MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES

• HANDLE PROCRASTINATION

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” —

ANTI-PROCRASTINATION SHEET

This technique helps improve your negative assumptions. List the tasks you need to perform. Predict the difficulty and your satisfaction on a scale of 100. After performing the tasks, write down your actual difficulty and your actual satisfaction.

.• Step 1 – Create the Anti-procrastination Sheet.

Draw five lines down a piece of paper. This will divide the sheet into 6 columns.

• Label the columns: Date, Activity, Predicted Difficulty (0-100%), Predicted Satisfaction (0-100%), Actual Difficulty (0-100%), Actual Satisfaction (0-100%).

• Step 2 – List your tasks. • Break the activity down into small steps (chunk it up.)• Step 3 – List your predicted difficulty and predicted

satisfaction. Write your predictions down using a 0- to- 100 percent scale, how difficult and rewarding each step would be.

• Step 4 – List your actual difficulty and actual satisfaction. Completing each step, write down how difficult and rewarding it actually was.

"EVERY VICE HAS ITS EXCUSE READY.”

Excuses you make!!!!

Butt-Rebuttal Method

• This technique is a way to deal with excuses you make where you talk yourself out of things.

• For example, you could work out today “But.” • To use this technique, you write down the tasks you want

to do. • You then write down your “but” excuses. • Next, you write a rebuttal for each excuse. • This works because you’re giving yourself a response to

your excuses, rather than having to deal with them on the fly.

• It’s also a way to remind yourself of why you are doing what you’re doing.

.• Step 1. Create the But-Rebuttal table.

According to Burns, to create your But-Rebuttal table:• Draw a line down a sheet of paper to create two columns.• Label the columns: "But Column", "But Rebuttal"• Step 2. Write down your but statement.

According to Burns, write down your but statement for a task you need to do, but are find yourself coming up with objections.

• Step 2. Write down your but rebuttal. According to Burns, write down a but rebuttal. For example, “I’ll feel more like it once I get started. “ or “When I’m done, I’ll feel terrific.”

• Step 3. Continue this process until you’ve run out of excuses. According to Burns, after your but rebuttal, you will likely think of another objection. Write that objection down, then fight back with a new rebuttal.

Can’t Lose System

• This technique is a way to combat your fear of failure.

• It works by listing your fears, exposing distorted thinking, and identifying ways to cope.

• To use it, first, list your worst case fears. • Next, rationalize your list. • Finally, identify coping strategies and fallback plans. • By thinking on paper, you can be more objective

about your fears as well as more creative in terms of finding potential solutions.

.• List your worst case fears. • Start by listing your worst case fears. This gets them

out of your head and down on to paper where you can analyze them.

• Rationalize your list. • Look at the list objectively and identify how realistic

they really area or how you might be blowing some things out of proportion.

• Identify coping strategies. • Figure out some fallback strategies and coping

mechanisms.

Make a List of What Would Happen If You Failed

• “You may feel hesitant to put your can’ts to the test because you don’t want to run the risk of failure. If you don’t run any risks, at least you can maintain the secret belief that you’re basically a terrific person who’s decided for the time being not to get involved.

• Behind your aloofness and lack of commitment lurks a powerful sense of inadequacy and the fear of failure. The ‘Can’t Lose’ System will help you combat this fear.

• Make a list of the negative consequences you might have to deal with if you took a risk and actually did fail. Then expose the distortions in your fears, and show how you could cope productively even if you did experience a disappointment.”

Count What Counts

• This technique is a way to improve your self-confidence and remind yourself of the positive actions you take each day.

• To use it, you simply either use a wristwatch counter and click each time you take a positive action, or you use a notebook and write it down.

• As simple as this technique is, it retrain your brain to pay attention to the positive actions you take each day, which are easy to miss if you’re not counting them. This gives you a more balanced view and helps build confidence in your ability to perform actions.

