You may have your priorities straight but still, many Americans struggle daily with a lack of motivation that can hinder their productivity at work and in their daily life. Many times, their lack of motivation can be falsely diagnosed by medical professionals as ADHD, nutrient deficiency, and even depression. However, sometimes all the person needs to get out of their funk is to implement simple steps in their daily life that will put drive back into their routine and help them become more productive, successful, and happier individuals. Here are some of those steps:
Set Goals
This first step follows the old advice and question of, “If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there?” Research studies have continually asserted the notion that goal-oriented individuals are far more likely to be productive and happy in their professional and private lives simply because they have something to get out of bed for each day. Goals can be as small or as large as you wish, but it’s best to have a conglomeration of the full scale. Long-term goals help a person to look forward to the future and keep their eye on the prize on where they want to be in the years to come. Long-term goals typically apply to five, ten, or even more years down the line. Medium-term goals are set for three to five years away and help the person keep perspective on how their short-term goals will eventually affect their long-term goals. Short-term goals can be set as soon away as the next day or as long away as several months to a year. Short-term goals help the person keep focus day in and day out on what they are doing to reach their medium and long-term goals, keeping the person motivated and driven throughout their life.
Get Exercise
Not only does exercise make you look and feel better, but it actually can help tremendously in bolstering your productivity and motivation. Like setting goals, exercising keeps the person focused on activities and takes away the stress of thinking about how big their work or private life problems are all day. If you are exercising effectively, chances are you aren’t thinking about that major project at work that is coming due in the next few days. Exercise gives the mind, as well as the body, a much-needed workout in that it enables the mind to relax thinking about “work” mode and allows other areas that focus on physical exertion a chance to work.
Get Organized
If your work area is so messy that you can’t find what you need to get done, much less actually work on it, you are going to get highly stressed about it and, eventually, become less motivated to get it done. Experts agree that organization is a top priority for working individuals that wish to pick up their motivation. A clean, precise methodology of precision organization helps workers stay focused on their tasks and successfully completing them instead of devoting precious mind resources and time into finding the items they are missing multiple times throughout the day. Take some time to clean up your computer files, your paper files, your desk, and your inbox each week and you may notice a world of difference in keeping motivated on the task at hand.
Joanna Ananda has worked in the field of human resources for the past 10 years. In that time she has been tasked with writing training material. From this she has learned many things about human nature and motivating individuals. Along with her husband, they have started CigarLife.net: a motivational blog.