How do you stay motivated in work?

That's the neat part, I don't!

I get up and work because if I don't my child goes unfed, and I can no longer afford good ol escitalipram

Well, I'm a teacher. I like working with the kids, I like seeing them grow and change and improve because of my actions. I like pushing them to be better than they think they can be. I like students returning years later to tell me how much of an impact I made. I like feeling as if I'm actually putting some good into a shitty world.

I'm sort of mercenary about it. I put in what I feel I'm being paid for. If I'm being paid to go above and beyond, I'll put in the extra effort. If I'm being paid my standard rate, you get the tasks done with standard consideration. You pay me to do tasks and the tasks will get done. There is no loyalty beyond the terms our employment contract.

My job is to sell rich people a product they don't need. It isn't fulfilling. I like making people's days better if I can by being friendly, but that's for my own satisfaction. I would rather work somewhere where I could be making a positive difference. Ultimately this job exists to turn time into rent money, and I treat it like a chore, like washing dishes or doing laundry. Any effort to improve flow around here is for my own convenience.

If you get a fat bonus for making a stellar piece of software with the flourish and bells and whistles of a premium product, that's a nice motivation. A good reward for a job well done. If you're doing it as a form of personal expression or a celebration of your own talent, that's kinda weird but I respect it. If you're doing it because it would make your client or boss happy, stop. You don't owe them anything beyond your job. If they wanted something truly special, they can pay you for it and define it in your contract.

Ooof, I feel you re the burnout. That's something that has required quite a bit of work for me to understand looking after oneself is just as important as looking after everyone/everything else. This can be a tricky balancing act when you're the kind of person who thrives on acts of service. I.e I love looking after the people in my life (home and work)... that's what drives me. It really helps to work somewhere with the same ethos....eg a not for profit or govt agency that serves. That way you get to see your work, even if it's a piece of software that's just one small part, in terms of the big picture.
For me, bringing a healthier lifestyle (not crazy wellness warrior style but slow achievable stuff like couch to 5k) into work and home really helped. Ie if you can go for a walk on your lunch break (take a work mate) that helps on so many levels... It forces you to take a break, clears your head and adds a bit of exercise to my routine.
I've started reading modern stoic philosophy too. 'Reasons Not To Worry' is a good one. All the best to you.

I'm a software engineer and architect, and I like to learn/try new things. I lead a large global team of about 40 developers, so there's always some odd/interesting problem to solve. When it comes time to implement something new, I'll often figure out if there's a way that I can incorporate something that I wanted to learn into at least a proof of concept for the solution. Sometimes, we'll adopt that technology and implement it fully. Sometimes, we'll refactor it into something more traditional. But I get a lot of leeway into how I get to implement solutions.

I am well-paid for my work, and it's not super high pressure all of time. There are deadlines which can get a bit annoying sometimes, but there are also downtimes. The company I work for is pretty chill, and takes pride on being a place that people tend to like to work. I live a somewhat frugal lifestyle relative to what I make, so I'm able to set aside a lot of money for a hopefully early retirement.

I know that many people have it much worse. They hate their jobs, and they see it torture to go to work. I'm glad that I'm not in that position, since I chose a career that I was interested in and had good earning potential. It also helps that I like the people that I work with.

I don't, I just work to make money. My manager thinks I'm excellent at my job and that's enough for me.

I work for myself, not for others. I mean, I'm an employee, but my motivation exist within myself.

So, is I want to see a customer smile, and I do it, that's it. That's my product, that's my KPI. That was the change I wanted to give to the world.

And I'm happy with that, because I only work for things I really care about. Just one step at the time.

On low motivation days, the best thing I do is set timers, kind of like pomodoro sessions. But if I find myself feeling general low motivation about my job that lasts more than a week, it’s normally because I’m bored. So that means find something interesting to do, or find a different job that has interesting things to do. Rarely do I feel burnout from being overworked. Might be the same for you and you need to find something more interesting?

As a fellow, I assume, software developer, I find that any opportunities for pair programming with my colleagues explodes my productivity in a good way. I find work much more engaging when I’m working with somebody.

