Motivation Techniques For Reducing Depression Symptoms
Depression can complicate motivation and goal setting. You may have an idea of the tasks you must complete each day, but knowing may not be enough to get you started. When depression is impacting your daily life, there are a few ways you can move forward, including by learning about motivation and depression. In addition, you may benefit from learning new motivation techniques designed to reduce depressive symptoms in those living with depressive disorders.
Common signs that depression is impacting your motivation
A lack of motivation is a common symptom of depressive disorders. Below are some of the impacts you might experience if depression is changing your motivation levels.
Easy tasks seem impossible
When you experience depression, tasks that seemed easy for you may suddenly seem more difficult, if not impossible. For example, perhaps writing invoices is a part of your daily work. In the past, you've been able to complete this duty without much effort. However, when you're diagnosed with depression, you notice that the task starts to overwhelm you, causing you to lose your motivation to work at a job you used to love.
Your perceptions may change
How you perceive the world and people around you may change due to depression. This change applies not only to your way of thinking but also to the information you get from your senses. One potential perceptual difference is believing the world seems "grey" or "colorless." People who write about their depression in poems or stories may use this imagery to describe their symptoms of apathy, which can impact motivation.
You find negative meanings in daily occurrences
The meanings you take from your environment may change when you're depressed. For example, before your depression, your car might have meant freedom, the ability to earn a living and power. After being diagnosed or experiencing symptoms, you may see the car as a reminder of work you haven't done and places others expect you to be.
Bodily experiences may change
When you aren't depressed, you may move through your days thinking little about your body. If you want to get a paper off a desk across the room, you might not think about the movements you'll have to make to get it. Instead, you get up, grab it, and return to your task.
When you're depressed, you may be more aware of the effort of moving your body. Your body might seem heavier and awkward. Your chest might be tight or heavy. You may perceive each minor discomfort as more painful or disturbing. To motivate yourself, it can be helpful to address these body-awareness changes.
What is alienation from agency?
To function, individuals often require a solid sense of agency. Your sense of agency is your awareness that it is you who starts, executes, and controls your thoughts and bodily movements. When you are experiencing depression, you may become alienated from your sense of agency.
Alienation from agency involves a loss of connection between your will and previous behaviors. Finding motivation for daily tasks like personal hygiene or getting out of bed can be difficult without awareness.
When you have a strong desire, you may be more motivated to do whatever it takes to have the object or circumstance of your desire. When you're depressed, your desires may become dulled. You may lose interest in learning, achieving, and acquiring these situations. You might be less interested in meeting people and less time socializing with your friends or partner. Without that desire, motivation is not present.
Can self-beliefs impact motivation?
Regularly, your beliefs may tell you how to achieve what you want. Depression doesn't take away the beliefs you've had. However, it can be difficult to become interested in goals without the desire to follow through, even if you believe in them.
Depressive thoughts can dampen your motivation further. When you think life is hopeless, there may seem to be no reason to try to succeed. Trying to break out of your lethargy can seem scary when you're critical of yourself. Such thoughts can interfere with your ability to find the motivation to complete tasks.
Motivation techniques to reduce depression symptoms
Depression can be challenging, but there are ways to increase motivation despite it. Use the below motivation techniques in combination with motivational therapy to potentially boost your motivation.
Practice thought management
Depressive thoughts may seem like indisputable facts. You may believe your thoughts define your reality, and it can seem that you have no control over the thoughts that keep you from trying to accomplish a goal. To increase your motivation, try thought management.
When a thought comes to mind, consider its usefulness. Don't ask yourself whether it is true because your depression may make it difficult to ascertain this aspect. If the thought is not productive, let it pass from your consciousness without dwelling on it or examining it further. If you believe the thought has something important to teach you, consider talking about it outside of your daily schedule in therapy.
Kick start motivation in the morning
Starting a new day can seem overwhelming when you're depressed. Staying in bed can seem appealing when you believe you cannot complete every task on your agenda. To start your motivation kick, get up early and get out of bed.
You don't have to think about the day ahead when you take this step. Remind yourself that you can go back to bed later if you need to. The act of getting up can boost your energy to prepare you to shower, get dressed, or have breakfast, as well. However, don't push yourself if you're struggling. Getting out of bed can be enough, even without brushing your teeth or getting ready.
Don't give up on this technique. If you return to bed one day, try again the next day. You may find that your motivation increases gradually. If you're living with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), consider purchasing a light therapy lamp to keep near your bed and turn on for 30 minutes each morning.
