The author shares 5 ways employees can tune out the negativity at their workplace and stay motivated and optimistic through tough times

PALLAVI JHA

During the course of one’s career, it is natural to face certain unpleasant scenarios at the workplace. Things like work place politics or feelings of demoralisation can bring you down. It is at times like these that personal motivation plays a critical role. Staying enthused and optimistic about your work can help you endure certain hardships that might come your way, tune out the negativity and persevere through the tough times.

Below are five pointers to help you stay motivated at the workplace:

○ Manage your time wisely: The best thing you can do for yourself is to plan out your daily tasks in order to make optimal use of your time. This will provide you clarity as you go about your work and help you ensure that your deliverables are distributed in such a way that you aren’t overburdened at any given point of time. Often, because of poor time management, we’re faced with spill over of work that hasn’t been completed, leading to a vicious cycle of either staying back late to catch up with unfinished work, missing deadlines or taking work home – all of which can lead to feelings of demotivation or resentment. By managing your time prudently, you can prevent yourself from feeling overworked and overwhelmed. Figuring out an effective way to allocate your time to various activities will ensure higher levels of productivity at the workplace such that it won’t encroach upon your personal time, consequently leading to a healthy work life balance.

○ Set your own goals: Goal setting is another useful way to stay motivated at the workplace. This does not only refer to the larger organisational goals and revenue targets. By setting your own personal daily or weekly targets you will come to work each day with an objective mind and a plan to achieve it. Having a clear goal in mind will also help you stay focused and driven, resulting in successful outcomes. When you do well at your job, you will feel motivated to go in and give it your best once again.

○ Reward yourself: To keep yourself motivated, it is important to treat yourself for every little accomplishment – because you will have earned it! Make your job fun; the moment you begin to enjoy the work you do and feel a passion for doing good work you will wake up feeling motivated every single day. The mistake we often make is to look at our jobs as tedious, mandatory or boring. By rewarding yourself in little ways, you’re incentivizing yourself to shoot for the stars, achieve your goals and have something to look forward to.

○ Mingle with your colleagues: While it is important to conduct yourself with professionalism at the workplace, it is equally important to socialise with your peers. After all, they are the people you spend the majority of your time with every week. Creating a network of friends at work will generate a sense of community, making the work environment more friendly and welcoming.

○ Maintain a positive mind-set: Finally, consciously work toward having a positive outlook on life. This kind of mentality enables you to recognize and appreciate the little things we often overlook at times of stress and adversity. Positivity helps make you resilient in the face of hardship. It is almost a given that we all will face some challenges in our work life. It is how we handle them that determine our success. Letting a problem take a toll on you will definitely result in feelings of demotivation. However, if you stay positive, you will be able to take it in your stride, learn from the experience and realize your own strengths.

At the end of the day, if we do not take the initiative to motivate ourselves from within, no outside efforts will be effective. While organisations invest in comprehensive employee engagement programs to keep their employees engaged, it all boils down to individuals taking ownership of their own personal attitudes towards work.