5 steps to keep yourself motivated at work

Why do some people get down to work with enthusiasm and finish it with the thought “what a fine fellow I am!”, while others have to overcome themselves every time, straining all their willpower in order to complete the current tasks?

A lot depends on whether our needs are met in the workplace: security, belonging to a group, self-confidence, autonomy, recognition…

Our ability to influence this is limited: it is often a matter for the organization and management. But something is in our power. The first step to increasing motivation is to understand which needs are being met and which are not.

1. Diagnose

Find out which of the following needs improvement. And that negatively affects your motivation. Determine what and to what extent depends on you.

• Recognition: Do you feel appreciated? Do you receive gratitude, congratulations and other signs of attention?
• Autonomy: Can you act independently and make decisions?
• Relationships: do you feel the support of the environment, the atmosphere of benevolence?
• Efficiency: Do you feel like you are doing your job? If not, what do you lack: skills or competencies?
• Sense of Contribution: Do you feel like you’re making a difference at work?
• Personal development: does the job satisfy you, is it interesting for you?
• Leadership: How good is your contact with your line manager?
• Working conditions: Do your working conditions and schedule allow you to maintain a balance between professional and personal life?

By finding gaps in these points, you will know what needs to be improved. Something depends on external factors that you do not influence. It may be worth discussing them with your manager or with the HR department. There is also something that you can change for the better on your own.

2. Set your personal goals

In addition to the goals set by management, define those goals that make sense for you personally. They don’t have to be directly related to work. And they don’t have to be huge.

Perhaps these will be very small goals, for example: make new acquaintances, broaden your horizons, increase your skills, get a good entry in your resume, acquire new skills and “pump” existing ones …

This improves mood, and at the same time increases enthusiasm. Measure each day how far you have progressed towards your personal goals and celebrate your successes.

3. Seek pleasure

This is a real motivator. For example, a saleswoman may take it upon herself to order new models because she enjoys working with catalogs. Or, if she likes to communicate, she will enjoy advising buyers. Also think about how it is more pleasant and convenient for you to do the work.

Appropriate clothing and footwear, proper lighting, noise level — there are many little things that we often do not think about, but which we can change for the better.

For example, an orthopedic pillow can be useful for sedentary work, and headphones with or without music will get rid of extraneous sounds. Do not put up with the usual inconveniences if they can be avoided.

Make a list of everything that could improve your working day. Let it include both material items like those mentioned above, and non-material aspects, such as communication with colleagues. And gradually implement improvements in your practice.

4. Let yourself rest

Sometimes the reluctance to work becomes a natural consequence of overload. So don’t forget to rest.

It’s not just about vacations, but also small breaks of a few minutes during the day, which can be used to do a few physical exercises or just sit with your eyes closed. Walk down the hallway, look out the window, pour yourself a cup of tea, water the flowers… Perhaps you will come up with your own ways of unloading.

Also, yoga experts describe postures that are suitable for performing in the workplace. Some of them are listed in Christine Chen’s book Yoga in between. In traffic, at work, at home” (Sinbad, 2018).

At work, we often forget to listen to our body and do not notice how fatigue accumulates. Try giving yourself one minute every hour for self-diagnosis to ask yourself the question, “How is my body feeling right now?” and hear the answer.

5. Change the angle of view

If it doesn’t occur to you how to make the job more enjoyable, it can be helpful to remember why you took it on in the first place. What does she let you do? What is its value?

Perhaps she leaves you enough time for hobbies, personal or family life? Or do you know that this position is the right stage for you to land in a desired position in the future that is more in line with your ambitions and preferences?

Sometimes we feel like we “should” and even “must” go to work. But they didn’t force it on us, did they? We ourselves chose it for ourselves, and therefore, there are good reasons for such a choice. And if the circumstances have changed and the old reasons are no longer relevant, it makes sense to look for what keeps you in your current job.

Motivation is a mobile energy, it depends on many factors that cannot always be accurately determined. But sometimes it is enough to know about the fluctuations of this energy in order not to worry about its downturns and calmly wait for the upswings.

The article was prepared using materials from the book The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, Harvard Business Review Press, 2011).