5 Simple Ways to Get Motivated at Work

5 Simple Ways to Get Motivated at Work5 Simple Ways to Get Motivated at WorkHave you ever tried to get motivated at the office- but nothing works? You start to feel terrible, like youre falling behind in your business or career. Youre bored, lethargic, and you dont want to meet up with your friends because you dont want to talk about what youve been doing. (Or, more accurately, what you havent been doing.)Ive totally been there, too, and Ive felt the frustration that comes from a lack of motivation at work.But Ive also got some good news. There are some key things that contribute to your work being motivating (or not), and once you recognize them, you have the power to redesign your workday in a way that gets you moving.Here are five things you should make sure youre getting out of your day-to-day tasks- and if youre not, the changes you can make to jump start your motivation.1. Task IdentityWork is fruchtwein motivating when its clear what, exactly, youre accomplishing. Think about it How great does it feel when you know youve gotten a launch off the ground or made great progress on big project? On the other hand, nothing is worse than working all day and thinking What did I even do today?If youre feeling like youve been spinning your wheels, try this At the end of each day or week, make a Got Done list (the opposite of to the to-do list), where you outline all of the tasks youve completed. For extra motivation, keep it somewhere you can see.2. Task SignificanceAnother key to staying motivated is knowing that the work youre doing makes a difference in some way- recognizing the impact youre making on your clients, company, or the world.If youre not totally seeing this connection, try to dig deep. You could map your weekly sales reports to the increase in your companys bottom lines or sales unit, for example. Or, say a key metric your company tracks is customer acquisition cost. Make a list of the tasks you do that reduce this cost for your company, and find way s to focus on those aspects of your job more often.3. Skill VarietyFeel like youre doing the same old repetitive work, day after day? Its not so stimulating, to say the least. But when youre engaging lots of different skill sets- thats fantastic for your motivation.Try to structure your days so that youre working on different tasks (and thus, making use of different skills) throughout the day. For example, instead of writing all day on Monday and then building your client presentations on Tuesday, try to do both in smaller three-hour chunks each day. When you stimulate different parts of the brain, your motivation will be recharged.4. FeedbackOne of the most motivating factors you can have is getting feedback on your work. Not only for the ego boost you get when youve done a good job, but because the right feedback can help you hone your skills even further. It can also help you see the difference that your work is making. On the contrary, if you dont know how youre performing, its easy to lose steam.If find that youre in a black hole of feedback, ask your manager, or even a colleague, for standing check-in meetings every one or two weeks. Let her know that youd like to use the time to check in on your projects, and that youd love honest feedback on where you could improve.5. AutonomyFinally, this is a big one having autonomy in your job. Now, this doesnt mean that you always get to do what you want- it just means you get a domain of choice about how youre doing things.For example, say you need to secure three more clients for the month. Its much more motivating to be able to determine how to do that on your own- perhaps you want to build your online presence, or perhaps you enjoy building relationships offline. Sure, in the corporate world, there are plenty of things that have to be done a certain way- but there are also plenty of places where you can ask your boss for more autonomy.And that brings me to my final point Unless you work for yourself, you probab ly dont have the power to totally rewrite your job description. But what you can do is communicate with your manager. You can identify the skills you want to develop, ask for feedback more often, probe for clarification when tasks are not clearly identified or seem insignificant, or ask to take on different tasks or have more autonomy on a project.More than likely, youll be able to change something about your workload. And not only will you be more motivated- your boss will be impressed youve taken the initiative.So whats getting in the way of you being motivated at work? Find out, and then find a solution.Photo of woman working courtesy of Shutterstock.