What to do When You Feel Unmotivated – 3 Amazing Tips and Habits

We all get that feeling of apathy sometimes, where we just don’t want to. This is for the tired, the unfocused, a guide to cross that hurdle, climb that mountain, etc. This is what you need to do when you feel unmotivated.

Find out how to overcome the feeling of unmotivated lethargy. Maybe we don’t want to work out, maybe we don’t want to cook dinner, don’t want to read, do work, etc. There will always be this feeling of I don’t want to, no matter who you are or where you are. Check out these simple yet effective tips to deal with feeling unmotivated. They can help you in any area of life, no matter what your goal is or what your situation may be.

What to do When You Feel Unmotivated 

We all may experience a lack of motivation, a lack of energy, or a lack of drive. This can become a real issue in life that prevents us from accomplishing the most simple of tasks or goals. How we overcome and handle this unmotivated feeling makes all the difference. Following these tips and building good habits can help you overcome this obstacle with more ease.

1. Think of your why

One of the biggest, simplest, and easiest things we can do to deal with having no motivation is to think about our why. What does this mean exactly? It’s just thinking about the why. Think about why you’re doing anything. It’s about focusing on a logical part of your brain and directing your thoughts to something substantial and tangible. It’s easy for us to forget the why.

You cook dinner because you need to eat. Your body needs fuel, and maybe because you want to eat something delicious that’ll make you feel better. You workout because you’re training for something, or you’re trying to live a healthier lifestyle, or you want your body to look a certain way. Maybe you need to work because you love what you do or maybe it’s just to make enough money to live life the way you want. No matter what we’re doing in life, it’s very helpful for us to think about the why.

Applying this thought process can help you whenever you’re feeling unmotivated. Ask yourself why and really sit on that thought. Let the why fuel you and guide you into action.

2. Break it down into smaller steps

Here’s something else that can make even the biggest obstacle look like grains of sand. A huge task seems daunting and stressful. Something big feels too big and challenges your mindset, making you almost scared to try and do it. That’s why we need to break down these big things into smaller things.

Think about anywhere you have a goal. For example, if it’s a fitness goal, don’t jump into thinking about how hard you have to work to lose 40 lbs. Break down your fitness goal into smaller, more achievable tasks. If you don’t go to the gym, don’t try to go to the gym six times a week. Start small going once or twice. If you want to eat a bit healthier, don’t cut out every delicious snack you consume. Instead focus on adding a serving of vegetables with every meal.

If you have a work goal that you want to achieve, break it down with tasks you can accomplish. Make these tasks so small. It could even be just reading one article to research a bit more. Finishing these smaller tasks will help you feel better, increasing the natural dopamine in your brain that naturally occurs after you accomplish something.

3. Think about past accomplishments

Here’s a more mental exercise that can help anyone when they’re feeling unmotivated. Think about things that you have accomplished in the past. This can be big things like getting a promotion or smaller things like successfully making a meal you’ve been trying. When we complete something, it feels good. The reward pathway in our brain activates and we get that Rush of happiness chemicals. That’s why experts say it’s important for us to make our bed in the morning. Accomplishing this small task signals to the brain that you did something good and that you should feel good.

When you lack motivation, try to think about times when you saw something through. Think about what it felt like to finish that project no matter how big or small it was. Maybe you finished something at work, maybe you read a boring chapter in a book, or maybe you did a 30-day workout challenge. Whatever it is, hone in on those feelings of accomplishment. That can help boost your current motivation a lot.

Bonus Tip: Deep Breaths

When we’re under chronic stress, it’s kind of impossible to do anything. Chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation and chronic mental health issues that are debilitating, preventing us from doing even a basic task. Life comes down to the way we breathe.

By breathing a certain way, and taking long, deep, meaningful breaths, we hope to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the body that is responsible for homeostasis. In homeostasis, stability returns to the whole body. We feel more at ease, our digestion improves, our heart rate slows, our blood pressure drops, and our body repairs. Take deep, long, slow breaths. Calm down, clear your head, exist in the moment for a couple of seconds, and then come back to the present. You’ll feel better and maybe even find a bit of motivation to do what you need to do.

The Takeaway

We all don’t want to sometimes. We all lack motivation, we all feel tired, lethargic, and compromised. This doesn’t have to last forever. We can train our minds to feel more motivated. We can help ourselves by making simple daily changes and cultivating the results of those small actions. Sometimes finding motivation is as simple as breathing. Try out any of these tips and watch how wellness flourishes.

Remember, health always comes from within. Start by eating nutritious food, moving your body, exercising when you can, and caring for your mental health. These small daily changes and habits that you start to cultivate become the foundation for a life full of wellness. Don’t forget about the health of your microbiome, too! Gut microbiota affects everything in your body, from the skin to muscles to the immune system and mental health. Get all the resources you need about microbiota health for free here!