Increase your physical activity
Research has consistently shown that physical activity decreases depression and increases motivation. If you struggle with exercise at first, you don't need to complete a high-intensity workout like training for a marathon or going to the gym. Instead, think small. Add movement throughout your day in manageable doses. Below are a few examples to try:
- After each hour of sitting or lying down, spend two minutes walking.
- While watching TV, stretch and flex your muscles during the commercials.
- Get out of your chair or couch when listening to music to dance.
- Set up exercise stations. Every hour, go to one of the stations and exercise for two minutes. Exercise stations might include a pair of dumbbells for arm curls, a jump rope for cardio, an exercise ball for balance, or a yoga mat for stretching.
Practice goal journaling
Goal journaling is a specific way of using a journal to focus on the future. Some people may use journals to write about their past or current feelings. However, goal journaling is about what you want to and could complete in the future. Don't think about whether you want to achieve your goals at this moment. Instead, consider whether you could complete these goals with motivation.
Sum up a possible goal in one sentence. Write down at least one goal each day, even if it seems impossible to achieve. Don't put pressure on yourself about following through with the goals. You don't need to read your journal back if it causes you stress. At the moment, the act of writing a goal may lead to a more positive frame of mind in the future, even if you choose not to pursue any of the goals in your journal. In addition, research has proven that journaling can improve mental health significantly.
Talk to a therapist about depression
A therapist may help you improve your mental health while living with depression. However, some individuals may struggle to reach out for support if they struggle with motivation and getting out of bed. In these cases, therapy from home through online platforms like BetterHelp.
Online cognitive-behavioral therapy can be effective in helping clients target negative thoughts that may contribute to a lack of motivation. In addition, a therapist can help you develop unique skills to change your daily routine. Online, you can choose between phone, video, or live chat sessions. After sessions, your therapist can send you worksheets, help you set goals, and recommend webinars or group sessions through the platform.
Studies also back up the effectiveness of online therapy. One study on internet mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) found that online therapy was as effective as in-person interventions in treating symptoms of depression and anxiety, which can often impact motivation levels.
Takeaway
What are some motivational techniques?
There are a variety of techniques that may help keep you motivated. These can include:
- Creating a Reward System: Based on the theory of operant conditioning, incentives or rewards function as extrinsic motivation that establishes positive consequences for completing a certain action. By creating incentives, you may be more inclined to finish a task in order to gain the benefits of that reward.
- Setting Reasonable Goals: Creating measurable goals can be another way to boost motivation. If you make your objectives too lofty or difficult, they will naturally be harder to reach. By making these goals more reasonable, you can get a smaller sense of achievement with each completed step.
- Asking for Feedback: If you are looking for motivation in a work or academic setting, it may help to ask for frequent feedback. Getting notes or comments about your work can provide actionable ways to improve, which may help to motivate you to achieve higher-quality results over time.
What motivation techniques are most effective?
There are a variety of motivational tools that can be effective depending on how and where they are implemented. For example, if you are hoping to motivate employees, some techniques that may be helpful include:
- Creating Clear Expectations: It may be challenging to keep your employees motivated if they don’t understand what is expected of them. By setting clear and achievable expectations, individuals may have a higher level of self-confidence in their ability to complete their tasks.
- Leading By Example: Leaders who exemplify desirable work traits may help to motivate subordinates by showing what effective behavior looks like. Motivating employees by example may manifest in a number of ways, including showing up to work early, exhibiting excellent communication skills, or handling conflict resolution in a thoughtful manner.
- Appreciating and Recognizing Achievement: Another often effective employee motivation technique involves recognizing your employees' achievements and showing your appreciation for their accomplishments. This employee engagement can come in the form of verbal praise, like telling someone they’ve done a good job, or material rewards, like a bonus or additional time off.
What are motivational techniques in teaching?
While the training programs and methods used by teachers may differ from other professions, there are several motivational techniques that may be particularly effective with students.
- Make a Connection: Students may be more motivated to complete assignments and participate if they have a meaningful relationship with their teacher. By getting to know your students and creating a respectful connection, you may help to establish a more conducive learning environment.
- Keep Lessons Interesting: It may be beneficial to ensure that your lessons remain engaging for students. This can be done in a variety of ways, including by using interesting videos and graphics, integrating games into lesson plans, or including assignments that involve discussing topics with the class.
- Use Incentives: Using rewards is a time-tested method for getting any individuals, including students, to reach certain goals. These rewards could take any form you believe would motivate your class, including extra credit, food-related incentives like a pizza party, or free time during school to do an activity of the student’s choosing.
