Articles From the Team

What to do when you’re losing motivation at work, specifically in a target driven environment

We all have our ups and downs at work where some days we sit there counting down the minutes till we finish, where it’s a Tuesday morning but somehow feels like it’s a Thursday. Then there are others where the week flies by we get the results we were hoping for and it seems like the best job in the world!

But how do we always maintain the latter? How do we keep that momentum going and keep motivated?

Why do you come to work?

To keep myself going, I remind myself why I come to work.

We all have ambitions and goals that we want to achieve in life. We work not JUST pay the bills but to become homeowners, pay for weddings, to go on holidays, and buy fancy things, or just simply working to provide a good life for our family.

There’s always something that we can remind ourselves of which can give us drive and motivation.

Do you live to work or work to live?

Most of us see our work colleagues more than our own families - fact. Some days we coming into the office early and leave late, log in when we get home, and check our phones in the middle of the night for that all important decision. Sometimes this is necessary, but it also contributes to an always on culture where we cannot switch off and the distinction between our work and home lives is lost.

Wind down!

It’s so important to wind down. If you feel yourself constantly in “work mode” then set some time aside to switch off and do something that takes you away from that. Put your phone away, disconnect your laptop and do something which allows you relax and takes you away from work (even if it’s for a little while!)

Stress relief

People relieve stress in different ways. Going for a run, going to the gym, boxing, pottery, or retail therapy – whatever it may be! Anything that releases those happy hormones! Utilising the weekend to do something will more often than not mean we go into the week feeling pumped and motivated.

Talk to someone

Motivation can sometimes be lost due to changes in your work environment too. Maybe you’ve been set new, unachievable targets? Has the culture changed? Are you going through a “dry” patch? It’s never healthy bottling things up – so speak up.

If you don’t want to address your worries with your manager in the first instance then talk to someone else you trust. It doesn’t necessarily have to be someone at work it could be a friend, family member, your partner.

Maybe it’s time for a new job after all?

So you’ve tried everything. Everything on the list and more, but can’t seem to get that motivation back. You’ve lost focus and forgot the reason why you joined your company in the first place. You wind down and switch off, you’ve spoke with your manager but nothing has changed.

In this instance maybe it is time for a change. Change of company or in extreme instances complete change of career?  We can’t deny that it’s a big jump but if it means it gives you that motivation back, lifts your morale and overall gives you a better quality of work/life balance then it’s 100% worth pursuing.