How to Motivate Yourself at Work

“ Ngyaaay… Monday nanaman… (sigh)…”

This causes more stress in most of us than other perceived issues that women face today.

No matter what your reason is for dreading work, here are eight tips to motivate yourself to face that daily grind:

1. Start your day EARLY.

Make the habit of waking up early, an hour earlier than usual, to give your brain enough time to adjust to what needs to be done during the day.

Most of us are in such hurried states immediately after waking up – we end up in an antsy, rushed, tight-muscled disposition throughout the entire day, feeling as if we never have enough time.

The stress caused by this hurried state affects your motivation to go to work.

Starting early will give you that extra time to yourself.

You’ll be able to skip traffic.

You’ll have more time to settle in the office.

You’ll be able to do other things non-office related which will keep you balanced.

2. Start your day RIGHT.

I know a friend who wakes up to answer calls related to her work, opens her laptop, gathers her things in haste, skips breakfast, and rushes of to the office like a madman.

The way you start the day would usually dictate the pace of the rest of your day.

First, energize your mind, and then, energize your body.

Start with a ritual to keep your senses calm and balanced.

Energize your mind by taking a few moments to yourself to relax and breathe in and keep your head clear.

This time to yourself can be spent on meditation, prayer, or simply wondering and imagining about the good things ahead of you.

Imagining about your dreams would definitely give you good vibes, and motivate yourself to push on for the rest of the day.

Energize your body by eating breakfast and exercising every day.

Eat breakfast so you’ll have the proper nutrition that will give you the energy to work throughout the day.

Exercise prevents you from going to work sluggish.

Everyone has ten minutes to spare. Stretching exercises, a few jumping jacks, or a short walk would get your blood pumping, muscles primed, and your brain active.

3. Have a CLEAR VISION of what your day would be like.

Most of us dread to go to work because we don’t have a clear direction as to how our day should go. We just have this lingering fear or worry for the day ahead.

By having a sense of control over your major tasks throughout the day, your fear or worry would decrease.

A daily to do list for work would aid you to go about in a steady, purposeful pace.

Having a clear, specific list of your responsibilities empowers you to think more clearly, and this motivates you by having enough confidence to tackle what needs to be done head on.

Try to run through your tasks and envision accomplishing each of them before your day starts

The sense of accomplishment you experience each time you tick-off something in your to do list will help you face your work challenges repeatedly, giving you a sense of direction and organization.

If you can envision your day up until you get home, then you’re all set.

4. Focus on the POSITIVE.

In any office, there will always be those disgruntled employees who have complaints about, well, anything and everything.

Accept the fact there that in any office there is some good, and some bad.

Whatever the situation may be, focus on the positive.

Don’t let office gossip bog you down. Avoid the circles of gloom and doom (mga nag-chichismisan paulit-ulit, puro reklamo, ayaw naman lumipat ng trabaho nor magbigay ng suggestions for improvement sa kumpanya).

Motivate yourself by talking with positive people, particularly people who care about their jobs and the company you’re working in.

5. Look for avenues to LEARN MORE.

A “self-upgrade” will automatically lead to better things.

Upgrading your skills and increasing your knowledge will contribute to your own personal growth and development, and will enable you to take on more responsibilities that may lead you to discovering something that you enjoy about your work or your company, or, at the least, will enable you to do your job more efficiently.

Whatever new skill or knowledge you learn, even if you may not be able to use it immediately or directly, will prove to be useful in the future, when you start your own business, or when you change careers.

Participate in office activities.

Approach your HR department for trainings or seminars that you would like to attend and you think would benefit the company greatly.

If you have time, try to take on additional responsibilities.

When you learn more, you are able to do more.

And doing more things than what you normally thought you could, would give you a sense of pride and accomplishment, which will, again, motivate you to improve your performance.

6. Aim to Win for Yourself.

Whatever it may be:

– a promotion or extra recognition in the office –

Focusing on a big reward would definitely motivate you, not only just to appear in the office and go blindly through your tasks, but to compel you to do more than what you normally do or is expected of you.

This will encourage you to compare your current performance with your past performance or that of your co-workers’, and this can be a healthy gauge of:

How much you have improved each day, or

In what aspects of your job do you need improvement on?

Remember the feeling you got when you had that star from your pre-school teacher for whatever it is that you did so well? Just imagine that your office is always on the lookout for top performers.

And having that sense of pride, knowing that you always do your best, even if it’s not recognized immediately, will lead to positive results.

7. Take breaks.

Remember, even machines get turned off once in a while, and needs periodic maintenance.

For Catholics, even God himself rested on the seventh day after creation.

If you always feel that you don’t have enough time and there are just too many things that need to be done or deadlines to meet, you will end up either doing less work, or haphazard work which will lead to more stress, thus decreasing your motivation.

The busier you are, the more necessary it is for you to take breaks.

You need daily mini-breaks – taking 5 to 10 minutes every hour to rest your eyes and stretch.

You also need to take mini-breaks to hydrate and maybe munch on snacks – to re-energize your body and break away from the routine of your tasks.

Maximize your weekends, or take a day-off each week to help you refresh, recharge, and get you back on track when you deal with your work challenges again.

If there’s a particularly pressing issue you have to deal with in the office, a mini vacation (doesn’t have to be in a far, expensive place), will help you by getting you out of the toxic environment, and see things with a brand new perspective.

8. Focus on your WHY.

At the end of the day, amidst the ton load of work that you have to do, tolerating a boss that seems to be hell bent on being your worst nightmare, you always have to go back to the reason WHY you are in this job in the first place.

Whatever your reason – if it’s for long term career growth, or to learn a skill and know the inside-outs of the trade when you set-up your own business, or simply the need for a salary to be able to meet your daily needs, no matter how big or small your reason is, focus on that.

Focusing on the reason motivates you to stick it through the stressful times.

Even if your job is not the ideal, dream job that you are hoping for.

Some people blame their personal circumstances for being stuck in a job that they don’t like, hence the negative attitude and mediocre performance.

I read this very interesting advice from one of our local actresses –

“Dapat para kang munggo. Kahit saan ka itapon, tutubo ka. Kahit anong  trabahong pasukan mo, kayanin mo, dahil diyan ka kikita.” – Rosanna Roces, Yes Magazine, August 2000

Treat your job as a stepping stone towards your bigger dreams in life. It may not seem clear as to how your current job is correlated to your dreams, but think of your job as a MEANS to achieving your dream.

For example: you want to be a singer yet you are a chemical engineer. The salary itself, if you’re disciplined enough to save (which you should be – more on this topic soon), then you’ll be able to pay for those voice lessons. Or your salary can support a hobby of yours which could eventually lead to another career.

Treat your job as a great opportunity that would lead to a better life. Keep in mind and apply the basic tips that we mentioned above. Mondays will no longer be dreadful to you 🙂

• DP sources and inspiration: *U.B.E., Yes Magazine for the quote, and feastalabang talks

*U.B.E. – DP’s Universal Bank of Experience