After you have been doing the same job or even been on the job market for a while, it’s normal to feel a little jaded. Here is some advice to reignite that spark and rediscover enthusiasm at work.
Asking the Right Questions
Even though it might seem challenging, you should take time to examine your personal career aspirations. Does your job fit your strengths rather than your weaknesses? Are you doing what you do best? “Answering these kinds of questions can be inspiring in the long term,” says Jacques Forest, Professor at the École des sciences de la gestion at UQAM and specialist in organizational psychology.
Taking stock of what makes you proudest in your professional life is a key step in this process. It’s also a chance to examine your professional values and needs. For example, is it important to use your mental or physical skills? To work alone or as part of a team? To interact with people or work at home? Although asking these questions is not always easy, it clarifies the situation and helps you figure out what needs improvement.
Opening Up
Shyness, shame and low self-confidence sometimes prevent people from talking about their lack of enthusiasm. However, simply talking about it with someone is already a step in the right direction towards feeling better at work. “The goal is to find allies for this positive journey who meet your needs and help you reach your potential,” explains Jacques Forest. But it is crucial to choose the right people to confide in: an occupational psychologist, a career counselor, trusted friends, colleagues, family or even your boss, if he or she is a receptive listener.
Changing Your Routine
Sometimes small details make all the difference. Breaking out of your routine and changing habits by reorganizing your workspace or meeting colleagues in other departments, for example, can reinvigorate you at work.
People sometimes forget that happiness at work can come from being happy elsewhere. You should take time for family, exercise, the arts, volunteering—not to mention rest, which is also very important. “Vacations affect your energy level, which has an impact on your responsiveness and therefore indirectly on your enthusiasm and how you live your daily life,” says Professor Forest. Of course, many variables are involved: financial circumstances, life events, the presence or absence of children, income disparities, personality. . . “The decisive factor that should guide your actions is a clear understanding of what allows you to satisfy your own needs to be autonomous, use your skills, and build social networks,” says Jacques Forest.