head. 

Journaling sometimes also helps me come up with ideas that maybe I want to blog about or topics that I want to research more. It’s important to listen to your mind and your body and to be able to give it what it needs at that time.

Related: How to improve your mindset

There’s nothing wrong with taking the time to journal to help you get everything out. I notice this to be prevalent if I’m really stressed about something, if I got into an argument, received some bad news, or even if I just need to figure out what is going on in my mind. 

You would be very surprised what kinds of things come to surface when you journal. Things that you would not even expect. But, it might be exactly what you need to give you that motivation that you need to keep going and get work done like you want to.  

>> 50 Journal Prompts For Self Reflection & Self Discovery

LOOK FOR INSPIRATION

GET INSPIRED!! I love seeing other women succeed & learn from them about how they have gotten to where they are. I find it to be really empowering & it can the exact thing I need to put the fire under me & motivate me to get things done. 

Make sure you are looking for inspiration in places that will really inspire you. If seeing other people succeed makes you feel bad about yourself, obviously do not go that route! 

My favorite places to go for inspiration:

• Instagram– I will scroll through stories of people that I love following & look at their feed! 
• Pinterest– I love going to Pinterest it is filled with people who have all kinds of ideas to try out! It’s helpful to learn from others who have done what you’re doing before and they might have ideas that you might not of thought about before. This doesn’t mean taking their ideas, but you never know what kind of “light bulb” moment you might have!
• YouTube– There’s been times when I spent an hour each day for a week or 2 watching YouTube videos of people who I look up to and get ideas and motivation from them. If I get a “light bulb” to go off in my head, I’ll write it down and see what comes from it. 

BRAIN DUMP EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET DONE

You ever feel like you have so much to do but you just don’t know where to start?! Yeah, SAME! You’ve probably heard this before but it’s so important, especially if you are feeling overwhelmed!

So, make sure you sit down and brain dump everything that you feel like you need to get done. There’s been times when I do this and realize that I’ve been overwhelmed for no reason. 

Just getting everything out of your head and onto paper will make it sooo much easier to get yourself organized and figure out what you need to do. After you braindump your to do list, try to break down the tasks and come up with a reasonable plan for getting them done. This often means breaking down each task so you can organize each task & try getting a little bit done at a time. 

I like to use my Ultimate Goal Setting and Planning Guide to help me gain clarity into my goals and what I want to get done. It’s always a good place to start when you don’t know what to do! I also love to use my Day Designer Planner! This planner is absolute GOLD!

START WITH A SMALL, EASY TASK

When I’m feeling unmotivated, I try to start with the “easy” tasks because that sometimes leads to getting more ideas and leads me to getting even more work done than I originally anticipated. If I try to start with harder, more time consuming tasks, I know that I just won’t get anything done. But, if I start small, I often find myself getting more and more motivated and gaining more and more ideas.

So, find something that doesn’t take much brain power and commit to getting that done. Something like, clearing your desktop or organizing items in google drive. Starting with something easy might just give you the motivation you need!

Related: How unplugging can change your life 

IF YOU ARE STILL FEELING STUCK

DON’T FORGET ABOUT SELF CARE

I say this often, but self care is always the number one thing that gets put on the back burner when we need it most. If I’m struggling to get back on track & find motivation, it’s usually because I’ve neglected healthy habits & my self care routine. 

If you are finding that you are neglecting healthy habits, try reincorporating some of those things back into your routine. Trust me, things are not going to start coming together smoothly if you continue neglecting self care. 

>> If you need some guidance with self care, check out my post on Developing a self care routine that works for you & download my free Self Care Planning Worksheet!

GIVE YOURSELF THE DAY OFF

Feeling unmotivated can sometimes be a sign that your body is telling you something. That you need to take a break and rest. I’m a very emotional person. So, when I receive unexpected sad news, it can be hard to concentrate. 

During these times I know I just need to give myself- my mind and body a break. It can also mean that I’ve been overworking myself and my mind a little bit too much and I need to sleep. So, I’ll let myself sleep in or lay down for an afternoon nap. 

Related: How slowing down & taking time off can change everything / Signs you need to take a break, What 2020 taught me

There’s nothing wrong with giving yourself a personal/mental health day if you need to. I think that sometimes we think that we need to force ourselves to work during difficult times and try to work through these times when we really just need to take some time off. Listen to your mind & body and give yourself permission to take a day off if you need to. You might feel like you are going into the next day feeling more refreshed, relaxed and motivated than if you tried to force yourself to try to work!

GO ON A WALK OR JUST GET OUTSIDE

Sometimes just leaving the environment and getting outside helps. Like I mentioned above, just sitting at my desk trying to force myself to be creative and get something done doesn’t help me. So, stepping away and getting some fresh air sometimes helps to at least settle my mind down a little bit. 

HIRE A COACH

If you’ve never worked with any kind of online coach before, it might seem like a weird & unnecessary thing to do. Trust me, I was in the same boat and super skeptical about making that kind of investment. When I finally made the decision to hire a coach, it ended up being the most incredible, life changing & empowering decision that I could have made for myself.

Related: How to know if it’s time to hire a life coach

Hiring a coach gives you somebody to listen to you & provide you with guidance towards getting to where you want to be. There have been many times that I didn’t even realize there were things going on in my mind that I needed to work through. 

Investing in yourself can be the best thing you can do for yourself! If you are still struggling to get motivated & to get things figured out, give this some consideration! If you are interested in learning more about hiring a coach, I do offer 1:1 coaching and invite you to check out my opportunities. Click here for more information on my 1:1 coaching opportunities! <3

It’s a process for sure and not feeling motivated is very frustrating to deal with, especially when you feel like you have so much to do and just want to be productive. For me, I’ve learned that I’ll get an idea and have all of this motivation, work myself to exhaustion then feel burnt out for a couple days. Then I have to figure out how to get motivated again. I’ve done this many times because I feel like I need to take advantage of all the motivation that I have. But, that’s just not a feasible way to go about it. 

We all need breaks and we need to make sure that we are being cautious of our brain power, our bodies and step away and take breaks!

Also check out:

>> Self Care Planning Worksheet
>> 50 Journal Prompts For Self Reflection & Self Discovery
>> 5 Tips For Crushing Your Goals

Xx,
-Jess