There may come a time in the life of each of us when we realize that we are exhausted and can no longer do what we love, although quite recently it brought you pleasure and you spent all your energy on it. This is burnout. It arises because you spend too much energy on work, neglecting yourself and your condition.
Previously, I kept a blog with 40 thousand subscribers, but after a year I abandoned this business, and after another three months I deleted the blog completely. It's sad because I devoted all my time to this business, I put all of myself into it. But this was precisely the main mistake - I too often ignored my mental state, trying to increase my performance and “grow up.”
I don’t plan to return the blog, but my experience has allowed me to highlight the most effective methods for combating burnout and loss of motivation. I share them with you.
have a rest
As I said, constant work can lead to burnout and loss of motivation. It's like with food: you overeat something, and then you feel disgusted with food. When you do a job you love, you don’t think about how much time it takes and you overwhelm yourself with tasks - it’s cool, I like it. But enthusiasm fades over time, especially if you don’t see quick results. He writes letters of disappointment, calls from fatigue from overexertion. And then loss of motivation breaks down the door.
Look at your tasks from a critical point of view - highlight the highest priorities and do them now, and put aside the irrelevant ones. This way you will find some time for yourself and can take a break from the routine.
If you are already facing burnout, the best thing to do is take a break and go on vacation right now. The main thing is not to run away from real problems, but just to reboot a little.
Reason 3. Too difficult
Unfortunately, difficulties themselves can kill any motivation.
To feel more confident, Arkady decided to learn how to fight. He called several sports clubs in his city and eventually enrolled in a karate section.
The very first training session turned out to be so exhausting that after it Arkady barely made it home. Throughout the next week, his body ached and shouted “Guard!”, and the very thought of visiting the dojo again made him panic. Arkady miraculously managed to go to two more training sessions, after which he asked himself:
“Did I really sign up for this voluntarily?!” Why did I need to turn my life into constant torture?!
He hid the kimono away in the closet and bought a gas canister.
Nothing can be done about difficulties: they are inevitable. Sometimes we cope with them without any problems (and even with pleasure), sometimes they require us to exert all our strength, and sometimes they are completely insurmountable. But, one way or another, they are always there.
If everything in this life was easy, we would be surrounded by extremely happy people who have achieved outstanding success in all their endeavors. This does not happen: it is the need to overcome obstacles on the way to the goal that makes such an idyll unrealizable.
What to do?
1. The most important thing is to change your attitude towards difficulties. To stay motivated, see them not as a source of suffering, but as a challenge.
Overcoming difficulties is always a great opportunity to prove yourself, feel the taste of victory, and gain a legitimate reason for pride and self-respect. Think about the fact that many people have never found the strength to do what you are doing now.
2. Remember that over time, overcoming these difficulties will require less and less effort. That is:
- The longer we abstain from nicotine, the less we need it.
- The longer we train, the easier we bear the load.
- The longer we study a discipline, the better we understand it.
Our mind and our body are capable of getting used to, if not everything, then a lot. All we need is to give them time.
3. Focus on “getting through it.” Time is on your side: you will either get used to the difficulties and feel relief, or you will achieve your goal. The main thing is not to give up and not give up.
4. As a last resort, try simply reducing the load. That is:
- Learn not ten foreign words a day, but five.
- Run in the morning not three kilometers, but one and a half.
- Write not 2 thousand words a day, but a thousand.
Moving towards your goal slowly is better than doing nothing at all. When you get used to a light load, you can gradually return to the indicators that you planned at the very beginning.
Keep a gratitude journal
Loss of motivation may be a consequence of devaluing oneself and one's achievements. By focusing on mistakes, you can go too deep into self-flagellation and forget about your achievements. This is where the legs of impostor syndrome grow - a psychological condition in which a person does not accept his successes and feels out of place.
My psychologist once advised me to keep a gratitude journal. These are daily notes about your successes. I take 5 minutes a day to write down all my successes for the day - this allows me to take a fresh look at my routine and realize my worth and the value of my work. This is great motivation. Try!
What is motivation?
We delve into ourselves and unconsciously look for an excuse for our condition. This is explained by the fact that our brain is looking for a “cure”, realizing that what is happening is not the norm.
For many years, HR managers have been dealing with the issue of employee motivation. Any self-respecting company has in its arsenal a set of motivations “for every taste”, and also conducts tests and surveys regarding employee motivation. It is important to find an approach to each employee and apply the right tool in time: raise wages, praise them in front of colleagues, present them with a certificate.
Change the scenery
A monotonous environment gets boring, but if all you need for work is a computer and good internet, then you can change it - find a new place to work: a coworking space, a cafe, etc. I often see people with laptops at Starbucks - they seem super important and charged to me.
