Unmotivated to do work
This is a rant about myself and my current job here.
Ever since WFH started, I’ve felt pretty unmotivated on most days to do work. I would log in late to work on some days and just do some work each day, watching YouTube videos or playing a game every once in awhile, or taking short naps if I’m WFH.
A while ago, I switched teams and the new department has a way different work culture from the previous one, being very driven on KPIs and micromanagey. Being new to the role my colleagues and seniors tell me to put in more effort in trying to understand the work, and that’s had the opposite effect on me.
Recently I’ve felt even less motivated, completely shutting off from daily emails and I find myself doing everything else I can to procrastinate. The thought of doing work that my managers would find is subpar anyway makes me want to shut off completely from work.
I’ve thought about quitting, because it’s not fair to my colleagues that they have deadweight in the form of me, but I have loans to pay. I am considering looking for a new role just to get away from this team that I simply can’t click with, while admitting privately to myself that I have really poor work ethics. I don’t think I’m depressed/burnt out either, because I’m happy to do anything else but work and I haven’t exactly done a lot of work to be burnt out. I toy with the idea of quitting and just booking myself a long trip to somewhere and chilling for a month before coming back to laze around at home.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Has anyone else felt like this before and have you managed to get out of this slum?
Netizens’ comments
- Sounds like WFH too comfortable for you. Not everybody is suited for WFH with minimal guidance/direction.
- I completely empathize. Some WFH days I just want to sleep in and laze. But in the grander scheme of things, it’s perhaps a sentiment similar to dread, lack of purpose or even jadedness.
Figure out what exactly motivates you and drives your attention, then try to set personal goals aligned to these motivations and innate drive. Now don’t get me wrong, just because you do doesn’t mean you’d feel the occasional lacklustre to accomplish things. It just helps your little wheel of motivation turning. In my experience, that is good enough - Everyone faces all these temptation to not work. If you still need a job, I suggest you force yourself to go into office for work to get a sense of discipline. Add motivators like setting up dinner and lunch with friends.
Alternatively, maybe just set yourself 1 simple task to complete a day. Often there is dread when everything feels like they need to be done today and you are very perfectionistic about things.
Do your task then give yourself the break to chill and nap. Over time you get more ability to manage the work demands and can pull more weight