I’m naughty and do things I’m not meant to like code side projects.

but usually I can turn that into a new product because the things I procrastinate on are nerdy and technical sometimes and also sometimes related to my work.

The companies I’ve worked for have generally been B2B, providing technology solutions for other technology platforms, but there’s no “product” or “thing” at the end, just some more shitty software.

Why not quit your job and work somewhere that is product-driven? There are so many remote companies that you should be able to find one that checks all of your boxes. And if you're in a tech hub then you have in-person as an option as well.

My job is more on the people side of things right now. I do admin and training stuff. There's so much stupid paperwork. So many stupid directives. So many last minute changes that require me getting on my computer at 9 o'clock at night to fix...

But, sometimes, I click the right buttons and people get paid for that. I click approve on the forms that pay people. I know the people who I'm getting paid as well. I get to build the training plans around their actual strengths and help them get better at one of the things I really enjoy doing.

My job is so far divorced from the fun of my field. I spend more time in meetings and arguing about how we should be spending to best improve the team. But, at the end of the day, my boss likes me and gives me more than enough rope to hang myself with so I just do the work that's required, collect my paycheck and get other people theirs too.

@Roobxyz I feel ya! I'm going through a lack of enthusiasm myself (its more severe than that, but no need to get into it). Its almost a daily struggle for me to get motivated to be productive at all at work. I think iof several things to get me through the day...Sometimes i think about the nice time socializing with a very small numner of co-workers who are really nice on days when i have to go into the office. (My employers forces us to do hybrid even though its truly not valuable at all.) So, i make it less about work, and more about, "hey, i get to have coffee with Bill or Jane today, that's cool...", etc. On other days, i think about "what would my Mom think about this?". Let me explain: my parents are uneducated immigrants, and while they worked hard to legally arrive in U.S. and work to give me my opportunity to get educated and have a decent job, i somewhat ask myself to get movjng to be sure that my Mom doesn't feel her efforts to struggle here in america were not in vain. I dont go overboard with the guilt, just enough to get me out of bed, and then i can motivate myself otherways. Other tricks that i try involve telling myself that maybe one of my projects might actually be fun, or maybe somehow improve the life of someone else, etc. And, then of course the most common way that i motviate myself to coem into the office is my life partner and kid...i do this annoyance for them. If not for them, i'd likely take a lower-paying but more satisfying job, live somewhere in the world whwre its dirt cheap to live, and just be.

Its not easy, but you need to find several - not just one - ways to motivate yourself, even if its only a temporary distraction. I feel that at least tricking yourself to keep moving fends off deep depression and other ailments...so keep at it - however you can. Keep up the good fight, and kudos; you can do it!!!!

Fortunately, I have a job that I think is stimulating and generally fun. Unfortunately, being a scientist in academia doesn't exactly pay the bills.

In some ways I am jealous of the people here who say that they don't care about their jobs because their employers can't use their passion to suck every ounce of productivity out of them.

Solid question. Work has never motivated me, only the paycheck I have received for doing it. I show up, I do what I’m expected, I go home and don’t even think about it until I arrive the next day to do it all over again. I live for the time I’m not at work, my job is just a chore I have to get through everyday to live well…no different to me than having to fold laundry or wash dishes. That isn’t to say I hate my job or anything…I just tolerate it.

I can’t ever imagine work being fulfilling but maybe that’s a me thing and I’m missing out terribly.

I am not motivated at work at all. Every now and then I get to work on an interesting problem and that's enough for me. Mostly I'm just working to keep a steady income and gradually reduce the actual amount of time that I spend doing deep work so that I can keep that mental energy for things that I want to do outside of work.

Just don't.

Don't work harder than you need to. Your role in that company is to make it money. But it doesn't matter if you increase the revenue by a large amount, you likely won't benefit much, if at all. The company you are describing is typical in today's Capitalists system. Working for them won't improve the world.

You should find something that you like doing and see if you can turn it into a career somehow, like making videos on it.

