Finding motivation for work or study can be a struggle at any stage of life. Photo / 123rf
Finding motivation for work or study can be a struggle at any stage of life. Photo / 123rf
Struggling to find motivation for work or study is a universal experience, but for many people there is little thought given to the reason behind a dip in enthusiasm. A Canterbury scientist is trying to understand what builds motivation and what causes it to plummet.
Whanganui-raised scientist Dr Michael Edmonds' research into self-motivation has led him to some surprising discoveries, which have leaked into his personal life.
“This information is something I wish I knew 20 years ago. As I was learning it, I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Do people actually know this stuff?’” he said.
During his 20-plus years in the polytechnic sector as a researcher, lecturer and head of department, he witnessed countless students struggling to motivate themselves in their studies. Curiosity about this pattern of behaviour pushed Edmonds to return to study part-time, where he completed a Masters in Organisational Psychology focusing on student motivation.
Edmonds, who also has a PhD in chemistry, is now the Biomolecular Interaction Centre manager at the University of Canterbury.
“High levels of motivation are tied to a deeper sense of wellbeing,” Edmonds said.
But what many people did not realise was that motivation was not something people either had or didn’t have – it could be consciously improved, he said.
Whanganui-raised scientist Dr Michael Edmonds says motivation can be learned and helps to increase wellbeing.
Here are some of the steps Edmonds teaches to deepen self-motivation:
“You must establish the meaning of what you’re doing, and that might sound really basic, but I’ve seen students do whole courses and never consider this,” Edmonds said.
A first step could be asking yourself, why is this important to me?
Material gain, or your appearance to others, could be motivating factors, but the highest driver of motivation was to find intrinsic value in your work, Edmonds said.
2. Control your environment
Creating a work environment that removes distractions and temptations is important to build motivation.
An example would be removing your phone completely from your workspace.
“It’s not just young people, I’m in my 50s and when I look at my phone, I’m on it far too long,” Edmonds said.
3. Break big tasks down into smaller ones
Proximal goal setting is when you separate a large task into smaller, more manageable parts that prevent the overall task from becoming overwhelming.
Rewarding yourself for each smaller task achieved contributes to a sense of accomplishment and fosters motivation.
4. Little, meaningful rewards
Positive reinforcement through small rewards can be motivating, but Edmonds said it was important the reward did not undermine the intrinsic value of your effort.
“If a parent was to say to a child if you get an A+ in that subject, I’ll give you $100, research shows that this has a long-term demotivating effect,” Edmonds said.
“In the short term, the child might work hard to get that grade but subconsciously they’re thinking that because they are being paid by their parents, it is a task that they shouldn’t enjoy automatically.”
Instead, it was better to reward for the effort that was put in rather than the result, and to give positive feedback on their progress.
“Anything that encourages them to enjoy the learning itself, so in that case, it would be more rewarding to provide positive feedback and take them out to lunch after they had put in the effort to study,” he said.
5. Don’t be down on yourself
“You’ve got to develop a constructive and positive attitude towards your work. As human beings, we tend to lean towards a more pessimistic and negative attitude,” Edmonds said.
A thought exercise Edmonds carries out with students is to imagine how they would react to a friend having failed an exam or missing out on a promotion.
Often, people are more generous in their support of others, rather than themselves.
Edmonds said it was highly demotivating for people to work towards goals that were not their own.
“For example, if someone goes to university and they’re studying a subject that their parents have pushed them towards,” he said.
For work to gain value and meaning it had to align with the goals and values that were important to the person. So workers should set goals for themselves or be involved in goal setting.
Dr Michael Edmonds will give a public talk at Community House Whanganui, Ridgway St, on Sunday, February 23, at 2pm. Free entry.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
