10 Ways You Can Stay Motivated at Work Even When You’re Feeling Unproductive

We all live busy lives with each one of us having a certain set of tasks and responsibilities to take care of on a daily basis. Every day, we are consumed by our demanding schedules so much so that we tend to forget about certain aspects of your motivation and your overall productivity. The only factor fueling your drive to perform well daily is habitual tendencies as well as the need to get things done in time. However, every once in a while, we all encounter days when we are not feeling our most productive selves. We promise ourselves that we will get something done but you never actually end up going through with it simply because we could not get ourselves to work for it. Whatever is on our list that day tends to get ignored or postponed to another day and time.

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Why people feel demotivated

Ever wonder why one even feels demotivated?

1. Pessimistic approach: A pessimistic point of view is a common finding in those who are feeling demotivated as they find their chances of success to be rather slim which in turn instantly results in a low level of self-efficacy.
2. Unrecognized goals: Their vision is often clouded by the struggle that lies ahead of them and fails to recognize the prize at the end which makes them feel like there is no point working towards a certain goal.
3. Unrealistic expectations: Unrealistic goals are often mistaken to increase the drive to work harder, but in fact, it is reported to have caused more harm than good. It is in fact much better to set smaller and more realistic goals and work towards them so that way you have something to celebrate.
4. Failing to seize opportunities: Failing to recognize the opportunities that lie in front of you also is also responsible for invoking a sense of dejection and failure and thus, demotivation.
5. Impatient approach: Success does not come easy as it is a slow process. Aiming for immediate results and failing to achieve them invokes a sense of failure as they tend to get distracted by things going on around them rather than themselves.
6. Blame game: Playing the blame game is the best way to go about it. Blaming others for your shortcomings and not accepting where they are wrong is another reason why people feel demotivated.
7. Poor time management skills: Time management is crucial if you are to get things done. Wasting time doing unnecessary things always leaves you with no time for the work that needs to be done which makes one think that the task at hand is a difficult one. The result of this leads to procrastination.
8. Self-doubt: Doubting one’s talent and abilities is another crucial factor as it cripples a person from exploring their true potential. They are often distracted by their surroundings and have an unhealthy tendency of comparing themselves with those that they see on social media. Without knowing their own selves, they tend to assume that they are not good enough to perform a task that someone else did. This is a rather common finding amongst teens, young adults as well as the elderly. Self-doubt is actually believed to be one of the signs of dementia, especially mixed dementia.

Also Read: 7 AMAZING APPS TO HELP YOU BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE

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Ways you can stay motivated

So how to stay motivated and kick demotivation to the curb?

1. See the bigger picture: Zooming out and looking at the bigger picture gives you a much-needed perspective to realize why you are working in the first place: to achieve a certain goal. The big picture will help you make sense of your purpose and the importance of the task at hand. Once you know where your priorities lie, you know what to work for.
2. Avoid procrastination: Easier said than done, yes, but there are ways you can avoid procrastinating. If a task is normally assumed to be difficult, boring, frustrating, amorphous, and ambiguous or lacks any meaning, there is a high chance that you will end up procrastinating. However, once you realize the task’s importance, you will immediately find yourself fighting to be as productive as you can be.
3. Self-pep talk: When in difficult situations where we find ourselves fighting to overcome the simplest of tasks, we tend to communicate with ourselves and convince ourselves that we are incapable of completing a task. Self-talk is the best way to either push you to do better or stop you from trying altogether. Avoid the negative self-talk and start talking about the positives. The more you convince yourself that you are capable of doing anything and everything, the easier it will be for you to push yourself to be productive.
4. Take responsibility if you did a bad job: No one is perfect, and it is okay if you screw up every once in a while. A man learns from his mistakes so take every bad report as a learning lesson and move on.
5. Reduce your workload: On days when you are not feeling your best productive self, do not overburden yourself with the responsibility of finishing all your work in one day. In fact, cut down your workload and only allocate a small portion of the initially decided task and work towards accomplishing that. Overwhelming your mind will bring you no good and only induce more panic and frustration.
6. Set deadlines: Deadlines are stressful, but they are the best way to get you to hustle as you find yourself pushing to cram as much as you can in that limited amount of time.
7. Change your surroundings: Often the reason behind our disinterested approach is simply the lack of change. To be more productive, a tried and tested a way to get you back in the zone is by changing your environment and changing your work setting. A change is always refreshing and inspiring thereby instigating you to perform well.
8. Restricted internet: Cut yourself away from the toxic leech that is social media and the internet. It is a distracting place where we tend to waste hours on utter nonsense and the next thing we know, we are out of time. Disconnecting from the web is a foolproof way of being more productive.
9. Set rewards for yourself: Call it a bribe or a reward, but if you give yourself the luxury to enjoy something after accomplishing a certain task, you will find yourself working towards that reward and also finishing the task at hand.
10. Embrace your flaws: It is acceptable to be unproductive and feel demotivated. Not feeling up to the mark is often a good indicator for your need to rejuvenate and recharge instead of pushing yourself day after day. Learn to accept your flaws and shortcomings. Take a break if you have to and give yourself time to recharge. Breaks help productivity because your mind gets that much needed cleanse from all the noise and commotion and enables you to think clearly. With a clear mind and focus, you can move mountains.

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Feeling demotivated is not unheard of phenomenon. In this day and age where the survivor only lives to thrive and succeed, there are instances when you feel like you have lost your edge and are simply not encouraged to do any solid work. There is always more than one way to get yourself back into the grind and turn an unproductive day around in no time.

Also Read: 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE