It’s normal to feel unmotivated from time to time, but when you’re trying to get things done, it can be pretty damn frustrating.

Motivation, after all, is a fickle quality – one moment you’re raring to get things done, and the next you’re struggling to muster the drive to complete the simplest of tasks.

But according to new research, motivation may not be as complex as we think. The study, published in the Journal Of Research In Personality, puts forward the idea that there are two different types of motivation – and that these types determine the number of obstacles we face in pursuit of our goals.

In turn, the study suggests that the type of motivation we possess can make a big difference to our ability to complete tasks – and provides tips on how to generate one type of motivation over the other.

Productivity: new research has revealed the secret to staying motivated – and it’s surprisingly simple