If you’re not crazy about your job, perhaps you need job motivation techniques!

“Who needs job motivation techniques?” Perhaps a better question would be “Who feels happy with their job?” Who loves their job? Who can’t wait to get to work on a Monday morning?

The reality is that in society during these times, the majority of people are not satisfied with their jobs. Many are not happy and some can’t even stand their jobs. Times have changed a lot since 40 years ago. Back then if you had a stable job working for an organization, you try to stick there forever. But now there are so many more choices available when it comes to choosing the type of job, the organization you work for, the location etc.

So on a whole we have improved a lot. There are more choices now and not many people are forced to remain in a certain job just to survive. We can try to seek greener pastures with relative ease.

Most job surveys found that when it comes to choosing a job, job satisfaction generally outweighs money. But of course this doesn’t apply to everyone on the planet. Some people are fine with doing a job that they don’t enjoy. To them a job is a job, nothing more. It is a means to earn a living. So if you belong to this group, or your employees belong to this group if you are a business owner or manager, then everything is pretty much fine.

However, if you or your employees belong in the other extreme, (which you probably are or else you won’t be reading this) then finding motivation when you don’t love your job becomes a problem. For that, you need to know some job motivation techniques!

What are the good job motivation techniques?

Fortunately there are some job motivation techniques that can help you gain more motivation for your job. If you’re not motivated and dislike your job, there’s got to be a reason for it. And more often than not it is because your inherent personality and traits do not suit it.

So what can you do about it? Well the obvious first reaction to it is to change jobs. But before taking the big step, perhaps we should try something else first. Below are some job motivation techniques which may be able to help you.

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1. Discover what you love about your job

Here’s the thing, no matter how much you dislike your job, there are probably some aspects of the job that you enjoy. Similarly for jobs that you love as well. There will be some aspect of it that you won’t be so crazy about.

So the first way to gain more motivation for your job is to focus more on the aspects of the job that you like. Often times we just get so engrossed in the routine of the job that we forget to notice all the various facets of it. And we especially tend to forget about the positive ones.

Here is what you can do. Get a pen and paper (or do it on the computer) and list down all tasks, activities and requirements of your typical work day. For example, do you work with numbers, deal with people, write (reports & stuff), make analysis, use creativity to solve problems/think of solutions, kinesthetic (physical movement) related activities, involve artistic expression, communication, calculation etc.

Chances are your daily job will involve more than just one type of activity. Go through your job activities that you identified and assess how much you enjoy doing each of it. Even if you don’t enjoy your main job task, you may enjoy doing the other ancillary activities. This way, there is something to look forward to and enjoy during your workday.

You can take it a step further by finding opportunities to change your job scope. Try discussing with the management for you to gradually switch roles if possible.

Let’s move on to the other job motivation techniques.

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2. Deliberately make it interesting!!

Make your job fun and interesting. There are plenty of ways to do it. Perhaps initially you found your job interesting, but after a while, at some point in time, subconsciously you made the decision that work is not supposed to be fun. It should be tough, it’s a struggle and it’s painful. Some even think that if they are having fun and a great time while working, then they’re somewhat ripping the company off.

Well that’s bull poo! Who says that working can’t be fun? It is this unconscious decision that has made so many people unhappy with their jobs. Of course it doesn’t help if the company adopts a very strict culture. However, there are ways to make your job fun while still being within the rules. Sometimes just a change in the individual’s attitude can make a big difference.

The best way to make your job (or anything else for that matter) interesting is to adopt a curious attitude. Even though you may have been doing the same job for years now, try adopting a really curious attitude about every aspect of it and you’ll be amazed to find out how interesting it is and how many things you have failed to notice in the past just because you weren’t curious enough.

So, have a curious attitude and a questioning mind every moment of your working time and you’ll find it to be more interesting.

Here are some other ways to make your job more interesting and fun ;

1. Make it competitive – Nothing better to spice things up by adding a little competition to the task. Compete either against someone, against yourself (by setting a standard) or just against the clock.

2. Get playful – Have fun with colleagues, play pranks, tell jokes and tease each other. When you’re playful, any mundane task becomes fun.

3. Music – Music is great if your boss or company is OK with it. Bring along your earphones or IPOD to the office and now you’re working to the sweet sounds of ABBA. (Haha, if that’s up your alley) Of course, if you can’t concentrate on work while listening to music, then it’s not such a good idea.

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3. Use goals to motivate yourself

Another way to get motivated about your job is to set goals. Set your short and long term goals for your job/career. Remember why you chose this job or career in the first place. Probably you had your reasons for doing so. So even if things are not going your way at the moment, if you’re unhappy about certain things, your long term goals will remind you that this may be just a phase which eventually pass.

Always remember to have your long term goal. Write out what is your long term goal for this chosen career/job. What do you hope to get from it, and why do you want it. Then keep it close by and constantly go back to review it.

It not only helps you keep up the motivation for your job, but it also helps you keep track whether you are on course to where you eventually want to be.

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Final thoughts…

It’s no fun at all when you’re stuck in a job with no motivation for it. Nothing worse than having the feeling of being stuck doing something you dislike everyday. I hope that these job motivation techniques are able to help develop more passion and motivation for your job.

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