{"id":1398,"date":"2010-01-15T09:57:27","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T17:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=1398"},"modified":"2013-08-21T08:56:57","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T16:56:57","slug":"intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivation-which-do-you-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivation-which-do-you-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Which Do You Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image courtesy of The Huffington Post<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

You know what it\u2019s like to feel unmotivated. You sit and stare at your to-do list, and nothing on it inspires you at all. It\u2019s just a string of tasks that you wish you didn\u2019t have to do. Simply getting started seems to take an unfathomable amount of effort.<\/p>\n

Yet, you don\u2019t always feel that way. You know what motivation feels like, too. You have times when you can\u2019t wait to get started on something \u2013 a much-anticipated trip, a big project that you\u2019ve been looking forward to sinking your teeth into, a new course that you\u2019re taking, or a job which is going to be so satisfying when it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

So how can you make sure that you are<\/em> motivated, whatever the task at hand?<\/p>\n

Psychologists distinguish between two forms of motivation, intrinsic <\/em>and extrinsic<\/em>. The effects of each might feel the same \u2013 excitement, being keen to \u201cget on with it\u201d \u2013 but the two types of motivation arise from different places.<\/p>\n

Intrinsic Motivation<\/h2>\n

Intrinsic motivation comes from within<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong> It\u2019s the sort of motivation that you get when you\u2019re doing something you enjoy; when the task itself is its own reward. Think of something you love \u2013 perhaps computer games, playing the guitar, cooking, painting … any activity you enjoy. You never procrastinate over it, do you? It seems almost silly to ask that \u2013 of course<\/em> you don\u2019t, if anything, you put off other tasks in order to do the ones you enjoy!<\/p>\n

One way to make your to-do list easier is to put as many tasks on it as possible which are things you love. Sometimes they might be hard, or you might feel a little resistance to getting started \u2013 but once you\u2019re doing them, you find them fun.<\/p>\n

In some cases, that might mean rethinking your career choice or your lifestyle. If your life is made up of a whole string of unexciting or unpleasant tasks, how did you get into that situation?<\/strong> What can you do to change it?<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re engaged on something which makes you intrinsically motivated, you\u2019ll find that:<\/p>\n