06/02/2021
Know your triggers
Everyone feels unmotivated sometimes, so it’s important to recognize what your triggers are, and adjust accordingly to help get your motivation back, Park says. For example, when you’re feeling overworked or burned out, and you’re lacking motivation, that can be a “screaming signal” that you need to slow down or take some time off, she says.
Another common trigger for a lack of motivation? Getting negative feedback. “It can be very demoralizing, in many fields, when things are rejected or you get negative feedback, criticism or bad evaluations,” Park says. In those moments, you may feel like your ego has been threatened. “One way to naturally rebuild the motivation is to put it away, do other things and then come back to it,” she says.
Research has shown that having a very specific and concrete a contingency plan for these moments when you feel your motivation dip can be effective, Park says. “Create a script in your head of what you’re going to be doing,” she says. “It’s kind of automating your behavior so that you don’t have to like completely paralyzed in that moment.”
