Anyone struggling to stay motivated at work?

[Rokoz]

I agree with another poster above - gotta find little goals and targets to stay on things myself. WFH is nice, but I certainly feel some waves of those feelings as well. Doesn't help that my employer hasn't shown me they're invested in me and my efforts due to 'pandemic restraints' despite us having record years and success lately. Certainly, some serious pandemic fatigue has set in for me... Hope it gets better or you find something else you enjoy!

[its55]

It becomes more of a struggle as retirement nears! Motivation depends on many factors, starting with the person, i.e., is he/she self-motivated or does he/she need to be helped along in various ways.

[aroundworld]

Honestly, if I start to feel sad and upset, then I remember the words of Solomon that everything is temporary and everything will pass. I don't know why, but it immediately gets easier.

[oVeRdOsE.]

how old are you ?
This exact same feeling, I hear it a LOT around me this past year to this time.
I'm early 30s, and I would say MOST of my friends have changed job lately, even me. The 7 years rules at the same work.

yes the pandemic had a huge impact, but my previous boss told me even pre-pandemic, this behaviour is super common after 7-9 years at the same place.

I would say, on mondays and wenesdays I'm useless sometimes, lack of motivation. And I have work to do ! p.eng in one of the biggest private eng firm in canada.

Sometimes I need to wait to someone told me I'm late to rush. And not a lazy person ; always worked, in the weekend im flipping houses, no tv, no video game.

anyway, I found out finding few colleague that are cool with chit chating few min/week on teams help.
Getting a watch that track your sleep so you won't get up out of the deep phase, helped.

Sometimes, I have to take redbull, doing 50+h/week, + kids+ friends+ weekend work, help a lot.

I've stopped alcohol (only take around 10 coors light on weekend, like 3-4 friday, 3-5 saturday and 2 sunday), but didn't help a bit (I dont drink much anyway), so having my weekend beer is back.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

how old are you ?
This exact same feeling, I hear it a LOT around me this past year to this time.
I'm early 30s, and I would say MOST of my friends have changed job lately, even me. The 7 years rules at the same work.

yes the pandemic had a huge impact, but my previous boss told me even pre-pandemic, this behaviour is super common after 7-9 years at the same place.

I would say, on mondays and wenesdays I'm useless sometimes, lack of motivation. And I have work to do ! p.eng in one of the biggest private eng firm in canada.

Sometimes I need to wait to someone told me I'm late to rush. And not a lazy person ; always worked, in the weekend im flipping houses, no tv, no video game.

anyway, I found out finding few colleague that are cool with chit chating few min/week on teams help.
Getting a watch that track your sleep so you won't get up out of the deep phase, helped.

Sometimes, I have to take redbull, doing 50+h/week, + kids+ friends+ weekend work, help a lot.

I've stopped alcohol (only take around 10 coors light on weekend, like 3-4 friday, 3-5 saturday and 2 sunday), but didn't help a bit (I dont drink much anyway), so having my weekend beer is back.

Just turned 40. Have at least 20 more years of working for myself before I can feasibly look to retirement I think. Feels like an eternity right now. Funny thing is that I do like a lot of aspects of my job - that's why I got into it in the first place. I like closing sales / people, I like trying to figure out how to plan for taxes more efficiently. Just don't particularly like doing the rest of the legwork.

Ah well - maybe I'll hit it big in crypto and I can retire earlier. I think maybe even just paring down my practice possibly might help. But I can't justify doing that financially. My one employee is sort of dependent on me, and she works hard, she's had a bit of a tough life as a single mom, in no small part due to decisions she's made along the way, but she's learned from them and is really trying to improve herself, so I can't just walk away and leave her to twist in the wind. She's older than me...think by about 5 years...maybe when she retires, I'll retire lol.

[Alfisti]

Interesting topic, interesting Topic. Will bore you with my specificities.

I have been with the same firm for 17 years now, I have changed roles but all within Operations. I am a "find a fucking way to get it done" type of guy. We had a great relationship when the firm was small but as it has grown (4 FTE's to 74 in my time) it became clear that I am really just another employee after being THE vital keg for years (won't bore you with the detail).

