The aim of this research is to determine the internal and external variables that increase and decrease the motivation of school administrators during the period when education is carried out through distance education due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The study group of the research, which is carried out as a qualitative research, consists of 17 school administrators working in Yeniçağa district of Bolu province in the 2020-2021 academic year. The data were collected with a semi-structured interview form and analyzed with descriptive and content analysis. According to the results of the research, internal variables were more effective than external variables in increasing the motivation of school administrators in the distance education period. In this period, professional responsibility and citizenship took the first two places among the internal variables that increase the motivation of school administrators, ın extrinsic variables, certificate of achievement, professional and personal development trainings, and extra responsibilities taken stand out. While the internal variable that reduces the motivation of school administrators is only the disease situation that can be experienced as a result of the pandemic, the external variable is the lack of coordination and consultation at the local level, ambiguity in formal communication, students not attending the lesson without an excuse, the negative attitude of the media towards teachers, etc. situations are specified. The distance education process draws attention as a time period in which school administrators take more initiative by struggling with many unknowns. For this reason, it should be taken into consideration how the policies to be implemented during the distance education period can affect the motivation of school administrators and that this situation will directly affect the functioning of distance education and the efficiency obtained from the process.