Gotta case of the Mondays? We all suffer from this on occasion, but once it starts to turn into terrible Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, it’s time to take notice! It’s completely normal to get into a slump occasionally at work; whether the blues be weather related, a distraction coming from your personal life, or just plain boredom! Lucky for you, we have come up with the antidote to get rid of this productivity killing “disease”. Follow these simple steps and you’ll turn your workplace blues into workday “woo-hoos”!
Why are you feeling blue?
Start your journey to blues free days by considering the question “why am I feeling so down?” There a million things we remember to do everyday, and yet how many times do we look within ourselves to see how we are feeling and get to the bottom of why we are feeling this way? Rarely!
Take some time to consider this question. It may be hard to pinpoint an exact cause, so a helpful way to begin is to write down a list of the tasks you enjoy and the things you dislike about your job. You may even end up finding that it is not the job itself that is making you feel “blah”, but something in your personal life, your sleep schedule, coworkers, or even the culture of your office. Still can’t find the root cause? That’s okay too, don’t worry we have more advice to come!
Visualize Your Goals
“Losers visualize the penalties of failure. Winners visualize the rewards of success.”
Visualization and positivity are key! Put good out, and you will receive good back. Visualizing your goals will help you begin to set an action plan! When you start to plan our steps to reach that goal, you’ll see how realistic and attainable your goal may be. Write a list of what you want to accomplish and keep the goal in mind while you work. Start with small steps and work your way into the bigger steps so that you don’t get “burnt out” again. We know working isn’t fun, but the work will be worth the goal and keeping the end goal in mind will motivate you to work that much harder.
Make More Time
Are you feeling frustrated because it doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day? Do you secretly wish there was a magic genie that would grant you the gift of time? Well guess what, the genie in this story is actually YOU! You have the complete ability to make time! Reduce your distractions and time that you spend wasting, and turn it into useful time. Wake up earlier, stay at work later, use productivity tools and technology to help you get more done… the possibilities are endless. 8–9 working hours in a day will allow you to accomplish more than you think if you stop waiting for time to expand and start making use of time effectively.
Hold Yourself Accountable
Did you slack off and procrastinate another task? Don’t blame the universe! Blame yourself. You are responsible for what you accomplish, and the only person who has control over that is you! We know it’s not easy to push yourself. That’s why you need to find motivation and keep yourself on track! One way to motivate yourself is to make daily to-do lists. Do you need to finish a blog post by the end of the day? Write it down! You should also be sure to plan in advance. Some people find it helpful to plan out and write down what they need to accomplish weeks in advance. So, get a planner and start planning! Everything seems easier to accomplish once it’s written down.
Give Yourself a Break
Although you need to hold yourself accountable, you need to be careful not to be too hard on yourself. If you are feeling ‘slumpy’, chances are stress has something to do with it. Don’t be the one to add additional pressure on yourself! Besides giving yourself a pat on the back every now and again, also give yourself a literal break. Work breaks; they exist for a reason! Allow yourself to reset during your lunch break instead of pushing yourself to go, go, go. It is also helpful to plan out some time in your day that you can take short breaks of 5–10 min and do something you enjoy doing. Maybe get up and take a stroll around the office, chat it up with a coworker, or scroll on your personal Instagram feed. Allowing yourself to de-focus for a few minutes will surprising help you re-focus, especially if you have these resting times planned out.
If you still feel unmotivated, give yourself a long break. Go on that extended vacation that you have been planning forever! Vacations give time away from your job so you can focus on yourself; ultimately bringing you happiness, satisfaction and prosperity in both your workplace and personal-life. The New York Times even says that taking a vacation is good for your health, stating vacations lead to reduced depression and burnouts. Unwind on vacation and return to work with rejuvenated confidence, concentration, and efficiency.
And always remember it will get better! This slump won’t last forever, and in the meantime we’re here providing tips every Thursday on our blog. We are always excited to learn if our tips helped you! Let us know in the comments below if this blog helped to cure your workplace blues.
