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Staying Motivated at Work

If you’re a contractor whose job requires sitting at your desk for most of the day, it can be difficult to remain motivated. It is not a secret that in order to successfully accomplish one task after another you have to be inspired to put effort into everything you do. Even though there may be tasks which you may not like at all, eventually you find inspiration to complete them because you know how each particular task serves a greater goal. Below we suggest how you can stay motivated to keep your performance at the top level.

Have a good reason
Do everything for a good reason. Even if some tasks may seem pointless and unreasonable to accomplish at the first sight, if you devote some time to analyse them you may spot something useful in them. Every time you get stuck with a task that you can’t be bothered to complete, the best solution is to think of an inspiring reason to carry on working on it (e.g. financial reward, personal achievement etc).

Leave personal problems at home
We all have bad days sometimes and experience mood swings because of that. Therefore, no matter how unfair life treats you it’s important to leave your personal problems outside of the workplace. If you’re having a tough time in your personal life it may be a good idea to take some time off to figure out how to make peace with it. The last thing you want to do is to take it all out on people you are sharing the office with.

Make your workday fun
Your attitude is a foundation of motivation and for that reason the same task may be perceived by some as boring but exciting by others. The fact is that even the dullest task can be interesting and fun to do if you give it a chance. In order to establish whether you have a fun approach to working the best way is to establish whether you can enjoy certain tasks and are able to make it enjoyable both for yourself and others. The majority of us will always find something we really hate doing, no matter how hard we try making it pleasurable. What may help you to make it through your contract is developing a habit of staying positive towards uninteresting tasks, which from a personal development point of view will benefit you incredibly.

Look from a different angle
Sometimes you get demotivated because of the attitude you have towards the project you are working on. Even though technically speaking you may be doing everything correctly and efficiently, your personal approach isn’t necessarily the most motivating one. By making minor adjustments to your current approach you will discover how both your experience and attitude can be changed and open up new possibilities. You will probably think that trying to establish alternative approaches to your current project is pointless and time consuming, but if you do not think creatively you will never achieve outstanding results but instead average ones. Trying out alternative approaches does not necessarily mean admitting defeat. Do not be one of the stubborn contractors who take pride in refusing to try any other options.

Be aware of your progress
To make their work process easier, the majority of contractors admit to splitting their projects into smaller parts and stages. They do it mainly for one particular reason, namely keeping track of their work progress, which to be effective, involves taking a bigger picture and understanding where exactly you are, and how much more you have left to do. When you are extremely busy working on different projects you naturally tend to do things at the same time and it usually means that you will not feel satisfaction until everything is completed. Such an approach however instead of inspiring you will make you feel unhappy and unable to reach your final objective.

Use Incentives
This is one of the most powerful ways to stay motivated as rewarding yourself is always pleasant. Before you start working on a project think of situations that will justify yourself getting rewarded. Even the smallest thing you have accomplished deserves a reward even if for some permies it may not seem worth celebrating. The more you reward yourself for the progress you made, the more motivated you will feel about reaching new targets.

Be optimistic
You know pretty well that being negative is contagious and it slows you down to the point when you cannot find a good reason to work. You should try to avoid negative people surrounding you and instead concentrate on the positive. In order to do it, surround yourself with positive and inspiring people and focus on reasons to work.

Prioritise
In order to make the most of your work time, making a list of tasks to do should be your second nature. You have probably caught yourself out many times, by devoting your time to matters that are non-urgent which could have easily been done at a later date. By organising your work day, you will find it less difficult to accomplish your projects and you will also be less likely to procrastinate. Knowing what needs to be done first will allow you to stay focused throughout a day and therefore boost your motivation level.

Keep your personal and work life in balance
If you have just started another contract and you have been offered some overtime you probably won’t say no. As long as you do not spend more time at work than at home with your family everything is ok. The problem occurs when you start spending most of your time at the client’s site, for which your personal life will pay the price sooner or later. Not keeping personal and professional life in balance will make you feel unhappy and the first place it will be noticed will be your office.

As a contractor you’ve probably experienced many times when you just don’t feel like working and sitting in front of a computer monitor is the last thing that you really want to do. It’s normal to lose your motivation for work from time to time, even if you totally love your contract. However, to be a successful contractor, in order to stay on top of freelancing league it’s important to stay constantly focused. Motivation is not a one off activity but long term strategy.

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