DEAR Unmotivated: Advices
Feeling dead inside at work?
Do you put in the minimum effort required?
Have you ever felt psychologically disconnected, catching yourself travelling, mentally, to somewhere else?
Believe it or not, you are not alone! Or even more, according to a Gallup polling, people with that kind of feelings, answering those questions affirmatively, are more than you could imagine!
A full 59% are not engaged and put the minimum effort required!
While, 18% are feeling highly disengaged and, even worse, deliberately acting against their organisations’ interests.
Wow!
But, what about those who are feeling great at work? Here, there is an interesting fact in numbers, too!
We have a record-high number! That is 23% of people around the world are engaged at work.
Yes, you read it, well! Our world record is new, and it is 23%, even not 1 person out of 4 is feeling engaged at work. Of course that may mean, we are getting better at it, although, despite how low we still are. Although, could you imagine how worse was it some years ago?
But, let's keep sticking to the present time. What would you say to examine some psychological metrics among workers, to have a more complete result?
31% are emotionally exhausted.
26% unmotivated to do their best.
25% declared that they would prefer to keep to themselves.
Finally 1 out of 5 (in fact 19%), reported irritability or anger toward either a colleague or a customer.
According to American Psychological Association survey.
"Uh come on, that's not me!" , somebody could say. Either having reached to that stage, or not, we all should know or be aware of some practices that could either get us out of it, or even better, help us recognise those patterns the earliest possible and avoid them with an ease, keeping us focused on our sweetest dreams and greatest goals!
Save the day practice: DEAR
Actually, it's D.E.A.R. , an acronym, standing for:
Detachment
Empathy
Action
Reframing
That, four step process/practice is meant to re-energise yourself deep down! Let's start!!
Detachment
A conscious step back and an objective analysis is all you need to take the distance needed and keep an open perspective to end up with a wise choice.
The most usual behaviour and possibly one of the biggest career mistakes people make, is running from the actual issue and not to it directly, which might hurt but will eventually solve it, rather than make it bigger.
So, closer to today's topic, searching for a new job is not always the best way to escape the old one.
Keep an eye to the below two simple and practical ways to detach yourself effectively from anything that jumps in your life without your approval.
Reflect and then break away.
Create a brief ritual for the end of your working day:
1. reflect on what went well and everything beneficial to you. (include here great discussions, ideas and people met, too. Those are the money in the bank.)
2. Create a trigger for you to, mentally, disconnect from work. A physical ritual could help.
Try a simple routine of leaving your desk, for example, like cleaning your desk, putting your laptop in your bag (align, here, the zipper closure with the end of your working day), or saying goodbye to the office cleaner. As a sum up, give a try to connect the end of your working day with an action to initiate your mental trigger.
Think in third person
This technique helps to trick your brain into projecting your problems, as, if they were someone else’s, that will help de-stressing yourself.
Studies show that using your name or a third person pronoun, or even a nickname replacing “I” or “me” in your inner thoughts provoking monologues, would help you control in a better way your thoughts, feelings, and reactions under stress.
Try helping others.
One of the best ways to feel empowered.
Lessens burnout, too.
Empathy
The ability to:
emotionally understand what other people feel
see things from their point of view
resemble yourself in their place.
Practice self-care.
STOP feeling an interchangeable gear in your organisation’s goals achieving machine.
Although, if you need help to reach there, remind yourself that your thoughts, feelings, and values matter, but most importantly honour them by being kind to yourself. You are on top of everything, and if you are not, that's O-K-A-Y.
Treat people as people.
Leave aside feelings for a moment. The way you interact with others define you, first, as a personality.
Aim to improve by making eye contact, observing social niceties, and appreciating the contributions big or small, of each person or colleague. Recognise the humanity and imperfection of all of us.
Ignite your inner spark again
Ask questions. Keep seeking out new perspectives, will lead you increase intellectual engagement, build workplace relationships, and give birth to new insights on how to change or redesign an unrewarding job.
Look for friends.
