Another busy time period. Sorry for the late posts.

I might as well be an expert in motivation. I am finishing up a day in which I’ve managed to avoid the one thing I really need to finish this week. But nevertheless here are some ideas on how to be motivated and how to get your work finished.

Set Goals

Unless you know what you are trying to accomplish, you will never see the end of the tunnel. I’m a fan of to do lists, which will describe my goals for the week or the day. If there is a large task, try breaking it up into smaller one. There is always a sense of accomplishment in finishing a goal and being able to cross if off. The smaller the goals, the easier it is to finish them, thus crossing them off, therefore giving you motivation to finishing the next one. In theory.

Take a break

If you’ve been working on a task for awhile, give yourself a break. 5 to 10 minutes every hour or two. If you are “in the zone” then don’t stop, continue on that streak as long as possible. But if you are finding it hard to concentrate or just aren’t staying focused, then take a break. But do not do this too often. Limit yourself to doing this every hour or two, set your mind to working hard knowing that you can take a break in x minutes. But only take that break if you’ve been working hard up to that point.

Scratch Paper

Multitaskers will often have multiple thoughts going through their head at any given point. It has been shown that multitasking will ultimately slow you down and produce less sufficient work. My suggesting for those people is to keep a piece of paper next to you and if you have a random thought that you start to think about that is not related to what you are working on, then write it down. This way you can stay focused, and know that you can come back to that thought later. Just make sure you write down enough of what you are thinking about so that it will be clear later (also, write legibly).

I’ve also started multiple lists on my computer which I will append to using QuickSilver in order to keep my hands on the keyboard and get my thoughts out. Theses lists are of things that I think about often or are just random thoughts.

Sleep and eating right

Unless you are able to stay awake it is hard to have motivation about doing any task. And eating the right food will give your body the needed energy.

Mindset

Think about why you are doing your task. If its to get a paycheck, to support a family, out of love, enjoyment, passion you once felt, whatever it might be. Think of a positive reason you are doing your job. Keep that in mind. If you need to, write it on a sticky note and post it some where will you will see it. Keep a positive mindset about the task will help in finishing it faster.

Ok, this is the last post of motivation / getting things done, for awhile. If your bored with it, sorry.