.• Key Take Aways

• Count what counts. • Step one is to decide to count your positive actions. It’s easy

for your positive actions to go unnoticed. It really depends on what you focus your mind on.

• Log your positive actions. • By counting your positive actions either by writing them down

or using a simple write counter, you train your brain to notice and value your positive actions.

• Count Your Positive ActionsOver a several week period, notice the daily score increase. Every time you click the counter, remind yourself that you are in control of your life, and in this way, train yourself to notice what you did do. You will feel increased self-confidence, and view yourself as a more capable being.

"IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE LAST MINUTE, I WOULDN’T GET ANYTHING DONE.”

Daily Activity Schedule

• This technique is for breaking out of a lethargy cycle and to get motivated again for basic activity.

• To use it, you list the activities you plan to get done for the day.

• Identify whether each activity is for mastery or for pleasure.

• After your activities, rate them as from 0 – 5, where 0 is low and 5 is high.

• This technique helps you find the joy in things you do, and refocuses you on simple pleasures and simple mastery.

.• By scheduling your day and comparing results, you

become aware of how you spend your time. This helps you take charge of your life.

• The Daily Activity Schedule works for the following reasons:

1. It undercuts our tendency to obsess about the value of various activities and to debate counterproductively about whether or not to do something.

2. Accomplishing even part of your schedule will in all probability give you some satisfaction.

3. You can develop a balanced program that provides pleasurable leisure activities as well as work. If you feel blue, add more fun in your schedule.

.• Step 1 – Create the Daily Activity Schedule table.

Draw two lines down the center of a piece of paper to divide it into thirds.• Label the left-hand column “Time.”• Label the middle column “Prospective”• Label the right-hand column “Retrospective”• Step 2 – Fill out the Prospective column.

In this step, you list your activities. In the prospective column, write out an hour-by-hour plan for what you would like to accomplish. Your plans don’t need to be elaborate. Just put one to two words in each time slot to indicate what you’d like to do, such as “dress,” “each lunch”, “prepare resume” … etc. It should not take more than five minutes to do this.

• Step 3 – Fill out the Retrospective column. In this step, you compare your results. At the end of the day, fill out the retrospective column.

• Write down your actual activities. Record in each time slot, what you actually did during the day. This may be the same as or different from what you actually planned: nevertheless, even if it was just starting at the wall, write it down.

• Label each activity with an M for Mastery or a P for Pleasure. Mastery activities are those which represent some accomplishment, such as brushing your teeth, cooking dinner, driving to work, etc. Pleasure might include reading a book, eating, going to a movie … etc.

• Rate each activity with a 0 to 5 rating. For the Mastery activities, estimate the degree of difficulty in performing the task. 0 is easy where 5 is very challenging. For example, you could give yourself an M-1 for an easy task like getting dressed, while M-4 or M-5 would indicate you did something more challenging, such as not eating too much or applying for a job. Estimate the actual pleasure or the degree of difficulty of a task. For the Pleasure activities, 0 is no pleasure while 5 is very pleasurable.

Daily Activity Schedule

• This technique is for helping you respond to pushy, critics with advice.

• Although the critics may have good advice, when it’s pushy, it’s easy for you to push back and cut off your nose to spite your face.

• Instead, to use this technique, you disarm the critic by agreeing with them, but then you own the decision.

• If your critic cares about your well being, this ends up being a win win.

.• Key Takeaways

Pushy approaches don’t work. I don’t think anybody likes to be told what to do. At the same time, life’s full of unsolicited advice from family, friends, teachers, colleagues, bosses, you name it.

• Disarm the attack by taking ownership of the decisions. In cases where the advice is sound, but you don’t like their approach and you don’t want to give up your power to make your own decisions, the key is take ownership for your decisions. It’s ultimately a win-win because., if they really had your best intentions at heart, then they’re happy to see the results. You’re happy because it’s your decision and you made it cleat that nobody is pushing you around.

