Let’s be honest- none of us love Mondays. Even if you are passionate about your job, some days we just don’t feel like going to work. Whether you love or hate your job, you have to know how to motivate yourself to go to work every day. Let me show you a simple way to motivate yourself below.
You have to devise a game plan to make your work life interesting and engaging. This is the simplest way to motivate yourself to go to work. Studies have found that good relationships with co-workers are an effective way to keep your work attendance high. Also, plan your schedules and try to stick to the plan.
The short answer above is only the tip of the iceberg. To know what are methods of motivation to get your work-life smooth, read the entire article.
Let’s delve deep!
How to Motivate Yourself to Go to Work Everyday
1. Keep your work-life interesting.
That’s the first and the most crucial step to motivate yourself to go to work. Keep your work-life exciting and challenging. I know it seems hard. But I have brought you some excellent tips on how to keep your work life from being boring.
Here they are-
Exercise- cliched but always works.
I know it sounds pathetically cliched. But trust me, it works. Exercise releases endorphin- the natural stress -reliever hormone. Now I hear you asking how will make my work-life enjoyable? When you exercise regularly, naturally, your stress level will go down. You will be able to focus more on your work.
Talk with your colleagues.
I know there is a famous saying which speaks against making best friends at your workplace. But this is not true. Nonetheless, you have to be cautious about revealing that you are finding it hard to motivate yourself to come to work. But chatting with your trustworthy workplace, friends can bring a solution for you.
Your workplace is your second home.
Have you ever calculated how much time you spend at your workplace? If it is 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. job, you spend almost 9 hours at your work per day and 63 hours per week. So, personalize your workplace to your likings if you want to fall in love with it. It’s your second home. Make it pleasant, comfortable, and relaxing.
Challenge yourself every day.
Every day challenge yourself by setting a new goal. The goal should be short, simple, and achievable. Like “I would finish half of the report today.” suppose it’s a three-day, short project. The short goal stated above is simple and can be achieved with a commitment to time, hard work, and consistency.
Make a plan to finish your work per day.
On the above point, I have shown you how to make a per-day challenge for yourself. Now, it’s time to plan. Break your schedules and make a routine for yourself to achieve your short, per-day goal. Also, the routine should be realistic. Remember that our brains can’t hold on to long periods of focus at once.
2. Build strong, long-lasting relationships with your co-workers.
As I have said earlier, a famous saying suggests you keep your colleagues out of your personal life. But I don’t think that’s true. Your workplace is your second home. You spend a fair amount of time there with your colleagues. You can’t stay there like it’s an episode of Game of Thrones, always plotting your next move.
To bring success in your life, you always have to keep the friendly people around you. Here are some tips to make strong, long-lasting relationships with your co-workers-
Stay away from gossip.
This one should be on top of your list to make your colleagues your best buddies. Stay away from the negativity that gossip brings. Please don’t indulge in it.
If someone starts gossiping, politely excuse yourself by saying it’s against workplace ethics. Remember, gossips create more gossips. This way, the chain of toxicity never shuts down.
Build personal and professional relationships with your co-workers.
It’s against work ethics to talk about your personal problems all the time with our co-workers. But it’s no harm sharing your life problems with your work friend when you are on break. When you share your worry with others, you bond over it. And that bonding is necessary.
If people say don’t share your personal problems with your colleagues, they have probably misunderstood the fact that your responsibilities come first at work. You can chat about problems when you are on break.
Build your communication skills.
That’s the third and the most important one. A good communication skill is a must no matter what sector you are in. To build healthy relationships with your colleagues, you need to have good communication skills.
This one skill can help you make better and stronger relationships in both your personal and professional life. But unfortunately, a tiny percentage of people are born with this gift. Most of us have to learn it.
I have suggested some great books which will help you build a stronger communication gift. Here they are-
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.
- Difficult Conversations: How to Have Conversations that Matter the Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
- Skill with People by Les Giblin.
- Bringing out the Best in People by Aubrey Daniels.
What do you want in a relationship?
This is a question you got to have a clear and concise answer. What exactly do you want in a relationship? It has to be realistic. Unrealistic hopes will make you disheartened. Sit down and get the answer from yourself.
For example, if you can’t compromise on loyalty in a relationship, let the person know that your priority is loyalty in a relationship. For that, you have to have strong communication skills.
Be appreciative.
Be appreciative of your colleagues. Jealousy will only make your position weak. It won’t serve you any good. When your colleague gets an increment or praise from the boss, congratulate her.
Please don’t be sad that it’s not you. Your time will come also. And at that time, if you want her to be appreciative of you, behave well with them now.
Develop your emotional intelligence.
Your EQ is your superpower at your workplace. For those who don’t know what EQ is, let me explain it to you-
EQ’s full meaning is the emotional quotient. It means how emotionally intelligent you are. And that means when someone expertly handles ups and downs of emotions in themselves and other people too.
You can measure your EQ in three ways- self-report, other reports, and ability tests. But more than testing your EQ, learning more about it is necessary. There are several ways to enhance your EQ. But most importantly, you have to be empathetic towards other people.
Be a good listener.
Listen carefully and patiently before you speak. That should be the mantra of people who want to be a good listener. Listen to other people. Don’t be anxious about expressing yourself. Your time will come. If you want to be heard when you speak, you have to listen first. Be an attentive listener to ask intelligent questions.
Don’t be judgmental.
Let me be clear about it. It’s hard not to be judgmental. People judge even without meaning to. That’s the natural reaction of people when confronted with conflicts.
