Let’s get obvious out of the way and head straight to business. We are not robots and cannot work all the time. There are occasions when we feel lazy and simply feel tired. The urge to sit back watch YouTube all day, stare at the wall or simply lay in bed and rest awakens. All you will need is a decent internet provider and a device capable of using. No work, no responsibilities no bills. Enough of fantasies and back to reality, we all have responsibilities and this is not something that everyone can do without much worry.

It may be okay to lay back once in a while but what if becomes a recurring event? It leaves you wondering, why is this happening? Your efficiency is at an all-time low, office work, chores, bills, and anxiety have started to pile up. But you still can’t figure out the problem. Here’s a thought, maybe you are demotivated. This simple yet old issue may be the reason behind all this.

We understand that locating the underlying reason for the demotivation isn’t easy. It takes a little soul searching and out of the box thinking to do so. The job is not easy as there so many things that’ll be running around in your mind. This is exactly the reason why we have lined a few of the things that may have you demotivated. That’s not just it, we have added a small remedy for you to break the cycle and get going again.

1. Not good enough for you

Apart from all the reasons mentioned above, there are a few others. A little more serious. Whether the task at hand is a healthy challenge or not will determine your motivation. Daniel Pink and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi shared this view in their work “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”. They say that challenges have an optimal level. Too great a challenge brings along the burden of failure and dents the motivation. A small challenge will simply be too easy. This result in boredom and motivation is a task.

The human race is a creation that constantly needs challenges. They help us improve and get better. It helps to attain new skills and become a better, more productive part of society. The right challenge will keep the Essential Self-stays at its toes and we are motivated.

The solution:

Now you know that the goal or the project at hand is not right for you. You need to identify whether the challenge is too steep or too easy. Does the challenge demand you to grow or asks you to lower your game? Once certain what the real issue is, you can now then adjust your goals and tweak your tasks to get back on track.

2. Fear

We’ve identified that too big a task will induce fear and that is a demotivation factor. There is a chance that you chose a task yourself knowing it is too big for you. Even then a part of you stays reluctant and holds back. This makes you analyze and reanalyze the situation which slows you down. This cautious approach pulls you in slumber and hence demotivation. You may be excited and energetic to take up the challenge. The inner self will continue to be cautious and know the reality will try and pull you to safety. This ultimately will eat up the energy and enthusiasm and you will find yourself at the crossroads under discussion.

The solution:

We are not really going to ask you to run away. Instead, the way to go ahead is to deal with the fear. The first step in any troubleshooting is the identification of the problem. Once done, you need to ask yourself what drives this fear. Ask yourself about the possible outcomes and see your fears slip away!

3. Vague

Knowing exactly what you’re doing is important. A vague picture of what you’re doing leads to a lot of questions, confusions and a blurred picture of the possible outcome. We like to know and this light keeps us on track. We fear what we know not. This lack of clarity leads to demotivation. Why? Simply because the human mind like to stay in a familiar zone of reality.

The solution:

Knowing what you don’t want is not enough. The knowledge and awareness of what you really want is the way to go. You need to let go of the tasks that are vague and do not project a clear picture. Grab on to the tasks and goals that make sense and make a clear image of the future. This should get you going in the right direction.

4. Conflicting values

All of us live a certain code. All of them combined together to form a set of values. These values are important to everyone. No one can satisfy all their values in every given situation but a few of them can certainly be adhered to.

This conundrum is like you are to a lot of ropes. These ropes pull you towards them, all at the same time. This makes the task at hand difficult and makes it hard to concentrate. You may find the will and energy to focus and move on but then again hit the pitfall of demotivation. This conflicting situation coupled with a stop-start approach quickly tires you out and drains your energy.

The solution:

No one can ask you to change your values. Dropping the task altogether is not the solution either. What needs to be done is that you need to mediate between the values and tasks. You get to negotiate with them and bring them on some common ground. This will help you ease the conflict.

A simple way to do would be drawing a comparison. Garb a paper and pencil and start writing. Draw up the conflicting parts against each other with brief descriptions. Having done that analyze why does a part want something certain. Dig into details and logic. Do the same on the other side as well.

You will have to keep asking questions until to actually find out what the actual aim is. More often than not, you will find the same reason behind both sides of the arguments. This then should eliminate the conflict and steer you back to motivation.


Everyone’s not the same and have a distinct personality. Not everyone can step on the gas and race on. There are those amongst us that need a reason and things should make sense. Then there are those that need breaks and find it back to recreate the momentum where they left off. Then there are those trying to find the right way and difficulty. Ni matter who we are motivation plays a vital role in task completion. These tasks aren’t always work-related but can also be chores and small things such as doing the laundry as well. Find the reason and address them. These are just a few problems with solutions. You can have your own version of them. Know yourself your troubles and hustle on!

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