When it comes to getting work done, motivation is king. When you’re feeling motivated, you’re able to get more done and achieve more of your goals than at any other time – but what do you do when that motivation suddenly disappears? How can you motivate yourself at work in order to help you get the things you need to do finished? Here are 14 great tips on how to motivate yourself at work.
1) Be Thankful
If you’re not motivated to do something, take a step back and think about what’s motivating you. Are you doing it for money? Dedication? Focus? Or excellence? If it’s any of these, think about how your motivations will help achieve results. And if they won’t, determine if there is a better way to motivate yourself that will produce results. Maybe inspiration is what works best for you—the thrill of having your work seen by others can be an incredible motivator! You might need to set up daily or weekly goals to motivate yourself; don’t just let inspiration come when it comes—you could miss out on your greatest opportunity for motivation. Make time for inspiration every day and give yourself time to be thankful at the end of each day as well.
2) Start the Day With a Coffee (or Tea!)
Starting your day off with caffeine can give you a much-needed boost of energy and get you into work mode. If it’s cold out, have some hot tea. Caffeine from tea will warm you up and allow your mind to wander toward creative thoughts, rather than fixating on what’s stressing you out at home or at work. It’ll also get your heart rate up a bit, which gets oxygen flowing to your brain. That leads us to our next tip…
3) Exercise
Exercising regularly is one of, if not THE best way to increase your overall productivity. Even taking a short break during your workday to go for a quick walk can help. Not only will exercise clear your mind and reduce stress, but it will also help improve your mood and boost creativity by releasing feel-good hormones such as serotonin and dopamine in your brain. Even just standing up rather than sitting down every hour or so at work can make a big difference! If you’re feeling unmotivated, try exercising before work or on your lunch break; it might just be what you need to get you going.
4) Choose Your Job Wisely
Make sure your job, co-workers and industry are a good fit for you. If you’re miserable at work, you’ll find it difficult to get motivated—no matter how much money is involved. After all, there’s nothing worse than spending 40 hours a week working on something that doesn’t interest or inspire you. In order to stay focused throughout your workday, it’s essential that you love what you do; when starting a new job, ask yourself whether your day-to-day responsibilities will keep things interesting or if they’ll soon become monotonous. If that answer isn’t immediately clear, proceed with caution before accepting any offers.
5) Set Goals and Create a Plan
Although motivation can come from various sources, if you’re looking to truly stay motivated and focused over a long period of time, you’ll need to set goals. You should identify your short-term and long-term goals (and make sure they are in alignment with one another) as well as create a plan for attaining them. Write down your plans so that you have something concrete to reference when times get tough. Having a why will help drive your motivation and determine what you put into your schedule every day at work. Don’t forget to take time for yourself!
6) Don’t Overcommit Yourself
It’s easy to fall into a trap of taking on more than you can handle. But when you get overwhelmed, you have no choice but to lower your standards or burn yourself out. Don’t overcommit yourself by setting impossible goals and getting upset when you don’t meet them. This will only lead to disappointment and frustration—and poor work performance. Instead, set realistic goals that challenge but don’t overwhelm you. You can always strive for more in the future; just make sure your workload doesn’t prevent you from performing at your peak right now.
7) No Procrastination Zone
Many people use procrastination as a way to quell anxiety or fear. There’s nothing wrong with occasionally putting something off for another day; that’s how we survive our daily chores and errands. But when it comes to your job, you can’t afford to put things off because deadlines don’t wait for tomorrow—and one bad habit will quickly become two, which will soon turn into three and so on. Create a no procrastination zone by establishing a dedicated workspace in your home or office where you can do your best work without distraction.
8) Change Your Perspective
When you’re feeling demotivated at work, one of the easiest things to do is make a list of what you need to get done. When you focus on tasks, however, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and demotivated. If that happens, try looking at those same tasks from a different perspective—the perspective of someone who just got hired or assigned to work with you. Chances are your new colleague is excited about their job and will help motivate you when he or she asks questions about your project that seem daunting. By keeping your eyes on them, as well as seeing yourself as someone who helps others reach their goals, it might be easier for you to get going again!
9) Put yourself in an Enthusiastic State of Mind
If you’re not in a great mood to begin with, it’s hard to motivate yourself and change your attitude. So take a few minutes before starting on your task and find something that gets you feeling pumped about what you have to do. Put on some upbeat music, or watch an inspirational TED talk. Even just thinking about an uplifting conversation from earlier that day will do. Make sure to focus on how good you feel, though; don’t let yourself get lost in thoughts of negativity.
10) Never Stop Learning
Once you get a job, there’s a tendency to think that your learning should stop. We all want to feel as though we are advancing in our careers, but just because your work is stable doesn’t mean you can stop growing professionally. In fact, there are even more opportunities for learning when you don’t have a set schedule. Read books about topics related to your work and industry, find online tutorials about new technology and keep an eye out for new skills that might help your company become more successful—even if it isn’t directly involved with what you do. You may never know where inspiration will come from, so make sure to stay open-minded and ready to learn new things at any time.
11) Don’t Think About it as Hard Work
Often we think of work as something that is hard, and that makes us tired. The best way to change your mindset around work is to look at it as a challenge you need to overcome, not as a hard thing you have to do. This shift in thinking will help make tasks seem less overwhelming and more fun. Instead of thinking about how long you have left in your work day, concentrate on how many things you can finish by quitting time. Keep yourself pumped with adrenaline by challenging yourself to get even more done than last week!
12) Create Small, Bite-Sized Goals
Setting goals that are easily attainable helps to motivate you. Once you’ve accomplished them, it will be easier to complete larger tasks because your motivation and confidence level will be higher. Each task shouldn’t take more than an hour or two, depending on its size and complexity. Just remember to make sure these bite-sized goals are also fun for you; doing something challenging is motivating in itself, but if it feels like a chore, then you won’t see much progress toward your end goal.
13) Do a review of your progress
Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in your day-to-day responsibilities and lose sight of what you have achieved. Keep a daily record of your progress and successes—this is an easy way to remind yourself how far you’ve come. It will also help motivate you for what’s still ahead! This can be as simple as writing a few notes in a journal or keeping track in a spreadsheet.
14) Celebrate Wins
Achieving a major goal—even something small, like finishing a task or meeting a deadline—is an important motivator. When you see your accomplishments add up, it gives you that extra boost of self-confidence to keep going. Think about each step of your journey as an accomplishment and make sure to celebrate them along the way. Not only does celebrating give you an opportunity to pat yourself on the back, but also it can help you develop positive habits that’ll motivate you in other areas of life, too. If there aren’t any recent wins to celebrate, look back on past accomplishments; they still count! Whether they were significant achievements or simple daily tasks, they all played a role in getting where you are today.
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