by Xypher Pino

Motivation is overrated – many people rely on sheer willpower and positive emotions to perform tasks when in fact, one should rely on designated systems and efficient structural foundations to go through with everyday life. If your productivity levels are directly correlated with your emotions and feelings, you are doing something completely wrong. In this article, we will discuss the value of systems over motivation and how you can create your own personalized systems to increase your day-to-day efficiency.

According to Oxford Languages, motivation refers to the reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, but my own personal definition of motivation is a temporary burst of energy that prompts one to do a certain thing. Motivation is momentary – it can last for a short period of time or a long period of time, depending on the person or purpose of the motivation, but regardless, it is not a permanent thing. I wish this was not the case – I would love it if I never felt lazy or unwilling to do any type of work because I would easily keep up with my goals and commitments. Have you ever had those thoughts in the middle of the night, where you suddenly plan to drastically change yourself? Out of nowhere, you start thinking about going to the gym on a daily basis, about eating healthier food and about changing your whole life. These plans never come to fruition though because they were founded on motivation. These thoughts are only ever possible in dreams unless you take advantage of systems.

“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action. Some people spend their entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an improvement,” this is a quote by James Clear, famous writer and speaker most known as the author of award-winning book Atomic Habits, and he brings up a great point – the whole point of systems and structures is for you to become more aware of the actions that you perform on a daily basis. If motivation is the driving force behind your ability to complete tasks, it will be hard to remain consistent because it is almost impossible to retain motivation. Through systems, you start to see things that you previously did not notice and your whole life starts to organize itself. Systems allow you to strategically approach your everyday life and allow significant room for improvement because everything is now easily detectable. Without systems, everything falls into the subconscious and it becomes hard to detect both good and bad habits.

According to Clear, “’disciplined’ people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control.” I completely agree with his statement – when we refer to others as disciplined and tell others how great their self-control is, we are actually referring to the efficiency of their systems. Disciplined individuals spend less time in tempting situations because as mentioned previously, life becomes organized and tasks become easily recognizable through systems. When a person relies on only motivation to accomplish things, it is very hard to be efficient and to limit procrastination because there is nothing that promotes productivity nor punishes procrastination.

Now, I am not saying that motivation is a completely bad thing nor am I saying that you should not have motivation. I myself have my own motivations that guide me, and they give reason as to why I work hard every single day, but my motivations are not the reason as to why I do work hard every single day – it is the systems I have crafted and honed that allow me to reach high levels of productivity on a very consistent basis. Everyone can be motivated – but in order for the motivation to be positive and effective you must build a system revolving around the motivation that will allow you to productively reach your goals.

The process of creating systems and implementing them in your life is a complex process – a whole different article or book even, as James Clear has done with Atomic Habits, can be written just based on this topic. It would not be right for me to tell you how to create systems as not only am I not qualified enough to tell you what to do, only you can create your own systems and decide how you want to structure your life. For an example though, I will go through some of my own systems that I have in my own day-to-day life.

I start off my day with a robust morning routine – when I wake up, I fix my bed and immediately start my five-minute stretching routine. After doing so, I make and drink a protein shake as I prepare to write my morning journal, which outlines my plan and goals for the day. After that is finished, I refine my to-do list and calendar, both of which are devices that ensure I am constantly on top of my tasks. Finally, I check my emails and do a little bit of reading to finish off the routine. This daily routine helps me prepare for the day and allows me to tackle my first task or activity with an already-active mind, giving no time for slouching. Throughout the day, I use my to-do list and calendar to help me keep pace with my task, but I also make use of a time sheet – I constantly update this and it keeps track of where my time is actually going on an hour-to-hour basis. At the end of the day or week, I can look back at these time sheets and see where my time went – did I not spend enough time studying? Did I not put enough hours into working out? The time sheet allows me to bring a whole different level of awareness into my life and it is my most useful tool thus far.

Once nighttime hits, I essentially repeat the same routine but instead of the routine focusing on mind and body activation, it is focused on calming myself down and preparing for the next day – I write my night journal which allows me to reflect on my day and look for things to improve on; I make sure that my to-do list and calendars are optimized for tomorrow; finally, I perform light stretches and deep-breathing exercises to help my body stimulate sleeping. Only after doing all of this will I head to bed.

I am proud of the systems that I have built but there is still much more room for improvement. Hopefully, after walking you through my own systems, I have inspired you and given you the motivation to do your own research regarding building systems. Just remember though – motivation is only beneficial if you capitalize on it by actually making meaningful changes. I encourage you to implement systems in your own life as I have. Ever since I learned about the importance of valuing systems over motivation, my life has taken a completely different turn and I am now more productive than ever.