Staying Motivated in Your Space

I write a lot about motivation because its something I’m always struggling to capture and hang onto myself; and its elusive nature interests me. I’ve talked about various ways of looking at and trying to capture motivation; and some work better than others at different times in different situations. But the one point that consistently sticks for me is the fact that it really is elusive: in other words, you can’t just “get” it.

But you can help it out a bit. And one of the ways to do this, as I’ve discussed before, is to create a space. This just means having a place in the world that’s all yours: a space that’s free from the assaults of the outside world, filled only with your interests and personality (although erring on the side of ‘minimalist’ is probably a good idea to avoid too many distractions).

I’ve recently revamped my own space a bit to create a sense of newness and change – and I did this because I think we habituate to our surroundings. In other words, when anything is static for too long in our environment it ends up blending into the woodwork and we don’t really notice it anymore. But this isn’t a great place to be, because our brains respond to novelty.

So it makes sense that revamping your space will, at least temporarily, cause your brain to perk up a bit – hopefully helping with motivation. (I’ll have to test it out.)

Another thing to think about is what specifically you can add to your space to have the biggest impact – and something creative like a piece of art is always a good idea. I think it helps sometimes to have reminders around us of just what we are capable of as human beings…

Looking at a beautiful painting or listening to an amazing piece of music, for example, can help remind us that we’re all a part of this universe that’s continually expanding and creating. We’re all a part of this creation, and we’re here to create. Being reminded of that has got to help with motivation.

So the point of this article to encourage you to create a space that’s just for you, if you haven’t got one already. Keep it free from distraction and clutter, and make sure that it’s really all about your needs, your personality, and your interests. Shake it up once in awhile to keep it novel and fresh; and introduce things into your space that remind you of your creative purpose and unlimited potential.