There are plenty of things working against you when it comes to staying motivated.

With laptops, tablets, and smartphones, there are millions of online distractions at your fingertips. Many people feel discouraged by the economic recession, especially when it comes to career and financial goals. But, at the end of the day, staying motivated is

up to you. With these six strategies, you can keep yourself motivated to do achieve your dreams.

1. Read a list of your short-term and long-term goals daily.

It’s easy to get derailed when you lose track of your goals. To remind yourself why you want to stay motivated in the first place, make a list of your short-term and long-term goals. Then, keep it in a place you’ll see each day.

Your short-term goals cover what you want to do within the next few days, weeks, or months. Your long-term goals are what you’d like to do within the next few years or decades. For example, paying off your credit balance early this month might be your short-term goal, while earning an excellent credit score might be your long-term goal. Choosing challenging but realistic goals will give you a reason to keep on truckin’.

2. Write a to-do list with prioritized items each morning.

Writing a to-do list each morning is a classic way to keep yourself motivated. Number the items on your to-do list according to how important they are. Don’t start the items at the bottom until you finish the items at the top. If you find your to-do list is too long, crop out the least important items to keep yourself focused.

3. Split big jobs into smaller jobs.

Once you have your to-do list, you may be put off by just how hard the items at the top seem. One way to get yourself going is to break these tasks into smaller sub tasks. For example, let’s say your task is to clean up the garage. Depending on how messy it is, that could take all day!

So, split that job into bite-size chunks. Step one could be “pick up all items on the floor.” Step two could be “sort unneeded items into piles to either be donated or thrown away.” You get the idea. Often, when you have a big task, the hardest part is getting started. Once you get going, you’re more motivated to continue.

Another related way to divide up a big task is to work on it ten minutes at a time. For example, you could go to the garage, set the timer on your cell phone for ten minutes, and work on only cleaning up the garage for those 10 minutes. When the timer rings, you can work on another task. That way, instead of thinking “it’s going to take forever to fix this mess,” you can focus on doing the best you can for those ten minutes. [Read more…]