How to avoid six leadership decision traps
Explore six common leadership decision traps and proven remedies to improve outcomes, from precise problem framing to securing lasting team buy-in....
Brain Circuits
5 surprising ways to spark your motivation
Some challenges – lurking danger, an important deadline, or a value under threat – need no incentive to leap into action. Here’s what to do when the challenge is not so urgent and motivation is lacking.
Why we put off certain challenges
We all know what these are: the email that needs a response, the report that needs writing, the meeting that needs scheduling. The problem is that the very lack of urgency means there is no adrenaline to stimulate your system, no visible reward, and no obvious cost today – just a quiet voice, slowly cranking the volume up. But why wait until the noise grows so loud your conscience starts to hurt? Here are five small actions to get the ball rolling – and none need conviction to work.
1. Think small
Identify the smallest next move you can make (opening the file counts). Your watchword here: doing something is better than doing nothing. This one matters more than it looks. Psychologists call the counter behavior “inaction inertia” – there is a real cost to doing nothing, because it establishes a precedent that reduces the odds of acting the next time you contemplate doing the same task.
2. Zoom in
Find one part of the task you actually like doing. Maybe it’s where you get to make the chart in the report look sharp. Start here – not because it’s important, but because it’s entry.
3. Zoom out
Connect to the bigger picture: your colleague’s relief when the report lands in their inbox, the sense of freedom you get from not having to carry it into the weekend (again), or what finishing it frees you up to do next.
4. Redirect the friction
In physics, friction is the force acting between two surfaces that are trying to move across each other – and it always works in the direction opposed to the direction in which the object wants to move. So, redirect the mental friction surrounding the task toward your “escape routes”: put the report’s raw material where your hand naturally lands, and put your phone somewhere your hand doesn’t.
5. Move!
Move your body before you change your mind. Movement pushes blood (and with it, oxygen) to the brain, which supports the alertness and focus that weak motivation starves. A few stairs, some lively music, a stretch – or, where privacy allows, a few brain-gym exercises to reset both hemispheres.
Key takeaway
When motivation is lacking, doing something – anything at all, provided that it’s relevant to the task or challenge – is always better than doing nothing. The nagging voice tends to go quiet once you start.
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