Sun and Planets Spiritualities (AYINRIN): Managing Yourself - Advice for the Unmotivated

Managing Yourself -

Advice for the Unmotivated - Sun and Planets Spirituality AYINRIN

Olivia Fields

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Summary.

Employee disengagement is rampant in the workplace. We’ve all experienced it as customers encountering unhelpful retail clerks and as colleagues dealing with apathetic teammates. But what happens when you yourself feel dead at work?

This article describes what you as an individual can do to sustain your motivation or recover it, even in the most stultifying of jobs. After synthesizing research on this challenge and experimenting with various strategies, the authors have developed a process for recharging yourself called DEAR.

The first step is to detach and objectively analyze your situation so that you can make wise choices about it, instead of reacting in a fight-or-flight way. At day’s end, review what went well at your job and then mentally disconnect from it to give yourself a break. Meditation and exercise can help you do that and will improve your mood and cognitive function. Next, show empathy. Practice self-care, make friends, recognize the accomplishments of others, seek their views, and help them. Research shows that this combats burnout. Third, take action: achieve small wins, invest in rewarding outside activities, redefine your responsibilities, and turn uninteresting tasks into games. Ask yourself how someone you admire would behave in your situation, and dress in a way that projects confidence. Last, reframe your thinking: Focus on the informal roles you enjoy at work, your job’s higher-order purpose, and how others benefit from your work. All these techniques will improve your mental health and increase the energy you bring to your job—even if it is not what you’d like it to be.

In virtually everyone’s career, there comes a time when motivation and interest vanish. The usual tasks feel tedious. It’s hard to muster the energy for new projects. Though we go through the motions of being good employees or managers, we’re not really “there.” We become ghosts or zombies: the working dead.

Boston University’s William Kahn first diagnosed this problem as disengagement in the 1990s, and three decades later it’s still rampant. According to the most recent Gallup polling, only 23% of people around the world are engaged at work. (While that’s a record high, it’s a pretty dismal one.) A full 59% are not engaged—that is, they “put in the minimum effort required” and are “psychologically disconnected from their employer”—while 18% are highly disengaged and deliberately acting against their organizations’ interests. A recent American Psychological Association survey likewise found woefully negative attitudes among workers: In it 31% were emotionally exhausted, 26% felt unmotivated to do their best, 25% felt “a desire to keep to themselves,” and 19% reported irritability or anger toward colleagues and customers.

We all have witnessed this phenomenon—as customers encountering checked-out baristas and unhelpful retail clerks, and as colleagues and bosses dealing with underperforming, apathetic team members. But what happens when you yourself start to feel dead at work?

This year we posed that question to HBR readers and HBS executive-education program participants. We heard back from nearly 90 of them, from countries around the world. They described feeling powerless, anxious, and depressed; suffering from insomnia; struggling to perform; having intense impostor syndrome; and repressing their authentic selves at work. But disengagement isn’t just unpleasant to experience. It can also lead to self-defeating behaviors—cynicism, social withdrawal, and learned helplessness—that prevent people from making positive changes in their lives.

Most advice on how to address this problem is aimed at managers and organizational leaders who have the power to influence the factors that promote engagement. However, it is possible for individuals to take steps to sustain their motivation or recover it, even after a period of deep disengagement and even in the most stultifying of jobs. As one HBR reader, Mason, the CEO of a talent agency, put it, motivational valleys are “a natural part of the professional journey and can last from a few hours to a few months—and affect you no matter how high or low you sit on the org chart. But there are ways out of the rut.”

After synthesizing research on workplace motivation and experimenting with various strategies, we’ve developed a four-step process for reenergizing yourself. It isn’t about creating a relentlessly upbeat “rainbows and lollipops” view of work. Many people disengage for understandable reasons, including underlying problems in their teams or organizations that need to be dealt with at some point. Our process, which we call DEAR—for detachment, empathy, action, and reframing—is meant to interrupt the cycle of numbness and paralysis and restore your sense of agency so that you’re able to effectively address such challenges.

Detachment

Though this may sound like a counterintuitive first step for overcoming disengagement, it’s important to take time to step back and objectively analyze your situation and feelings. When people are unhappy—at work or in general—they interpret events and information negatively. Bad things appear worse than they are, as if they’ll last forever. And they seem to always be happening to you no matter what you do.

