Staying Productive and Motivated

Staying motivated, happy, and productive is a constant struggle for me, and even though I’ve implemented a lot of structure in my life to keep myself motivated, I still often get down in the dumps. Here are a few questions I’ve learned to ask myself I’ve lost my drive.

• Is something on Maslow’s hierarchy is lacking? I’m not sure if Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a perfect model of our behavior, but I notice if I’m hungry, sleepy, not exercising, or worrying about security (my finances, employment, relationship, etc) it’s difficult for me to focus on being productive. My first step when assessing why I’m not driven or productive is usually to figure out whether I’m lacking something from the bottom three layers of Maslow’s pyramid and either fixing the problem or making a plan for how I can.
• Am I overwhelmed by too many tasks? If I have more than 4-5 todos that need to get done on a deadline, I usually get overwhelmed and end up doing none of them. The solution here is usually to make a todo list of everything I need to get done, order it by priority, and slowly go down the list.
• Is something bothering me? Often, my subconscious is still thinking about something someone said or something I forgot to do, keeping me from being happy and productive. These kinds of subconscious stressors are insidious because they stick around for weeks unless you acknowledge and deal with them. I’ve found that freewriting is the best way for me to figure out what’s bothering me and formulate a plan for how to fix the issue. Talking to someone you trust often helpful here, too.
• Are my core needs not being fulfilled? The SCARF model was amazingly helpful for me to understand what kept me happy and motivated. I’m primarily driven by status, for example, which means I get demotivated if I’m not making personal progress, either in a particular skill or in my career. Knowing this really helped me understand why I’d get so demoralized when my weightlifting progress was stagnating or when I’d stop learning at work. I highly recommend taking the self-assessment here.

A lot of the above may be very specific to me and what makes me happy. I encourage you to be active about exploring why you’re demotivated when you are and what makes you excited and productive.