How to Be Motivated at Work

Making Your Work Meaningful

Assess your role and the role you hope to fill at work. What do you actually do? Sometimes, getting a fresh sense of your job can help you to forget the day-to-day annoyances which threaten to sap your motivation, and helps you concentrate on actually doing the job. Are there jobs you feel like you could do well? Are there projects that you want to tackle? Think about why you are working and why you are well-suited for the job. Where do you see yourself working in 1-2 years? How is your current job helping you reach that goal?

Find or create tasks that utilize your skills. If your job doesn't quite suit you passion or skill set, find a way make it fit. For example, if you love to write you might offer to draft the company newsletter, or offer suggestions to your boss about ways to improve the copy on your website. Input a bit of your own personality in your work and you'll find that the motivation takes care of itself.

Keep track of your tasks and chores, and mark them when finished. One quick way to stay motivated at work is to look at what you have completed. Ticking off the to-do list is a good way to show you how much you have done in a day. It is also a great way to keep track of overall goals and show yourself how small, seemingly unimportant tasks come together to complete a larger project.

Set goals and celebrate milestones. Working isn't always fun. But the best way to stay motivated when doing tedious or tough tasks is to remember the end-goal. The best goals are personal ones that mean a lot to you, making it much easier to motivate yourself. After you complete a milestone, like finishing the first chapter of a manuscript or completing expense reports on time, reward yourself. Celebrate your accomplishments and they will become much more meaningful. Your goals don't have to be related to your current job. You could be saving up to go back to school or working your way up the company ladder to a better job, too.

Focus on the reasons to work, not the reasons not to. Negative thoughts have a way of festering, growing, and getting worse the more you think and talk about them. Instead of always venting about a terrible boss, difficult tasks, and annoying coworkers, think about the things you do enjoy. Make a list of the positives in your work and try to think about them every time you hear yourself complaining or thinking about the negatives.

Organize and schedule your work. Don't force yourself to re-motivate for work every morning. Instead, make your work a matter of habit -- something you do and get done in a set amount of time. Having your work scheduled out and sticking to that schedule teaches your body and mind to turn on "work mode" when you need to work, getting you to your desk and completing tasks much faster. Organizing your desk and tidying up your workspace is a great way to make work more manageable. An organized workspace is key to an organized headspace.

Stay away from the clock. Time will only seem to move slower if you're checking the clock every 5 minutes. Instead of counting down the amount of time you have left in the day, use your checklist to see how many tasks you have left and how many you can cross of. Make yourself goal oriented, not time oriented, to find more motivation.

Seek out work that you feel motivated to do. If there is nothing holding you to your old job, and you can't find any motivation in what you're doing, then it is time to start looking elsewhere. Work you enjoy or find meaningful will motivate you by itself. If you can't find the will to keep working your job for weeks on end, and you have no long-term prospects that might improve things, then you should consider moving on to a new position.

Enjoying Work

Make yourself happy and positive to make motivation easier. If you can make your work enjoyable the motivation will come all by itself. This starts with finding work and tasks that you enjoy, but it doesn't end there. Spending some time by yourself and taking occasional breaks while you work is a great way to ensure that you are happy and motivated for anything.

Spice up your routine every now and then. Go out and splurge on lunch. Get someone to make you a playlist or suggest a new band to listen to while working. Try out a new shirt or tie, something bright and a bit weird. Take control of your work life and inject it with a bit of spontaneity. This burst of personality will help you feel more personally invested in your work.

Take breaks once every 1-3 hours. It doesn't have to be longer than 5-10 minutes, but these brakes will give you time to recharge you brain, move around a bit, and cut your day into more manageable chunks. You could: Head to the break room and chat with a coworker. Go for a brief walk to get coffee, or simple exercise a bit at your desk. Read 1-2 articles about something you enjoy.

Take care of your body. A lot of problems with motivation are not because you hate your job or coworkers, but simply because you body isn't running as effectively as it could be. Feeling tired, out of energy, and down is a sure-fire way to end up unmotivated, but it can be easily avoided as well. Make sure you get 6-8 hours of sleep each night. Bring a water bottle with you and hydrate throughout the day. Exercise for at least 30 minutes 4-6 days a week.

Personalize your workspace. There are lots of ways to do this, of course, but all of them aim to make your work an extension of you, not something you're forced to do. Bring in photographs, toys, and knickknacks that make your desk an enjoyable place to be. Take some time to get your desk in order, and make things just how you like them, so that you don't loath sitting down at your desk each morning.

Get to know your coworkers. Having a support system in place at your work will help everyone stay motivated. Take some time to chat to your coworkers to build a sense of camaraderie and teamwork. If you notice someone doing a great job, let them know. If someone seems down, ask them what's up. You'll start hearing similar comments back at yourself, and this sense of community is a great way to keep everyone working together on common goals.