Often times just getting started is the hardest part of any project due to a lack of motivation. This frustrating mental barrier is a very real obstacle that confronts each and every one of us from time to time. Developing certain habits to restore and maintain your motivation in order to start and complete any given task is the basis of today's article.

Here are 5 tips to that will help you get motivated and maintain your drive regardless of what your goals may be.

Plan Your Work

It is important that you organize your efforts in a way that makes sense and proves most effective towards reaching your goals. Set up a schedule of when you intend to work on a particular project and how much time you intend to devote to it. Be realistic with your goals, the amount of time you'll need and when that time will be available to you.

If the project is important enough you'll want to consider scheduling the best time of day when you are at your best and most productive. For some people it is easier to get motivated in the early stages of the day when their energy level is at its highest.

Work Your Plan

Now with your plan in hand it is time to take immediate action. Your planning stages were the time to thoroughly think through the most efficient and effective process that will get you the results. Here is where you put that plan into motion and without hesitation. Simply following the plan you've developed will bring you closer to your desired results while increasing your sense of accomplishment.

Pay close attention to not second guessing yourself or reworking your plan. This will only burn more time and decrease both your self confidence and your motivation. This is a dangerous scenario that could end up completely sabotaging your drive.

The busier you stay the more progress you'll make and the more your self confidence will grow. Along with this will be a renewal of your own motivation to continue to move forward! This is the type of cycle you want to be in!

Set Short Term Goals

One of the best ways to motivate yourself and maintain your drive to complete your project is to set short term goals. These are a great way of measuring your progress and helping you to recognize that you are moving closer to the completion of your project.

Achieving your short term goals and taking the time to identify that you have done so increases your own self satisfaction. This helps make your efforts seem less like work and the last time I checked there wasn't anything wrong with that!

Avoid Routine

If the efforts you are putting forth involve any sort of repetition change things around to keep yourself more stimulated. Perhaps perform certain tasks at different intervals. Maybe even alternate these tasks to keep things more interesting. What you want to do is to minimize your boredom and increase your interest. This will lead to you becoming more fully engaged therefore making your efforts all the more productive!

Schedule 'Down Time'

As with most things it is easier to give it your best when you're fully rested. Be sure you include 'down time' in your scheduling to recharge and re energize. It will be easier to motivate yourself and keep your focus once you get back to your scheduled tasks.

Overcoming a lack of motivation, in most cases, is essentially overcoming procrastination. By simply getting involved in any given project you will begin to see progress which in turn will further motivate you. It is the underlying dread that perhaps our efforts won't bring the results we seek that weaken our motivation and make the first step usually the most difficult! As Nike used to say 'Just Do It'!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
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