How to Stay Motivated at Work - 5 Unique Tips

No motivation to work? It’s easy to fall into a rut and get stuck in the same daily routine. Some days you feel you can conquer the world, when others it’s a struggle to answer emails. However, consistently following and practicing these tips on how to stay motivated at work will help you experience:

• Increased energy levels to get tasks done
• Better sustained results in the long run
• More enthusiasm to attack challenges

Why Am I Not Motivated?

Your stomach aches at just the thought of attending this afternoon’s meeting. That half-finished project sits at the corner of your desk, screaming at you. You cringe looking at your inbox chock-full of unanswered emails. And all that’s on your mind is, why am I not motivated?

“Off” days happen to everyone. It’s tough, if not unrealistic, to constantly give your best work 100% of the time. There will always be a day where you may procrastinate or struggle to start a new project. In turn, you may react by getting down on yourself, wondering where your motivation has gone.

We’ve all been there! But you don’t have to stay stuck in this rut. Before you look for ways on how to motivate yourself to work, you first need to identify what’s causing you to have low energy and dig yourself out of it.

You’re Too Busy

Being busy can oftentimes show you’re in high demand and trusted with many tasks – thus making “busy” a status symbol. While this validation can be great for your self-esteem, staying in constant “work mode” can quickly lead to burnout, which can ultimately lead to a lack of office motivation.

 

Your Emotionally Exhausted

If you’ve recently found yourself mentally checking out during work and can’t remember what you did that day, then it’s safe to say you’re disconnected from your job on an emotional level. It’s important to feel like your work matters, and build a connection with your coworkers. Teams that respect and trust each other tend to be happier and productive.  

 

• You’re Not Making Good Use of Your Personal Time
• Think about it – after a long week of being productive at work, it can be tempting to spend your weekend lounging on the couch binge watching Netflix. While this can be relaxing, it can also rob you of your motivations for work come Monday morning.

5 Ways to Stay Motivated at Work

1.       Remember Your “Why”

• Why do we do the line of work we do, which for many of us, occupies most of our entire adult lives? It’s important to identify what you truly value. What means most to you in yourself, in others, and in the world? Once you’ve discovered this, you’ll be able to anchor any activity or behavior to a sense of something that really matters to you.
•  If you value connection, always be genuine in your business relationships
• If you value contribution, look for ways you can go above and beyond to contribute to a group, or volunteer within your local community.
• If you value laughter, approach every individual with a smile, and be generous with your humor.
• Try not to base your motivation on external sources, such as bonuses and accolades. While these seem like great motivations for work, it’s only a sugar-high, and can be extremely hard to maintain that rush.
•  Find what motivates you in the long haul – like setting an example for your kids, believing in the overall mission of your company, or laying the groundwork for the next step in your career. These are deeper, more meaningful reasons to show up with motivation to work.  

 

2.       Set Daily Goals and Reward Yourself!

• Goal setting should never be underestimated. There is a lot of power to be spoken for completing something you set out to achieve. We are firm believers in physically writing your goals down as a motivation booster, and then rewarding yourself to make the habit stick. When you set goals with rewards, you build strong habit loops that last long-term.
• According to Charles Duhigg, every habit you make is comprised of three parts:

1.       Cue: Trigger for the behavior
2.       Routine: The behavior in action
3.       Reward: The benefit you receive from the behavior

• Having a systematized solution to achieving your goals will give you something to look forward to in that you will want to prove to yourself that you are capable of meeting the expectations you’ve set out for yourself. In time, they will become second nature and you won’t even realize you are doing it!

 For Example:

1.       Cue: I need to make 15 sales calls to hit my quota
2.       Routine: Make the 15 sales calls
3.       Reward: Treat yourself to a delicious dessert

 

3.       Build Connections with Co-Workers

• Many full-time employees spend more time with their coworkers than they do with their spouses or families. As such, it is important that good relationships are developed so that you look forward to spending time with one another. When you feel connected to those around you, you’ll naturally want to try harder to help keep the company going, as well as help it to grow.
• How to Build Good Relationships at Work:
• Schedule something fun together outside of work
• Encourage team collaboration
• Avoid gossiping
• Be nice and courteous to everyone
• Help others when they need it

Take this with a grain of salt – while it’s important to build connections, you also want to make sure that you set and manage your boundaries properly. We all want to have friends at work, but we don’t want it to have the reverse effect and start impacting the quality of what we are producing when a friend monopolizes our time.

 

4.       Make Good Use of Your Weekend

• The weekends are your opportunity to wind down and take a mental break from your weekday workload. But you can also use part of your weekend to get ahead and prepare for the coming week.
• As little as 30 minutes of planning can yield significant gains in productivity, increased energy and focus. The work week will feel much more manageable when you go into it with a plan on how you will achieve your weekly tasks and goals because all you need to do is focus on the execution.

 

5.       How to Stay Motivated at Work? Try Caffeine Gum!

• Caffeinated gum from Neuro provides a healthy, efficient source of energy and focus you require to maintain motivation of doing more of what matters most.
• Neuro is a convenient source of energy specially designed to help you make the most of your day.
• Our sugar-free, crash-free chewing gum enhances focus and cognitive function, allowing you to not compromise your full potential.
• Caffeine gum is one of the best nootropics for motivations at work, and in an office setting, makes for a very handy supplement to reach for when you need an extra boost to get through the remainder of the day!

 

What are some of your motivations to work? Let us know in the comments!