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3 Science-Backed Ways to Boost Your Motivation (Even When You Don't Feel Like Working)
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Motivation and creative work
Intrinsic motivation is necessary for creative work. We need broad thinking, so we can come up with innovative ideas and see new connections.
Extrinsic motivation narrows our thinking by focusing on getting the task done so we can earn the reward. It's providing you an external incentive to work hard.
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Elements of intrinsic motivation
The 3 elements required for intrinsic motivation:
- Autonomy: it's about choice - when you believe you have a choice, you're more motivated.
- Mastery: it's about wanting to get better at something that matters.
- Purpose: it comes from believing you're working on something that's bigger than yourself.
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Knowing our work helps others
When we know that our work will make a difference to someone else, it makes us work harder.
Try to reach out to the people who directly benefit from your work. This could boost your motivation to work hard.
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Be aware of loss aversion
Loss aversion refers to the fact that we feel stronger emotions about losing something than we do about gaining the same thing.
For example: If you found $20 on the ground, you'd be pretty happy. But if you had $20 in your wallet and lost it, you'd be really unhappy.
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How Social Environments Influence Creativity
As we grow older, we take cues from our environment and become serious and rigid, conforming to the norms and rules imposed upon us.
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How The Meaning of "Being Creative" Changed
In the 70s, creativity was thought of as a trait, something a few geniuses have, and the rest of us do not.
New studies show that ‘extrinsic’ motivators, factors outside ourselves, can influence our creativity. Competition, evaluation, level of strictness along with rewards and punishment play a huge factor in a person’s overall creative levels.
How To Kill Creativity
Knowledge that someone will check, evaluate and grade one’s work, surveillance, a promise of a reward, threat of a punishment, creative constraints, competition and motivating factors like power, money and fame can kill creativity.
Rewards generally provide the individual with a feeling of being controlled, but can also enhance creativity in some cases.
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Motivation Is Personal
Few people are fans of persistent effort, trying to sustain oneself through any task or project. Effective self-motivation is something that sets normal people apart from high-achievers.
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Rewarding Goals
One has to set goals that feel rewarding and interesting while being specific. Just having to know that you have to go to the gym may feel like a chore, but setting a goal of running 10,000 steps or doing 20 reps feels like a rewarding challenge.
In cases where one would find nothing interesting about the activity, and still has to do it, one can find certain elements of the work that may have fringe benefits.
Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Motivation
Goals should have intrinsic motivation, something that stokes our fire from within.
If people choose goals that are pleasant, the work gets done. On the other hand, if the external reward is big enough, people do unpleasant tasks as well, but not with enthusiasm. Example: Working only for the monthly wage (the extrinsic motivation) turns many people into ‘wage slaves’ who put in the minimum effort necessary to earn their income.
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Two types of motivation
Motivation is categorized into two basic types: Extrinsic and intrinsic.
- Extrinsic motivation is related to external forces like money or fame.
- Intrinsic motivation
Money as a motivation
Money as a tool for motivation is limiting at best, and the 'carrot and stick' approach many managers use to motivate employees is will actually achieve the opposite effect of what was intended.
Conditional rewards
‘If, then’ rewards or conditional rewards are when we promise to give something to an individual when they complete a certain task.
These rewards can have a negative impact on motivation as the employees lose the will to work on that task for the sake of working.