Boost Motivation by Focusing on Why You Need to Complete a Task
When you realize that you need to do something, you probably think to yourself, “I have to do this soon .” But this type of thinking undermines your motivation in two ways: by disrupting your sense of time and by depriving you of urgency.
A recent study by the University of Toronto , published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , suggests that you can increase your productivity by focusing on why, not when, or even how. Part of the problem lies in how we estimate time in our minds based on relative estimates such as “soon” instead of objective units such as “days.” And even when we use objective estimates of time, we can still fall back on the abstract, thinking of time frames as “now,” “soon,” or “later.” When you do this, your objective assessments do not necessarily match your relative ones. What does “soon” really mean to you? Is this someday today? Tomorrow? Or is it in a few weeks? It may depend on the task, but it is clear that such a strategy cannot be relied upon.
Study lead author Jing Hu provides some tips for scheduling your tasks. First, start with concrete thinking and avoid vague, abstract thinking. Use objective units to plan for when something needs to be done, and then set yourself in the right mood to maintain a sense of urgency. Ask yourself why you need to complete this task, and then hold on to that thought or mark it on your schedule as a reminder.
This works for larger work projects, but is also effective for something as simple as using an expiring gift card. Typical thinking would be, “Oh, I have to use this soon.” But you better think, “Oh, if I don’t take advantage of this next week, it will expire.” Now there is a specific deadline and a clear reason why this should be done. It puts just enough pressure that you can actually use it in time.