NO Motivation? How to Stay Motivated as a Content Creator, YouTuber, Blogger

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No motivation to create?

You are probably someone who really wants to grow and make some money online, right?

So you already know that you need to create content to achieve this.

But whenever you sit down and you want to plan to create this content, you simply have no motivation to do so.

You are maybe tired from your job or from running around after your kids. And you just can’t find that motivation within you to create and to be more consistent.

Today we’re going to dive into the most helpful tips I’ve used myself as a full time content creator to get me out of being stuck and lacking motivation.

I’m sharing with you the exact strategies I use to create a lot of content every week.

No motivation? How to stay motivated as a content creator, blogger, YouTuber, influencer, entrepreneur

If you’re new around here, I’m Madeline and I’m a full time blogger and content creator. And I run my business on a few different platforms.

I have two YouTube channels (a business YouTube channel and a motherhood YouTube channel), two Instagram accounts (@madeline1f and @cappuccinoandblogging) and, of course, this blog that you’re reading right now.

That’s a lot of content to create on a consistent basis.

If you want to know how I create all that content consistently, you can also read this post on how to stay organised as a content creator.

But having a plan of action to tackle that lack of motivation is hands down the best thing to help with productivity and staying more consistent.

RELATED:

What causes a lack of motivation?

The things that cause a lack of motivation as a content creator or entrepreneur are: lack of strategy, no content plan, no to do lists, not having a clear purpose, fear of judgement, fear of failure or simply the season of life you’re in.
Let’s see what exactly each one of these means and what you can do about it.

The first thing that you really need to know and to understand is what causes this lack of motivation that you feel whenever you’re trying to create that content.

Whenever you’re trying to grow your business and work on it.

Because it can be really hard, especially if you have a full-time job, which a lot of you probably already do. Or maybe you have kids at home with you all day.

And during the small amount of time that you have maybe to work on your online business, in the evenings or maybe early in the mornings, you’re just so tired or so overwhelmed that you just can’t find the motivation to get it done.

Let’s dive into each reason why you’re lacking motivation.

1. You have no strategy

One thing that causes no motivation is a lack of strategy.

You have no strategy for this online business you’re trying to build.

You’re just winging it.

That lack of clarity, lack of a specific plan and lack of a strategy that you’re going to follow are the things that actually make you procrastinate.

2. You have no content plan (and you don’t use to-do lists)

Another thing that makes you feel unmotivated is you have no content plan and you probably don’t create any to-do lists.

I personally live by my to-do lists.

Not everyone thinks the same, obviously we’re all so different in the way we work.

But I do think it’s so important to write it down, to have maybe a notes app on your phone, on your laptop, whatever it might be.

Just so that you can create that plan and create that to-do list for what you need to accomplish every day or week in your business.

Because otherwise it’s so hard to keep track of things, to know where you are, to know what you need to do.

We’ll talk more about why to-do lists are so important in a little bit.

3. You don’t have a clear purpose

Another thing that causes this lack of motivation is not having a clear purpose, a clear why.

Why are you doing this?

That your ‘why’ or that purpose needs to have two sides: for yourself and for your audience.

Why do you work on this content for yourself? How is it going to change your life?

And why do you do this for your audience? How is it going to change their life?

Once you have that purpose in mind, it’s going to help motivate you more to do the work to achieve it.

For example, your purpose might be sometime like: I am working towards building a profitable online business, because I want to replace my 9-5 income. I want to have more freedom in my life. I want to work from home. I want to be with my kids more often without stressing about having to take time off and juggling all of these things in my work and my personal life.

That’s your ‘why’.

That’s why you’re working on creating all this content.

If you have that purpose, that thing that you’re striving towards in mind, that will start to boost your motivation in time.

Create that vision board if you need to.

That’s why vision boards are so powerful.

Because if you can put that purpose into a board that you can see every day, that’s going to keep you on track, it will keep you connected to that goal, to that purpose.

Reminder for your vision board:

Keep in mind that this purpose or vision needs to be something that you feel is tangible.

If you write down ‘I want to make a million dollars’, but deep down you feel like that’s not a tangible goal for you, then don’t put that on your vision board, because it’s not going to do anything for you.

It needs to be something you feel is attainable. Those small little things that are going to change in your life if you create that content, if you keep doing this consistently and if you keep growing this online business.

That’s what’s going to motivate you and give you that boost.

And also for your audience, think about how you’re impacting them, how you’re helping them with your content.

Because whatever niche you are in, you are probably helping someone. You’re probably entertaining, educating or helping someone in some way.

4. You let fear of judgement and fear of failure rule your life

Another thing that causes a lack of motivation is this fear of judgement and fear of failure that most of us have (especially in the beginning).

This is something a lot of people actually don’t realise. You’re not always aware of it.

It’s really hard to be aware of these things when you’re going through them, because it can feel like it’s just a bit of procrastination or it’s just a bit of that ‘I don’t feel like doing this today’.

