7 weird but working ways to motivate

If you often read articles about motivation, you probably already know by heart tips like "set goals", "make lists", "praise yourself for achievements", "figure out your desires and values." These are all classic recommendations that can really help in stimulating activity if you have problems with this. But there are a few more ways, less trivial and more fun.

1. Enable YouTube

We all heard in childhood that it is impossible to do homework with the TV on. So, now you can. Only not with the TV, but from YouTube, where at this moment videos from the series work with me are played - "work with me", study with me - "study with me" or clean with me - "do the cleaning with me" …

The authors of these videos turn on the camera and go about their business. One is working at a computer, the other is reading a book, someone is writing notes and doing homework, someone is putting things in order, and someone is even sketching a draft of a future novel. And so on for several hours.

You, being at home, turn on such a video - and you seem to have a partner with whom it is no longer so boring to cram foreign words or prepare a quarterly report. You watch, get infected with the atmosphere of productivity - and it becomes easier to get down to business. At least commentators under hundreds of similar videos are talking about just such an effect.

2. Put on sneakers

This is a FlyLady cleanup pickup. Its author, housewife Marla Scilly, believes that as soon as you put on any lace-up shoes, you automatically tune in to work. Laced up shoes cannot be thrown off like house slippers, so you won't be able to immediately fall on the bed to lie down, taking a break from work - around the house or any other.

Marla Scilly also insists on making sure to comb her hair, tidy herself up, and for women to do makeup and styling, even if there are no plans to leave the house. It helps to be more collected and motivated: here, I am already at the parade, it is somehow uncomfortable to lie on the couch like this all day and look at the phone.

3. Sing and dance

One small study in Indonesia found that employees who were asked to sing and dance during breaks were more productive and energetic than those who were not encouraged to do so.

How one is connected with the other is not known exactly. Perhaps, dancing, like any physical activity, allows you to cheer up, "disperse the blood" and get a portion of endorphins. And the songs just cheer you up.

4. Make cleaning

The mess leads to the fact that our attention is not paid exclusively to work, but is sprayed on a dozen objects that are not in their places.

And people surrounded by chaos are more likely to procrastinate J. R. Ferrari, C. A. Roster. Delaying disposing: examining the relationship between procrastination and clutter across generations / Current Psychology and spending Your office isn't big enough for clutter and productivity / Entrepreneur almost a week a year to find things lost in the mess.

Light cleaning will definitely make the main activity easier and more comfortable. You want to approach a neat, beautiful workplace much more than to a place full of cups and littered with papers.

5. Dream

Dreamers are considered very lazy and unproductive guys: they supposedly do nothing, but only hover in the clouds. Sometimes this is true. But scientists believe B. Baird, J. Smallwood, M. D. Mrazek, et al. Inspired by distraction: mind wandering facilitates creative incubation / Psychological Science that dreams can still be useful. They increase our productivity, make us more motivated and result-oriented.

6. Take a cold shower

For some, this method is more frightening than motivating. Nevertheless, the studies of G. A. Buijze, I. N. Sierevelt, B. C. J. M. van der Heijden, et al. The effect of cold showering on health and work: a randomized controlled trial / PLOS ONE show that employees who took a cold shower for 30 days felt more productive at work. And they also have reduced the number of sick leave.

7. Find a "double"

When someone watches how we work, study or do some other business, it is somehow uncomfortable to be distracted, lazy and procrastinate.

But an adult usually has no one above his soul, and sometimes such a person is sorely lacking. Therefore, you can find yourself a partner to work together, study or play sports and meet in person or by video link to help each other stay motivated and focused.

Due to a small social pressure, a person has a sense of responsibility, it becomes more difficult to skip, things move forward The Science Behind Focusmate / Focusmate more efficiently and faster, motivation grows.

This approach was named L. Anderson. The body double: a unique tool for getting things done / Attention Deficit Disorder Association body double and became popular during the pandemic and the general lockdown.

To find a "double", you can use a special service that will automatically select a partner and start a 50-minute working session. True, this requires a minimum knowledge of English and $ 5 per month.

Those who are not ready to communicate with strangers in a foreign language or pay money for the opportunity to work can try to throw a cry in social networks and look for "doubles" among their friends. Or check out productivity communities.