• Pushy Approaches Don’t WorkBurns shares why pushy approaches don’t work:

• “Your sense of paralysis will be intensified if your family and friends are in the habit of pushing and cajoling you. This nagging should statements reinforce the insulting thoughts already echoing through your head. Why is their pushy approach doomed to failure? It’s a basic law of physics that for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Any time you feel shoved, whether by someone’s hand actually on your chest or by someone trying to boss you around, you will naturally tighten up your chest and resist so as to maintain your equilibrium and balance. You will attempt to exert your self-control and preserve your dignity by refusing to do the thing that you are being pushed to do. The paradox is that you often end up hurting yourself.”

.• Example Scenario for the Disarming Technique

Burns writes about Mary, a woman in her late teens, who avoid doing things because it would mean giving in to her mother:

• “Supposed you are Mary, and after thinking things over you decide you would be better off if you got involved in doing a number of things. You’ve just made this decision when your mother comes into your bedroom and announces, “Don’t you lie around any longer! Your life is going down the drain. Get moving! Get involved in the things the way the other girls your age do!” At that moment, in spite of the fact that you have already decided to do just that, you develop a tremendous aversion to it!”

• Using the Disarming TechniqueBurns shows how to disarm the attack and avoid cutting off your nose to spite your face:

• “The disarming technique is an assertive method that will solve this problem for you. The essence of the disarming technique is to agree with your mother, but to do so in a way that you remind her you are agreeing with her based on your own decision, and not because she was telling you what to do. So you might answer this way: “Yes, Mom, I just thought the situation over myself and decided it would be to my advantage to get moving on things. Because of my own decision, I’m going to do it.” Now you can start doing things and not feel bad. Or if you wish to put more of a barb in your comments, you can always say, “Yes, Mom, I have in fact decided to get out of bed in spite of the fact you’ve been telling me to!””

•

Little Steps for Little Feet • Do you overwhelm yourself with all the things you have to do?

You can use a technique called Little Steps for Little Feet.This technique is about dealing with overwhelming tasks or an overwhelming backlog.

• Basically, you chunk up your work into little steps to make each step easier. It’s a simple method to take action by breaking any proposed task down into its tiny component parts. To use it, you breakdown your tasks. Think of them as little hurdles.

• You then combine your steps with timeboxing to improve your productivity and mood. You divide a task into manageable units using time limitations. For example, you might break it up into 20 minutes tasks or 30 minute tasks. By breaking your tasks down and using timeboxes, it helps you take little steps to get major things done incrementally, rather than get overwhelmed up front.

.• Timeboxing• Burns writes about using time limitations to help improve

productivity and your mood:• "Do you tend to bite off bigger pieces than you can

comfortably chew? Dare to put modest time limits on what you do! Have the courage to walk away from an unfinished task! You may be amazed that you will experience a substantial increase in your productivity and mood, and your procrastination may become a thing of the past."

• An extremely effective way to divide a task into manageable units is through time limitation. Decide how much time you will devote to a particular task, and then stop at the end of the allotted time, and go on to something more enjoyable, whether or not you’re finished.

.• My Key Takeaways• Break down your tasks. One point is about breaking a

task down. Chunking up problems is a great way to avoid an all-or-nothing approach, as well as to simplify a complex or overwhelming task.

• Timebox your effort. Give yourself a time limit for producing results. Timeboxing has multiple benefits. It’s a great way to force prioritization. Because it’s a limited box of time, it also forces you to be more thoughtful about what you choose to bite off. If you have a large pool of tasks, using timeboxes to chunk up the work is an effective way to make incremental progress.

• Simply improving the feeling of momentum, helps keep motivation going and sustain results.

Motivation Without Coercion• One of the ways to drain your motivation is to use a

lot of musts, should, and oughts when you’re thinking about your tasks.

• A more effective approach is to remind yourself of what you want to do it and why you want to do it.

• This technique is about eliminating your “musts”, “shoulds”, and “oughts”.

• Musts, shoulds, and oughts can drain you. Instead, reframe your tasks as “wants.”

