No doubt, the impact of the pandemic is already taking a devastating toll on thousands of people. The youth being one of the most targeted.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our lives in a host of ways. It has disrupted every aspect of our lives. Even before the onset of the crisis, the social and economic integration of young people was an ongoing challenge. And after months of being stuck inside, restraining exposure to friends and family, and managing responsibilities at home and at work, it’s no surprise that many of us are dealing with frustration, anger, and more. We all find ourselves in that situation, where we don’t feel like we can handle what’s happening anymore and we’ve lost motivation to even try, we are not alone. Putting ourselves under a tremendous amount of stress, with increasing responsibilities, and stripping ourselves of our support networks is a new recipe for burnout and breakdown, which eventually leads to losing motivation.
Honestly, Understanding that motivation, being an important attribute, teaches us that it’s not something we lose or find, it’s always there and we just need to be conscious about it.
Two of the tasks of a youth to develop social skills, is empathy and a sense of identity. Both of these tasks happen through interactions with people. Disconnecting from social outlets and people will have some indication of a setback when we return to the social settings, hampering one’s motivation.
But we all have a choice, don’t we? We can either succumb to the pressure and give up, or we can fight for our career, our motivation, our life and of course our mental health. If we had to choose the first option, guaranteed failure, because there is no hope. The later option would give us the opportunity to innovate, to succeed and also grow stronger through what we overcome.
Everything that is happening with us right now should be used as an opportunity to become a more resilient person and should have the motivation to achieve our goals, despite everyday being a challenge. Instead of being crushed by the weight of it, approaching life with a sense of hope and persistence that motivates us to not only get through, but also thrive through the process.
So how do we do that?
- Set Clear Goals:
Without something substantial to work towards, it could be difficult to stay focussed and on course. Setting goals for yourself will not only boost motivation and help in maintaining it. Setting daily goals help us to become aspiring as well as acquirable. If we set a high goal, it will end up making us frustrated and we won’t be making any timely progress towards maintaining it. We should aim for the goal that pushes us everyday to work hard for it and accomplish it. Breaking a larger goal into smaller goals can be used as milestones and with every milestone that we complete, it will boost our motivation.
- Doing the most frustrating challenging task first thing in the day:
Doing the most frustrating tasks at the beginning of the day will serve two purposes, you will get it out of the way and it won’t be wandering about, in your mind throughout the day. This will keep you motivated to continue working on the tasks that were much easier in comparison.
- Change Routine
If we work on an autopilot mode, it’s easy to lose motivation as each will feel like the previous day. With fewer options to break your routines due to pandemic restraints, changing routine becomes important to keep oneself motivated. Always aim for one change at a time.
- Prioritize your Mental Health
Taking care of your stress levels and anxieties during the pandemic is of vital importance. Look for your blocks, if you are feeling demotivated. Incorporate exercising, eating healthy and also not to forget taking breaks. Maintaining eight hours of sleep every night. Limit social media usage and do things that make you happy, be it listening to music or meditating or could be anything of your choice that keeps you sane.
- Set Small Goals
It is important to recognise that the pandemic isn’t like normal times and your productivity is likely to not be at it’s best, which is okay. Then how do you make your days productive? Setting small goals daily will help in making your days as productive as possible. Setting small goals will help you be organized and motivated throughout the day, as you will achieve them faster.
What motivates people often varies, but to set a level of inspiration that will stay, one will need to be clear with one’s own values, like things that make one’s life complete, what is it that gives meaning to one’s values. Recognizing them will help you stay motivated, even when times get rough. Once the motivation is lost, Motivation isn’t going to come rushing back at once, but if we focus on incorporating these actions every day, one will be on the right path to finding motivation again.