In 2017 we bought another firm and I was moved back into a previous role I had in the past but with a team in another city. So I was overseeing some 10 full time staff and 400 part timers but none of which i could see face to face. There was also a culture clash between my "get it fucking done" approach and their "maybe, if we feel like it" approach.

So today I start a new role in account management and sales, more the former with the latter there as a little top up if i do well. Maybe that will re-invigorate me? I have looked at leaving for 2 years, had interviews etc but why would I move? I work maybe 4 hours a day, I am the second income earner in the house so that allows me to run the household. My commute is 4 minutes and once I am taxed at 45%, and new job needs to pay a solid 30k to 40K more for it to make sense as I take home half of that and incur commute costs/time loss and i'd lose my tenure/security.

So i grind on.

[3.0L]

Yes, motivation is an interesting topic.

I've been retired for 10 years now, but I still find myself reflecting on my career. During my 50+ years in the work-force, including almost 3 years in the U.S. Army, I ran across many types of people. Some were self-starters (self-motivated); some required external motivation; and some who seemed to escape both and somehow keep their jobs while doing minimum work.

For me, motivation came from several factors. One, I needed a paycheck and that paycheck (and any potential raises) was directly connected to production. Two, I didn't want to get fired. Three, I've always felt obligated to pull my weight, regardless of any slackers in view. Fourth, I enjoy challenges and learning new things, which results in work.

As to slackers, I leave that up to management. I saw several slackers at the university I worked at (21 years). For some unknown reason, management more or less looked the other way while my workload increased. I find it interesting that the slackers disappeared after retirement while the rest of us still get together for lunch every now and then. Perhaps the slackers finally experienced some shame, as they should.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Interesting topic, interesting Topic. Will bore you with my specificities.

I have been with the same firm for 17 years now, I have changed roles but all within Operations. I am a "find a fucking way to get it done" type of guy. We had a great relationship when the firm was small but as it has grown (4 FTE's to 74 in my time) it became clear that I am really just another employee after being THE vital keg for years (won't bore you with the detail).

In 2017 we bought another firm and I was moved back into a previous role I had in the past but with a team in another city. So I was overseeing some 10 full time staff and 400 part timers but none of which i could see face to face. There was also a culture clash between my "get it fucking done" approach and their "maybe, if we feel like it" approach.

So today I start a new role in account management and sales, more the former with the latter there as a little top up if i do well. Maybe that will re-invigorate me? I have looked at leaving for 2 years, had interviews etc but why would I move? I work maybe 4 hours a day, I am the second income earner in the house so that allows me to run the household. My commute is 4 minutes and once I am taxed at 45%, and new job needs to pay a solid 30k to 40K more for it to make sense as I take home half of that and incur commute costs/time loss and i'd lose my tenure/security.

So i grind on.

Yeah, taxes suck. And especially how high they are here. Its why I work through a corporation - I only pay myself what I need to live on, the rest stays in the corp at a 12.5% corp tax rate.

I don't think that would really work for you though, you are in a different situation.

[Maynard]

I just remind myself: Those AP's aint gonna pay for themselves....(somehow failing to notice I'm still here on bimmerpost, instead of earning the cash for them)

[MooLard]

Good topic, very current and relevant for many!
I do quite a solitary job for my employer working from home and I find receiving a phone call or two per day perks me up, I have to remember as well to pick up the phone and call others as that lifts my mood. For the OP perhaps you can ask around your friends to get a few who would be up for a phone or video call 1-2 times per week. You might be doing them a favour too by giving them someone to speak to.
I go to my local gym most lunch times for a break and it wakes me up and again lifts my mood.

[Hawkeye]

I am going through something similar. making a point to not get online and stay off my phone (even texts and whatnot) and making my to do list much more precise so I can feel like I am making progress more steadily helps.

I also have found that booking time on my schedule for certain things makes it feel like there is a hard start and end time and I am more likely to be productive on that task for that time.

I am WFH 1-2 days a week, very thankful my company has been in person as I am not sure how I would be doing as a 100% WFH in the long term.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Yeah, taxes suck. And especially how high they are here. Its why I work through a corporation - I only pay myself what I need to live on, the rest stays in the corp at a 12.5% corp tax rate.