• The idea is to create a reward system instead of using a whip against yourself.

.• Key Take Aways

• Translate shoulds into wants. Use “wants” over “shoulds.”• Expressing wants creates freedom. Turning shoulds into wants produces a feeling of

freedom of choice and personal dignity.• The carrot works better than the stick in the long run. A reward system works better and

lasts longer than a whip.• Frame it as positive action towards your goals. Look at things in terms of “what do I

want to do? What course of action would be to my best advantage?”• Reframing using wants over shoulds is way more effective and inspiring. • Want To Over Must, Should, Or Could

David Burns writes about turning rules around “musts,” “shoulds,” and “coulds” into “wants” to get and stay motivated:

• “A possible source of your procrastination is an inappropriate system for self-motivation. You may inadvertently undermine what you attempt by flagellating yourself with so many “oughts,” “shoulds,” and “musts” that you end up drained of any desire to get moving. You are defeating yourself by the way you kill yourself to get moving! Dr. Albert Ellis describes this mental trap as “musterbation.”

• Reformulate the way you tell yourself to do things by eliminating these coercive words from your vocabulary. An alternative to pushing yourself to get up in the morning would be to say, “it will make me feel better to get out of bed, even though it will be hard at first. Although I’m not obliged to, I might end up being glad I did. If, on the other hand, I’m really benefiting from the rest and relaxation, I may as well go ahead and enjoy it!”

.• Using Rules for Results

One of the keys to improving in an area of life is to raise your standards or “rules” in terms of “musts,” “shoulds,” or “coulds.” For example, getting in shape means changing from a loose set of rules around eating and exercising that aren’t working, to a more precise set of “shoulds” or “musts.” The more dramatic the results you need, the more rules you follow.

• I find this a very interesting point because it walks an interesting line. I can easily see how it’s less inspiring to drive yourself with a bunch of rules. It’s one thing to be disciplined, but it’s another to have desire. I can see how you can rob your internal desire, in the name of discipline, if everything you internally see everything you do as a “should” or a “must.”

• Using Wants for Feeling GoodFrom a results standpoint, improving in an area usually means turning “shoulds” and “coulds” into “musts” to get the results you need. From a “feeling good” standpoint, the key is to remind yourself that you want to take these actions because you want the results. I think the key here is to use a two part process of first mapping out your rules for results, then reframing them as wants over rules.

• I think this has two benefits. One benefit is that you keep your feeling of freedom of choice. The second benefit is that if you fall off your horse, rather than an all-or-nothing mentality or guilt for breaking your rules, you get back on your horse.

•

“NOTHING GREAT IN THE WORLD HAS EVER BEEN ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT PASSION.”

Pleasure Predicting Sheet • Can you really predict just how much you’ll enjoy

something or not? • The Pleasure-Predicting Sheet is a technique you use to

record your estimated expected pleasure against your actual pleasure.

• You schedule a set of activities that contain a potential for personal growth or satisfaction. You do some of them by yourself and some with others. You predict your pleasure before the activities, and then record the actual results, after the events.

• This technique is for helping you find out what activities you really enjoy and how much you enjoy them.

.• Overview

To use it, you write down your list of activities you will do for pleasure. You predict your satisfaction on a 100 point scale. After the activity, you record your actual satisfaction.

• Identify the activities to do for pleasure. This is where you simply identify what you’ll be doing for pleasure.

• Predict your satisfaction. The key so the process is predicting what will bring you the most pleasure.

• Evaluate your actual satisfaction. When you assess your actual satisfaction, you get feedback on how well you’re predicting what will make you happy or bring you pleasure.

• By recording your expected pleasure against your results, you get a quick reality check of potentially self-limiting behavior or thoughts. It’s one thing to think you will or won’t enjoy something. It’s another to take action and measure the results. Maybe some of the things you think "should" bring you pleasure, actually don’t. On the other hand, maybe some of the things you think you won’t enjoy as much, bring you more satisfaction than you expected.

