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What do your Monday morning thoughts look like?
I cannot do this entire week. I am so tired and burned out. How many days are left before my next vacation? How many client calls do I have today? Ughhhhhhhhh!
I’ll let you in on a secret. You’re not alone. The start of the work week feels like this for about 85 percent of the worldwide workforce.
Stress, overwhelm, and the state of the world have made it understandable lately if you’d rather curl up on the couch with a blanket and Netflix instead of crushing your to-do list. So how exactly can we figuratively (or literally) peel ourselves off the couch and find our motivation?
Can we really create new beginnings for ourselves through our own will? Today, we're taking from your courage reserve and striving for motivation that will last through today, tomorrow, and hopefully the whole week.
Spoiler alert: we're going to reach excellence, too.
The Science of Motivation
To better understand how to find motivation, we have to first understand the answer to the question, "What is motivation?" There are two different types of motivation that build your momentum: intrinsic and extrinsic.
What Is Intrinsic Motivation?
Psychology Today defines intrinsic motivation as “a drive that comes purely from within; it’s not due to any anticipated reward, deadline, or outside pressure. Intrinsic motivation is powerful because it is integrated into identity and serves as a continuous source of motivation.”
An example of intrinsic motivation is running because you enjoy it instead of running to win an award (like the medal you get for crossing the finish line).
What Is Extrinsic Motivation?
On the other hand, extrinsic motivation would be running to receive a medal or praise from onlookers at a race. According to Psychology Today, “Extrinsic motivation is any reason someone does work other than the joy of doing the work itself. Anything promised for completing the task or received as a result of completing the task are extrinsic motivators.”
According to psychologist Victor Vroom, extrinsic motivation needs three elements to be successful: (1) expectancy, (2) instrumentality, and (3) valence.
Expectancy believes that increasing your effort will lead to an increase in your performance. Instrumentality believes that better performance will be rewarded and noted by others. Valence is the desire for the reward that is promised.
How to Make Your Motivation More Intrinsic
When it comes to your career, you may be extrinsically motivated because you receive a paycheck and benefits, but your intrinsic motivation may come from working for a company whose values and beliefs align with your personal values.
Realistically, extrinsic motivation isn’t always available, so it can’t always be relied on to get you through the day. Learning to channel your intrinsic motivation can be the difference between daydreaming and doing. How do you become a so-called "person of value" by using your own motivators? Here are a few suggestions to connect with your intrinsic motivation.
Reconnect With Your Why
Why do you wake up and do what you do every day? What do you consider fulfilling? Why do you choose to spend 40 hours a week at your job? What do you consider the components of a great day?
Reconnect with your why and define your purpose. Life gets in the way, and our reason for accomplishing our everyday activities can fall to the wayside. Spending a few minutes reminding yourself why you’re on the path you’re on can reignite your drive in and out of the workplace.
Reset Your Mind
Our days and lives are filled with a lot of noise and distractions, from social media to the news to the demands of our jobs. It adds up, and it can be overwhelming. Spend some time to clear your mind in a way that works for you. Take time for some self-care.
If your wandering thoughts tend to skew to the negative, then start by finding small positive things throughout your day. Did you wake up this morning to a comfy bed? Boom! You've got one. Turn the act of counting your own blessings into a daily habit. By simply paying attention to the positive, you're rewiring your mind and gaining a new perspective on the day.
Engage in physical activity, meditate, journal, or sit in stillness with a cup of coffee to reset your mind and reengage your intrinsic motivation. Even finding a moment before the new week to write down your goals, priorities, and things coming up that you may be excited about can help reframe your perspective.
Reorganize Your Environment and Routine
Our daily life and activities often get stale. We get comfortable and complacent, and as a result, we lose our drive and motivation. It makes us hit our snooze buttons and makes Mondays more difficult.
Try rearranging your furniture, working in a new location (or working outside!), or starting your day thirty minutes early. Physically changing what you’re doing and how you’re doing it can reinvigorate your daily routine and reenergize your motivation.
20 Motivational Monday Quotes to Get You Started
I know what you’re thinking. Motivational quotes are cheesy.
While they can be, there’s actually science behind why they work. Inspirational quotes give us the same feeling of accomplishment as actually doing something.
So while we’re not completing the task itself, motivational quotes can give us that much-needed push in the right direction. Here are fifteen motivational quotes to get your week started off right.
Get your post-it notes ready for these Monday motivation quotes:
- “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.” — Maya Angelou
- “You just gotta keep going and fighting for everything, and one day you'll get to where you want.” — Naomi Osaka
- “There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women.” — Malala
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
- “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank
- “Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.” — Zig Ziglar
- "Okay, it's Monday but who said Mondays have to suck? Be a rebel and have a great day anyway" — Kimberly Jiménez
- “Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward.” — Oprah Winfrey
- "We are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.” — Barack Obama
- “There are many opportunities in every single day, and Monday is the perfect day to seize them all.” — Isabella Koldras
- “As scary as change can be and as much as I might resist it, there’s always some unknown gift that comes out of it. I really never thought you could begin again. You can.” — Debra Messing
- “If each Monday morning, you make a choice to move into the new work week with renewed commitment and passion, you can change all areas of your life. You can truly change your Mondays and change your life.” — David Cottrell
- "Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." — Helen Keller
- "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work." — Stephen King
- “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” — Oscar Wilde
- “Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” — Albert Einstein
- “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day goes on.” — Charles Dickens
- "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." — Will Rogers
- "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." — Aristotle
- “Success is to wake up each morning and consciously decide that today will be the best day of your life.” — Ken Poirot
11 Ways to Set Yourself Up for a Motivated Monday
The number of people who love Mondays is few and far between. For those of us that have a love-hate relationship (or maybe just a pure hate relationship) with Monday, starting and getting through the day can be a challenge.
