Lack of motivation is a problem for productivity. The trick to avoid it is simple according to science: start

Complete your goals and be more efficient with your time, both work and personal, may seem a complicated challenge, especially when procrastination is An incombustible threat that gets in your path.

Use small tricks for Encourage your motivation which serves as gasoline for Maintain productivity You can make a big difference in how you face your daily tasks. These are four strategies that can help you maintain your motivation and prevent distractions from moving away from your goals.

Completing tasks is already a motivation for your brain

According to Manu KapurProfessor of Learning Sciences and Higher Education at the ETH of Zurich and author of ‘PRODUCTIVE FAILURE‘, “We like to close paths. We like to finish what we start. In fact, we have a strong affective impact by completing what we have worked in “, He countedProfessor a Fastcompany.

This is corroborated by Zeigarnik Bluma Studies In 1927, which gave rise to the call Zeigarnik effect A condition of the brain that prioritizes the retention of that information you need to complete a certain task.

On the other hand, Maria Ovsiankina complemented Zeigarnik’s investigations in 1928 demonstratingThe natural tendency of the brain to finish those tasks that you have already started, Even when it is not mandatory to do so. He does it for an unstoppable need to close a door that was kept open.

Therefore, one of the Keys to maintain motivation To complete the tasks it is simply starting them. Take the first step. This is what Mel Robbins, speaker, creator of the podcast The Mel Robbins Podcast and author of the book ‘THE POWER OF THE 5 SECONDS: Be brave on a day to day and transform your life‘called in Your Ted talk“Activation energy”.

According to Robbins, the greatest ally for procrastination is immobility. Once You dedicate two minutes to a taskthe brain itself finds tools to stay in it until you finish it.

1- Divide tasks

One of the reasons why procrastine and the motivation to face tasks is lost is the overwhelming feeling that The task is too big. The solution could not be simpler: divide it into smaller and more manageable tasks.

This approach uses what Psychology experts Teresa M. Amabile and Steve J. Kramer have called “effect of progress.” In their research they analyzed thousands of employee labor newspapers and found that progress, even incremental, in their tasks is the most important factor to maintain labor motivation.

Every little achievement achieved release dopamine in the brainwhich activates a sense of reward, thus increasing the levels of motivation. Therefore, these completed tasks have a positive effect on emotional state and motivation, which increases productivity and commitment. Amabile and Kramer’s studies are the key that demonstrates the importance of dividing large goals into small steps to promote a constant sensation of progress.

2- Look back helps continue

If the task is longer than expected and you see that your motivation begins to falter, Kapur recommends Change the work perspective That you have to do, on the path you have already traveled.

“If you are very far from your goal of swimming 20 lengths, you can say: ‘I came to swim a long one. I have already made five more.’

This system is known as the gradient effect of the objective, and is a concept in psychology and motivation that describes how people tend to increase their effort and motivation as they come to achieve a goal. This phenomenon was initially studied by the Psychologist Clark L. Hull In 1932 and is widely applied to areas such as human behavior, marketing, productivity and personal goals.

A 2006 study Made by Kivetz, Urmininsky, and Zheng for the field of neuromarketing, revealed how consumers accelerated their purchases to complete rewards programs. In addition, research in the workplace have shown that, when employees come to complete a project, Its approach and productivity tends to increase.

Especially when you are at the beginning of the task, you can fall into the trap of looking towards an objective that obviously still remains far. That perspective acts as a brake for the first advice we gave you, so, to mitigate it, it is much more motivating to take a look at all the work you have already done and put it in value, in front of which it still remains to be done.

3- The fallacy of the sunk cost

Have you ever continued seeing a mediocre series or reading a book just because you have already started? Is what is considered Sunk cost fallacywidely cognitive bias studied in psychology and behavioral economy.

It refers to the human tendency to persist in a decision, activity or investment simply because we have already dedicated time, money or effort, even when your continuation It is not rational and leads to losses additional

Now imagine that, after many years of study, dedication and efforts, you are in a job that is not what you expected and It bores you tremendously. The fallacy of the sunk cost can make you believe that, since you have dedicated so much effort and dedication, you will not change work area to something that, perhaps, motivates you much more.

As his own name says, it is a fallacy. The “sunken cost” that represents the training or work done to reach your position is not something that is going to be lost, but adds points to your personal account as an experience, skills and knowledge that can be used in any other sector.

“Each recognition is valued and the effort is celebrated. The student realizes that it does not start from scratch, he has relevant previous knowledge, but that they need to be activated, extracted and registered in his mental progress,” says Professor Kapur.

4- The final sprint

Have you wondered how a marathon corridor, after having given everything for more than 42 km gets enough energy to tighten the rhythm in the last meters before the goal? It is the power of motivation that drives the brain to end a task when visualizing its goal.

That extra motivation contribution when you see that the end is already close is what guarantees that it will be completed and eliminates the uncertainty that has accompanied you throughout the process. It is made.

Leverage In your favor this sprint Final, that the brain generates almost subconsciously, is one of the simplest tricks, since it feeds on that instinctive desire of the brain of wanting to end the things that has begun. Therefore, it is a natural source of motivation. Finish things because: “Total for what I have left, I will not leave it halfway.”

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