.• Step 1. Create the Pleasure Predicting Sheet.

According to Burns, to create the Pleasure Predicting Sheet:• Draw four lines down the center of a piece of paper to divide

it into five columns.• Label the columns: Data, Activity for Satisfaction, Who You

Did This With, Predicted Satisfaction (0-100%), Actual Satisfaction(0-100%)

• Step 2. Write down your pleasure activities. According to Burns, write down the activities, the date, and who you will do them with. If alone, then specify self.

• Step 3. Predict your satisfaction. According to Burns, write down your prediction of how much satisfaction you’ll get on a scale from 0 to 100%.

• Step 4. Record your actual satisfaction. According to Burns, after you perform the activities, write down your actual satisfaction.

Self-Endorsement • Many people beat themselves up.

• Do you frequently convince yourself that what you do doesn’t count? If you spend more time worrying about what you didn’t get done or if you don’t value your results, then you need to learn to endorse yourself. It’s very easy to fall into a habit of beating yourself up. The key is to learn how to lift yourself up.

• The Self Endorsement technique is about helping you endorse yourself.

• To use this technique, you list your self-downing statements. • Next to each statement, you write your self-endorsing statements. • Don’t dismiss your accomplishments. • Focus on your accomplishments. • This teaches you how to lift yourself up over time

.• Key Take Aways

• Don’t dismiss your accomplishments. Don’t convince yourself that what you do doesn’t count..• Focus on your accomplishments. Focus on what you’ve got done over what you haven’t gotten to• Learn to be self-endorsing. Talk back to your negative , self-defeating thoughts.• Don’t Convince Yourself That What You Do Doesn’t count

Burns says that you have to believe that what you do counts, otherwise it turns into a self-defeating habit:

• “If you have this bad habit, you will naturally feel that you never do anything worthwhile. It won’t make any difference if you’re a Nobel laureate or a gardener – life will seam empty because your sour attitude will take the joy out of all your endeavors and defeat you before you even begin. No wonder you feel unmotivated! “

• Focus on What You’ve Done Over What You Haven’t Gotten ToBurns says that you should focus on your accomplishments over focusing on your backlog:

• “Another simple technique is to make a written or mental list of the things you do each day. Then give yourself a mental credit for each of them, however small. This will help you focus on what you have done instead of what you haven’t gotten around to doing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. “

• Self-EndorsementBurns suggests a two step process for reversing the destructive tendency and for improving your self-endorsement.

• Identify the self-downing thoughts that cause you to feel this way in the first place.• Talk back to these thoughts and replace them with ones that are more objective and self-

endorsing.•

Test Your Cant’s • Test your cant’s. I think the name says it all. “Test” what you

think you can’t do, rather than just “think” you can’t do it. • This technique is about putting your negative thoughts to

the test.• This technique is a about testing your negative

assumptions. • It’s easy to fall into a pattern of thinking you can’t do this or

you can’t do that. • This technique helps you prove it. to use it, break down

your assumptions into small hurdles. • Take action and test against each one, proving yourself right

or wrong.

.• Key Take Aways

• Test your cant’s. Rather than just think you can’t do something, prove it.• Test one step a time. Rather than test the big picture, break it down into

small hurdles and test one part at a time.• I like this technique! Rather than just think you can’t do something, try

and prove it. Test yourself and you may be pleasantly surprised.• Test One Step at a Time

Rather than bite off the whole enchilada, Burns writes that you should build incremental success:

• “An extremely successful cognitive technique involves testing your negative predictions with actual experiments. Suppose for example, you’ve been telling yourself: ‘I’m so upset that I can’t concentrate well enough to read anything at all.’ As a way of testing this hypothesis, sit down with today’s newspaper and read one sentence, and then see if you can summarize the sentence out loud. You might then predict — ‘But I could never read and understand a whole paragraph.’ Again — put this to the test. Read a paragraph and summarize. Many sever, chronic depressions have been cracked open with this powerful method.”

