Career motivation

LegacyUser

I have no motivation. I want it but have none.

We are quite in work yet there are many things that I could do to keep ahead of the game. especially when there's so much gloom around. But I won't. My siblings have massive motivation- one is a masters student and the others are absolute dynamos in their own ways. My mum studied business by night and has a very successful career. But I'm p*ssing my days away. I don't dislike my job at all- I quite enjoy it really but I've gotten into a rut of browsing and looking up this and that. I'm meant to be in the process of being re-trained but I keep avoiding it and returning to my old desk in a seperate office to doodle and browse the web. I've done literally no work today. What work I do generally is very much down in terms of standard too. I'm getting away with murder cos I work for several departments which may be the problem because I have had lots of pressure all the time along being pulled in all directions and maybe this is part of my problem but I'm in the horrors about getting found out now. I've always been a procrastinator too but never this bad.

I've had energy level probs in my past but I'm not in any way depressed. I'm not even that bored. I'm a single but very happy guy of almost 30 but between doing and doodling, I'm choosing doodling more often than not now. I am worried about always being this way and never bettering myself or my career or getting more education.

Please help me

CamillaRhodes

Mate, I'm sorry I can't help you, I can just empathise. I used to have loads of motivation, I worked really hard (studying etc.) to get the job I have now, and now I am utterly demotivated and bored, despite the fact that I *should* like my job. Trouble is I think it is gradually making me more and more depressed. No help to you, I'm afraid, but just wanted to let you know there's someone else in (almost) the exact same situation.

LegacyUser

Dude, I know exactly how you feel. In my mind I have loads of ideas and things I want to do. But when it actually comes down to it I dont follow through or a half arsed attempt is made. I think the problem is my attention span/concentration. I get really motivated to do something but then something else will come into my head and I focus on that..and then something else..and so on. About the web browsing too - I know whats thats like. For me, sites like this one for example, almost cause you to keep checking them over and over to see if 'new stuff' has come in. Have you ever been on a bus or train and kept looking at your phone every few mins to see if new messages have come in... I thought I'd solved the problem by using rss feeds but I find myself checking that every 15 mins! I went travelling a few months back and basically was away from phones and computers and I didnt miss them one bit. I think its the availability of distraction that is the root of the problem.

Maybe you are in the wrong career? Are you working in an area you really like? Good luck

LegacyUser

I feel the exact same dude. Been working in my current job for 18 months now and i find myself browsing, substandard work et al (hardly ironic that i am posting this from work!). Not unhappy just a bit bored.

I think my lack of motivation comes mainly from my work environment. Work has quietened over the past while so i spend many days idle.

I would not be inclined to compare your motivation with your siblings or others. In my opinion motivation has alot more to do with your environment and more importantly momentum. Once you lose your motivation it takes alot to get it back you can not just turn it back on. When you generate it, you can sustain it easily.

To combat my lack of motivation i will set targets (e.g. knock out this piece of work in a couple of hours). But if you are feeling like this for a prolonged time you need to change your environment/ find a new challenge. Hard advice when there are no jobs going (I know this cause i am constantly looking)! But if your like me you might also be idling in the evenings, feeling like its work - home - sleep - work - home - .... You got to find some other outlet and develop it!

I am going to head abroad in a few months unless i find more inspiring work. You only get one life.... blah.... wah... stuff.

Overheal

These are the problems for which counseling is best advised. You can't keep doing nothing, its Wage Theft if not wasteful. A visit to the GP is also advisable. After all it could be anything from poor sleep to poor diet to 'diabeetus. Only your doctor will know. Either way let your HR manager know you're not running on all cylinders.

McCABE1

"Either way let your HR manager know you're not running on all cylinders"

Are you mental?? Do not do that!! Do you want to be like nearly half the country and stuck on the dole. Listen if push came to shove and your company got in sh*t they'd sack you as soon as look at you, so no I wouldnt go to your HR manager and tell her you're bored out of your brain, spend your time doodling the net, dreaming of another life and you just feel so guilty that you had to say something !! As far as management is concerned : We all love our jobs, its the best place to work, we'd never change it for the world. That's the story and we gotta stick to it !!
At the end of the day lack of motivation is so common, its very rare to be in a job that you totally love and is ticking all the right boxes. I agree that if its really bothering that much you should try and do something about it. Maybe if you had more stuff going on outside work, your job wouldnt seem so bad. Maybe if you get excited by something else then it would creep in to your job aswell. I dont know. At the end of the day though, the majority of people reading your post will completely be able to empathise, so you're definitely not alone in this !!!

LegacyUser

i've got an issue with browsing the web in work too. i find if i pick the 5 worst offending websites and then avoid them until after work then it helps immensely. you can still look at the ones that you don't visit that often but you soon find that you exhaust them quickly and then you get back to work. has worked for me anyway.

also if you give yourself tight deadlines i find that helps me to concentrate. trying to hit a deadline awakens the competitive streak in me.

dunno if either of those things will help you but they have worked for me

LegacyUser

Read this in a book once :

"action leads to motivation which leads to action"

As in, take a few small steps and that will motivate you to do more.

Look, I procrastinate about loads of things and wish I could just get up off my arse and do it... when the pressure is on and I get out and do the things I need to do for my business, I feel energised and motivated.

I used to work in some cushy jobs and never worked hard - now that I work for myself, I have to push myself more cos if I don't do it, no one else will and I won't get paid.

Might you have a fear of failure - or even, a fear of success, despite how silly that sounds.

One thing I do is I have a list of things I want to get done and look at it before I go to bed. I visualise mysel waking up and getting started and see myself as being postive about it and visualise myself waking up rereshed and raring to go.

When I wake up I look at a small life plan I've done up - where I want to be in 2 years - and then I look at the list of all I have to do and ask myself "how great will I feel when I've done all the things on the list?" and also when I've completed a task, I say "well done" to myself.

Or another question "what am I going to achieve / complete in the next hour?" - breaking my day into smaller time capsules help me rather than "I'll do it after lunch" now is "I'll do it at 3.15 and it will take approx 30 minutes and then I'll grab a coffee and at 4 I will call X and then at 4.10 I'll email Y".

But yes, internet is a thief of one's time/

anniehoo

Dont have any answers for you either OP. Im including myself in this camp too. Again its not the job i hate its the quiet times and lack of encouragement from the seniors that is a killer. I also work for different depts so dont really have a boss as such. That sounds great but it actually adds to my demotivation as its rare that i even get praised or acknowledged for the work ive done so a day browsing the net often supersedes work due to this.