7 Quick Tips For When You Have No Motivation

There’s no way around it, sometimes you have no motivation. It happens to everyone, don’t worry! There are many days when I wake up and everything I do feels like I am dragging myself through molasses to make it happen. When there are big changes in your life and you may be dealing with a medical condition, one of the hardest things can be getting out of bed and getting something done.

There are some days when you wake up with no motivation and you have the ability to binge Netflix or spend the day on the couch. There are other days where others are relying on you to get things done and you can’t take the day for yourself. In this article, we will cover a few tactics I use to help get myself motivated when I feel like laying in bed all day!

I am no expert in the field of motivation, but it does hold a very special place in my heart. Motivation is something that many of my friends and I struggle with and the tips and tactics in this article are from my personal collection of tools that I have collected over the years to manage those difficult days. I can’t wait to share those tips with you.

While we will be primarily looking through motivation through a lens of cleaning a home in this article, many of the tactics we will see can apply to other facets of life, and there will be some helpful tips on how to incorporate them into other aspects of your life you may need motivation with.

 

Put on your favorite power jams

When I am feeling unmotivated, my first step is to ALWAYS turn on some energetic music. For me, it has to have a toe tapping, butt shaking beat and bonus points if it has excellent lyrics I can belt out as I go! Check out the Savage Support Spotify cleaning playlist if you want a place to start or make your own with your favorite songs and power ballads to get you started!

The Basic Idea: Good music is never out of place, and can always be motivating in any circumstance! Find a good list of music you love and jam out!

 

Take a shower and use visualization

When I start my day with no motivation and I feel like I am moving slowly, I take a nice shower (and sometimes combine it with tip 1). While I am showering, I imagine washing away all of the molasses that is making me feel slow so that I feel refreshed and ready to take on the day. I also visualize myself getting things done, being productive and looking good doing it. Sometimes I will even dress up in nicer clothes that make me feel good even if I am just working from home, just to further perpetuate this visualization.

The Basic Idea: Start the day fresh and visualize yourself having a successful day!

 

Start with the kitchen sink

Next, I always start with my kitchen. No matter how messy it is, I specifically start with the sink and I make it sparkle. I do this because it is a small area to clean, it takes relatively little time, and it feels rewarding when you finish it.

One of the best things you can do when you are having a hard time getting started or motivated is to break up the cleaning (or tasks) into small little chunks that aren’t difficult to complete and have a visible impact on the rest of the area. That way, when you finish that one bit, you feel good about finishing a task. Also, it can be difficult to stop there because if your kitchen sink is spotless but the area around it needs some cleaning up, it can be difficult to walk away without at least tidying up a few more things!

I learned this tactic a long time ago from a cleaning blogger called The Flylady. You can check out more cleaning suggestions for maintaining a clean house here!

The Basic Idea: Start with something small, finish it in a short amount of time, and feel the sense of accomplishment that you finished a task!

 

Clean off a flat surface

I find that cleaning off a flat surface is really important, especially when you are setting out to organize something like shelves. If you have a clean and flat surface, you can the items you want to organize out and go through them all on that flat surface. It lets you see all of the pieces you have in the open, it lets you clean the surfaces in the shelf, and then you can put all the pieces back in an organized fashion. Then, your flat surface is ready for the next shelf you want to go through!

The Basic Idea: Clean and tidy your work surface to reduce clutter and distractions to allow you to spread your actual work out (i.e. your desk, your computer desktop, or anywhere else you are working.)

 

Set a timer for 10 minutes and see how much you can get done

Sometimes the hardest part is getting started. Sometimes, when I cant even get the energy to do the kitchen sink, I will set a timer for 10 minutes and the only rule is that I have to clean as much as I can in that time and I have to give it maximum effort. Then, no matter how much or how little I get done in that 10 minutes, I have done and accomplished something. Setting the timer lets me see that I only have to do it for 10 minutes and the goal is the amount of time, not the amount of cleaning. I also tend to find that once I have started, the timer will go off and I will want to finish the area that I am doing.

The Basic Idea: Get as much done as you can in a short time frame, but you gotta start and put in maximal effort!

 

Ask for help

I find that, some days, my lack of motivation comes from a sense of feeling alone or unsupported. I also find that when I ask for help to either be reminded to do something and hold me accountable or actually get help doing something, the work feels much easier. While asking for help may also feel difficult sometimes, doing something when you feel unmotivated can also be just as difficult, so asking for help is great. Plus, the person you ask for help may also sing along with your playlist while they help (see tip 1!)

The Basic Idea: It is okay to ask for help. Everyone needs it sometimes.

 

Treat yo self

Finally, I make sure that I treat myself whenever I do some good cleaning. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing: I motivate myself with an extra piece of bacon with breakfast when I do all the dishes beforehand. Maybe it sounds a bit silly, but you should reward yourself when you do something you didn’t want to do or didn’t feel motivated to do.

The Basic Idea: Reward your accomplishments and achievements because on days when you have no motivation, completing something deserves a reward!

 

These tips are great to try if you are having a hard time getting motivated because you are stressed out, overworked, feeling depressed, under the weather, or are just having a hard day. While these tips work some days, other days they may not, and that is also okay. Just remember to not treat yourself too harshly if you have a hard day. Everyone has unmotivated days and on those days all you can do is your best.

How do you motivate yourself when you don’t want to tackle your to-do list? What songs did we miss on our playlist? Let us know in the comments below!

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