It doesn't matter if you have an exciting job or that your glass is always half full, everyone will have motivation issues a some point in the week, year or career.
It's perfectly natural for our energy levels to dip from time to time and not all of us will be fortunate enough to work in a particularly stimulating environment. Whatever you do for a living, follow these few golden rules to stay motivated!
Clarify Your Objectives
Nothing is likely to affect your motivation more than not having clearly set out objectives at work for you to work towards. By knowing the specifics of what's expected of you by your manager, you can alleviate the problem of losing focus which in turn can often affect your motivation.
Give Yourself A Reward
If your company doesn't recognise your efforts and achievements, it doesn't mean you shouldn't either. If you find that you're lacking motivation at work, think of ways in which you can reward yourself when you achieve a certain objective - perhaps a spa treatment or a new outfit? Whatever spurs you on, you'll often find having something to look forward to is sufficient motivation to complete even the most mundane of tasks.
Reasons For Being There
We all tend to get bored with our work at some time or another. To maintain your motivation at work draw up a list of legitimate reasons why you go to work each day. Perhaps these are money-oriented. If so, think of the things you're looking to spend the money on, such as a new car or a holiday. If certain elements of your job are boring or, perhaps, difficult, focus on the part they'll play in accomplishing the broader objective and the fact that the bits you don't enjoy will still lead you towards your ultimate goal.
Why not ask yourself how you could perhaps make the task more fun? Sometimes with a very mundane task, some people will set themselves an amount of time in which they are determined to accomplish it. Others will achieve a similar result by going head to head with one of their colleagues to see who can finish it first.
Find Perspective
Sometimes in order to keep our self-motivation levels high, it's important to be thankful for what you've got and to consider how you'd feel if you weren't going to work each day. Would you feel still useful and connected to the outside world if you suddenly found yourself sitting at home with nothing to do each day.
Remember that whilst it's important you have an income, work is simply that - just work and that it only forms part of your life so think about the other things in life that you have to look forward to when work is over - your family, friends and hobbies and leisure interests.
Team Motivation
Unless you work autonomously, why not open up a discussion with other members of your team to see if there are ways in which you can enjoy the job more and make it more interesting? Negativity can spread fast and affect team motivation greatly. The more positive energy you all bring to a workplace, the greater your own and the team motivation levels will be.
However...
If you have tried everything and still feel unable to keep your motivation levels up, then perhaps it's a good time to start looking for a new job or maybe it's time for a career change?
Setting some goals and working towards them, even if the goals relate to a life outside of your current employment, can often make all the difference in making life inside your place of work more bearable.