You need distance and perspective to make wise choices; otherwise you’re merely reacting, in a fight-or-flight kind of way. One of the biggest career mistakes people make, for example, is “ running from and not to”—taking a new job purely to escape the old one. The following detachment practices can help free you from the cognitive distortions that cloud your decision-making.

Reflect and then break away. At the end of your workday, review what went well and felt meaningful to you. This practice has been shown to improve people’s moods and engagement. Then mentally disconnect from work, perhaps with a physical ritual like straightening your desk, putting your laptop in a closet, or signing out of your office email account. Try not to think about work at all for the rest of the night, to allow yourself time to restore your mental energy. Research reveals that this enhances well-being and reduces exhaustion, improving your resilience the following day.

day.Meditate. Research from Herbert Benson of the Benson-Henry Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital shows that 10 to 20 minutes of extremely simple meditation twice a day produces a relaxation response that improves both physical and mental health and reduces the fight-or-flight response. You don’t need to follow any complicated techniques; just set aside the time to concentrate on an image or a repeated phrase while either sitting still or moving rhythmically. When distracting thoughts intrude, strengthen your focus.Move your body. A considerable body of research shows that exercise—even a single session—reduces stress and improves mood and cognitive function. Physical movement replenishes your psychological energy, which will help you reengage at work. Even a brief stretch or walk around the office—or better yet, outside—can make a difference. Some activities can serve multiple purposes: Practices such as yoga or tai chi can be combined with meditation; sports, outdoor activities, and exercise classes can be opportunities to socialize.

Think in the third person.

Odd as it might sound when people refer to themselves this way, doing so—at least in your thoughts—can be surprisingly helpful. Studies show that when people use their names, titles, or a third-person pronoun instead of “I” or “me” in their inner monologues, they’re better able to control their thoughts, feelings, and behavior under stress. This technique helps trick the brain into viewing your problems as if they were someone else’s—which are always less anxiety-inducing than your own.

Several people who responded to us wrote about the power of detaching. “Doing less at work gave me space to discover that my lack of motivation was influenced by other things,” said Marta, a team leader in the Polish office of a U.S. IT company. “I spent a lot of time working on myself. I figured out what motivates me, and now I do enjoy my job again.”

Helping others is one of the best ways to feel empowered and make work more meaningful. Interestingly, it has been shown to lessen burnout more than receiving help does.

Jacki, a project management director for a biotech company, had left two previous jobs because of feeling disengaged. When she noticed signs of waning motivation in her current work, she turned to reflection rather than recruiters, arranging to take three weeks of paid short-term disability leave. “I realized that I needed to reset the spiral,” she said. “I went to therapy and did a lot of thinking and journaling to identify what was causing the issue.”

Mason likewise told us that deep introspection and establishing clear boundaries between his work and his personal life helped him recharge professionally. “It’s easy to fall into the trap of overworking when trying to regain engagement,” he said. But he found that setting and sticking to a specific work schedule, avoiding email during off hours, getting a good night’s sleep, spending time on leisure pursuits such as DJing and pickleball, and taking staycations or even just short breaks were more effective ways to boost his motivation back at the office.

Empathy

When you’re feeling unmotivated at work, you might beat yourself up for your lack of interest and ambition. But compassion toward yourself is crucial for reengagement. It’s also important to resist the impulse to withdraw from your manager and colleagues. We all have psychological needs—for social interaction, intellectual satisfaction, positive regard from others, feelings of accomplishment. And one of the most effective ways to meet those needs is to help others meet theirs.

Practice self-care.

Do you feel you’re just a cog in the machine at work, an interchangeable human resource being deployed to achieve the organization’s goals? If so, remind yourself that your thoughts, feelings, and values matter—and honor them by being kind to yourself. The people who responded to our email and social media call did this with a range of rituals such as starting the day with a really good cup of coffee, playing energizing music, and finding a therapist to see regularly.

Treat people as people.

No matter how you’re feeling, you can always improve your interactions with colleagues and customers by making eye contact, observing social niceties, and appreciating the contributions of each person. A hallmark of disengagement is depersonalization, or feeling less than fully human. Fight it by recognizing the humanity of others. For example, Manjunathan, an automotive-parts warehouse manager and consultant in Bengaluru, India, told us that his trick for regaining motivation is to simply pay more attention to his subordinates’ “impeccable workmanship.”

Ask questions.

