Remaining motivated at work 100% of the time is challenging. Having the odd dip now and then is completely normal, however it’s a great idea to have some tools at hand to know how to deal with those motivational lulls so they don’t become the norm. Below I’ve shared with you my top 5 tips on increasing and maintaining your motivational levels at work…enjoy!
- Set yourself small measurable goals – it’s really important that you feel you’re making progress in your work. If you have a routine role or you’re working on a big project, chunk it down and celebrate meeting the minor milestones along the way.
- Be positive – if you’re unmotivated or unhappy at work, your negative feelings can soon take over, affecting both your mood and the mood of those around you. It may not sound easy, but shifting your mindset to focus on the positives (whether that’s the bits you enjoy in your role or your interaction with colleagues) will have a big impact on your overall happiness and motivation levels. Even small changes such as complimenting others on their work or having a upbeat daily mantra can help to increase your positivity and outlook.
- Schedule your work – if you know you have a tedious task to complete or have to work on a project you’re not excited about, try to schedule your diary so you break up this work with other, more enjoyable elements of your role. Alternatively, you may choose to provide yourself with a treat for finishing the less enjoyable tasks, such as meeting a friend for lunch or treating yourself to a takeout of your favourite coffee.
- Know your purpose – the majority of people are motivated by purposeful work. As such, it’s essential that you know and recognise the ways in which the work that you do makes a difference in some way, whether that be for yourself, the company, it’s clients or society as a whole. Having a purpose is what pulls us out of bed in the morning, so whether you’re working to save money for a holiday or working to help improve the lives of others, keeping this purpose in mind should help to keep those motivation dips to a minimum.
- Take action – a lack of workplace motivation may be due to a myriad of reasons. However, if there’s specific aspects of your role that are getting you down then speak up and let your manager know. Perhaps you could have a discussion and suggest ways in which your role could be improved or talk about training courses you’d like to take to develop yourself and the role. As long as you focus on providing possible solutions rather than simply listing things you don’t enjoy about your role, your manager should be receptive which could hopefully lead to positive changes. If all else fails and you’re unable to implement any of the above changes and still feel demotivated, it may be time to seriously consider a job or career change.
I hope these tips help to maintain or re-energise your workplace motivation levels…please feel free to share your personal top tips for staying motivated at work below! 🙂
