How to stay motivated: what the research says
Motivation here means how much you want to do a task: your interest, engagement or confidence that you can do it, measured as the main outcome. These are the actions and rules that studies have tested, rated by how sure the research is and how much they helped.
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HelpedGoals
Talks matched to each person's readiness lowered blood sugar and improved self-care.
24 studies pooled · 4,214 people · 3 tools tested
HelpedMotivation
Classes with game features may raise students' motivation a little.
35 studies pooled · 2,500 people
HelpedGoals
Teaching young children to plan, monitor and reflect may help their school results
38 studies pooled · 3 tools tested
HelpedGoals
Teaching helped adults with long-term illness on several outcomes
24 studies pooled · 4,413 people
HelpedGoals
Classes with game features may help learning, but studies varied a lot.
49 studies pooled · 5,071 people · 3 tools tested
HelpedMotivation
Group programmes may help people with long-term illness look after themselves
4 studies pooled · 8,011 people · 1 tool used
HelpedGoals
Monitoring tools such as learning journals may help students do better in tests
18 studies pooled · 3,492 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedGoals
Guided talks may help people with cancer move more and feel more capable.
423 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedGoals
Programmes that help people take charge may make adults with kidney disease self-manage more.
4 studies pooled · 368 people · 3 tools tested
HelpedGoals
Teaching study strategies may raise language test scores and make students more confident
13 studies pooled · 1,780 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedMotivation
Peer-led groups may reduce shame and raise confidence and willingness to seek help
3 studies pooled · 250 people · 1 tool used
HelpedMotivation
Stoma programmes may help people feel more able to manage their own care.
5 studies pooled · 536 people
HelpedMotivation
Support from people who had cancer improved quality of life and eased depression
12 studies pooled · 2,019 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedGoals
Study training helped students get better grades and motivation.
31 studies pooled · 5,786 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedMotivation
Weight programmes may ease depression and raise confidence, not anxiety.
9,385 people
HelpedMotivation
Health programmes lowered blood pressure and may build confidence in older adults
3 studies pooled · 130 people
HelpedGoals
Self-care programmes helped insulin users at first, but results at six months were unclear.
6 studies pooled · 1,890 people · 2 tools tested
HelpedMotivation
Mindfulness courses at work cut stress; the work gains were smaller and less certain.
5 studies pooled · 5,161 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedGoals
Mental rehearsal improved sport skills more than doing nothing did.
48 studies pooled · 1,438 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedMotivation
Game features made training more engaging, but did not clearly make it work better
8 studies pooled · 514 people · 1 tool tested
HelpedMotivation
Programmes raised confidence and lowered blood sugar in people with long-term illness
11 studies pooled
HelpedMotivation
Exercise, talk therapy and mixed programmes gave small early gains in pain confidence.
12,415 people · 1 tool tested
