Title. I go through periods of high motivation followed by big lows where I just don't want to work at all for various reasons. I'm sure this is not uncommon, how do you guys deal with it? Whether it is work-related stuff or focusing more on personal stuff or whatever, curious to hear
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Find other things to motivate you. Not all of them have to be work related. Go find a hobby or a subject you're passionate about and then you can set goals in your professional life that allow you to pursue "personal" goals.
Your job shouldn't be your personality. If you've got other things going on in your life beyond the latest Excel sheet you're working in, then you allocate more time to those things when you're motivation at work wanes, and then dial it back a bit when you get re-engaged with your job.
Bingo, couldn't have said it better
Amen to this. Sometimes work is your A priority and you're super inspired. Sometimes you're only showing up to pay for other things you would rather be doing.
Motivation ebbs and flows. This is normal. Flow with it.
Couple points:
1. First I'd say, that's pretty common. It's pretty much in every field too. Mainly because, once you get good or reasonably good at something, it's hard to stay motivated. You can look at sports and name a top player and think they are dedicated all the time, but part of having high focus at certain points is also having low focus at other times. Or, take someone at the top like Tiger Woods, even he apparently had years where he wasn't as focused on golf as he was other things. Or think Rory Mcilory, even he needs to step away at certain points. Average NFL career is ~3.5 years, partly due to injury, but also partly because it takes a long of work to stay on top of our game.
2. It's like training for a sport, recovery is just as important as the actual training. You can be a pyscho and work 24/7, but that will only last a short time period.
3. Life has different "seasons", so maybe you're 25 and work all the time, but maybe you're 35 and worried more about your family than work. It's important to have goals at work, and figure out ways to achieve them. However, it's also okay to realize that at a point it doesn't have to be all work. As I said above, take Rory vs Tiger; is it frustrating to Rory that he didn't win the US Open or hasn't won a major in 10 years, yes, but taking a step back, he's done enough, his family is secure for generations, what's he going to do, hit 3 footers for hours on end.
My approach: make everything into a habit and generate momentum by improving your habits. This is your "normal" now. Getting up, showering, and commuting to work is a habit....learning new skills is a habit....working diligently and building good relationships is a habit. Recharging and resting when you can....is a habit. This is how you live your life.
Make things into a habit so that you're cruising on momentum rather than seeing each thing as some type of willpower test. Willpower is extremely limited and runs out quickly. Habits build on themselves.
And have a reason. I'm doing this so I won't worry about money when I'm older and I can retire early to have lots of free time while also having a comfortable lifestyle. That's worth it to me to power through the rough days. But for the most part....this is all habitual behavior at this point, I don't even think about it.
Hope this helps.
Both really good points from ironman and Ozy.
Really agree with Ozy, work can't be your entire life and personality. It's a lot of extrinsic motivation (bonus/prestige whatever) but that's more of a sprint mentality when your career is a marathon. Detangling your personal identity from your career is a good step, the career motivation becomes more intrinsic, at least it did for me.
Basically just having expensive goals, hobbies and then keeping myself sane with athletics on a day to day basis.
just think about what you're working for. I usually think about banging chicks in Philippines.
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