10 Ways to Stay Motivated at Work

Workplace Motivation

We have all been there on a Monday morning, you walk into work. No matter how many deadlines you have, you’re just not motivated to work – the Monday morning blues! How do you quickly become motivated?

Employment king have put together 10 quick tips to get you and keep you motivated at work. I use these techniques with my clients, when you first read some of the techniques, like my clients you may feel they sound silly, but once you try them you will soon see quick results.

Mind Magic

This is an NLP technique, if you have not come across NLP before, read the technique first before trying it.

1. You’re generally un-motivated because when you’re thinking of your working day most people, think about a time at work when you were bored or hating the job you are doing. This is generally a colour picture in your mind, often this picture is big and bright a plays out like a movie would. This image or film you generate makes you feel un-motivation, as our mind and emotions work as one. To get rid of these negative feelings (the Monday morning blues) In your mind, freeze the film/image, put a frame around the image and then move the image away from you, push really far back in your minds eye, making it smaller and smaller until the picture becomes a dot – how do you feel now? Has your un-motivated feeling gone? If you can still see the picture (and your feeling unmotivated) push the image further away, make it blurry or cover it in a mist – have the negative feelings gone? In most cases they have, if not repeat the exercise.

2. Now, in your mind, imagine yourself at work enjoying yourself, see yourself at your best, getting your work done, enjoying the duties your undertaking. Make this picture big, bring the picture close and make all the colours in the picture stronger and brighter. Imagine the picture the size of a cinema screen, press play and turn this image into a film, if you can, step into this film and watch the scene unfold from the eyes of the ‘you’ in the film. How do you feel? Good? Positive? Where does this good and positive feeling start in your body? In your stomach? In Your mind? Make the feeling stronger, imagine the feeling as a colour, what colour is it? Make it brighter. Describe this feeling and notice the feeling flowing through the whole of your body, notice the speed and direction the feeling has taken, notice the temperature of this positive feeling and make it stronger, double it! How do you feel now? Most people start to feel positive after this exercise, if you don’t try it again.

Set Goals – we like something to aim for

3. Set yourself some daily goals write them down and think about what you as a person will get out of achieving these goals? Use these goals to help you plan your day, we all work best when we have to archive something positive. Record why you want this goal, to get away from something? Boredom? Etc, or to gain something? Promotion? Etc. When planning your day add in a time(s) to stop and have a break.

 4. If you are working a big project and you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, break the project down in to realistic chunks. If your working with others, ensure everyone is clear on what they have to do and what the others are doing to meet the project completion date.

5. If you can’t do something, get help, many people stress about not being able to complete a task and feel they will look daft asking others for help. Most people are only too happy to help a colleague.

6. Have something to look forward to at night or at the weekend, if all your going to do is go home and wash the pots, you will start to feel negative, on the other hand, if you have a fun activity to do at night you will start feeling excited, this will put you into a good mood.

Exercise – a healthy body a healthy mind

7. Exercise is a great way to add to your motivation, exercise makes you feel healthy and feeling healthy makes you feel good. Exercise before work; go for a swim or run. Other people enjoy exercising after work and often say the exercise gives them a much needed boost after a hard days work.

8. Drink lots of water, always have a bottle of water near your desk. Our body needs to take in high amounts of water each day; drinking water has been proven to increase brain activity.

Extra – a little extra goes a long way

9. Use an image board; why do you work? Is it the money, looking for promotion, enjoy helping others – what ever your reason is for working (if it’s money, what will the money get you-holidays etc) put pictures of you doing this activity, buying the goods, being happy on a large notice bored, you can draw, paint, cut out pictures, put pictures of your head on top of a models – be creative like you would when you was in nursery school and fill a big A1 bored with all these fun images of you being at your best. Put this bored somewhere you will be able to see it everyday; on the back of your bedroom door, this is a great way for your unconscious mind to keep you motivated.

10. When you do something wrong at work, write it down and then circle it. Mind map all the things you have learnt from this mistake and what you can do to improve for the next time you have to complete the same task. Our mind enjoys learning and successful people throughout the world always see mistakes and an opportunity to learn and improve – what a great re-frame.