Ways To Stay Motivated At Work

To be truly motivated, one must make personal commitments. ~ William G. Dyer

By Peter Murphy

Staying motivated at work is easier than you think when you know what to do.

1. Decide What You Must Achieve Today.

It is easy to get caught up with non-urgent matters that you can either ignore completely or do at a later date.

All that clutter leaves you confused about what to do so you end up procrastinating.

You need to ask yourself:

What is of the utmost importance that I must complete today?

Define that specific goal and focus solely on that until you have achieved it.

Clarity is power. It allows you to operate in a peak state of concentration and will help to ensure you are at your best. You will be amazed at how much you will get done and how successful you will feel when you FOCUS.

2. Break Down Complex Goals Into Manageable Steps.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is the failure to take big projects and restructure them as a series of challenging but stimulating tasks.

Take any project and list the sequence of steps you need to follow. Make sure the steps are big enough to keep your interest and not so small that you feel bored by the prospect of moving ahead with the project.

It is very motivating to have a highly specific game plan that challenges you without leaving you overwhelmed.

Once you have this blueprint written down you can get started. And make sure to mark your progress with the time of completion as you work your way through the list.

Tracking the time encourages you to make a game of getting things done properly and quickly.

3. Use Negative Pressure To Keep You On Target.

This is an unusual but highly effective tip.

Pick someone at work to check in on your progress during the day. Make sure this person has a positive outlook and that he or she is fully supportive of your goal to achieve more. Choose someone you want to impress with your abilities and productivity.

The secret is to use negative pressure to keep you on track. i.e. you want to dread the prospect of failure because you do not want to lose the approval of this person.

You will have moments during the day when you feel good about the progress you are making. At this point the natural reaction is to ease up.

You can deal with this by setting up the very real prospect of disappointing someone who believes in you. This desire to avoid embarrassment will drive you to give of your best.

Use these three tips each day and watch your productivity soar.

Motivation really is a question of strategy. When you know your personal motivation blueprint there is nothing you cannot do.