Did you know that having a work buddy as a best friend is one of the 12 employee engagement elements?
At least, that's what what Gallup survey declares.
So, the next time, that you find or meet an interesting person at work, think it twice!
Help others.
It might have nothing to do with your actual job or role. Offer help to a new hire, explain him or her the email system or even provide guidance on the first month actions at work.
Against most impressions, providing help lessens burnout more than receiving help does.
Action
My favourite one.
Did you know that?
You are able to trick yourself and brain!
Why have you been waiting so long? Let's see how..
The power of small wins
Tackle the small stuff. Create a momentum starting your day.
Try visualise those small wins by checking boxes in a personal diary. That, will hit your dopamine.
So, though those lacking motivation might want to tick some easy-to-complete items off their to-do lists first, best practice might be to tackle your most important work first thing in the morning, in order to raise the emotion of fulfilment in you.
So, choose what fits you best.
Gamify
Go back to your childhood, where everything was a game for you, even created only in your mind.. Were you happy, weren't you? So, why to get rid of that wonderful practice?
Turn everything into a puzzle or a competition, challenge yourself into mental games to spark your inner competitive drive.
Tip here: find colleagues willing to play along, that’s even better. Maybe a best friend at work will pop up, too, who knows? Give it a chance!
Pretend
"Batman is not a quitter." or " Superman is not a loser, neither a bad guy."
That's the superhero effect in psychology.
Dress the party!
Clothing plays a more significant role than you imagine in work. They can help you undergo a character. For example, tasks that demand greater attention were performed more effectively from people who wore doctor's lab coats, than from those with painter's coats, per survey.
That's maybe what's standing behind the action of Students at the Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, who are helping kids with cancer get a boost, by making superhero caps for them to wear.
A nice tip that fit in remote work, you can find clothes that raise your confidence for specific meetings (even wearing hills-that none will observe as they are not shown at the camera), and others that make you feel more abstract and creative for focus time, like more loose and colourful clothing.
Reframing
When it comes to shifting perspectives, especially from a negative one that limiting your potential, to a more purposeful and more self-centric approach, reframing is considered one of the most influential ways to start with.
One of the most common flipping perspectives situation is, seeing failure as an opportunity to learn, and reversing a problematic situation to become an opportunity for you. Let's see ignite to frequently used reframing tips!
Define who you are and who you want to become.
You can reframe your thinking and perspective of yourself at work in two steps.
First of all, you have to consider, the current state. So, start by asking yourself what is the current situation at work, at this point try to include sentiments and emotions, we need your full self in it, so by the time you'll see those statements as a third person, to move to the second step, by considering if you want to be that person at work, and if all those reactions, emotions etc. you believe that reflects your personal self perception of you really are. Seems simple and easy, BUT, results will fully reward you.
In any case, you liked that reflection process, go one step deeper and define with the same way the role your job plays in your life, currently with the full emotion display, and which you would like to be based on your life and self-perception.
Consider how others benefit from your work.
There is no such a thing, like, impacting someone's life, even to the tiniest percentage. It ignites purpose! And, it is one of the most effective ways to reframe not only your job, but your generic all day activity.
People with challenging jobs, such as sellers, trash collectors, physiotherapists, even teachers (children are not great all the time, as we all know) could possibly found expand their meaning in their work and in their day to day activity with that mindset.
That is the impact of having a vision to follow, or something greater than you to connect your actions with. Recurring or boring tasks would could be performed in a better way and more meaningful one in case they would be connected to a larger goal. SO, focus on WHY you do stuff, or create a purposeful one by your own, stars are shining by their own, too, moon rather being bigger is heterophoto.
Hungry for More?
Steal a glance at this nice resource (for book lovers)!
Title: "Why motivating people doesn't work. And what does work."
BONUS section💯
GROWTH GIFT: THE JOHARI WINDOW
That template will help you define the four aspects of yourself: Open Self, Hidden Self, Blind Self, Unknown Self.
Article Quote
"Everything you've ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear."