6 Brain Hacks To Motivate You Into Tackling Your To-Do List [Chart]

You might be sitting at work right now, surfing the Internet, watching YouTube videos and dreading your massive to-do list. If you hold out long enough, it will be time for a lunch break. And if you can keep from going crazy from boredom, you might even be able to make it through to the end of the day. Nah, that’s no way to live, right? No matter how mundane that to-do list of yours may seem, there is a way to get excited about completing it. All you need are some simple brain hacks.

To me, these aren’t necessarily brain hacks. When I think of a brain hack, I normally think of some sort of optical illusion or something. However, I can see why Yumi from WonderHowTo calls these things brain hacks. After all, if they change your current behavior or your level of motivation and inspiration then they could be considered a hack. Think of these things as the equivalent of getting a jolt of electricity, only way nicer.

I’m going to list the things she has on this chart, and then you can read the chart itself to get more specifics on each one.

1. Energy is contagious, so get around high energy people (this works, I’ve done it).

2. Do a power pose (or just move – sitting at your desk in the same position for too long can be downright depressing).

3. Make your task into a game (i.e. If you finish your to-do list before 5:00, you get a piece of chocolate or you get to waste 30 minutes on Twitter).

4. Prime your brain into feeling motivated and pumped (this must be why some people love motivational quotes in social media).

5. Scare yourself (this works, I’ve done it).

6. Make your goal identity-based.

She goes on to say that it’s important to be productive at the time of day when you are feeling the most energetic and your willpower is high. For me, that is at about 3:00am, which is why I keep such strange hours. Last but not least, if you aren’t eating right, sleeping right and taking care of your body, you might struggle with motivation no matter what kind of brain hack you implement. Your body is your machine, and it won’t operate correctly if it’s not maintained. What brain hacks have you tried that work for you?