But deep down, if you really analyse that and analyse your thought patterns, you will realise that it does come from a fear of judgement.

You’re worried about what others might say or think about you.

You’re worried about this piece of content flopping and not getting any views.

And so you get that feeling of ‘what’s the point of even doing this’.

Which, of course, in turn makes you feel less motivated.

That’s why working on your mindset and doing that personal development is really powerful.

For me, working on my personal development in the last year or two has probably made the biggest difference to be honest.

I’ve noticed a difference in how I show up online, how often I create content and how I can allow myself to be more authentic and more genuine, so that people can actually relate to that and truly connect with that.

5. You’re simply in a low season of life

On the other side of things, it’s important to acknowledge the season of life you’re in.

If you’re lacking motivation these days, but you are usually consistent and you’re usually really good at doing these things and keeping on track, then just allow yourself to feel that.

Allow yourself to take a break.

We do go through seasons of life where we are more productive and seasons where we are less productive.

When I had some rough things that I went through in my personal life, I was not creating content as much.

And that’s because it’s really hard to come here, be creative, active and passionate about things when you have something that’s really affecting you in your personal life.

It’s perfectly fine to take that break. Rest. Take the time that you need off.

And then come back when you feel refreshed and ready to dive back in. Being kind to yourself is so important.

What are some tips for smaller content creators who lack motivation? How do I stop being so lazy?

One of the most important things to know if you’re a smaller content creator who lacks motivation is the distinction between motivation and discipline.

Let me know if you ever heard this quote:

“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” (A.Lincoln)

It is so true.

If you really want to make this work, you’re going to have to put aside that comfort that you have right now of using all spare time to just watch Netflix and put in more hours into your online business.

And no, I’m not saying you should stop watching Netflix all together. But it’s important to prioritise more those tasks that you need to accomplish to grow your platform.

You’re going to have to put aside what you want now (the easy, comfortable thing) and focus on what you want most (which is growing that online business).

The reason why it’s really important to make this distinction between motivation and discipline is because motivation is not something that’s reliable, it’s not something that’s always going to be there.

So how can you use this knowledge in practice, when you’re creating content for your blog or YouTube or whatever platform it might be?

How do YouTubers stay motivated? How do you get motivation back as a YouTuber?

I don’t wake up every morning excited to create content.

Yes, sometimes I might be, I might have that natural feeling of excitement to film videos.

But there are also some mornings when I do wake up groggy and lacking that motivation, lacking that feeling of excitement.

That’s okay, because we’re only human.

We’re not always going to be excited about this, as much as we love it (because I do absolutely love creating content).

But that doesn’t mean I always feel like doing this.

That’s where discipline comes in.

On those days when you are lacking motivation, you might need to just get disciplined enough to create that content anyway.

The first step is always to be aware of the fact that you are lacking that energy, you’re lacking that enjoyment, so you need to find ways that you can improve that.

Maybe put on some songs in the morning and dance to them.

Get excited, get that energy going.

Maybe you can listen to a mindset podcast or a YouTube video on motivation.

Do that in the morning for 5-10 minutes and that will perk you up.

If you are waiting around to create content only on the days where you feel motivated, you are never going to be consistent, because motivation is not something that we can rely on.

That’s why discipline is so important.

I’m sharing next exactly what little things you can do each day to get better at this.

How do bloggers stay motivated? How can I motivate myself to blog?

Importance of habits

Small habits amount to significant changes – not going viral
Atomic Habits
Putting your brain in that decision making process
Reward yourself, make it an enjoyable experience, set everything the night before, set a day if you can, make your to do list the night before

Here’s the thing.

If someone came to you and told you: “If you create intentional content 3 times a week for the next 6 months, you’ll be able to quit your job and make a full-time income online”.

If someone told you that, you would make it happen.

You would get up in the morning, even if you didn’t always feel like it, and you would create that content, because you would know it would get you the results you need.

Now to be honest, that sentence I previously wrote – it absolutely can be true for you too.

If you do create the content, if you are consistent with this, you will get there.

It’s not a matter of if you’ll get there, it’s just a matter of when you’ll get there.

Most people give up along the way and that’s why they never see that success or reach that goal.

You really need to treat this seriously if you want to make it a full-time thing.

It does need to be an intentional thing, it’s not something that will just magically happen. Even though we see those “overnight success stories” – they are never overnight successes. There are generally years of work behind that.

Treat content creation with the same discipline you have in your 9-5

Your content creation does need to be something that you’re actively working on.

For example, if you have a full-time job and in the morning you know you need to be at work at 9 am.

You’re going to wake up in time, get ready, go to that workplace and do the work that you need to do.

You’re not going to sit around and negotiate with yourself thinking “do I feel like I’m motivated enough to do this today or not?”

You’re just going to do it, right?

Because you have to. You can’t just tell your boss “I’m not motivated enough today to work”.

You really need to treat content creation and working on your business in the same way. It needs to be that serious, because otherwise you’re just not going to do it.

