Tilt Management: How to Manage Demotivation like a Pro Player. Cases and practical advice from NAVI Performance Coach Urszula Klimczak

With the Tilt Management series, we want to draw attention to various aspects of mental well-being and remind people of the importance of taking care of their psychological health. Both esports athletes and esports fans face mental struggles in different ways and at different levels of intensity, and that is completely normal in the pace of modern life.

With this article, we begin our Tilt Management special project, created in collaboration with Urszula “xirreth” Klimczak, NAVI Performance Coach, and NAVI partner, betting brand GG.BET. Throughout this series, Urszula Klimczak — an expert with years of experience in both traditional sports and esports disciplines — will break down common mental health challenges and share practices that help professional players perform at their best and may also prove useful to anyone in their daily life. The topic we are starting Mental Health Month with is demotivation.

How to recognize demotivation?

Things that once brought joy no longer feel enjoyable. Everything becomes difficult, tasks are completed without enthusiasm and with minimal effort, and goals remain out of reach. Energy, concentration, and productivity drop to zero, while rest does little to help. If you notice these patterns in your life, you may be experiencing demotivation.

What separates demotivation from ordinary tiredness is the absence of joy, procrastination, and the inability to recover quickly. You feel constantly exhausted and drained. It can feel like a kind of dopamine pit that becomes harder and harder to climb out of. And there may be many reasons why this happens.

Urszula Klimczak notes that in esports, reduced motivation is often caused by wrong or unachievable goals that lack personal control, misalignment between goals and resources (tools, team dynamics, support), organizational pressure focusing on outcomes rather than process, and conflicts.

However, all of this can be clearly observed in any workplace as well. When you deal with repetitive tasks and stagnation without variation or innovation, a tense atmosphere within the team, or feel underpaid or unfairly compensated — “I do a lot but get little in return” — while nothing changes, demotivation grows stronger and stronger.

What happens if demotivation goes unnoticed? In addition to procrastination and poor time management, unhealthy eating habits and low dopamine-seeking behaviors, such as increased reliance on stimulants (alcohol, weed, etc.) or other forms of overstimulation (for example, pornography), social withdrawal and isolation, chronic fatigue and sleep issues — symptoms that will only intensify over time — there is also the risk of progressing toward anxiety and depression. However, demotivation can be addressed and prevented.

Demotivation in esports

Prevention is better than fixing the problem

The emergence of Performance Coaches in esports organizations, such as Urszula Klimczak, is a strategic decision aimed at preventing mental struggles within the team, including demotivation.

“A performance coach focuses heavily on preventing issues that can negatively impact the team environment. One of the key priorities is ensuring that players, at any level, feel stable and don’t have to worry about unexpected disruptions.

My work is largely centered around building a healthy team environment. That includes developing communication skills, learning how to handle conflict and feedback, working under pressure, and managing stress.

The more we work on these aspects — from building the right team dynamics to staying focused on the process — the easier it becomes for players to navigate difficult situations.”

Another key skill of a Performance Coach is recognizing symptoms early. Urszula has a broad area of responsibility — from preparation, conversations, and workshops to overseeing food, sleep regimes, routines, and player schedules — which allows her to stay aware of any disturbances.

In everyday life, each of us must become a Performance Coach for ourselves. Self-management, mindfulness toward oneself, and self-care are what allow us to recognize the first warning signs of possible problems.

The role of environment

Esports is inherently competitive. Sometimes motivation comes naturally: there are top teams, and the team wants to earn own place among them. Victories, of course, are uplifting. But failures — something everyone experiences — can be discouraging, and a losing streak in particular can seriously shake motivation.

How a team and each player perceive failure largely depends on the atmosphere within the team. The first points of influence here are the Team Coach and the Performance Coach. For example, if a Team Coach becomes demotivated, as a leader they may only reinforce feelings of despair. Translated into everyday life, think of how often the negative mood of a manager or colleagues has affected workplace productivity and results.

Urszula notes that collaboration between the Team Coach and Performance Coach helps strengthen motivation and proactively address its decline. A Team Coach can boost motivation through balancing team goals with individual development tasks, acknowledging progress made in training and achievements, openly discussing both challenges and successes, and sometimes by focusing on process over outcomes. The role of the Performance Coach — beyond creating a healthy team environment and managing players’ routines — is to highlight early signs of potential issues to the coach and explain how different coaching decisions may impact the players’ mental state.

Routine vs Demotivation

The way we sleep, eat, structure our day, and spend our free time affects both our physical and mental state. For esports athletes, who often deal with intense training schedules, competitions, and frequent travel, a routine is a necessity. It is what keeps them grounded and helps them find strength during demanding periods.

Urszula notes that NAVI places great emphasis on players’ routines. In addition, even during short breaks between tournaments, the organization tries to ensure players have opportunities to stay in touch with loved ones, and do things that bring them joy.

Why is routine important regardless of profession? Because it helps restore energy, rebuild resources, and improve focus. After all, it is difficult to stay productive when all you can think about is food and sleep.

Practical tips: how to adopt best esports players practices in daily life

“When you ask yourself these questions, they naturally lead you to a better understanding of what is happening and why. The 4W technique helps identify the root cause of demotivation — what is driving it and where it comes from. This deeper analysis allows you to better understand the underlying issue.”

Master routine and build structure

It may sound boring, but this is exactly what restores strength and improves well-being. Without this foundation, any work on your mental state will be significantly less effective, because your energy will go toward simply compensating for existing deficits.

Waking up at the same time every day without snoozing, going for a walk and taking a morning shower, eating nutritious regular meals, engaging in exercise and outdoor activities, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, and managing caffeine intake to preserve sleep quality and remaining socially active — all of these are examples of small rituals and routines that can improve quality of life.

Manage responsibilities and shift your mindset

Achieving results is important, but the process matters just as much.

As mentioned earlier, unrealistic goals and focusing only on outcomes are among the key causes of demotivation. When things do not go our way or we fail, feelings of guilt may arise and start weighing us down.

Urszula suggests shifting your focus and strengthening self-confidence by:

• acknowledging completed tasks starting from the small ones,
• approaching responsibilities with enthusiasm and curiosity rather than pure obligation,
• trying to complete planned tasks before resting or diving into fun activities like gaming or sport,
• but if everything does not get done — not blaming yourself and instead being proud of what you managed to accomplish.

Quick dopamine is not always your friend

And sometimes that is perfectly fine — we are all human, and such moments can lift our mood and spirits.

However, Urszula warns that in the long run, relying on this too often and regularly may only deepen feelings of demotivation and exhaustion.

When should you seek professional help?

Consider consulting a psychologist if you experience:

• a persistent backlog of responsibilities;
• chronic sleep or eating issues;
• constant irritation or physical signs of withdrawal;
• loss of social engagement and desire to isolate;
• regularly falling into guilty pleasure activities;
• thoughts approaching depression or anxiety.

Homework by GG.BET

1. If needed, complete the 4W exercise and reflect on your answers.
2. Experiment with keeping a Routine Journal — even for just a few days. Track: how easily you woke up, what and how often you ate, whether you took coffee or walking breaks, what activities you did throughout the day, and most importantly: how you felt afterward.
3. Write down a list of activities that give you inspiration and energy. If possible, include at least some of them in your plans for this week.
4. Track your small daily wins and what you managed to accomplish from your plans. Be kind to yourself: even if you did not achieve the exact result you wanted, thank yourself for the progress you made along the way.