Bob Goldman
The year is only one month old and already the reality of your job situation has set in.
It isn’t pretty.
You could quit, of course, but since you’ve developed the habit of eating regularly, the only alternative is to make some changes.
The day to start is today. Wait longer and the smidgeon of motivation you’re feeling now is sure to dissolve. Just like it did last year, and year before that and — well, no one said third grade was going to be easy.
If you are struggling, you are not alone. A recent report from VoiceNation “revealed that 37 percent of U.S. workers struggle with the tasks expected of them in their job roles.” That’s a big number, but it’s nothing compared to the Deloitte Well-Being at Work Survey that reported “84 percent of respondents say improving their well-being is a top priority” with 80 percent admitting they “face significant hurdles,” including “long work hours, a stressful job and a heavy workload.”
Sound familiar?
You need Caroline Castrillon, the author of a recent Forbes article, “10 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re Struggling at Work.”
Is 2024 the year you finally take a chance and make the effort required to emerge gloriously from your career cocoon, successful and struggle-free? Or will you do what always works — just give up? Let’s find out together.
No. 1: Break down big tasks.
By breaking large projects into more manageable bites, “You can celebrate milestones along the way,” Castrillon writes, “which will help you stay motivated.”
Next time you get a major project, start by spending the first week shopping for the office supplies needed to complete the assignment. Search the net, read reviews, plug in the company’s spiffy new artificial intelligence program. Once you have the right materials, call the team together to celebrate your selection of the Hello Kitty Zebra Mechanical pencil, the Hello Kitty Mini Stapler and the Hello Kitty Mini Die-Cut Sticky Notes (the ice cream cone is adorable).
Be sure to include your managers. Once they see the progress you’ve made, they’re sure to reward you mightily, by taking you off the project altogether.
Now that’s something to celebrate.
No. 2: Remove distractions.
What could be more frustrating than being unable to finish a project because you’re so busy responding to emails demanding to know why you haven’t finished the project? The strategy here is to “set aside multiple time blocks on your calendar when you read and respond to emails.”
The ideal time block for accepting emails is between 2:00 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. Specify you will respond to these emails in a three-day time block, starting the next time the moon is in Jupiter and Mars is ascendent — if they’re lucky.
HR might balk at adding an astrologer to the team, but it’s a small price to pay to rid yourself of distractions.
No. 3: Cultivate a sense of community.
“Many people find themselves struggling at work because they feel isolated,” writes Castrillon. The strategy here is to get to know the people you work with. Spending your weekends following your team members and managers is the best way to discover that the obnoxious foodie in marketing — who won’t eat chicken without knowing its DNA and smokes their own grass-fed, free-range Vienna Sausages — will only eat at Subway; and the cinema snob in HR — who talks endlessly on the Stygian subtext of existential darkness in “Barbie” — spends their spare time bowling.
Your community is sure to become a lot closer when you threaten to reveal these secrets at the next team meeting. Include your manager in your detective weekends and you’ll never again have to worry about job security, guaranteed.
No. 4: Find meaning in your work.
Castrillon says that “Feeling that your role has a purpose beyond day-to-day tasks can help boost your self-esteem and productivity.”
Can’t quantify how your job benefits the “greater good”? Consider that without you to sit in it, your office chair could roll out into the aisle, tripping a co-worker, causing them to drop the pet baby bunny they were holding.
See — you don’t have a meaningless job. You’re saving baby bunnies.
No. 5: Seek an outside perspective.
Can’t determine the source of dissatisfaction at work? “Reach out to a trusted friend or mentor for advice,” advises Castrillon.
Don’t trust any of your friends or mentors? Email me between 2:00 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. I’ll respond in a three-day time block, starting the next time the moon is in Jupiter and Mars is ascendent — if you’re lucky.
Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at bob@bgplanning.com.
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