“EVERY ACCOMPLISHMENT STARTS WITH THE DECISION TO TRY.” — ANONYMOUS

TIC-TOC Technique • This technique is for getting past negative thoughts

that block you from taking action.• To use it, you first write down the negative

thoughts that get in the way of your tasks. • Next rationalize each item objectively. • Be sure to check for potential negative motivation

patterns or distorted thinking patterns. • Lastly, write your rebuttal next to each negative

thought.

.• “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” — Anonymous• How do you improve your motivation? How do you get over procrastination,

when your own thoughts get in your way? You can use the TIC-TOC Technique. The TIC-TOC Technique replaces your Task-Interfering Cognitions with Task-Oriented Cognitions.

• In Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated , David Burns shows how to use the TIC-TOC Technique to help motivate yourself.

• Overview Here are the keys to the Tic-Toc Technique:

• List your negative thoughts. List your negative thoughts that get in the way of you taking action.

• List your objective or positive thoughts. List the thoughts that can help you either defeat the negative thoughts or provide a positive action.

• Rationalize the results. Use the table to rationalize your negative thoughts and replace them with positive actions.

• I think this is an effective technique, especially if you have a pattern of automatic thoughts that work against you. This is forcing you to think about your thoughts and put them in perspective. While it takes a little bit of work at first, it’s not long before you can quickly improve your thought patterns to be more supportive and improve your motivation

.• Step 1 – Create the TIC-TOC table.

To create the table for the TIC-TOC table:• Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper to divide it in

half.• Label the left-hand column “TICs (Task-Interfering

Cognitions)”• Label the right-hand column “TOCs(Task-Oriented

Cognitions)”• Step 2. Record the thoughts that inhibit motivation.

In the left-hand column, TICs, record the thoughts that inhibit your motivation for a specific task.

• Step 3. Substitute more productive attitudes. In the right-hand column, TOCs, identify the cognitive distortion and substitute more objective, productive attitudes.

"THERE IS NO FATE ,BUT WHAT WE CREATE." — SARAH COONOR

Visualize Success

• This technique is about visualizing the prize.• Rather than motivate yourself with a stick, the idea

is to create a big, fat carrot. • To use this, get a good picture of the end in mind. • Next, list the benefits of taking actions towards this

outcome. • Lastly, repeat the benefits so that you can easily

recall them.

.• One of the most effective ways to motivate yourself is

to get a good image of the end in mind. It should feel like a prize. What doesn’t work well is beating yourself up. You might get results in the short term with a stick, but a fat, fresh carrot works better in the long run.

• Don’t beat yourself up. Clubbing yourself over the head isn’t effective in the long run.

• Visualize the prize. Get a good picture of the end in mind. This is what you want to use for your inspiration.

• List the benefits. Identify the positive results you’ll accomplish if you take the actions.

• Repeat the benefits. Repeatedly going through your list of benefits will help remind and encourage you of your desired results.

.• Step 1. List the advantages of taking the positive action.

Burns writes that you should prepare a list of all the positive consequences that you would enjoy if you take the action. Write down as many as you can and prioritize them. List the most important first.

• Step 2. Fantasize you are in your favorite spot. According to Burns, each night, before sleep, fantasize that you’re in your favorite spot. This could be walking on a mountain trail, lying on a beach … etc. Focus on every enjoyable detail and let your body go.

• Step 3. Go through your list of benefits. Burns writes that once your body is relaxed, go through your list of benefits one by one. State each benefit as if you already have it. For example, you might say, "Now that I have greater self-discipline, I can take on other challenges."

• Don’t Beat Yourself Up Beating yourself up isn’t effective:

• Burns writes:• "Suppose for example, you want to quit smoking. You may be reminding yourself

about cancer and all the dangers of smoking. These fear tactics make you so nervous that you immediately reach for another cigarette; they don’t work. "