Eight ways to boost your motivation for work, exercise and everything in between

New goals and resistance go hand in hand, so try these science-backed strategies to help you stay on track, writes Peta Bee

Listening to upbeat music while running can help you keep going for longer. Pictures: iStock

Struggling to motivate yourself to reach your new-year goals? Simple hacks can revive your enthusiasm for everything from work to exercise. Here’s how to prime yourself to keep going.

Wear an activity tracker to cover more daily steps

Using a fitness tracker can lead to higher activity levels, while meeting up with friends helps to maintain your exercise mojo.

If you find it difficult to clock up enough daily steps to benefit your health — anything around 7,000 daily steps is a reasonable target — then slip on a fitness tracker as it might motivate you to walk an extra 40 minutes daily, according to researchers at the University of South Australia.

They reviewed almost 400 studies involving 164,000 people and identified a link between using fitness trackers and higher activity levels across all adult age groups.

Reporting in the Lancet Digital Health journal, the team showed that people wearing trackers clocked an extra 1,800 daily steps, which led to an average 1kg additional weight loss over five months compared to those who didn’t track their steps.

Listen to some tunes to help you work harder at the gym

Costas Karageorghis, a professor of sport and exercise psychology and head of Brunel University London’s sound and vision innovations group, says music is a powerful motivator for many people. His studies have shown that it can help prime us for exercise. Many of our bodily rhythms, including heart rate and brainwaves, ‘lock into’ music in a positive way, so we sync our stride and movement patterns with it when we run, walk, or lift weights.

“We now know music affects deep parts of the brain, influencing mood so our experience of exercise is altered,” says Karageorghis. “Music won’t stop your lungs burning and muscles aching but it might influence how you feel that discomfort so you keep going for longer.”

Songs with strong motivational lyrics and a fast tempo work best. In research involving 34 footballers from a Premier League club, Karageorghis found they benefited from music to simulate and regulate emotion before playing.

“We found evidence that music affected psychological responses such as self-confidence and motivation.”

It can do the same for you. Any tune that brings out the hero in you is good.

Set smaller goals

A prime reason for throwing in the towel before achieving any goal is because it seems out of reach.

“It is important to set long and short-term goals as both motivate different measures,” says performance psychologist Dearbhla McCullough, based in Belfast, Mayo, and London.

If your goal is to run a marathon, reward yourself each time you achieve an interim goal.

“If you don’t recognise the smaller achievements along the way, the bigger goals are less likely to be realised,” McCullough says.

Try the three-minute carrot technique

If you lack the motivation to start a new hobby or exercise plan, try dangling a three-minute carrot before your eyes. That is the advice of Dr Jennifer Wild, a consultant clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Oxford.

“Giving yourself permission to try something new for just three minutes, then to reassess how you are feeling, can be a great motivator to getting started,” Wild says. “It presents a guilt-free clause and with something manageable to try.” So aim to jog or power walk for three minutes rather than 5k, or practise meditating for three minutes rather than 10 minutes — you might find you are motivated to do more.

Get seven to eight hours of sleep a night

Sleeping seven to eight hours a night improves brain

Getting too little sleep hampers brain activity and can reduce cognitive motivation — that’s your brain’s willingness and ability to get things done — according to researchers from Monash University in Australia, reporting in the Nature and Science of Sleep journal.

If you are feeling chronically fatigued after repeated nights of little sleep, you are more likely to lose motivation and want to take a
break from whatever you are doing, discovered another study from the University of Birmingham and University of Oxford.

“We found people’s willingness to exert effort fluctuated moment by moment but gradually declined as they repeated tasks over time,” says Tanja Muller, a researcher in experimental psychology. “Such changes in motivation seem to be related to fatigue and sometimes make us decide not to persist.”

Getting seven to eight hours of sleep could boost motivation powers.

Talk to yourself more positively

Often, we crush motivation with negative self-talk even before we get started. Rather than being your own harshest critic, cut yourself some slack with kind words.

“Avoid using words and phrases such as ‘should’, ‘must’, ‘have to’ as they have negative connotations,” McCullough says. “Try gently persuading yourself with positive affirmations such as, ‘I know I’ll feel better if I get this done,’ or ‘Imagine how good I will feel if I try,’ as small adjustments in self-talk can be hugely powerful.”

Meet up with friends to maintain your exercise mojo

Recruit friends to ensure you maintain your mojo

We all know motivation to exercise can dwindle once January has passed, so recruit friends to go for a walk, cycle, or swim to ensure you maintain your mojo. Exercise scientists at Kean University in the US reported that inactive people who interacted through doing regular exercises felt more motivated to increase their physical activity levels. However, those who were less socially engaged ended up exercising less overall.

“Having an unwritten contract to meet friends for exercise is one of the most powerful motivators,” McCullough says. “You are much more likely to carry on if you don’t want to let other people down.”

Do things you enjoy

Whether it’s a group exercise class, tending to a herb garden, painting, or learning to knit, finding a hobby you enjoy is key to staying motivated. A study published in Sport and Exercise Psychology Researchreported that people who did exercise that was simple and felt good claimed they were highly motivated to carry on.

“Stop trying to force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy,” says McCullough. “It’s so much easier to devote time to something that absorbs your attention, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find a pastime that works for you.”