If you suffer from low motivation..

I eventually overcame it.

How to fix low motivation:
Motivation depends on 2 things:

1. The effort required to do something.

2. The expected reward at the end of it.

High effort + low reward leads to low motivation

Low effort + high reward leads to high motivation.

So how can we use these insights to increase our motivation?
1. Writing things down is a magical hack:

Remembering things requires a lot of mental effort.

It also makes it hard to focus & prioritize.

Take 5 minutes at the start of the day to write down what you'll do today.

Less effort remembering = more effort executing.
2. Do the hardest thing first:

Motivation decreases as the day goes on.

The day feels progressively harder if you leave hard things for later.

Get the hardest thing out of the way first.

Then reward yourself with easier tasks.

Your day will feel a lot easier.
3. Eliminate distractions:

It takes 1 hour to build your focus.

It takes 1 notification to break it.

Avoid having to rebuild your focus repeatedly by muting your notifications.
4. Break big tasks into smaller tasks:

Big tasks can feel intimidating.

They also require a lot of motivation.

Make things easier by breaking big tasks into smaller tasks that require less effort and motivation to complete.
5. Ask for autonomy:

We feel more motivated when we have more control over our lives.

It's hard to do something if we don't feel like we have control over how we do it.

Talk to your manager.

Ask them to give you more autonomy over how you do things.
6. Understand the why:

Lack of motivation starts with lack of clarity.

It's hard to feel motivated when we don't understand why we're doing something.

Take some time to understand why you have to do a task.

This makes the task more meaningful.

It also makes it less boring.
7. Get 8 hours of sleep:

Your brain can't focus if it's tired.

And your motivation suffers when you're having trouble focusing.

Sleep fuels focus and motivation.

Make sure you get plenty of it.
8. Make it rewarding:

Ask yourself this:

Are any of the things you enjoy doing unrewarding?

No.

What's unmotivating is often unrewarding.

Make your task more motivating by rewarding yourself at the end.

I usually reward myself with a little snack when I finish a task.
Recap:
1. Write things down in the morning
2. Do the hardest thing first
3. Break big tasks into smaller tasks
4. Eliminate distractions
5. Ask for autonomy
6. Understand the why
7. Get 8 hours of sleep
8. Make it rewarding
If you found this thread helpful, please:

- Retweet the first tweet and help others find this thread

- Follow me at @heykahn

I write about marketing, tech, and psychology. I share my insights along the way.

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More from @heykahn

26 Jul
10 principles from psychology to master marketing:
1. Reciprocity:

We feel obliged to repay people who have done us a favor.

Example: When waiters gift free mints with the bill, tips go up by 14%.
2. Mimetic Desire:

People have a desire to be more like their role models and copy them.

This is why athletes like LeBron and Ronaldo are paid so much to wear Nikes:

People want to wear what their role models are wearing.

h/t @lukeburgis
Read 14 tweets
20 Jul
Over 1.2 million people have seen my tweets in the last 4 weeks.

The crazy part? I only started tweeting 6 weeks ago.

Here are 6 lessons on writing effectively:
1. Write simply and clearly.

The best way to write simply and clearly is to use fewer words:

In the event of → if
All the time → always
Along the lines of → like
Due to the fact that → because
In spite of the fact that → although
2. Optimize for emotion.

Good writing makes you think.

Great writing makes you feel.

Before you write, think about what emotion you want every sentence to invoke in the reader's mind.
Read 8 tweets
14 Jul
I've spent over $8 million on paid marketing ads.

These ads have generated over 1.5 million users across 6 different products.

THREAD: How to build paid marketing channels that create millions in revenue:
1. The 4 steps of building a paid marketing channel:

A) Buy ads. For example, spend $1,000 on Facebook Ads

B) Acquire users that generate revenue

C) Measure your performance (more on this later)

D) Re-invest the revenue generated from users back into purchasing more ads
2. Remember: Paid ads can't be your main acquisition channel.

Startup history is full of companies that went broke after overspending on paid marketing.

Paid ads are the most dangerous channel in the world.
Read 12 tweets
6 Jul
10 years ago I dropped out of college.

Today I'm one of the youngest VPs at a venture-backed company in Canada.

Here are 10 lessons on finding success your own way:
1. Unconventional success requires an unconventional path.

Most people would rather be wrong with the crowd than be right alone.

Remember: the social rewards of conformity exceed those of isolation.

If you can avoid seeking the approval of others, your power is limitless.
2. Goals are bullshit.

Successful and unsuccessful people have the same goals.

You never rise to the level of your goals. You always fall to the level of your habits.

Goals are just dreams. Habits make them a reality.

h/t @JamesClear
Read 14 tweets
15 Jun
Every year over 2.5 million people read emails that I write.

Here are 7 tips to help you create emails that generate millions of $ in revenue.
Tip 1:
A killer subject line is half the battle.

Your email can't convert if no one clicks on it.

80% of readers skim through their inbox.

Make your subject line stand out by keeping it short, punchy and to the point.
Tip 2:
Make it visually appealing.

Our brains process visual information 60,000x faster than text!

Simple images and a compelling CTA are the difference between an email that gets opened, and an email that gets readers to buy.
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