I’ve been currently thinking about motivation and what keeps me going. I was wondering why I am motivated to do certain things or others not so much. Therefore, I’d like to share my thoughts about this topic with you.
Current situation
You need to know that I’ve been currently writing my master’s thesis. This is probably the most flexible time during my whole studies because I do not need to attend any classes. Therefore, I can write it more or less from everywhere. The downside of this whole situation is that I do not have any deadline or dates which I need to consider. There is only one big presentation at the end of the semester in June. Besides that, I only need to be at university another two times.
So, it is completely up to me how I manage my time. I absolutely appreciate the freedom at the moment. However, every once in a while I need quite some discipline to keep on going. Moreover, I really would like to be finished with my master’s thesis until June because this is the officially presentation date. I know in the end I’m going to do it, but sometimes I also have my doubt if I can handle it. And then motivation comes in.
Targets and deadlines
I think what keeps me going the most are targets and deadlines. Even though I am not motivated at all to do some things, I’ll probably still do it. Because otherwise I’ll be afraid of the consequences. In such situations, there is a narrow grade between motivation and forcing myself to do it. I especially experience a lot of this kind of situations at the moment. As I already mentioned, writing my master’s thesis is not always easy and I need a lot of effort to motivate myself to keep on going.
If I think about it a little more, there were lots of situations, when I was not that motivated at first. But in the end, I really liked it. I am not sure if this is only a thing with me or if others experience the same feeling. I mean, often I just need to get started in the first place. After some time, I don’t mind doing it anymore and I get lost into the task. The problem with motivation is that the beginning of a task is always hard. It takes effort and thinking to get into it (again). As soon as I am into it, then it flows and it is not so exhausting anymore.
Seeing Improvement
What also motivates me is when I realise that I get better in something. Consequently, improvement is an important factor when it comes to motivation. I even realised some progress in my writing and blogging skills already. However, sticking to my blogging routine also needs some discipline, because it simply involves a lot of time. Therefore, I set myself a target of one blogpost a week and this way I am kind of obligated to myself to stick to it.
Creating habits
Another thing what keeps me going are habits. As soon as I am used to do things then I simply do not think about it anymore that much and I just do it. For example, brushing your teeth, who thinks about that? Sometimes it is exhausting if you are already extremely tired, but who would still not do it? Right (almost) everyone.
Running is another example of creating a habit for myself. Four years ago I started it with a relatively strict training plan. I stuck to it with almost not missing one run and in the end I was able to run 30 mins straight. As you can see, I also had to learn running and it took me like one year or more to create a true habit out of it. Since then I enjoy running on a regular basis and I miss it after some time if I do not run around the block. Hence, habits are really important when it comes to motivating myself to do things.
Summer weather
The awesome spring or summer weather which arrived this year pretty early motivates me extremely. I know it is even harder to sit in front of the computer when the weather is so wonderful outside. However, the sun and the temperatures just intensely lift my mood. It makes me want to go outside, be active and to create things. This feeling motivates me even more to keep on going and doing things.
That is it with my thoughts on motivation. Maybe you can identify yourself with my situation or I could show you that it is not always easy to motivate oneself. Every now and then it needs some tricks to overcome a lack of motivation. If you also wanna share your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment 🙂
Hi, I’m Lisa
