How do you overcome low motivation?

Find a hobby that distracts you from the thing that doesn't motivate you.

In my case, I've been dealing with spikes of low motivation at work. What I was advised to do was things that make me feel fulfilled: writing a diary, drawing, reading, going for a walk, even social work or volunteering.

When I'm feeling motivation is going really low, I grab a pen, my diary and start writing whatever comes to mind. It's liberating, relaxing, and I don't feel bad because I didn't waste any time. It was time invested on myself.

This is a programming community so I suppose you code. It's ok to not have side projects or to work fewer hours a day. It's not sustainable to be coding 40 hours a week.

Hope this helps you and remember you can do it!

If it's puntual:
What usually works for me is, to step away a bit from whatever I'm unmotivated of. If it's work you're unmotivated with, it can be hard. But if you can, step away for a little bit, take a walk, go to the beach, exercise, learn something new, and treat yourself to pizza and a film or whatever your pleasures might be.

If it's recurring:
Maybe consider a change, you might want to move on to something new which motivates you more. And if the issue still persists, it might be a syptom of some kind of health issue (I'm no health profesional so don't take my word on this).

Prioritize your health over anything else, thatps what's important in the end!

I hope you re-gain motivation! And remember you're not alone!

Just enjoy your life. If you put all your thinking into only working or achieving something, you might just end up feeling burnt out. You need to find a way every day to enjoy your life and count your blessings.

My brother wrote a post for that recently:

5 Tips On How To Stay Motivated And Productive As A Developer

TL;DR

• Stay off your phone
• Set mini-goals for you to complete
• Get enough sleep
• Surround yourself with tech-related stuff
• Look back at the things you have accomplished

You're probably further along on some of your goals than you realize if you are struggling with new ones.

There are probably more positives than you realize if you look back on them and pay a lot of attention!

I have a few ways to do it:
Remember that I need to work now to make possible to don't work in the future;
Try to learn new non-tech things (Like Ocarina, Kalimba, Melodica or things that involve actively doing something);
Remember that good days only exist bcz we have some bad days to compare;
If it is because the lacking of feeling accomplishment, I try to split in smaller goals.

Listen to music bro. Really helps me to relax and focus on upcoming tasks or drink something I like or go outside. Either way do what you love and never worry. Try to have a positive mindset all the time. :)

I understand how you feel, and I certainly felt like that in the past, and I still feel like that way sometimes.

This week has been a tough one for me.

How you can overcome is by having hobbies outside of your job.

These hobbies don't have to be code-related.

Do what you like.

Exercise, cook, go for walks, play an instrument, play a sport, dance, sing, travel. ANYTHING.

Software engineering is a high status role, and we often forget that we are way more than our jobs.

I find it matters a lot how you start your day..
I will try to review things in the shower in the morning and when I get to the office to immediately jump in.
I make sure my computer is already showing the code when I get there in the morning so there is no time wasted booting or clicking around in apps.
If I don't know or feel unmotivated coding then I just read the code, and I find that very soon I'm correcting this or that, and then I end up deep coding.
Be sure to not get any distractions during that time.

Practice gratitude and take very long walks.