Stay Motivated

When things get tough or when procrastination hits you hard, it’s difficult to push through and carry out the task at hand. This is a time when you need motivation. The Guardian spoke with 17 experts who shared tips on staying motivated when facing challenges.

Use Your Imagination

During a strenuous workout, Diana Nyad said she imagines being in a survival situation. The long-distance swimmer and motivational speaker said she pretends she’s been walking through a desert for days without water and feels completely dehydrated. She imagines using every ounce of strength to get to the oasis.

“I feel the relentless desert heat, but refuse to slow down,” Nyad said. “I push and push, and then—oh wow, that stream of cool, clean water flowing down my throat at the end is like a magical elixir.”

Mel Carruthers, owner of More Organised, a decluttering service, recommends imagining the end result of a task. For example, before decluttering or organizing a space, Carruthers said he visualizes how the newly organized space will make him feel. For those overwhelmed by needing to organize space in their house, Carruthers says, “Imagine a sitting room where you can do a quick tidy in five minutes because everything has a home.”

Recall Your Favorite Quotes

When Mintra Tilly, director of sports at the fitness company Hyrox, needs motivation to finish a workout, she recalls a statement she read: Exercise is like a shotgun blast of health for the body. However, what works all the time is remembering what her former coach, Rob Shaul, used to tell her: “Suck it up!”

Tidy Up a Bit

When feeling overwhelmed by emails she has to answer or boring administrative work, Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant and author, said she cleans a small area, such as a corner of a drawer.

“Even this tiny act of tidying clears my head, lifts my energy and sparks the motivation to get moving again,” Kondo said.

Play Music

When Iwan Carrington wants to clean her house, she not only has her cleaning tools, but her playlist, too. Carrington said she tries to finish a task before The Saturdays’ Greatest Hits Megamix seven-minute playlist or a song on the playlist ends.

“It’s amazing what you can achieve in a short amount of time when you crack on,” said Carrington, author of Clean in 15: Create a Clean & Happy Home in Minutes.

Read Obituaries

Death and deadlines, which cause sadness and anxiety for some, actually motivate Austin Kleon, author of Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad. For Kleon, the easiest and the most “enjoyable” way to keep death “ever present” in the mind is to read obituaries every morning.

“When I read about people who did something with their lives, it makes me want to do something with mine.”

Use Special Words

There’s a word that Emily Harrington, a professional rock climber, uses to motivate herself. The word is, “Yes.”

“I say the word yes over and over again—in my mind or out loud,” Harrington said. “One syllable. It’s positive and it gets you into a motivated mindset.”

Dr. Radha Modgil, author of Know Your Own Power: Inspiration, Motivation and Practical Tools for Life, suggests asking yourself, “Why? By asking ourselves what we’re worried about and why, we can sometimes realize that what we are afraid of is not real or isn’t as important as we think, according to Dr. Modgil.

What can motivate us is asking ourselves how we would feel or what repercussions we would face if we don’t begin a task.

“Often those feelings will be more scary or worrying,” Dr. Modgil said. “This helps me to start—because it’s the least worst option!”

Stay Focused

Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, tracks the hours he spends each day focused on mentally demanding tasks without checking email or attending meetings.

When he catches himself trying to avoid real work by staying busy, Newport said, “I ask myself how will you feel tonight when you put down a big zero for your daily deep work hours? That often helps.”

Mia Northrup recommends staying focused for 15 minutes. Why 15? It’s the “sweet spot” for many people because it’s long enough to get something done, but short enough to feel manageable, even on tough days or with really dull tasks.

“Usually, one of two things happens: the task doesn’t take anywhere near as long as you thought, or you get into the flow and it’s nowhere near as bad as you thought it would be,” said Northrup, co-founder of Life Admin Life Hacks, a life coaching company. “Before you know it, the task is done.”

Use a Lucky Charm

For Ann Daniels, Clive is her motivator. But he’s not a real person. Clive is a pink-haired, inch-high doll that her niece gave her when she was going through IVF for her now-grown-up triplets. Daniels, a polar explorer, said Clive symbolizes support and care.

“I’ve since taken him on every expedition, and when it’s tough and I’ve used all my motivators (chanting my children’s names is favourite), I take comfort from his presence and keep going,” she said.

Engage Your Senses

Before planning yoga lessons, Adriene Mishler, lights a candle and plays moody music. Before tackling chores, Mishler goes outside to feel the Texas sun on her skin.

“There is something about tuning into your senses that gives the mind a reset, an opportunity to get off the hamster wheel of dread and recalibrate into the current moment,” said Mishler, host of “Yoga with Adriene.” “I need the cross-sensory boost to gear my body and brain up for the tasks at hand, especially if they feel big that day.”

Take a Walk

Whenever Chris Bailey lacks motivation, he puts away his devices and takes a quick walk around the block. His device-free walk helps him to refocus on what he has to do.

“If I’m distracted, being device-free helps settle my mind,” said Bailey, author of Hyperfocus: How to Work Less and Achieve More. “If I’m putting a task off, I can reflect on what’s making me not want to do it—and form a plan to combat that aversion.”

Start With One Small Step

When Chrissie Wellington, a four-time Ironman triathlon world champion, struggles to go for a run, she puts her shoes on and opens the door. Then, she steps outside and runs only four or five steps. Once she gains momentum, she keeps going, and her motivation does too.

After that, she logs her progress into a training diary. In this way, Wellington said, she’s “ensuring I bank feelings of euphoria to draw on in (the) future, and can be buoyed up by memories of times when I completed sessions that I didn’t want to do.”

The first steps create energy, and results follow with consistency, Craig Hoareau, owner of A Tidy Mind London, a house organization company, explained.
“The truth is, most people give up because the vision in their head doesn’t appear instantly, but real change is a process” he said.

Source Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/oct/26/expert-motivation-tips-gym-to-do-list