Image courtesy of andrew_mo

There must be a reason why many people quite often start projects or tasks, big or small, and at some point while working on the tasks they feel overwhelmed, frustrated and stressed, so much so that in the end they quit or feel like quitting.

When they are in a state of overwhelm or frustration their motivation to keep working is hindered. Their enthusiasm to finish off what they had started is greatly reduced and may lead to stop working on the project altogether.

So what do most of them do?

They mosey on to the coffee machine grunting under their breath, and once there they find someone to vent on. They spend a few minutes in idle one way chatter, complaining about the project or task that they have to do.

And as soon as the complaining session is over they reluctantly go back to their desk and stare at the project with great distaste wondering how they are going to get it done.

Rather than you falling into the same predicament of overwhelm and frustration, there are 5 ways I found that can really keep you productive and motivated to finish off what you started, where you can get things done from beginning to end, and feel great while doing so.

Here are the 5 ways that you can use today to easily finish off anything that you started, and to do so with great enthusiasm and motivation:

1. Break down the project into smaller pieces. The size and type of the project is irrelevant. To be more productive and remain motivated to finish off the project, you simply have to break it down into smaller, more manageable portions.

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Image courtesy of Pawel Maciejewski

You’re stressed, overworked, and tired. You feel like you’re dropping the ball on so many things. You find yourself lying awake in the early hours, thinking about those items still on your to-do list, those emails not yet cleared.

One day, some little incident makes you blow up. For me, it was my printer malfunctioning and my stapler breaking in the middle of a very busy week, when I was trying to sort out some last-minute handouts for my post-grad classmates.

Have you ever heard the phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff”? There are so many things that we waste huge amounts of energy on (and worry is always wasted energy), which just won’t matter in a week, let alone ten years.

Here are ten examples of things you might be stressing about today that will not matter a jot in ten years’ time:

1. That embarrassing misspelling in the email you just sent
2. The jerk who cut you up on your way into work
3. How clean your kitchen is when your mother-in-law comes to visit
4. One of your kids acting up
5. A nasty email from a stranger
6. Missing a deadline
7. Losing out on a job interview to a better candidate
8. Slipping up on grocery shopping and offering your family a choice of cereal or sandwiches for dinner, one night
9. Making a small mistake in a report – and being called up on it by a client
10. Your library books being overdue

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Image courtesy of re-ality

Nothing can be done without energy. A car without fuel wouldn’t get you to where you want to go because there isn’t any energy to power the engine that moves the car.

If there are two highly talented people with the same level of ability but one of them is lacking energy, most likely the person who is lacking energy will achieve much less as compared to the other who is full of energy because he is frequently lethargic and too tired to take massive action. If we take a look at successful people around us, most of them are full of energy and their high level of energy has definitely helped them to get to where they are today.

Two Types Of Energy

In order to be successful, there are two types of energy that we need: brain energy and body energy.

Brain Energy

Imagine if you are worrying everyday and can’t get negative thoughts out of your head — do you think that your brain is going to run smoothly and allow you to be more creative and productive during your work time? I doubt so.

Dwelling on a negative situation such as being rejected in a cold call or getting a parking ticket isn’t going to empower you and will merely drain your brain energy. Instead of focusing on the negatives, get rid of the negatives as soon as possible (pay the ticket fine immediately and let it go) to allow yourself to have peace of mind.

Here are some ways to build up your brain energy:

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