We have so much on our plates, and let’s be honest, there are times when we just don’t feel like doing any of it. And when our bloated calendars and monster to-do lists tower over us like schoolyard bullies, how deliciously relieving is it to put off those pesky tasks for a little while longer? Comedian John Mulaney said it best: “Percentage-wise, it is a hundred percent easier not to do things […] and so much fun not to do them, especially when you are supposed to do them.”

“We have so much on our plates, and let’s be honest, there are times when we just don’t feel like doing any of it.”

With motivation MIA, avoidance is the easy choice — much easier than sitting down and chipping away at a challenging goal or hobby. So we hit snooze, extend the deadline, skip Pilates class, and reorganize every cabinet in our home to avoid doing the things we know would help build the lives we want.

But when it becomes weeks, months, and years of putting off what’s important to us because we can’t conjure the motivation to get going, that tired habit loop starts to take its toll. Sometimes by waiting to feel motivated to do the things that are healthy, healing, and meaningful to us, we end up living a life different from the one we want for ourselves.

“Sometimes by waiting to feel motivated to do the things that are healthy, healing, and meaningful to us, we end up living a life that the one we want for ourselves.”

Harvard-trained psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia says, “The biggest mistake we make with motivation is that we try to increase it.” He goes on to describe how letting our fluctuating emotions make the call on whether or not we take action creates fruitless results because “motivation waxes and wanes [as] motivation is oftentimes highly emotional.” 

Understanding that motivation largely comes from our emotional state and that state is constantly changing, Dr. Kanojia implores us to “imagine if you could act independent of motivation.” He shares, “What’s better? For you to be in control of your wants or for your wants to be in control of you?” 

What would it look like if we no longer waited to feel motivated to pursue the life we want? What could we experience if we let the “why” of our desires be the driving force of our behavior instead of our yoyoing moods? Who would we become if we began to take deliberate action — regardless of motivation — on our passions, projects, and goals?

Read on for 99 ways we all can rethink our relationships to motivation, explore how to live independent of it, and look deeper to take hold of the power we each carry — the power to take meaningful action no matter what. 

Practical tools to ease action-taking and productivity 

  1. For those who know what they need to do but struggle to buckle down and do it, check out Mel Robbins’s 5 Second Rule.
  1. When you’re having a hard time getting started on a project, commit just five minutes…
    Tell yourself you only need to work on a task for five minutes, and when the timer goes off, give yourself permission to stop. Starting is the hardest part, and chances are, once you’re five minutes in, you’ll feel yourself getting into a groove with momentum helping you move forward. 
  1. Try the Pomodoro Technique. 
    Pace your energy using the Pomodoro Technique, dividing your work into 25-minute intervals with 5-minute breaks in between. 
  1. Gamify your goals and create a reward system that gets you excited. 
  1. Utilize a dopamine menu to help you take breaks in between work that actually feel refreshing.
  1. Carve out a “scary hour” each day to tackle the tasks you’re most apprehensive about. 
  1. Use the Eat That Frog Productivity Method to get the hardest item on your to-do list out of the way at the start of the day. 
  1. Give yourself hard-held deadlines and couple them with rewards that you only get if you meet that deadline.
  1. Organize your to-do list the night before to ease the getting-started headache at the start of each day.  
  1. Take big goals and break them up into phases with a reward at each completion of a phase.
  1. Overwhelmed by a lengthy to-do list? Blindly point to two items and choose between the two instead of managing the entire list at once. Go two by two until you’re on a roll. 
  1. Not sure what to prioritize first? Use Warren Buffet’s 25/5 Rule to refine your focus.
  1. Explore how core motivators, based on your enneagram type, could be influencing your habits and how you might take advantage of your personality’s natural tendencies. 
  1. Divide your resolutions into seasons to give focus to each quarter of the year. 
  1. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to determine what the greatest priority is, what you can outsource, and what you can eliminate. 
  1. Try a guided journal to organize your goals and keep you on track, like BestSelf Co.’s Self Journal.
  1. For recurring tasks, explore how you might outsource, eliminate, or make them exquisite.
    Take a look at the recurring tasks in your schedule. Label each task as either draining or life-giving. For all tasks labeled draining, consider how you might delegate them to someone else. If you find a task is unnecessary, eliminate it.