Right, so let's say i move for $25K more. Now deduct the following;

- $12K taxes
- $4k on gas due to extra commute
- $1k extra maintenance due to increased miles
- $1K extra on ordered food due to time loss

So that 25K quickly turns into $7K. Yippdty doo.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Right, so let's say i move for $25K more. Now deduct the following;

- $12K taxes
- $4k on gas due to extra commute
- $1k extra maintenance due to increased miles
- $1K extra on ordered food due to time loss

So that 25K quickly turns into $7K. Yippdty doo.

Well that and if they finally get tired of you yapping at least you'll have a handsome severance at your current employer. Switch jobs and you can forget it...get paid six weeks maybe.

Yeah, like I said, you are in a different situation. I'm mostly avoiding that $12K of extra taxes by only paying about $3K in the corp. That isn't really an option for you though.

[XutvJet]

I'm 47 and have been with the same firm for 10 years. The work has been very demanding, especially the last 1.5 years. We've never been so busy and I was working 55 hours+ a week. I was burned out, unmotivated though still got it all done, moody, anxious, and had little time for me or my family. I was generally not a happy person.

In the spring of 2021, I came to a personal crossroads. I had to make a change with my current job or go to another firm. I knew the grass wouldn't be greener at another firm so I decided to go 32 hour part-time and took a 20% salary and PTO cut starting in August 2021. I still have full health benefits and 401K. Since I was a 32 hour employee, I couldn't be asked to work any more than that. I could not be happier. Work is far more manageable and I'm so much happier now. I have so much more free time. I say "manageable" and not enjoyable because I could leave this job in a heartbeat and not have a single reservation if I could retire comfortably now.

My plan is to dial my hours back to ~24 hours in the next 2 to 3 years. This will also include a cut in health benefits and 401K. But I should be a point that my investment portfolio should help off set any loss in salary and increases in out of pocket health insurance premiums and coverage. My goal is to be fully retired by 52ish.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Definitely has been for me lately. But that's mostly because the developers are working on a new product so the Tech Writers like myself haven't had much to do the last few months.

[dizz81]

I've done the military thing for almost 23yrs now. I'm retiring next year and my current duty station/job has me feeling this way.

Perhaps the biggest reason for me feeling this way is because I'm focusing on my retirement and what the next chapter of my life is going to be like.

[BMWGUYinCO]

Originally Posted by dizz81

I've done the military thing for almost 23yrs now. I'm retiring next year and my current duty station/job has me feeling this way.

Perhaps the biggest reason for me feeling this way is because I'm focusing on my retirement and what the next chapter of my life is going to be like.

Congratulations and thank you for serving our Nation.

[BMWILUVU]

Motivation is definitely a problem with the bull flying around in the work environment. Yearly reviews are always fun too. To know that its not enough to get good work done, that it has to be done a certain way that is impossible so you never achieve what you are to do. Sometimes they don't even tell you what that is until the review and you find out then. It is all just demoralizing when you find out that all of the back pats for all of the great work you did which was great when it happened just doesn't cut it for some specious reason in the end. It makes me laugh sometimes. It has to make some people cry too. So I do not blame the grads or young kids who do not want to work at all sometimes because it really is a 3 ring circus.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Just turned 40.

It's all down hill from there . . .



Incorporate a few minutes of prayer, giving to God what is God's, and giving Cesar what is Cesar's

[infinitekidM2C]

Originally Posted by minn19

I’m pretty sure he was kidding. That aside, I started lifting again 3-5 times a week plus running/cardio 2-3 and it really has helped improve my mood. I realize it’s very hard for people to find the time though.

I know.

[CTinline-six]

I'm still motivated, but then again I've been at this job under a year. The change has been both good and strange. My commute went from 100 miles a day to 12, pay and benefits are much better, but I have far less human interaction, which is difficult to get used to.

Lifting helps.

[nyalpine90]

honestly the only motivation keeps me going are my kids.
i love my job, but there are days I hate it. People in general complicate things so much.
Either try to do the impossible or just plain ignorant!