Empathy requires curiosity about other people. Observe their behavior, listen to what they say, ask questions, and pay attention to their responses. Try to understand the differing views and knowledge of your constituencies—your customers, bosses, and peers in other departments. Deliberately seeking out new perspectives increases intellectual engagement, builds workplace relationships, and can lead to new insights on how to change or redesign an unrewarding job.

Look for friends.

Try to find people you actually like at the office. One of Gallup’s 12 elements of employee engagement is “I have a best friend at work,” and the organization reports that it is an undeniable predictor of better performance. So seek out people you connect personally with and try to build real friendships. The idea is to make work a more enjoyable, interesting place to be even if the job itself is frustrating or deadening.

Help others.

This is one of the best ways to feel empowered and make work more meaningful. It can be done as part of your job or in smaller, “extracurricular” ways, such as organizing the office refrigerator, explaining the email system to a new hire, or mentoring a less-experienced colleague. Engaged employees tend to be good workplace citizens, but you don’t need to feel engaged to assist other people. Interestingly, providing help has been shown to lessen burnout more than receiving help does.

Nearly everyone who shared stories with us about losing and regaining motivation emphasized the importance of empathetic connections. Patricia, an administrator at a university in Mexico, told us that during periods of low engagement she makes a point of acknowledging and rewarding others’ good work (as well as her own). Anna, a health care professional in Canada, said that she books coffees, lunches, and check-ins with coworkers, including those she doesn’t know. Giavana, who works in the food industry, reaches out to clients and does extra briefings and meetings with them. Tim, the chief technology officer of an IT company in the Netherlands, said he engages in “gemba walks”—the Japanese practice of touring the workplace—which allow him to “communicate more with colleagues, celebrate their successes, and express gratitude.” And Mason described initiating conversations with colleagues, mentors, industry peers, and his therapist, who offered not just fresh insights, new perspectives, and practical solutions but also “a sense of camaraderie and understanding, which in itself can be a significant motivator.”

Action

Research shows that disengaged employees act out: They seek escape through drinking or drugs; spend excessive amounts of time surfing the internet or taking care of personal business at work; and often behave unprofessionally. (Randstad USA found that 40% of disengaged workers played pranks on coworkers.) But that rebellious energy can be channeled in more-productive ways, both small and big.

Tackle the little stuff.

Research shows that when you make progress on even minor, mundane tasks, your mood improves—as do the chances that you’ll be able to accomplish bigger jobs. Our HBS colleague Teresa Amabile calls this “the power of small wins,” which her study of workers’ daily diaries shows are a key driver of engagement. So, though best practice might be to tackle your most important work first thing in the morning, those lacking motivation might want to tick some easy-to-complete items off their to-do lists first instead.

Invest in outside activities.

Multiple studies show that rewarding nonwork activities actually make people better—less distracted, more energized—at unsatisfying jobs. Disengagement and engagement tend to transfer from one setting to another. Hobbies, volunteer jobs, and “side hustles” can give you a sense of empowerment and reconnection that carries over to your work. If your job is failing to provide meaning and satisfaction, finding those things elsewhere can make it feel more tolerable.

Job craft.

Many workers have some freedom to redefine their jobs to match their strengths and passions, an activity organizational psychologists refer to as “job crafting.” It can be additive (vying for more-interesting responsibilities or better resources) or subtractive (trying to minimize your load or the emotional or cognitive impact of the work). Be strategic: Narrowing your focus to mission-critical tasks may be necessary to keep your performance in the acceptable range and help reduce stress, but it can block the kind of curiosity and relationship building that could get you out of a rut.

Gamify.

Even the most meaningless tasks can become strangely motivating if you turn them into a puzzle or a competition, as the makers of various tracking apps—such as Streaks and Habitify—can attest. So play mental games to engage your competitive drive. Give yourself time limits and gold stars if you achieve goals. The games don’t always have to be about rewarding productivity—if it takes Buzzword Bingo to keep you awake during a mind-numbing meeting, so be it. If you can find colleagues willing to play along, that’s even better.

Pretend.

Research shows that simply imagining that you’re someone else can enhance your performance, at least in the short term. In one study, people asked to envision themselves as “eccentric poets” exhibited more creativity than those asked to envision themselves as “rigid librarians.” Children who were told to make believe they were superheroes persevered longer at a boring task and showed improvements in executive function. (Batman is no quitter!) Like taking alternative perspectives or thinking in the third person, asking yourself how a favorite mentor or fictional character would handle a situation can interrupt negative mental-feedback loops. It can also reconnect you with your more playful, imaginative side.