    If it’s a recurring, draining task that you can neither outsource nor eliminate, how can you make it exquisite? Could you click on your favorite comfort movie while meal prepping? Could you reward yourself with a dinner out after completing your finances? Is there a new audiobook you can indulge in while you make your morning commute? 
  1. Set yourself up for optimal energy and action-taking each day, and ditch the snooze button. 
    Check out these tips to help you quit the snooze button once and for all. 
  1. Utilize Time Blocking to take the guesswork out of your daily tasks and keep your momentum moving forward.
  1. Take advantage of habit stacking to seamlessly implement new, healthy rhythms.
  1. Make meeting deadlines easy with more lead time. 
    Set your deadlines in your personal calendar a week or a few days before the actual deadline of a project or deliverable. Make it a game to see how quickly you can exceed expectations by submitting work far earlier than expected. You’ll feel more at ease approaching your projects, and your boss, clients, or colleagues will be delighted by the speedy deliverables.
  1. Make your goals achievable.
    Cut the length of any consistency you want to instill for a new habit or rhythm. Make it easily achievable and build your self-esteem gradually. You can always expand the goal once you’ve reached it! 
  1. Get your priorities organized with heaps of personal goal-setting templates on Notion. Many of them are free! 
  1. Couple unpleasant tasks with music, podcasts, comfort shows, etc. 
    Not looking forward to deep cleaning the kitchen this weekend? Reserve a showing of your favorite rom-com to play in the background, go through all of Hozier’s discography, or sip a glass of wine as you clean.
  1. Avoid multitasking to reduce attention residue. 
    Set up your surroundings to support focus and productivity when completing challenging work. Leave your phone in another room, only turn on non-distracting music, and avoid working in a high-traffic space with lots of stimuli like a busy cafe.
  1. Envision your next 10 years with the help of Ali Abdaal’s goal-setting method  and get super clear on what you want to achieve in the next 10 years. Don’t worry, he helps us break up those big dreams into actionable steps from there! 

Ways to look inward

  1. Journal about a past goal you reached to inspire you in the next. 
    What did reaching that goal mean to you? How did it change your life? How did it change your view of yourself? Describe in as much detail as possible. 
  1. Juxtapose the grit with the gift. 
    For 10 minutes, make a list under the header: “Things I Want.” Free-write without self-editing, overthinking, or stopping, listing all the things you want to do, accomplish, and experience. Once the timer’s up, take a look at your list. 

    What items scare you the most? Highlight them, and on a new page, draw a vertical line down the middle. Pull your first “scary item” from your original list, and on the left side of your new page, describe the grit it will take to make this a reality. What challenges do you expect to face? Where do you need to grow personally to see it through? Then, on the right side of the page, describe the payoff, the reward, and how your life will feel when this is a reality. 

    Take a look at both sides of your paper, and every time you’re met with the discomfort of pursuing those goals, remember the gift on the other side of the challenge they pose! 
  1. Interweave a manifestation practice to help keep your goals in clear focus. 
    Explore how manifestation could be a helpful guide and consistent practice in visualizing and conceptualizing each step of your overarching goals. 
  1. Establish a sun up, sun down journaling ritual to clear your mind each workday.
    Before approaching a lengthy to-do list or crowded inbox, give yourself space to reset your mind and check in with yourself. Use a designated journal to brain dump, jot down ideas, and catch leftover to-dos each morning. Do the same thing at the end of the workday to reflect and plan for the next day. 
  1. Go on an under-thinking spree. 
    If you have a tendency to overthink, try going a week or two actively working to under-think. When you catch yourself rereading an email for the fifth time before sending it, stop. Give yourself one last read-through, then click send. Have the urge to make a joke with your new coworker but not sure if they’ll find it funny? Under-think. Make the joke. Your confidence in taking action will build with each under-thinking moment!
  1. Don’t wait until you’re ready to start. 
    Who do you need to talk to to get started on that business? Make an appointment. What day are you finally cleaning out that garage? Block out a date on your calendar. How do you get that passion project off the ground? Purchase that website domain. 

    First steps are often simple and boring, so we avoid them for as long as possible, but momentum has to start somewhere. What’s your first move? 
  1. Create a system to take the brain work out of creating new habits. 
    Make meaningful action as seamless as possible and use the guidance of author James Clear to create systems that make establishing the habits you want immensely easier.
  1. Feeling nervous about pursuing a certain dream? Go down the “And Then What?” rabbit hole.
    Use a journal and describe the dream. From there, list out all your reservations, everything you’re fearful of, and why you don’t think it’ll work out. Be as honest as possible. Once you’ve emptied all your anxieties onto paper, ask yourself, “Okay, if my worst fears come true, then what?” Journal your response. Ask again, “Okay, then what?” Write a reply. Keep going until you’ve whittled down your anxieties to the most primal fears you have.

