Reignite Your Passion at Work in 5 Simple Steps

It is officially February. Which means we’re all probably hunkering down in our offices avoiding the cold, the snow and the gray weather. We’re also now a good month away from our New Year’s resolutions, so our passion, drive, ambition, and good intentions set forth last month might feel as though they, too, are hunkering down and riding out the weather. We’re burned out. We’re disengaged.

Well, I’ll tell you what – your life is waiting for you.

It is time to re-energize your work life and reignite your passion for your work. How? Follow these five simple steps.

Reclaim your excitement.

Think back to your first day in your current position. What was the one thing that you were most excited about? I mean the I-have-butterflies-in-my-stomach-and-I -cannot-wait-to-go-to-work-tomorrow excited. Was it the challenge of something new? Was it the opportunity to sell new products or services? Was it the opportunity to lead a team for the first time? What was that one thing that made your heart race and your eyes light up? Now, are you still doing anything related to that one thing that made you so excited about your work? If so, how can you do even more of it? If not, how might you reclaim some of that excitement and enthusiasm? What is a new challenge you can take on? How could you make the selling of the products or services fresh and new? How can you strengthen your leadership skills?

Learn something new.

When was the last time you learned something new? Learning something new lights up our brains, engages our senses and can powerfully reignite our passion at work. The wonderful thing is that it does not have to be something big. It can be something small that takes less than five minutes to learn. For example, how to color code email messages by sender so you can more effectively prioritize incoming messages. Or how to use keyboard short cuts to auto populate text in email messages. Learn one thing new and watch your excitement return.

Challenge the status quo.

The same routine day after day is monotonous, dull and mind-numbing. We often get into our schedule and work ruts without even knowing how or why. We are managing our calendars, tasks and work responsibilities in a way that often is no longer serving us. These patterns or routines are no longer aligned to our current goals and objectives, nor the strategic priorities of the organization. Break out of your rut and challenge the status quo. For example, just because you have always had your weekly staff meeting sitting down does not mean that this process is carved in stone and cannot be changed. Challenge the status quo and have your next weekly staff meeting standing up or be very radical and cancel it. Think about a new way to share information and updates.

Take a day of rest.

In our always-on, hyper-connected 24/7, busy culture our work can quickly consume us and our time. In an effort to catch up, keep up or get ahead (highly unlikely for most of us), we work every day of the week. By the way, this work includes household chores and errands. To fully recharge and be ready to engage at work, take one day off each week. No email. No folding laundry. No work related reading. Just let your mind and body rest. Rest is not a 4-letter word. Rest and watch your passion come back to life.

Reconnect to your strengths.

We have unique abilities and signature strengths. Your organization or your clients hired you because of the value you can bring to the organization or to them. You were selected for your current role because of your past successes and experience. When was the last time you took the time to look at how you are adding value to your organization? Or how you are adding value to your clients? When was the last time you ended your week acknowledging all of the successes of the week versus the mistakes or mishaps. Reflect on your strengths. Listen to what your colleagues compliment you on – it is an indicator of your strengths. Reconnect to your strengths and feel the passion for your work return.

Burnout, fatigue, disengagement and a lack of passion for our work is all a sign that it is time to make a change. It is time to reclaim your excitement, learn something new, challenge the status quo, take a day of rest and reconnect to your strengths. Decide to no longer tolerate a dull and disengaged work life. Reignite your passion.

Your Next Action Steps:

• Choose two hours this week to only focus on and complete work that is aligned to your strengths. Turn on your out of office and reconnect to what is unique about you.
• Set an alarm to ring 2 – 3 hours in your workday. When the alarm goes off, close your eyes and let your mind drift for 1 – 2 minutes.
• Did you know that a good sweat will fuel your health, productivity, and passion? Read more here.
• Get really clear on how your productivity style can fuel your passion. Take the Productivity Style Assessment here; please use pass code WorkSimply15.
• Order Work Simply for more strategies, tips, tools, and resources to tap back into your personal passion and make an impact personally and professionally.

Carson Tate is the founder and principal of Working Simply, a management consultancy. Our mission is to bring productivity with passion back to the workplace. We do this by providing tailored solutions that help people to work smarter, not harder.

Her new book, Work Simply, was published on January 2, 2015.