You are a disciplined person who can go do that 9-5 job every day and can do the work even if you don’t always feel like it.

You are more than capable of doing the same thing in your online business.

Why you need to build these habits

One thing that I actually learned I think more so in the past year or two is the importance of habits.

There are a few really good books on this topic, one of them being the Atomic Habits book by James Clear which is so powerful – I highly recommend you read that.

It truly is those small habits that you have every day or every week that are going to make the most significant changes.

We all want this viral growth, we want to see results fast and we want to have this massive change – preferably yesterday.

But that massive change very rarely comes from this one piece of content that’s going viral.

That change comes from you being consistent, from putting in that effort every single day a little bit, from those small habits that you create and from simply trying to improve that 1% better every day or every week.

It is those small things that make a huge difference in time.

If you’re trying to create this habit of content creation, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind and that are really helpful. And this comes back to my to-do lists that I talk about a lot and that I post on my Instagram stories.

Write to-do lists

I love creating those to-do lists, because it keeps me accountable.

It makes me have a really clear plan for the day, knowing exactly what I need to work on.

It also helps me keep track of the progress. I have the notes app on my phone (just the basic one on iPhone) and you can tick things off to see how far you’ve gotten.

That satisfying feeling of ticking things off your list is so rewarding.

Content creation can often be a bit uncomfortable, because maybe you’re in front of a camera filming a video, maybe you’re filming Instagram stories on your phone, videos, whatever it might be.

It can feel a bit uncomfortable.

That’s why your brain will often try to protect you from it.

Which means it will try to make you procrastinate or not create that content. Because that’s what your brain does, it always tries to keep you safe.

Content creation is probably out of your comfort zone, right?

So the way that you need to approach this is to try to make it an enjoyable experience, a rewarding one, so that your brain can make this connection.

So that it can learn that content creation is actually not that bad and so that content creation becomes part of your comfort zone in time – part of what you know and do regularly with greater ease.

In time it will get easier. The more you do it, the easier it will get.

What you can do to help this process is to make it pleasant for yourself.

Put on some music before you start filming videos, create that list so that you can see how far you’ve gotten and pat yourself on the back when you manage to get those tasks done.

Because it is a big thing – you showing up in your business.

You can also maybe reward yourself with something at the end of the day, because you managed to get some things done.

Even if you don’t get everything on your to-do list done, don’t stress. Simply move the other bits on to the next day and focus on what you did get done.

Try to create that pleasant feeling and rewarding experience for yourself.

How to have more motivation in the morning

When it comes to having that motivation in the morning, here are a few tricks that I do that actually really help.

I usually make my to-do list on a Sunday. You can also do that the night before.

So I make my to-do lists on a Sunday for the whole week ahead – I do Monday to Friday, 5 lists (sometimes I do some tasks at the weekend, but that’s not my main work time).

The reason why I make my to-do list the night before or a few days before is because I want to have minimal decision making in the morning.

So that when I wake up in the morning, I don’t sit around and think about what I might need to get done.

Because if you do that, if you leave it to decide in the morning what you’re going to work on, you’re going to put your brain in that decision-making state.

That decision between: “Am I going to do this uncomfortable thing where I have to work and put in the effort and create content?” or “Am I just going to do the thing that’s more comfy, watch some Netflix and have a chill day?”.

Your brain is always, by default, going to go for the easier thing, the thing that requires the less effort and that’s more in your comfort zone.

So don’t put your brain in that decision-making state.

Just pick for yourself. Have the discipline to pick for yourself.

That’s why I make my to-do lists the night before or days before. So that in the morning, I have the list all set.

I don’t have to think about it or ponder what or if I’m going to get things done. I don’t contemplate whether I should do it or not, I just go ahead and do it.

I simply work my way through that list.

No, this is not a perfect process.

I don’t always get everything done. Sometimes I wake in the morning and feel unwell or I have a sick child and that’s okay.

I do think it’s important to be kind to yourself.

But if this lack of motivation is something that happens for you every single time or very often, then maybe this is something you can try to help you with your lack of motivation.

Being kind to yourself is key

Sticking with this concept of being kind to yourself – I read this in a book called Why has nobody told me this before by Dr Julie Smith (a psychologist).

A lot of us assume that we need to be really strict on ourselves in order to stay accountable and to show up, but it’s actually the opposite.

If you’re strict to yourself and you have that negative self-talk of “I’m crap at this”, “I don’t do this enough” etc.

That negative thinking pattern is not going to help you at all.

It’s much more effective to be kind to yourself and to give yourself credit for all of the things that you did get done, rather than focus on what you didn’t do or what you didn’t accomplish.

So even if you ticked 2 things off your to-do list and you had 10 on there, that’s fine.

Pat yourself on the back for the things that you did do, reward yourself for those.

That will create an enjoyable process and will make you want to do that more.

What this does is, in time, the more you do it, the more effective you’ll get and the more things you will be able to tick off that to-do list every single day.