I believe that when you have something that feels that way when you focus on how much you’re dreading it, it makes you want to do it even less. We can also get caught in the loop of that, which just makes us feel worse.

There are a few things I suggest you can try instead to motivate yourself when you do find yourself procrastinating, or putting off something that you don’t really feel like doing, but ultimately do want to do. You can try this with things that feel big or important, as well as smaller, day-to-day things.

First, you can ask yourself, “How can I have fun doing this?”. For example, with me and mopping the floor, if I listen to music at the same time or listen to a podcast it shifts the energy of it for me.

Asking yourself how to have fun doing something gives you the space to come up with ways to make that thing more fun, instead of getting bogged down in all the reasons you dislike it, or in the feeling of not wanting to do it.

If you’re dreading or putting off doing something that feels important, or feels scary, think about what you need to feel resourced and energised before you approach it.

Then make the time to recharge and get into a headspace and mindset that feels resourced before you do it, rather than trying to push yourself to do something that feels hard when you are running on empty.

Finally, you can ask yourself, “Why is doing this important to me?”. Plugging into your reason for doing something, and your end goal can make it a lot easier to do the task in a way that feels lighter and easier.

Also, sometimes, you might see that you’re giving yourself a hard time about finding it hard to get motivated about something that’s not important to you when you do think about it more deeply.

When I coach people, I see this, and I help them check how important something is to them when it comes to being motivated or not, and I’d encourage you to do the same.

Ask yourself how important something really is to you if you are finding it hard to do. If you find it’s not important to you or doesn’t really matter to you, it’s not surprising that you’re struggling or not doing it.