    Let it all live on paper, right in the open, in the light, and assess: “If the worst of the worst happens, will I find a way to be okay?” If the answer is yes, use that security to fuel you every time fear tries to make you back down from your dream!
  1. Reframe your understanding of failure.
    Robert T. Kiyosaki wrote, “Success is a poor teacher. We learn the most about ourselves when we fail, so don’t be afraid of failing. Failing is part of the process of success. You cannot have success without failure.”
  1. Learn how to Motivationally Interview yourself. 
    Motivational Interviewing is a counseling style that uses open dialogue to identify someone’s ingrained resistance towards making a change. Try this as a journaling technique, asking yourself a few of these open-ended questions and seeing where it leads!
  1. Take it day by day — literally.
    Take Dr. Alok Kanojia’s advice and abandon this “do every day” pressure. Set your intentions for today and today only. Don’t fret about a 30, 60, or 90-day streak. If you did what you set out to do today, you’re a success! Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
  1. Keep your “why” in front of your mind. 
    In any new goal, knowing the deeper meaning behind why you’re doing something is vital, especially when the going gets tough. Use this technique from Simon Sinek to help identify your overarching “why.”
  1. Write on a Post-It note: “Getting started is the hardest but simplest part,” and keep it in your workspace.
    An object in motion stays in motion. Keep this idea front of mind. Creating momentum in the direction you want to go takes a push from you when you’ve been sitting idle, but remember that once you get going, it’s way easier to stay in motion.
  1. Make peace with friction.
    Accept that friction will always be part of the equation when you’re doing something new, challenging, or scary. There’s no way around the discomfort, but there are so many worthwhile things on the other side of it! 
  1. Understand where resistance is coming from when making a change, working on a goal, or pursuing a dream. 
    In Internal Family Systems fashion, take time to journal and explore questions like: 
  • What part of me doesn’t want my life to change? How come? 
  • What is this part of me trying to protect me from? 
  • How can I affirm this part of me and still make an empowered, wise choice on how to proceed with my life?

Fill your tank with inspiration

  1. Take this tough love from Mel Robbins, who shares the hard truth that no one is coming to make you do the things you know you need to do to create the life you want. The ball is only in your court. 
  1. Let this 10-minute speech from Jim Carrey inspire you to ask the universe for what you want.
  1. Go on an awe walk. 
    Get some fresh air, move your legs, and let your brain refocus. Give your mind time to wander into gratitude as you drink up your surroundings. 
  1. Sit with Maya Angelou’s best piece of advice.
  1. Rewatch a movie centered on a character you resonate with.
    Reflect on this character’s journey. What did they struggle with? What was in their path to overcome? What in your life feels the same? 
  1. Click on this speech from Simon Sinek on passion, leadership, and resilience while driving on your morning commute tomorrow.
  1. Go to a museum and focus not on the art but on the journey of the artist.
    Take in the stories, backgrounds, and generations represented by the pieces. With each work, try to imagine the millions of unseen moments the artist likely had to push through self-doubt, fear of failure, and being overwhelmed to complete the piece. 

    Let it settle into your bones that every piece of art is a triumph fought for. 
  1. Listen to this moving speech by Steve Jobs where he talks about connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.
  1. Let this conversation between Elizabeth Gilbert and Marie Forleo draw you into reflection about what might be getting in the way of living the life you want.
  1. Enjoy Brene Brown’s recount of how this Theodore Roosevelt quote changed her life (and could change yours, too).

Use these quotes to center and inspire you

Use Post-Its, a dry-erase board, or a note widget on your phone to keep a few of these encouraging words in sight and mind. 

