Home
>
Time Management
>
Time Management: How to Stay Motivated and Get More Done

Time Management: How to Stay Motivated and Get More Done

If you can motivate yourself at will to get any task done, you'll have taken a huge step towards managing your time better. There are several practical ways to increase your motivation.

There are a couple of facts to remember about human beings in general. One, newness is a great spur to motivation. Think about when you took up a new job. Everything was fresh and you applied yourself to your work with great enthusiasm.

But that wore out after a few weeks or months. You settled down into a routine and work become dull and uninteresting again. That's because you lost your sense of newness.

The second thing to remember is that while the human mind can accomplish a stunning range of tasks, the same mind is also easily distracted. Some studies show that the average person's attention span does not exceed 35 minutes or so. Others claim it's even less.

This tendency to get distracted easily is a key reason why we often have a hard time motivating ourselves to do a task.

With that in mind, here are 8 things you can do to get and stay motivated.

#1. Recognize your penchant for getting distracted. Take short breaks every half an hour or so; walk away from your workstation. Experiment and find out the optimum length of time you can work before you need a break. You'll find your motivation goes up during the time you stay at the task.

#2. To satisfy your need for freshness and change, alternate between two tasks. If you keep at a single task for too long, you're almost certain to lose motivation.

You can even exchange specific tasks with another colleague, if your work situation permits it.

#3. It has been shown that soft music, especially baroque music, is a great aid to work. If possible, arrange for background music at your workplace.

#4. Make your work environment more appealing by using humorous posters (like those 'Dennis the Menace' posters) to make you smile. Have several available and once in a while, change the posters.

#5. On a related note, potted plants can be great stress relievers. Place one or two around your workstation. Do water them as needed; wilted plants are no good!

# 6. Create a list of the most important tasks you need to do the next day. Prioritize the list. And keep working in the order of your priorities. Being able to check off the most important items for each day is in itself a terrific motivator.

#7. Anytime you feel the stress getting to you or if you feel particularly distracted, just lean back in your chair and close your eyes for a minute or two. Hum a favorite tune softly. If you can't relax in your chair, go to the restroom and do so.

#8. Implement a reward system for yourself. Decide in advance what you'll reward yourself with when you complete certain tasks. It could be as small as an inexpensive trinket from a gift shop or a chocolate bar. It could even be a stroll in a nearby park.

Don't neglect the reward routine. It's one of the best motivators there is.

Burt Carlson is a top corporate executive whose passion is helping people get more out of life by managing their time better. He has written on time management skills, time management skills, time management skills and many other topics.

express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.