Questioning, doubts about the future, stress and discomfort at work … The anxiety-provoking period we are living has an impact on our professional life and our well-being at work, even for those who are lucky enough to have a job.
The current pandemic and its impact on our daily lives, acts like a magnifying glass, as a revealer of what is buried (or not) in us.
It’s a bit as if there were questions, underlying subjects for months, sometimes years, that the Covid-19 virus has brought to light.
We have the impression that a lot of people are doing badly professionally, asking themselves questions, even if their job is not particularly threatened … But in reality, it is not new, nor suddenly, we are simply in a logic amplification of something that was already there.
The confinement, has revealed to each of us, the best and the worst. And professionally, it is also the case: the managers who were in the trust, mobilize their teams, and those who were in the mistrust, damage even more …
This anxiety-provoking context is not, in itself, responsible for each person’s professional (or personal) questioning, but it amplifies discomfort, feelings, questions that were already there.
To stay motivated despite fears and doubts: take stock!
Do you feel demotivated, lost, particularly stressed at work right now, and you sometimes come to wonder what you are doing there? The first reflex to have is to ask yourself to take stock.
This advice, seemingly silly, is essential for “getting better”: take the time you need, but ask yourself to identify what is wrong.
Ideally, think about everything that’s wrong with your job, and write it down on a blank page. Be careful, no self-censorship or judgment on what you write. Everything counts, even the small details that don’t seem important to you!
The goal is to clear your mind, and sort out all that is rushing and bubbling in your head, which creates this unease without knowing why in the end …
Once you have written down what is wrong, and have this information in front of you, there is a good chance that you will realize that in the end, it is not that bad, and that you make a mountain of it on a daily basis, when in reality, there is nothing very serious, that it is perhaps only a question of perception of the problem … And on that you can to act !
Work on your state of mind, to perceive these “problems” differently!
Once you have taken stock of what was wrong with your job, it’s time to tackle your way of looking at it.
In these moments of doubt, of imbalance, it is possible to influence the state of mind in which we are, in a way, to “strengthen” it. Because our thoughts have a real power over us, and imagine that we have the possibility to modify them, to direct them, with a little practice.
Indeed, it is possible to modify a behavior, by changing our perception of reality.
Like an example of a Sunday morning, you woke up and it’s raining outside, non-stop. You have two choices available to you: either, you yourself say that the day is going to be rotten, that the weather is depressing and it’s a wasted weekend, either you say, owl, it’s a Sunday to stay under the duvet, to relax in the calm, and to make a delicious apple pie!.
In both cases, you do not change the facts: the weather remains the same, but your way of perceiving this reality can be oriented in one direction or another, and your day will take, according to your perception, a very different direction … The only difference between the two scenarios, therefore, is only the way you chose to perceive the information.
Our thoughts belong to us. And we create, with these many threads of thoughts that cross us every minute, like harmful loops, which will have real consequences not only on us, but also on the people around us!
Realizing the power we have over our thoughts is the opportunity we all have to feel better, and it works in all areas, even in the professional world!
Likewise, when thoughts about your work (your role in the company, your wishes for development, the atmosphere within your team or with your hierarchy, the reaction of a colleague to an email or during ‘a meeting, your fears for the future…), go through you, choose the positive scenario rather than the negative scenario.
Start with small details, then extend this new outlook to the rest: the brain basically borrows the easiest thought patterns, the ones you turn to more easily (usually the negative), with a little bit of training, we can therefore indicate a new standard of thought to favor (the positive).
Note that these are not “magic thoughts”, that some professional problems will not be solved this way. But changing your way of thinking is already a good way to put your finger on the things on which you can act quickly and simply, in small steps, to live better.
Keep your balance and free yourself from guilt!
Whatever your current professional situation, whether you are a business manager overwhelmed with work and responsibilities, or whether you are an employee who has doubts about his/her professional future, it’s all about knowing you, to offer you “breathing spaces, height holds”.
The injunctions of the company like “take the time to live”, or even “work a lot, to be able to rest afterwards”, are quite contradictory, and tend to make people feel guilty.
It is in fact important to free yourself from guilt: do you need a lot of work at the moment, are you overwhelmed with files and have less time for yourself and your family? Let go of that guilt, and treat yourself to some quality time with the people you love, but if during this particular time you have to work harder than usual don’t beat yourself up, you know why you are doing it.
On the contrary, if you feel guilty about being on partial unemployment, not working full time, that you have the feeling of “being of no use”, that you have “too much time for yourself”, also take the guilt off, because it it is this guilt that creates discomfort. The situation is as it is, and you will not be able to change it, but again, you can choose how you view it.
Keep in touch and surround yourself with good vibes!
Many people are currently still isolated in teleworking, or even in empty offices… However, in this period, we need more than ever links, moments together. It is therefore important to keep in touch with loved ones or colleagues that you appreciate. This detail will only allow you to be better at work and will help motivate you professionally.
If you’re in the office, and you’re lucky enough to run into colleagues you like, enjoy a coffee break (with social distancing of course!) Or offer a lunch to brighten up your day.
If you are still telecommuting, the video coffee break is also possible and makes it easy to keep in touch remotely. Plan a regular virtual coffee in your agenda with the people you liked to meet at the office, we had more of a reflex to do it during confinement, and yet it is still good for morale!
The goal: to find pleasure at work, and it keeps up!
Also, surround yourself with people who make you feel good. Again, stop feeling guilty if this colleague sucks you down and exhausts you: you have the right to distance yourself if this person does not do you good!
Moreover, you cannot be a resource for others if you yourself are not recharged! So in this complicated time for all, keep at a distance (do not exclude them with malice!) The people who plague you.
Finally, identify the activities that revitalize you, do you good, outside of work. Remember to include them in your daily life, these activities, which should not be neglected, will have a real impact on your motivation and your well-being at work!
Reference: https://www.themuse.com/advice/7-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-work-hard-when-youre-really-not-in-the-mood
Photo de Andrea Piacquadio provenant de Pexels
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