One day I myself went to work in a coworking space for the whole day. I didn’t notice how time flew by, and twice as many tasks were completed as usual at home.
What about the method of small steps?
Very often, coaches and motivation specialists advise breaking a large goal into small ones. But, according to research, this is how we stimulate the insula of the brain. Does this mean the method doesn't work? Not everything is so simple. The method of small steps may well help trick dopamine.
Scientists have found that when we complete a big task, a dopamine burst occurs. But, immediately after this, the level of the hormone drops sharply, and we can fall into procrastination. Therefore, it is often recommended to set new goals before you have completed the previous one.
When we divide a big goal into a bunch of small ones, we create an endless flow of dopamine - after each small stage. This helps those who previously preferred small and easy tasks to reach the end without falling into a dopamine hole.
Choose big and complex tasks instead of small and simple ones. Divide them into small steps. Plan a new goal before the end of the previous one.
Highlight urgent tasks
When there are many tasks, it is difficult to understand what is most important. You start to take on everything at once, but the time you spend on an irrelevant task is unproductive and over time reduces your level of motivation. What can help here is time management. And it doesn’t matter which technique you choose - Pomodoro, time blocking, GTD, etc. - any one will help you optimize your work on tasks, save time and see the benefits of your work.
Get enough sleep
When you work a lot, you often forget to sleep. But a lot depends on the quality of sleep - due to lack of sleep, fatigue occurs, you begin to overeat (poor sleep increases blood sugar levels, which increases appetite), you become more anxious, and sometimes you also show aggression.
British scientists have proven that lack of sleep causes bad thoughts and hallucinations, which can subsequently lead to mental illness. To feel good and be productive, get enough sleep.
Try meditation
Anxiety, stress and lack of sleep can cause loss of motivation. To cope with this, you first need to improve your emotional state: sleep better and minimize anxiety.
I should fall asleep at 10-11 pm in order to be in a good mood and work productively the next day, but due to increased anxiety, sometimes I could not fall asleep until 1 am. Then I decided to take a “desperate step” - to try meditation (although I always treated it with playful disdain). I turned on a random introductory meditation for three minutes and closed my eyes with the thought “No, it won’t work.” And they surprised me - I don’t remember when the meditation ended, just as I don’t remember when I fell asleep. I tried to repeat it - it really works.
The level of motivation is directly affected by physical and mental state. To be productive and continue to love what you do, you need to avoid burnout. To do this, start spending more time on yourself, relaxing and spending time not only at work. You should also get better sleep - this will avoid increased anxiety, stress and nervous breakdowns. And if you have problems with this, try listening to meditations - even short ones of 5-10 minutes can give a noticeable result.
And if you have already experienced burnout or are experiencing stress from work, then change the environment - go on a short trip or simply change your work location from an office or home to a cafe or coworking space.
Why are employees lazy to work?
There are several reasons why employees don't want to work. A good half of them are the mistakes of the leader himself. The easiest way, of course, is to blame the employees for everything, but honestly, admit it: ideal leaders do not exist. Many of us have our own weaknesses, and this negatively affects the work of the entire team.
So, why do employees mess up?
- That's just how people are. They want to do nothing and get a big salary. This is a common type of people that is becoming more and more common. You can motivate them with one thing - money, but even then not for long. The trouble is that they sincerely believe that they deserve more, and are doing you a favor by the very fact of employment. These need to be disposed of immediately;
- They do not want to work. Because the boss will come and do everything himself. Or he will redo what has been done. Their logic is simple: why bother if the boss will do what’s best anyway. Do you recognize yourself? Then urgently read our article “How to delegate powers” and put the advice of psychologists into practice;
- they do not understand the tasks and responsibilities, so they work carelessly. If an employee does not have a sane job description, his tasks are too vague or completely unsolvable - of course, the desire to work disappears. Be clear about what you want from each employee, for what purpose and within what time frame. It will be easier;
- There is an unhealthy atmosphere in the team: employees weave intrigues, snitch on each other, bosses encourage their favorites and spread rot on the disobedient. If any success of an employee can be turned inside out and turned into failure, even a saint will not want to work. In this case, you first need to unite the team, and then motivate everyone.
Either way, you need to believe in your employees first and then read on. Promise yourself that the team of your online store will be the most successful, the most united. And the manager who forgets to call the client back, and the courier who confuses the addresses, and even the designer who works remotely and misses all the deadlines - they will all definitely cope.
Did you believe it? Exactly? Great. Let's consider different types of incentives for employees: let's call them conditional financial incentives, prospects for the future, a kind word and unusual types of motivation.