While we can’t ensure that every Monday is going to be a perfect day, there are some things we can do to boost ourselves up for a brand new day and start of the work week.
1. Get a Head Start
Preparing for a motivated Monday and a good week starts ahead of time.
This means setting yourself up for success on Friday before you sign off for the day or taking a few moments on Sunday night to prepare for the week ahead. There’s nothing worse than starting your Monday wondering what’s on your to-do list and where you left off the week before.
2. Make Your To-Do List + Prioritize It
To-do lists can feel daunting, especially when tasks pile up. But in order to take on the most important things for the day, you have to assess everything that’s on your plate.
The act of creating a to-do list gets everything out of your head and onto paper and gives you a visual aid to begin prioritizing. This can look like making a list and actually number tasks in order of importance.
You know what makes you most productive and motivated. Maybe crossing off a big to-do will motivate you to tackle more tasks. Or maybe starting on small tasks in the morning helps to motivate you to start on a big project in the afternoon.
Either way, you’re getting things done and making forward progress. Decide on where you want to start on Monday morning so you’re setting yourself up for success.
3. Get a Good Night's Sleep
Sleep is everything. A good night’s sleep leaves you feeling refreshed, recharged, and ready to hit the ground running on Monday morning. Plus, getting a consistent good night's sleep directly equates to a healthier life.
The Sunday Scaries can derail your attempt at a restful night, but do your best to combat the feeling and focus on the positive things in the upcoming week.
4. Infuse Creativity Whenever and Wherever You Can
Remember playing pretend as a kid?
When playing "pretend," it wasn't about making the most money or having the most success. It was about escaping for a moment; it was about creating new worlds that made you smile and explode with more creativity. As kids, it seemed like we had a well of creativity that could last forever.
Get some of that energy back. Where can you infuse creativity into your day? Can you solve problems and conquer obstacles at work using a set of skills you don't normally use? When creating a weekly report, could you include small drawings to delight the ten other employees who are struggling in their boredom?
Champion creativity—from yourself and from team members around you—by infusing it into your work. See if you can refill that well with new opportunity and a renewed enthusiasm for your work.
5. Dress for the Part
You’ve prepped, you’ve slept, and now it’s time to get dressed. I get it. Getting dolled up can feel pointless, especially if you work remotely. But dressing for work tricks your brain into thinking it’s work time, which can motivate you into productivity.
6. Schedule Something to Look Forward to
If you’re trying to get through Monday and you have nothing to look forward to the rest of the week, it’s going to make the day feel even longer and leave you unmotivated. Schedule something to look forward to later in the day or the week to help keep your morale up.
It can be as small as a ten-minute walk once you complete a task or a glass of wine when you sign off for the day, or a larger reward like a dinner with friends or treating yourself to a new pair of leggings.
7. Focus on One Task at a Time
Everything is a distraction these days. The ding of emails, the ping of Slack, your social media apps constantly tempting you.
It’s hard to focus. But do your best to only work on one task at a time. Respond to that one email you’ve been putting off or spend one hour dedicated to a project. Once your head's down on one task, your motivation will snowball into knocking out the rest of your list.
8. Take Breaks
Just as it’s impossible to work 24/7, it’s nearly impossible to work eight hours straight without taking a break.
Taking a five-minute break from your computer screen, a ten-minute walking break, or a quick bathroom break gives us that needed time for our minds to rest, wander, and refresh so we’re ready to go when we get back to our desks.
9. Give Yourself Grace
Mondays can be hard. Just ask Garfield.
You’ve had two days of freedom, and now you need to buckle down and get to work. As with any day of the week, everything could be going great until you get that one call or one email that upends it all. Give yourself grace that these things happen, and you will make it through.
Mondays don’t have to be your favorite day of the week, but know that once you make it through, there are only four more days until the weekend.
10. Listen to Motivational Podcasts or Music
Listening to motivational podcasts, music, or audiobooks can really set the tone for the day ahead. It can help lift your mood and energy levels, making you feel more motivated to tackle whatever comes your way.
Whether it's an upbeat song that gets you pumped up or a podcast that shares inspiring stories and tips, it can stimulate your brain to release feel-good chemicals that can help you feel more positive and ready to take on the world. We might be biased, but if you're looking for a career-boosting podcast, check out The Career Contessa Podcast.
11. Take Advantage of Motivation Tools
Nowadays, there are a plethora of apps and websites that can help you stay motivated. Here are just a few that you can check out:
- The Fabulous: This app is designed to help you build healthy habits and routines, and stay motivated to stick to them.
- Headspace: Headspace is a meditation app that offers guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, and other tools to help you reduce stress, improve focus, and stay motivated.
- Habitica: If you love gaming, this app could be fore you. Habitica is an app that turns your daily goals and habits into a role-playing game, where you earn points and rewards for completing tasks and staying on track.
- Forest App: Forest is a productivity app that helps you stay focused in the moment by planting virtual trees as you work. If you leave the app to check social media or other apps, your tree will wither and die.
- TED Talks: Watching an inspirational TED talk on a topic that interests you is a guaranteed way to boost your motivation. Hear from experts in various fields, including personal development, motivation, and self-improvement. We've even made a few roundups of some of our favorite TED Talks.
- Mission: Motivation: Career Contessa has an entire course on rooting out procrastination habits and achieving healthy motivation. In it, we guide you through how to set up intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to help you achieve your goals. We also cover some common de-motivators and how to avoid them at work.
