There are days where you feel so unmotivated. What do you do about them?
This morning, I woke up at 4 a.m.—should’ve just gotten up, since I fell asleep around 9 p.m last night. But I drifted back to sleep until 8:30AM. Messy dreams flooded my mind and clouded my mood. Eventually, I dragged myself out of bed.

Why Do I Feel Unmotivated Some Days?

It’s a question I ask myself often. And I think we all do—especially on days when nothing seems to light a spark. So why do I feel unmotivated some days?

1. Business went bad—no new clients recently. That’s my pressure.
2. My period is approaching again, which I can’t see. I think there’s something inside me that I can’t see or control, something affecting my hormones or whatever that is.
3. I went hiking on Saturday, and my muscles are sore from too much running and those uphills. I think we did like 10 km up and down those hills, and I was running most of the time. My body needs rest. I can feel it, so I want to sleep more, even if those shallow sleeps torture me. Still, I want more.

There could be more factors leading to my unmotivation, but some I didn’t realize, or some I just don’t want to face. I just want to ignore them. I don’t want to acknowledge their existence, since I don’t think people can be honest even with themselves. But it’s okay. Just accept that.

You may say that you don’t know why you’re unmotivated, but trust me, there are always reasons behind your reactions. How about trying, like I do, to talk to yourself honestly and acknowledge your feelings through journalling? It’s okay to feel unmotivated. Yeah, you don’t have to share all those feelings with others. You can keep them safe with yourself, but you need to know yourself, get to know yourself little by little. Don’t ignore those feelings you have. Your feelings inside you need to be relieved or at least acknowledged. Trust me, talk to yourself gently, try it. That’s really helpful.

What Should You Do About Feeling Unmotivated?

You don’t really have to do anything if you’re super unmotivated. It’s okay to not want to do anything. The feeling that you have to do something to kill the unmotivation can just put more pressure on you and your already tense nerves.

If possible, just take a day off or allow yourself a lazy morning. Your life is yours—you’re living it. If you don’t have to get up for work, call a day off. If you have to be in the office, just take it slow, maybe sleep a little longer, and indulge in some breakfast essentials on the way. Just don’t be too late if you have to show up.

Never blame yourself for wanting to be lazy sometimes. Change doesn’t happen overnight. If you struggle with motivation most days, that’s a problem you should address. Try changing your daily routine gradually and track your motivated versus unmotivated days. Usually, people change in curves—you might start with half the days motivated and half unmotivated, and over time, improve to more motivated days. You need to adapt this to yourself and work on it by yourself.

But I don’t think anyone can be motivated every single day. That’s impossible. Just try to push your limits, but don’t break the pattern.

On Self-awareness and Workload

I was so amused this morning. In my blurry dreams, I was assigning myself more workload. When I woke and looked back on that, I laughed at myself. How ridiculous is that? My subconscious was trying to control everything, even in sleep.

Sometimes we feel hopeless controlling our own lives, thinking some invisible power is taking over. But most of the time, that’s not true. Like me, I assigned more work to myself to feel better. That’s nonsense. If you feel unmotivated and don’t want to work, just don’t work. Work is not your life. Work is a tool to make your life richer and more diverse—that’s my understanding.

Yeah, everyone needs to work. Even if you told me not to work at all from now on, I wouldn’t be happy. The super-rich who don’t have to work don’t necessarily feel happy either. People always need something to work on—that’s important.

You should be the owner of your life, ready to take responsibility for your choices. For me: do I have to overwork today when I feel zero motivation? No, I don’t. Will my business collapse because I skipped a few hours to rest my body and soul? No, it won’t.

That’s the reminder I keep telling myself. I want some legacy, some assets that belong to me. Even if I don’t work, they will generate income. That’s the ideal way to live a fulfilled life. I’m still on the way to achieve that. And I think all these unmotivated moments help me think harder about the type of work and life I really want.

If you constantly push yourself to work even when you’re unmotivated, you’re just slaving yourself. I don’t want to do that, and I don’t think you should either. You are precious. Trust me. Stop feeling trapped. You have the controller in your hands. Sometimes it’s easier to go autopilot—and that’s okay. Everyone does it. Don’t panic.

Will I Be Unmotivated All the Time?

Trust me, you won’t. Have faith in yourself. You work hard to survive in this modern world. You realize you’re unmotivated. Most importantly, you still worry about what-ifs:

• What if I stay unmotivated too long?
• What if I can’t get this or that done?

Emotions move like weather—sometimes heavy clouds, sometimes pure blue skies. And if today’s cloudy? That’s alright. You noticing it means you’re self-aware. You care. That alone is proof of your strength.

Rest. Regroup. Recharge. You’ll bounce back stronger. You are not hopeless. You can always bounce back, feel super motivated again after rest. Allow yourself to slow down and rest. This the process of building resilience.

Back to My 5:30 AM Challenge

I’m challenging myself to get up earlier compared to when I used to wake at 8 or 9 a.m. I want to reclaim my mornings. I record each day’s wake-up time on my calendar. After 4 weeks of forcing myself up with an alarm clock, I now regularly get up around 6 a.m. without an alarm. That feeling is amazing.

It’ll probably take longer for bigger changes to happen. But as long as you keep challenging yourself, keep experimenting with your life, you can feel better about yourself. You should see how strong your body and mind are once you set your mind to something. All these experiments and challenges prove one thing: your self-worth.

As you gradually believe in yourself more, good things come to you and your life improves.

That’s not motivation speech. Looking back, most of what you wished for in life already came true. Maybe you just wish you dreamed bigger before. So dream bigger from now.

Trust yourself, even if life seems laggy and unmotivated sometimes.

You’ll be okay!