8 Things That Help When Motivation Is on Holiday

Some days, motivation doesn’t just dip - it packs a suitcase, switches its phone off, and leaves you to fend for yourself. If you’re staring at your to-do list like it’s personally offended you, this one’s for you.

Here are eight gentle, realistic things that actually help when motivation has gone AWOL - no hustle culture, no toxic positivity, no “just try harder”.

1. Shrink the task until it’s laughably small

When everything feels too much, aim lower. Not “write the report” - just “open the document”. Not “clean the kitchen” - just “put one mug in the sink”.

Momentum often follows permission to start badly.

2. Change the setting, not yourself

If your brain won’t cooperate, don’t force it - relocate it.

Move to a different room. Sit on the floor. Work from the sofa. Light a candle. Open a window.

Sometimes motivation isn’t missing - it’s just bored.

3. Put on ‘background comfort’

This isn’t about productivity playlists. This is about emotional regulation.

Old TV shows you’ve watched a thousand times. Rain sounds. A podcast where nothing much happens. Familiar noise can calm your nervous system enough to make starting feel possible.

4. Do something physical - but gently

No bootcamps. No punishment workouts.

Stretch your arms. Step outside for five minutes. Make a cup of tea and actually stand while you wait for the kettle. Physical movement can help unstick your brain without demanding enthusiasm.

5. Let something be “good enough” on purpose

Perfectionism is motivation’s evil twin.

Choose one thing today to do badly on purpose - and finish it anyway.

Half-done still counts. Slightly wrong still counts. Showing up imperfectly counts more than waiting to feel ready.

6. Externalise the thinking

If everything is swirling in your head, get it out - messily.

Voice notes. Scribbles. Bullet points that make no sense. Talking it through with someone who won’t try to fix it.

Motivation struggles when your brain is overloaded. Unload first.

7. Lower the bar for what “productive” means

On low-motivation days, productivity might look like:

• Replying to one email

• Feeding yourself something beige

• Keeping yourself alive and relatively okay

That’s not failure. That’s maintenance - and maintenance is work.

8. Remember: motivation follows action (not the other way round)

This one’s annoying, but true.

You don’t wait for motivation to arrive before starting. You start - badly, slowly, reluctantly - and motivation sometimes wanders back in halfway through.

And if it doesn’t? You still showed up. That matters.

A gentle reminder

You are not broken because you can’t summon motivation on demand.

You’re human - probably tired, overstimulated, overwhelmed, or all three.

Be kind to yourself on the days when motivation is on holiday.

Rest is not laziness. Small steps are still steps. And tomorrow is allowed to be different.