Stay Motivated

Motivation is a tricky subject to grasp. Some days you feel it, and other days regardless of how hard you try, you just can’t feel inspired. The good news is this happens to everyone and there are ways you can go around the lack of motivation you are bond to feel occasionally. The bad news or rather the hard part is to understand what is causing the lack of inspiration. At Boardrm we are you Career Partner for life, so we are here to get you through the tough stages of your professional life. Here’s a couple of tips on how to keep your work spark alive.

Your impact here
In the day-to-day life, it’s easier to lose sight of the purpose your work serves. And sometimes, that can be key to feeling motivated – it can be as simple as reminding yourself of the people your work helps. It will depend on the specifics of your role but feeling like you are making someone’s life easier or better can make you feel more motivated and help you get out of a rut.

Your work in context
Every job has down sides and even dream jobs come with their share of frustrations. When this happens and you feel less motivated, remember that it took effort to get where you are now and by continuing to pursue your ambitions and crushing your goals you will move forward.
 

The least favourite work.

There’s always at least one big task that we dread doing so we start procrastinating. We all have parts of our job that we don’t like. And that is normal. But by avoiding it and pushing it to the side we are not accomplishing anything. Our tip is to do your least favourite work first and not to let your to-do list pile up with the tasks you don’t like doing – as this can turn into a motivation killer. So, try to get what you don’t like doing first so you can get back to doing what you love after!  

• On top of this, one way to tackle these big tasks is to break them into smaller ones so there are easier and less daunting undertakings.

Reward Yourself heading.

In the day-to-day life is easier to lose track of how much you have accomplished. It easy to get lost in a comparison trap and forget to celebrate your accomplishments. Make sure you are celebrating yourself, your milestones and your achievements – even when they are small.

• This also applies to your co-workers. It’s important to celebrate everyone else’s achievements as that will create a supportive and inspiring environment

Check-ins
Communicating regularly with your manager might help you get out of your motivation rut. We recommend you coming in with a game plan of the topics you want to discuss – aim to voice your concerns and arrive with an open mind for direction and feedback!
 

Goals.

When you land a job you like or have been wishing for, it’s easier to relax into the groove of getting tasks done but not focusing on the bigger long-term plans. Even if this is not the case and, for example, you are not in your ideal career and job role, it is important not to fall into this pattern. Goal setting (even if not fully accomplished) is highly linked to task performance so by setting goals, you will experience better performance, greater output, and therefore higher levels of motivation. If don’t have one already, you should create one or two long-term goals. This is the tricky part that majority of people get it wrong or miss. After you create the bigger long-term goals, you have to break them into smaller goals/ tasks and go from there. By doing this you won’t lose momentum and get discouraged – instead you will feel yourself improving by achieving the smaller goals. As smaller more specific goals are more achievable, there are a couple of different frameworks you can use to make this process easier, such as SMART goals. The SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. To set the actual goals, you should answer the 5 Ws:

• Who: Who is involved in this goal?
• What: What do I want to accomplish?
• Where: Location of goal
• Why: What's the specific reason, purpose, or benefit from setting this goal?
• When: What's the time frame in which I want to achieve this goal?
  By setting goals, you will feel more motivated as you’ll feel your work towards something!
   

Feedback.

One of the most valuable extrinsic motivators is feedback. Regardless of if it’s from your boss or your colleagues, being told you are doing a good job or analysing your frustrations with someone else, will give you perspective on what you can do to improve and on what you are already doing well.
 

Take a break heading.

Sometimes, motivation has everything to do with knowing when to stop working. When you are working for too many hours without breaking, you become tired, and it gets harder to focus. Taking regular breaks throughout your workday is critical for productivity. Regardless if it is making a coffee or stepping outside for a couple of minutes, taking breaks has many benefits including boosting productivity, enhancing brain function and aiding creativity.
 

Keep home and Work separated heading.

A lack of work-life balance can lead to motivational issues and burnout. This happens when you feel stuck, tired, overworked and like you can’t escape your professional life. Having a healthy balance is the key to create motivation and feel inspired. Being able to balance you work and your personal life is a very important step you need to take in order to not only feel motivated at work, but for your mental and physical health to. For more advice on work life balance check our article here.
 

Stay Positive heading.

Try to keep a positive outlook on your work and around yourself. You won’t always be motivated and that is okay, but by trying to have a positive perspective you will enhance your chances of having your motivation back. It's more about keeping your state of mind positive when it's within your control.
 

Extra tip:
Most of the advice we described above are actions you can take if you feel like you’re the one feeling the lack of motivation. However, sometimes this lack doesn’t have anything to do with you. It could be a toxic work environment, bad leadership, lack of compensation or progression. Keep in mind that you don’t need to change your goals or what works for you to fit a job. If this is the case, it might mean that it is time for you to consider changing your work environment in order to achieve the workplace motivation and job satisfaction that you’ve been striving for.