Having trouble staying productive? Can't seem to sit down and write that paper you've put off for the entirety of the semester? Don't worry, this lack of motivation is something everyone undergoes at some point in time. Below are a some tips for staying productive and motivated year round!

Set Goals For Yourself

If you want to be productive, you have to set goals for yourself. Now, you can't just set goals at random, you have to do it systematically. First, you identify a long term goal, for example "I want to bench 350 pounds." Next, you identify a short term, reachable goal that goes hand in hand with your long term goal. In this case, it might be "I want to bench 10 pounds more than I do right now within the next 3 weeks." Once you've identified both of these things, you need to create a plan. In the example I'm using, your plan could be to go to the gym 3 times a week and hit your chest muscles.

Measure Your Progress

Make sure that as you work towards your goals you check your progress. One of the greatest motivators is progress. As you see yourself get closer to your goal, you get excited. When you're closer to your goal than you are from where you started, new life is breathed into you and you keep pushing. In the example of trying to reach a 350 pound bench press, you would mark down your bench weights every time you go to the gym. Keep this information in a table or in some kind of organized file. Every time you bench, add in your bench weight. Make sure that you try to hit your short term goals. If you hit the 3 week mark and aren't benching 10 more pounds, go back to the drawing board. Come up with a new plan or simply update your existing plan to be more intensive. Instead of hitting the gym 3 times a week for an hour, hit it 4 times a week for an hour and a half. This way, you'll progress towards your goals faster.

Reward Yourself

Whenever you meet one of your short term goals, reward yourself with something small. Go out to eat at a nice restaurant, have a cool beer on the patio, smoke a little something-something, go out with your friends, go see a new movie, finally buy that video game you've been wanting for so long, take one day off of the gym, etc. These small rewards condition your mind and body to stay motivated. Whenever you reach your long-term goal, reward yourself with something BIG. Take that trip to hawaii you've been dreaming of, ask out that cute girl in your class on a date, turbocharge your car's engine, buy a new laptop, eat an entire gallon of ice cream and watch the notebook, whatever floats your boat! These rewards serve the same purpose as the small rewards, but also they help prevent burnout. If you never reward yourself and keep struggling and clawing your way towards your goals, you may experience fatigue and exhaustion. After hitting the gym every single day for months, even if you reach your weight loss goals, you will probably be bored and tired of the same routine over and over. The reward is supposed to combat this, it's supposed to give you something to show for reaching your goals. Obviously, if you can bench 350 pounds, or finally lost those 50 pounds, you have something to show for it. You can show off your bench weight to your gym buddies or have lunch with someone you haven't seen in a year and bask in the compliments they give you about your weight, but that is something that comes naturally. You earned those compliments and you earned the jealousy of your gym buddies, and they came naturally. You, however, may not be so impressed by the 350 pound bench because a week ago you were benching 340, and a few weeks before that you were benching 330. This is why you need to reward yourself. To give yourself a sense of satisfaction apart from the natural responses to your achievments.