How to Cope When You’re Feeling Unmotivated

*Collaborative Post

Feeling unmotivated can happen to anyone at any point in their lives. It can be due to the lack of a clear purpose or being uncertain about why they want to accomplish something. People can also lack drive because they’re trying to avoid an uncomfortable or challenging situation or when they feel bored or frustrated about performing a particular task. Sometimes, individuals can feel uninspired because they doubt their ability to successfully complete a task. As such, they find it difficult to get started. 

If you’ve experienced something similar, you understand that it can get depressing and frustrating. Professionally, feeling stuck can affect your performance and it can put you at risk of losing your job. Fortunately, there are different methods you can apply to cope with the lack of drive. Here are several ways you can overcome feeling unmotivated and reignite your desire to reach your goals. 

Introduce Something New to Your Daily Routine

When you have structure in your life, it allows you to form habits that help you keep going even when you don’t feel like it. That’s why having a daily routine is valuable. But sometimes doing the same thing every single day can become boring, so it’s also important to keep your routine interesting. 

Begin with habits you’ve already established in your life and use them to get you going through uninspired days. Mix things up to help you feel inspired again. For example, if you are a Muslim who commutes to work using public transportation, you can spend the time reading the teachings of the Quran using the Muslim Pro app instead of scrolling through social media.

Additionally, introducing a new healthy habit into your life can help you look forward to something again. You can try keeping a gratitude journal and listing down items you’re thankful for. If you don’t know what to write about, you can visit the Muslim Pro app Instagram account and find an inspirational post to reflect on. Then, write down your thoughts about it in your journal. By introducing slight variations to your routine, you can feel inspired once more. 

Go Back to Your Why

Having a strong reason for why you’re doing something can be a very powerful motivating force. So, reminding yourself about your goals can help you get back on track. Think about the driving force that influenced your choices leading to this point. Since your motivation is connected to your intentions, asking yourself what the larger picture is and what you truly desire can help you get out of feeling unmotivated. It can be as simple as wanting to provide financial support for your family or as grand as fulfilling a lifelong dream. 

If you can’t think of any such reasons, perhaps consider the people who are counting on you to do well. They can be fellow team members, an important client, or a subordinate relying on you for professional leadership. Whatever it may be, reconnect to your purpose so you can get out of the slump.

Be Compassionate with Yourself

One reason you may be feeling uninspired is that you’re being too hard on yourself. Perhaps you recently experienced failure or you’re going through a tough situation. Being too critical of yourself can be discouraging. Instead, work on being compassionate towards yourself.

People who speak kindly to themselves are more motivated to recover from a setback. Research shows that students who speak kind words to themselves are more inspired to study after failing an exam. They’re also driven to improve on their weaknesses after acknowledging their shortcomings.

So instead of beating yourself up for a mistake, practice having a compassionate conversation with yourself. Make sure it includes a healthy balance of self-acceptance and self-improvement rather than solely positive affirmations. Recognize your flaws and failures without going into pity talk. If you aren’t certain about how to do this, try having an inner dialogue as you would speak to a disheartened friend. How would you comfort and encourage them? Practice having compassionate self-talk with yourself to help recover from setbacks and get yourself motivated again.

Do the Task for 10 Minutes

Sometimes, the simple trick of taking action can get you out of a slump. By changing your behaviour and doing a task despite your lack of drive, you can change your emotions. Most of the time, starting a task is the initial hurdle. Once you get going, you’ll find it easier to keep up and regain the motivation to do well.

Try applying the 10-minute rule, where you do the task and permit yourself to quit after 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes have passed, ask yourself if you really want to stop or keep going. Chances are you’ll be more inclined to continue because you realise the task isn’t as difficult as you initially thought it would be. Eventually, you’ll be motivated to complete the task.

It’s common to feel unmotivated, but it’s important to remember that you don’t need to stay stuck. You can try any of these recommendations the next time you feel uninspired to do your tasks. Hopefully, they’ll help you overcome your emotions and become motivated again to pursue your goals. 

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.