If you’re feeling the summer doldrums right now, you’re not alone. And yet, deadlines don’t stop just because it’s summer. The more senior a leader you are, the more you have to motivate yourself. As an executive coach, I’ve worked with many clients on how to ignite their motivation over the years. Try these strategies if you need to give yourself a jolt.
1) Give yourself permission to take some downtime
Maybe you’re tired. Before you push yourself to rev up, make sure you’ve done enough to power down. Get enough sleep, take a day or 2 off (maybe a week or 2?), and, especially, do something fun. See if that helps you regain some enthusiasm.
2) Shake things up
Routines are supremely helpful as a way to help you get things done automatically. The problem is that sometimes a great routine can turn into a rut. Sometimes the best way to motivate yourself is get yourself out of that mundane day to day. Watch a goofy YouTube in the morning instead of meditating. Put on some dance music and let it rip. Go for a walk in the middle of the day. Call a friend rather than diving into your email to put out fires. Variety is the spice of life, and spice can drive motivation.
3) Work on something else
You might be banging your head against the wall trying to work on the budget, or get through your list, and you just don’t have any juice for that. But maybe you wouldn’t mind having a meeting you’ve been putting off or writing a memo outlying some core principles for a new project. If you get something done you’re going to feel better. So give yourself permission to do the thing that you have energy for right now.
4) Program small wins
Something that’s sure to motivate you is progress. Progress can take all sorts of forms, including a very small win. Are you not motivated to start a project? Just make a list of the actions related to it. Maybe do the one simple thing you can do and cross it off your list. Try the same process with a list of mundane tasks. Or, do you have to motivate yourself for a tough talk conversation? Outline what you want to say, without wordsmithing it. Getting your mind around your thoughts is a very satisfying small win.
5) Avoid distractions
This suggestion is not about staying focused. This is not even about procrastinating, which obviously is part of the motivation puzzle. But context switching – looking at social media, doing your email, reading something that catches your eye – is simply not motivating. If you’re going to rest, rest. If you’re going to work, work. Double down on ridding yourself of these distractions.
6) Forgive yourself
Remember Hofstadter’s Law: Things take longer than you think they will. Detours and slumps are baked into the process. So don’t be too hard on yourself if you find that you’re overly ambitious in what you think you can get done in a set period of time. Adjust your expectations and remind yourself that you can accomplish quite a bit if you just take small steps consistently.
As a leader, your motivation will naturally ebb and flow. Use these strategies to call upon it when you need it.
Read the full article here