  1. “You’ll stop worrying what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do.” – David Foster Wallace
  1. “The true measure of success is a calm nervous system.” – Laura Higgins 
  1. “You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” – Jim Carrey
  1. “That what you most need is found where you least want to look.” – Paulo Coelho
  1. “An hour with a fresh mind is worth five hours of fog.” – Doug Kessler
  1. “The secret to happiness isn’t having everything you want. It’s wanting everything you already have.” – Jade Bonacalta 
  1. “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.” – Austin Kleon
  1. “The secret to doing anything is believing you can do it.” – Bob Ross 
  1. “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” – Simon Sinek
  1. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
  1. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson 
  1. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs 
  1. “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison 
  1. “The only journey is the one within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke 
  1. “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future, it’s something you create for the present.” – Jim Rohn 
  1. “Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.” – Jim Carrey
  1. “If you don’t want to burn out, stop living like you’re on fire.” – Robin Davis
  1. “Speak as if you know what you’re talking about. Listen as if you don’t. Act as a way to find out.” – Mark Manson 
  1. “Everything contains a reward of some kind. It’s your job to find it.” – Jerry Seinfeld 
  1. “The one true sign that you’re moving ahead with your life is that you don’t know where you’re going. If you knew what you were doing, you’d be circling the same path again.” – Brianna Wiest

Relieve overwhelm and make room for what matters

  1. Do a distraction detox of your work area to promote ongoing focus. 
    Eliminate potential distractions in your main work area in whatever ways possible. Have a designated drawer for your phone during work hours, turn off email notification settings on your desktop, and use an ad blocker like Pie to cut down on flashy distractions as you browse the web. 
  1. Do a spring cleaning of your home and office. 
    Go Marie Kondo on your living and working areas and donate unnecessary items cluttering up your space, pulling your attention, and exhausting your energy reserves. 
  1. Identify the Illuminators and the Diminishers in your life. 
    Take it from David Brooks, author of “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others and Being Deeply Seen“, who writes, “In every crowd there are Diminishers and there are Illuminators. Diminishers make people feel small and unseen. […] Illuminators, on the other hand, have a persistent curiosity about other people. They have been trained or have trained themselves in the craft of understanding others.” 
  1. Schedule your self-care as protected appointments in your calendar every week. 
    Don’t leave energy-giving activities like hobbies, relaxation, and social time up to chance. Set non-negotiable appointments in your weekly schedule for whatever self-care looks like for you. When your tank is full, everyone is better off. 
  1. Challenge yourself to eliminate three things from your calendar this week. 
    Reduce the overwhelm and say no to three engagements, commitments, or demands this week. 
  1. Set aside a day to reset your space. 
    Move around furniture, area rugs, and the books and trinkets on your shelves to give your home and office a fresh feel with familiar things. 
  1. Reserve a day for real, slow rest. 
    If possible, set aside a day each week for deep relaxation, reflection, and fun. 
  1. Create a “stop doing” list — a tip from Leidy Klotz, author of “Subtract.”
    In his “stop doing” list, Klotz identifies useless tasks he finds himself doing in his day — like checking his email multiple times a day — and vows to reduce or eliminate them to make more time and space for meaningful action. 
  1. Declutter your mind each morning by adopting a mindfulness practice. 
    It’s easy to get started with meditation apps like Insight Timer and Headspace, or check out some of our other favorites here.

Affirmations to spur you on towards meaningful action

  1. My only job is to take the next right step. 
  1. Anything I can’t control is teaching me how to let go. 
  1. All I need is within me. 
  1. Hitting obstacles is a good thing. It means I’m moving. 
  1. These days are forging me to become who I’m meant to be. 
  1. I’ll never stop planting seeds, regardless of how long it takes to see the fruit.
  1. Growth is incremental, and every effort, big and small, counts.
  1. My future self is cheering, “Keep going! Keep going! Keep going!”
  1. The universe will put in my path everything I need when I need it. 
  1. Every challenge I’ve conquered up to this point is a testament to my resilience, strength, and power. 
  1. There’s enough for us all. I don’t need to strive or compare.
  1. My joy is found in unbridled gratitude for the present moment. 
  1. I’ll work toward what I’ve asked of the universe and keep my hands open to receive.
  1. Abundance is for me, and it’s my job to relinquish control over how it comes. 
  1. I’m in the driver’s seat of my life. 
  1. Every mistake is a chance to realign with my purpose. 
  1. Failure is an effective teacher. I will not fear it. 
  1. I’m capable of far more than I know. 
  2. I commit to finding the fun in every goal I go after.

Cheyanne Solis is a copywriter relieving entrepreneurs to rest and invest more in what they love. She writes on practical wellness and mindful productivity from the perspective of sustainable work-life balance. Explore her work and connect here.