Work's Making You Feel Bleh?

There are days when you feel super charged up to go, go, go at work, especially if you’re working on a new project, have a new task to look forward to or if it is your first few months on a new role and even a new job. But we’re human after all – and there will be days when you feel like what’s the point?

You’re not alone. If you feel like work’s a drag these days, you should know that 70 percent of people feel just as blah about work as you do sometimes. There are many reasons to this but the common ones would be the downer you feel after working so hard on something that you don’t quite have anything else to look forward to, being emotionally and physically tired when you’ve been pulling in all hours, all days, and quite simply put, we get bored easily at times, especially when feels like you’re doing the same thing day in day out.

But careful about feeling demotivated at work – it shows in your level of enthusiasm as well as the quality of your work, and can lead to your boss wondering if you’re as committed as you said you were. Plus, you may think there’s more to it and feel like maybe you’ve made a career mistake. Which can result in you wanting to quit when really, it’s just a phase!

So before you start overanalysing your feeling of demotivation, here are some things you can do right now to get out of the rut.

Take a break!
Sometimes all it takes is a short getaway so if you have some leave to clear, now’s the best time to do so. Plan for a fun holiday at somewhere you’ve never been before so that you experience new things, try new food and see new sights. Nothing like the value of newness to get you excited about things again, like work!

Have a social life
Remember what we said about feeling demotivated because all it seems that you’re doing is work, work and work? It’s easy to get sucked into the whole daily grind which is why you need to have work-life balance so that you not only get to destress but also some timeout to be away from the office bubble. Plan to always do something fun after work or during the weekend with your friends. This way, you get a real breather, do things outside of the work scope thing, and get back on Monday motivated and refreshed.

Be clear of your end goal
It’s easy to go on and on at work without realising why you’re doing it in the first place. So if this is you – reel back and ask yourself why you’re here in the first place. Whether it is because you want to achieve something, make a point or even as simple as wanting to save more money for that bigger dream, knowing exactly what your end goal to working is will help you feel more positive about work.

Focus on the task, not the time it takes
Do you keep looking at the clock, waiting for the work day to end? Stop right now – that’s adding to your feeling of demotivation! Instead of thinking about the time it takes to complete something, why not focus instead on the task at hand? You’ll notice that time actually moves faster this way and on top of that, you’ll be more productive at the same time allowing you to complete more things and feel accomplished.

Ditch the ideal scenario
We all want the cool office with the cool job, cool boss and cool colleagues. Wake up – not everything is perfect but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the best of it. One of the best things you can do for yourself when it comes to feeling demotivated is to escape this whole idealism and accept the reality you’re in and make the best of it. Sqush all expectations and high standards, and you’ll soon realise that you’re not in a bad situation at all (it could be worse!). Essentially, embrace happiness and the opportunities you have, and demotivation may soon be out of its way.

Done it all and still feel super blah about work? Then maybe it’s not you, it’s work – which is when you should consider taking a serious look at where you’re heading in your career. You can start by reading our article on what to do if you said yes to the wrong job.