Dress the part.

Studies indicate that clothing can help you get into character at work. For example, research subjects who wore doctors’ lab coats performed better on tasks demanding attention than did subjects who were told they were wearing painters’ coats or who merely saw a doctor’s coat. In the superhero study, children wore capes to help them get into their roles. And when a Japanese train-cleaning company changed its employee uniforms from drab, “invisible” jumpsuits to brightly colored ones, workers felt more noticeable and perceived their jobs to have higher status. (They were transformed from janitors to hosts.) Given the rise of remote work and increasingly casual office attire, three-piece suits or pearls and heels may not be appropriate. But you can still have dedicated work clothes that make you feel professional and confident and convey that self-perception to others.

Danira, a Luxembourg-based lawyer, takes simple actions to get herself going when she’s feeling unmotivated. “I start with little tasks that require no complex thinking or preparation—for example, cleaning my desk, bringing books back to the office library, ordering office supplies, booking a table for lunch,” she told us. “Accomplishing them gives me satisfaction, which often triggers the desire to accomplish bigger tasks.”

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Others described taking bigger steps to reengage. For example, Mason, the talent agency CEO, enrolled in an online course, which eventually led him into a part-time degree program. After Jacki, the biotech manager, came back from her leave, she negotiated to take on more and different work assignments and to be relocated to an office where she would feel less isolated. Manjunathan, the Indian warehouse manager, said that he teaches aspiring professionals how to use Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets on the side “as a passion.”

Reframing

You can reframe your thinking about work in two ways. First, by asking yourself who you are in your job, and second, by considering what role your job plays in your life.

Examine your work identity.

Many of us have informal roles at work—for example, teacher, visionary, logistics person. Which ones do you play? Which do you like and feel authentic and comfortable in? Try coming up with a title that describes your unique role or work style—a simple intervention that has been shown to help employees recognize the more meaningful and rewarding elements of their jobs.

Look at the big picture.

Concentrate on the higher-order purpose of your work. This is the classic “one man is laying bricks, the other is building a cathedral” mindset shift, and it really does work. Multiple studies have shown that people can perform unpleasant or boring tasks better and longer when they understand how those tasks are connected to a larger goal. Instead of the how and what—the process of a task—focus on the why, the reason for doing it. Filling out forms doesn’t feel rewarding, but winning a grant for your organization will.

Consider how others benefit from your work.

This is one of the most effective ways to reframe your job. You may help others inherently by doing your work or perhaps by being your family’s breadwinner, for example. A vast body of research has shown that this focus can help motivate people through disagreeable tasks. In one study high school students reminded of the “self-transcendent” reasons for their education (for instance, that they would be able to make the world a better place) showed sustained improvement in difficult classes. People with challenging jobs—telemarketers, trash collectors, orderlies—found more meaning in them and did them more efficiently when they thought about how their work benefited others. As the study authors put it, “Prosocial trash men do not find trash more appealing, but they collect it more effectively.”

Corey, a recruiter in Canada, told us that during a recent spell of disengagement he worked to see negative experiences as opportunities. “For example,” he said, “when leadership set impossible expectations, I would think, How would I do it better if I were a manager? and Would a reasonable person be satisfied with my work? In going through that, I realized that my love for my responsibilities, my field, and my contributions was always present.”

Mason tries to recast mundane tasks as stepping stones toward his larger objectives and career goals. Anna, the health care worker, asks herself, How do I matter? “Understanding your unique strengths and how you can add value helps,” she explained. Laura, a welfare officer at a UK university, focuses on the students she’s counseling: “I ask them what has been most helpful about our sessions or what they’ll take away from the conversations we’ve had,” she said. “And then it hits me: My work is useful. I am helping young people in their life’s journey. And—bang!—my motivation is back.”

. . .

Even if your job is not what you want it to be, the steps we’ve described here can help you reengage at work. All these things—giving yourself distance, acting empathetically, channeling your energy productively, and reframing your thoughts about work—will improve your mental health, make you better at your job, and increase the odds that something good will happen in your professional future.

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Sun and Planets Spiritualities (AYINRIN)

Managing Yourself - Advice for the Unmotivated - Sun and Planets Spirituality AYINRIN