What is the most basic motivation?
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the most basic form of motivation is physiological needs, including water, food, rest, and warmth. These needs constitute what is necessary for a human to survive. In many cases, the lack of one or more of these requirements would lead to excessive discomfort and, over enough time, death. Once these needs are met, higher needs, like safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization, can start to be fulfilled. This hierarchy would progress to safety next, which involves maintaining one’s health, acquiring resources, staying employed, and having a personal safety.
What are motivating factors?
The phrase “motivating factors” may refer to Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor motivation theory. This theory suggests that the workplace is governed by a set of factors, one pertaining to job satisfaction and the other relating to job dissatisfaction. These factors may be essential when considering employee motivation techniques, which could have a potentially positive effect on overall productivity. While the precise way someone can encourage employees to stay motivated may vary based on occupation and workplace culture, examples of motivators and demotivators may include the following.
Motivators
- Gratifying work
- Positive work environment
- Facilitation of career aspirations
- Fair compensation
- Profit sharing
- Opportunities for growth
- Employers who recognize achievements
Demotivators
- Toxic work relationships
- Poor work conditions
- Low pay
- A lack of job safety
- Complicated or counterintuitive company policies
What are the 6 C's of motivation?
Identified Julianne Turner and Scott G. Paris in their 1995 journal article How Literacy Tasks Influence Children’s Motivation for Literacy, The 6 C’s of motivation are Constructing Meaning, Choice, Control, Consequence, Collaboration, and Challenge.
- Constructing Meaning: Create meaning within work that illustrates the value of knowledge.
- Choice: Provide distinct choices to students that relate to both feeling and value.
- Control: Involve students in the decision-making and organization of the classroom.
- Consequence: Establish positive and negative consequences that allow for achievement to be appreciated and recognized.
- Collaboration: Offer ways for students to collaborate in order to enhance learning and thinking.
- Challenge: Create tasks that marginally exceed the current skill level of students in order to provide a challenge.
How do you motivate yourself?
There are a few potentially effective motivation methods that may be beneficial, including the following:
- Create a Schedule: Scheduling out your day or week can help you maintain momentum and avoid the stress of forgetting to complete certain tasks. Creating a schedule can also involve setting deadlines; as the deadline approaches, you may be more motivated to reach your goal.
- Take Regular Breaks: It can be difficult to focus on a task for long periods of time; by taking breaks, you can rest your mind in order to regain your motivation. This can be done through a few methods, including the Pomodoro technique, which involves working for 25-minute intervals and taking five-minute breaks in between.
- Break Tasks Down: Accomplishing large or long-term goals can be daunting and may lead to burnout or a lack of motivation. In order to avoid this, it can be helpful to set smaller, reasonable goals that work as stepping stones to complete your overall objective.
What are success techniques?
What techniques help you achieve success may vary based on your personal preference and specific goals. For example, it may be beneficial to form habits instead of waiting for inspiration or motivation to come about organically. There is a significant amount of literature about this subject, with one popular book on the topic being Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book can act as a guide on ways to establish healthy, long-term habits by identifying the stages that occur during habit formation and discussing the principles that govern behavioral change. Atomic Habits provides numerous tips for successful habit-building, including:
- If you are struggling to establish a habit, try changing your environment or how you think
- The destination isn’t everything. It's important to enjoy the process and avoid focusing entirely on the finish line or goal.
- Progress may come slowly, so don’t become impatient.
- Reward yourself for sticking to a habit, as this can help reinforce good behavior.
What is the mindset of a successful person?
One type of mindset often attributed to successful people is a growth mindset. Having this mindset typically means that a person believes the ability to complete a task or acquire knowledge in a specific field is possible for anyone willing to put in the effort to do so. This is the opposite of a fixed mindset, or the notion that skills and traits are generally static and unchangeable. These mindsets can apply to a number of situations; for example, individuals with a fixed mindset may view failure as a sign of an insurmountable challenge, while those with a growth mindset may believe they simply need to work harder in order to achieve their goals in the future.
What is the best motivational line?
Which motivational quotes are considered the best will likely vary on an individual basis. However, there are a few quotes that have been said to spark motivation and inspiration, including:
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” - Mark Twain
- “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” - Babe Ruth
- “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes. Understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success.” - Arianna Huffington
- “Everything you can imagine is real.” - Pablo Picasso
- “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” - Lewis Carroll
- “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” - Helen Keller
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