Motivation doesn’t always come easy for everyone. While some people are naturally goals-driven, which fuels motivation, others simply are not cut from the same cloth. Despite the big dreams you have or the strong desire to achieve a particular goal, taking the necessary steps to achieve the result can feel impossible to some. Sometimes it feels like just doing the bare minimum is all you can do. This is especially true if you suffer from anxiety and depression. These mental health conditions can deplete your energy and happiness. Depression, in particular, can cause you to lose interest in hobbies and activities that you typically enjoy. You may find yourself unable to accomplish even your routine tasks, let alone go above and beyond to reach your goals.
If you have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, the most important way to overcome them is to seek help. Therapy or counseling and medication can be effective ways to treat anxiety and depression. But even these mental health treatments may not be enough to move you forward to reaching your goals. There are strategies you can do to increase your motivation even when you feel anxious or depressed.
Do The Fun Things First
Many life coaches and productivity experts recommend starting with the most important or difficult items on your to-do list first. The term “eat the frog” is a popular productivity technique to avoid procrastination of the tasks you dread doing the most. While this makes sense in many cases, this approach is not realistic if you have anxiety or depression. If you have anxiety, a common symptom is feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed for things that seem difficult to you. If you have depression, it can feel like a struggle just to get out of bed in the morning, let alone do a dreaded item on your to-do list. When you find yourself in this spot, try flipping the script and do the easiest tasks first. Or do the tasks you enjoy the most first. Once you have accomplished even the smallest thing, you may feel motivated to continue to the next task.
Outsource Dreaded Tasks
Delegating your most dreaded tasks to someone else may be one of the best things you can do if you experience anxiety or depression. For example, many people who have anxiety dread making phone calls. You may clam up and feel the effects of stress at the very thought of picking up the phone. If possible, enlist a significant other or family member to make the call for you. You don’t have to put yourself through unnecessary stress if your energy can be spent elsewhere. Instead, spend the energy doing things that do not cause you to feel so anxious.
If it’s business related tasks that you dread or feel anxious about, consider hiring a professional to handle those tasks. For example, people who have anxiety are often overwhelmed by a full email inbox. The constant notifications that pop up to alert you to an incoming email or to log on and see an unorganized assortment of emails sitting in your inbox can cause you to panic. If you are someone who feels tortured by the chaos in your inbox, consider hiring a Virtual Expert ® who specializes in Email Management. They can help organize your email folders, unsubscribe to unnecessary subscriptions, and get you to inbox zero daily. Not only will you experience more peace in your life, but you will have more time to focus on the part of your business that you enjoy and specialize in doing.
Do It For The Greater Good
While personal goals generally need to come from within ourselves to be meaningful, anxiety and depression can make any kind of internal feeling difficult. Intrinsic motivation is the kind of motivation that is believed to align with your values, as well as the pleasure of hitting a goal. If you have anxiety and depression, you may not be able to muster the intrinsic motivation required to do what you need to do. One way you can “trick” yourself into motivation is to think of how the task or goal will benefit others.
For example, a depressed person may struggle to get out of bed in the morning after a night of restless attempts to sleep. If you have a young child or a pet at home, it may help motivate you to get out of bed if you know that they depend on you to care for them. This approach can be applied to other aspects of your life and business goals as well. Sometimes when we look outside of ourselves and see the bigger picture, we can be driven by compassion, knowing we have what someone else needs. Therefore, it would be selfish to withhold those things you don’t feel the motivation to do.
Be Gentle On Yourself
Sometimes we are just too hard on ourselves. If you have a friend or loved one who battles anxiety and depression, you probably feel compassion for them. It’s good to take the time to encourage them and build them up. Just remember to show yourself the same compassion. Reward yourself or pat yourself on the back for every small accomplishment. Praising yourself for your efforts is also effective.
Don’t beat yourself up if you fail to meet a goal or complete a task you want to accomplish. You can try again the next day! Instead, focus on what you were able to accomplish and how that accomplishment made you feel. Give yourself grace, and remind yourself that you are human. Negative self-talk is considered self-sabotage and kills motivation. Speak kindly to yourself, just as you would speak kindly to others.