Thomas Green with Ethical Marketing Service here, today I would like to talk to you about what to do when you are not feeling engaged with your work. This can happen to anyone, because the cause is typically a lack of variety in your work or life. If you are doing the same thing over and over again and you are not being challenged, that’s a good way of feeling a disconnect between what you are doing and what else you might want to do.
I would say the first step is to recognise it for what it is and also understand the solution. If this is a moderately new feeling to you, I would say you remind yourself that human beings need to be challenged somewhat and variety is an important part of life.
If you are not getting that change, it’s like 2+2 = 4 with the analogy being lack of variety plus repetition equals dissatisfaction. In order to add some surprise, or excitement into your work, explore ways you can keep yourself interested in what you are doing. Either by being creative, by doing tasks in new ways, or finding a way of doing your work to a higher standard. Don’t underestimate the self esteem you can get by doing a task to an extremely high standard, even if the task itself is simple.
If you have tried this and still feel like you need a change, it might be time for one. It’s difficult to know what to recommend as I can’t get your feedback, but if you know the issue is lack of variety, then adding more variety is the solution. If you are stuck doing your repetitive work and can’t leave, what I would do is take on more responsibility, as with more responsibility comes more meaning and whilst days without variety may be difficult, if you are really doing something meaningful, it can be worth the struggle as other people are relying on you.
Lastly I would say that learning a new skill even if it is inside or outside work, can often help keep you engaged. Regular progress has always helped made me feel challenged and you really never know when that knowledge will come in handy and lead onto something better for you.