But with practice, you can control your judgmental behavior. Just tell yourself that standing in a neutral position without any judgments keeps you free of negativity and toxicity.
3. Ask yourself – Why are you doing this job?
What are the causes behind you taking up and maintaining the job? Are monetary reasons the most important one? Do you enjoy your work from the heart?
These are the most critical questions you got to have very clear answers to. If you are doing the job only for monetary reasons, think again. Ask yourself about what kind of job you would like to do? Where does your passion lay? Can you not make a sustainable living if you pursue your passions?
If you are passionate about your work but get tired from maintaining the hectic schedules, I suggest you make yourself more organized. You know, it’s never hectic if you know how to manage your time properly. There are a lot of free apps on time management and routine. Download them on your phone.
But a routine can save you if you are not committed to it and yourself. Look, you love what you do. Then why don’t find a way to balance busy schedules and our social life?
No matter what, there should be a proper balance between your personal and work life. None of them should consume one another.
4. End your working hours with a twist.
To keep yourself motivated to come to your work the next day, you can follow this technique. It’s called the Hemingway Technique.
In Hemingway Technique (Ernest Hemingway invented this technique), you have to make the end of the day a bit unsatisfactory. Like you know what to do, but don’t do it. Keep it hanging. And the next day, the hanging end will stay fresh on your mind. And you will know exactly what to do.
Hemingway Technique is a great way to give yourself a head-start. It will increase the momentum of your work. It’s a great way to keep yourself motivated. If you are the type of person, who wants to sit relaxed until deadlines come knocking at your door, follow this approach.
But there are some side effects. If you are forgetful, then you need to think again before taking up this approach. Perhaps if you have found a solution to the problem and took Hemingway Technique as a motivation tool and forget what you thought the previous day, then don’t follow this technique.
You will have to think about a new solution which will take more time and energy. Also, you will feel demotivated. Finding a brilliant solution, the previous day and forgetting all about it on the present day will take a hit on your self-esteem. Finish your everyday routine before you close your work for the day.
If leaving a problem waiting to be solved motivates you to go to work, take up the Hemingway Technique. It has been proven to work effectively on people with motivation issues. If it’s not your thing or garbled up in your system, leave it.
5. Stop procrastinating in every aspect of your work life
Procrastination is a common problem that stands in the way of success for most people. If you have a habit of procrastination, it’s time to say it good-bye through patience and practice. You can get rid of it. It’s not impossible.
Here are some practical tips for you on how to stop procrastinating in every aspect of your work life-
Keep yourself organized.
All of us want to be lazy and messy. It’s not a crime. To control your laziness, you have to have an organized routine in your life. It will help you stop procrastinating. When you have the pressure of the routine, you will get to work automatically. But before that, you have to be committed to following the routine.
Don’t set overly ambitious, impossible goals.
Suppose you have a deadline in one day. If you daydream about working 20 hours without any break to do more than half of the project, it is called setting impossible goals.
Impossible goals are very dangerous. It’s very unlikely that you will be able to complete it. And when you don’t, your confidence lowers down. That way, you lose all your motivation for the project.
Your deadline keeps hanging on your throat like a sword. It’s very unhealthy for your mental health. Avoid it at all costs.
Follow a routine, no matter how hard it is.
Please stick to your routine as your life depends upon it. Except for sick days or emergency leaves, don’t deviate from your routine. Take a break if you are exhausted but don’t make a routine of having breaks.
An everyday routine plays a crucial role in overcoming procrastination. Stick to it.
Be loyal to your deadlines.
Deadlines feel like hanging swords if you don’t have a routine. Deadlines are actually healthy for an active mind. If you have a deadline, you plan accordingly. You don’t want to go through the consequences of missing a deadline. No one does.
That’s why you need to be loyal to deadlines. Deadlines keep you going if you really want to have shine in your work.
Distractions are your enemies.
Working and playing music videos on YouTube is an ideal example of distraction. The human brain can’t handle that level of multitasking. Yeah, I know playing music sometimes calms our mind and makes us focus more. But you have to understand that you have deadlines in your workplace.
Finishing your responsibilities without error is what you need to do here. So cut off any distractions which make your concentration weak.
Don’t put too much pressure on your brain.
Our brains can’t handle long hours of concentration without any break. Take a five minutes break every one-hour. Just stretch your hands and legs or have a cup of coffee.
If you sit in front of the blue light computers emit, give our eyes some rest. Stare distractedly on something 10 yards far. Don’t focus too harshly. Please do it for 30 seconds and refocus back. Continue it as long as you like it.
Don’t be scared of the hard stuff.
Who likes hard stuff? But, unfortunately, that’s an inevitable part of life. Also, people you can do complicated tasks other people can’t do are valued the most.
I have already suggested you keep your work-life challenging to keep it from being boring. And to keep it challenging, I would suggest you take the difficult tasks first. Also, psychologically, your mind will find it soothing.
When you have finished the most time-consuming and “brain-consuming” part of the project, you will be able to optimize your performance by completing the easy parts in a relaxed manner. It will be a treat to your brain after the exhausting work.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap this article upon an ending note that motivation is an ever-evolving process. Exactly how to motivate yourself to go to work has to be discovered by you only. But these tips are likely to help you out. But you shouldn’t be limited to only these tips.
Every person is different. So, there is no way to list every advice there is for self-motivation. I’ve listed some of the basic ones. Feel free to try them out and also be on the lookout for other methods or techniques that help you to be motivated to go to work.
