Do you feel that you are just working through the day, with a ‘ground-hog day’ feeling – just going through the motions? While it’s normal to have an off day, experiencing many joyless days on the job can be exhausting. Regaining interest in an established career provides many benefits in the workplace and in your personal life too.
Sometimes all it takes is a little time to take a step back, ‘think outside the box’ and create time for some creative planning, but first we need to know where to start! There are many areas that you can look at to help you fall back in love with your job again. Consider both the positive and negative attributes of personal performance in the job, including confidence, communication and knowledge. These areas can provide clues for areas of improvement.
Best tips to fall back in love with your job:
- Change your perspective and look for the best in each situation
- Express your opinions and thoughts. Start asking for what you would like or what you think might work well. Change happens when we know what to change
- Create new goals. Start with short-term goals, and expand to long-term goals
- Redesign your work space, get creative here
- Evaluate your current job and how it can be improved, or identify if this is the right job for you. It’s useful to ask; “is this job fulfilling” or “do I feel happy in this job”?
- Connect with the team and engage to find create solutions, to find joy again
- Stay open to opportunities for change
- Support the team, take care of new employees in their first few months – become a role model
- Live healthy! Plan snacks and healthy lunches to keep energy levels balanced
- Start new hobbies, these can be with work colleagues or interests outside the workplace …have some fun with these activities
- Take pride in your work – be consistent, clock in five minutes early, finish work ahead of deadlines and show that you care with positive actions
- Be open to feedback and ask the right questions
- Do a little self-reflection, ask; “when did I lose the spark and why?”
- Learn to say ‘no’, ‘not yet’, ‘let me come back to you’ and ‘yes’
- Know what’s happening in the workplace
- Enjoy time off and celebrate achievements
- Finally, make sure the job is right for you … ask; “do I fit in with the culture” and “do I truly love what I do”? Speak to your manager if you have any doubt
Marc Anthony once said; “do what you love and it won’t be work.” So find your true joy in your life, fall back in love with your job again, and maybe inspire and motivate colleagues as you go about your new sense of purpose!
