Motivation comes from within. You might be inspired by achievements of others, but, to go far in life, you need to feel charged and determined to achieve your goals. Well that's a really nice saying and all but, staying motivated sometimes can be hard. This is especially true if the project you are currently working on...well sucks.

In this article/list am I going to try and help you find new ways, or ways of staying motivated that work for me. Some of these motivational techniques will not work for everyone, but I will try to please everyone with this post.

1) Distractions

So distractions are evil. The worst part of this is, and why this is #1 on my list is that there are so damn many of them. Twitter, RSS Feeds, Blogs, Design Galleries, Games, Instant Messaging, the list is endless.

Close those apps, turn off msnm, and forget about Twitter! All of these are evil,trust me!
Motivational wallpapers can help as well. What is a motivational wallpaper? See this one.

2) Reward Yourself

Now #2 pretty much goes along with #1. Reward yourself! Completed a milestone? Got what you needed to get inished, done? Them open up those distracting apps or websites and see what you missed out on working for the man!

3) Recognize Your Progress

Everything you are working on can be easily split into smaller parts and stages. For most goals, it is quite natural to split the process of accomplishing them into smaller tasks and milestones. There are a few reasons behind doing this, and one of them is tracking your progress.

But to stay motivated, you need to recognize your progress, not merely track it. This is where a simple to-do this comes in.

Get yourself a really simple to-do list like Doomi. Add all your broken down goals into your to-do list, then check them off as you go. The feeling of completing small tasks one by one will make you feel like you are gaining ground and going places.

4) Be Clear

Fuzzy, unclear goals are difficult to focus on. How will you proceed when the path seems all foggy, what will you do next? Request as much information as possible from the client. Sometimes I pretty much demand it.

Set dates for deliverables and be sure to meet them. Remember track your progress!

5) Stay Caffeinated

Ok ok so this one is not going to be for everyone. But it sure as hell works for me. Go to the store and get yourself some Monster Energy Drink, or some really strong coffee. It really does help. If you keep your eyes on the "Mood" side bar you will see I'm always drinking something with caffeine in it.

Conclusion

Staying motivated is not easy, but I hope some of these ideas will help you, they work for me!

Having something you do that works really well and think I should add it to this list? Please post it in the comments!