ARE you bored or stressed out at work?
Whether you are employed or have a business of your own, motivation to be more productive is a common issue. A match between your skill and the challenge of the task are helpful to understand motivation.
I am a licensed counselor, and meeting people face to face is part of my daily work.
This pandemic has disrupted my usual activities and I sensed moderate boredom with the extended lockdown.
At first, I didn’t feel comfortable seeing and talking to people under a new set-up. Working online stresses me out. From internet connection, technical stuff, extra preparations like video recording make me panic at times. It takes more time to do my work, all because I am not computer savvy.
Honestly, work became a challenge to me and for sure to many of you too.
But things improved eventually. And now we are in our second year of the so-called “new normal”, I am at ease working online. I effortlessly use and access online planner, meeting platforms, presentations and counselling rooms.
These are a few of the obstacles I hurdled during the pandemic. But looking back, these challenges brought me to my personal growth.
Here are three simple things that I find useful and can help you too to keep on with your motivation:
Reflect and evaluate
Ask yourself of the following questions:
Why are you doing what you are doing?
What do you like most about your work?
Where do you feel stuck up and why? What other negative feelings do you feel about this?
Is this within your skill of expertise or do you need to learn more about this?
Are your skills and ability appropriate with the load of tasks assigned to you? If not, how can you make an adjustment?
Who or what available resources can help you?
Manage self
Our default status is work (since it takes a lot of our time, aside from sleeping) and we vary in what or who we are dealing with most of the time.
Some of us are dealing with tasks, others are information and most are dealing with people. In all these, we still need an output at the end of the day.. Having a clear simple guide or list of what you are targeting to accomplish in a month or in a day will make a difference.
Observe rest
Have the time to work and time to rest and unwind.
In the Bible (Exodus 20) there is the concept of “Sabbath” in 10 commandments. Sabbath is basically a time to rest. Christians set aside this time to focus more on God. A weak body cannot think and act efficiently.
That’s why we need to rest and renew. This can give us fresh ideas and prepares us to be motivated at work.
With a reasonable workload and acquired skills, challenging work can be motivating.
If we have overqualified skills, we tend to get bored with easy work. On the other hand, we can easily get stressed if we lack the skill to accomplish challenging tasks.
Personal reflections, worthwhile rest and personal management will keep us motivated to be more productive.
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