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Staying motivated can be tough at work.
When you’re in education there’s regular feedback, fresh objectives, a higher purpose (your development) and an end in sight (graduation). You have a ready-made community (your friends) and people around you who really care about your success (teachers, lecturers, parents).
All of this is motivating, and some workplaces and professions do a good job of replicating this, especially in the early years of your career. But unfortunately, many don’t. And for all of us, as we grow in our careers, we often have periods when we plateau.
Here are some suggestions for tackling feeling demotivated:
- Wait it out. Perhaps it’s just the January blues? Don’t assume a short-term feeling is a permanent reflection of how you feel about work.
- Examine what is making you feel this way? What specifically about your work is demotivating? If you can identify it, you can work on changing it.
- Talk to your line manager. Hopefully they’re open to this. If you know what you want to change (see above), they should help you make adjustments.
- Think ahead, where do you want to be in 2–3 years? What can you do to work towards it? Use this to frame some goals, in agreement with your manager.
- Consider side-projects. Agree them with your manager when you’re goal setting. They can open the door to more fulfilling work.
- Consider training and qualifications. Learning should be motivating, and again, ideally it can be agreed with your manager or HR function.
- Reach out to colleagues and peers. Talk to folks at your employer, or in the same industry. Swap stories and build a support network.
- Not possible or not helping? Consider changing jobs, or even careers. Don’t rush this (see point 1). But you could start working towards it.
- Talk to folks doing jobs you’re interested in, see what you learn. A goal of one new connection a week, and one coffee chat a month, would go a long way.
- Don’t be scared to change. There’s lots of negative news about work, but you’re still young, and we spend too long there to hate it.
Motivation doesn’t usually come from (just) willpower. It comes from feeling like you’re learning, contributing, and moving towards something that matters to you. If your job isn’t giving you that structure automatically, you may need to design it: goals that change your day-to-day, not just your job title.
