Feeling like you have no motivation? Missing the usual enthusiasm for work? It’s ok. Motivation is an elusive, sometimes unpredictable aspect of our work and life. It’s affected by many different things: anything from the number of hours you sleep, through to the number of emails you receive, can increase or decrease your passion for work.
Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to improve your motivation across everything you do. In this guide, discover how to identify what’s demotivating you, what motivates you, and how you can improve your productivity and enjoyment at work.
1. Identify what’s demotivating you
In our guide to beating Blue Monday, we highlighted the importance of pinpointing why you feel blue. The same applies here - the first step in improving your motivation is to identify the areas that really zap your energy. These could be rational issues (hours of repetitive work) or irrational issues (you hate the taste of the office coffee) - all of them are valid.
Take 10 minutes to write down everything that makes you feel frustrated, tired, and demotivated on a piece of paper. The list can also include any issues outside of work, long-term issues, short-term issues, whatever.
Now try grouping these issues into the following categories:
Issues in your control
Issues in your manager’s control
Issues outside of your control
By recognising which issues are in your power, you can start making plans to change these. Similarly, the issues that aren’t in your control, but can be improved by your manager, are worth communicating when the opportunity arises. For the third category, issues outside of your control, try finding ways to comfort the effects of them, rather than to change the root cause.
2. Check in with your stress levels
Alongside identifying the issues that are causing you to lose enthusiasm, it’s worth checking in with your mental health. Stress, anxiety, and burnout all occur over an extended period of time, and removing stressors can help you to feel better, but it may not be enough to kickstart your passions again.
At Calmer, we believe mental health is similar to physical health - some days will feel better than others, and checking in with your mental health regularly will enable you to improve it.
During a period of demotivation, you may find it useful to work out where you are on the burnout scale, or enroll straight away in The Reignite Project, our free digital course providing actionable steps to reduce your stress levels and prevent burnout.
3. Uncover what motivates you
Now let’s get to the positive part! Take some time to identify activities and experiences that really motivate you. Do you have a hidden love for drawing? Or perhaps there’s a form of exercise that makes you feel great?
On another piece of paper, make a list of everything that you enjoy doing. Now categorise these in the following groups:
Things I can do at work
Things I can do outside of work
For example, you may love doodling, but you might not be up to scratch for a career in graphic design…
4. Find ways to include your passions in your work
Now it’s time to see how you can include a few of these in your work, and in your life outside of work. Take small steps in embedding these - if you like running, joining a weekly run club may work well, whereas applying for a marathon might be a bit much to start with.
Similarly, try expressing these to your team or manager. If you know where your passions and strengths lie, it may be worth highlighting these so you can put them to good use in future work.
5. Give yourself time to progress
Finally - give yourself time. Finding your motivation can take time, and it may seem even tougher to shake things up or try communicating with others during this period. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to progress. If you find certain activities don’t boost you how you’d hoped, return to your plans and try something new. You’ll know when you’ve found the right thing!
If you find you’re experiencing a low mood, sadness, or depression, consider following these points from the NHS, or seeking professional support.