This is why I stay in the industry I'm in.

I'm not based in the US, but for those who moved from their home country to this particular one, there are generally two major options: either teaching, or going into IT (other options DO exist, mind you). And the teaching way is usually the easier one.

Of course, it's also the lower-paying one. But I legitimately enjoy what I do, and I think that's the key: the whole idea of "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day is your life" is pure BS, but if you actually enjoy what you do, it makes the job easier. Granted, I also work with kids, and I've always liked to work with kids.

I understand that IT can be a very lucrative job, and I'm at least trying to start to learn Python... but then I hear about all these "this IT job is destroying my soul", and I'm going to have to choose a lower-paying but less stressful job that I actually LIKE.

I'm high enough in the food chain to have shares which means I want the business to do well, if it sells, I make free money.

I'm in IT. I'm also a geek. I love tinkering, new things, old things. It's amazing how many old things are still required and new things rely on all old things (DHCP, DNS, Apache, Windows still working kind of like it did when it was NT3.5, you get the idea). All the youngsters do NOT learn the underpinning technologies so I get a real kick out of explaining how shit works to them, that motivates me and them.

I enjoy my job, for the most part. I'm not enjoying the management side because people annoy me (what's the difference between a computer and a user? You only have to punch information in to a computer once for it to understand!). The bits are do enjoy motivate me to do all of it.

The major of all of this though, like others, is the pay. It keeps a roof over the families heads, clothes on their backs, has them fed and going on a nice holiday once or sometimes twice a year.

I don't feel as motivated as I used to be when it comes to work.

During uni days I dreamed of being the career type. Fancy job, city living...you know. Then I worked for a time. Doesn't matter what the job was, or what industry I was working in. The universal truths when it comes to employment are:

• Your employer does not give a shit about you
• Going 'above and beyond' does not grant you any favours
• Being a career orientated person is a waste of time and effort

Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but that's just my own experiences talking. It just clicked one day. Why the hell should I work my arse off trying to be the best employee I can, when I can coast along and do the bare minimum for the same thanks and wage (and probably still out-perform the slackers.)

So that's what I do now. It's all about a proper work/life balance.

I love interacting with patients, and I make a huge impact on my community working with them.

Then COVID happened, and I realized I hate most of you meat sacks and left for a less patient centered role. I now get more free time with my kid, and to work on projects for my tenants (I'm also a landlord which most of you hate).

My new job is with a charity helping patients get affordable medications and healthcare in my community which is very rewarding.

I work for a nonprofit doing outreach work to homeless drug addicts. My boss is good to me, I like my coworkers, and if I don’t show up to work things start to fall apart and quite possibly people die.

I don’t make tons of money, but I really don’t need to as I have fairly simple needs and no debt. I’ve specifically thought ahead about these sorts of questions and tried to prioritize meaning and work environment when looking at jobs.

I work in accounting, I have been doing. Basically the same monthly tasks for the same company for 20 years, slowly climbing a ladder where I’m now paid well and have a nice team of people, who’ve I’ve hand selected, that work for me.

It feels mostly fucking pointless ant this point and I have another 20 years to go of this shit? Hopefully AI replaces me soon.

I started volunteering at my local Parks and Rec last year, it has helped a lot.

I was lucky enough to land in a creative job that I find to be more fun than work... at least most of the time. I do definitely feel burnt out sometimes as well. Like others have said your work is not your life. Try finding fulfillment through hobbies instead of work. Maybe a career change could help? Think before you leap on that one. Of course stability is more important, but if you're confident you can make some kind of pivot in your career path safely, then why not go for it?

Graphic designer. I take on special projects that aren’t really part of my “core job”. I tend to do things like collecting documenting/compiling info that we’ve had spread out, learn some new software, make some sort of web app that helps do something else easier, making a job aid that explains a confusing work process better or just things to help streamline the work itself. At first I’d set these things up for my group and blast it out to everyone, thinking other people would find it useful too, but oftentimes they’re mostly ignored, as I would get questions from people that were directly answered by whatever the thing was that I had made. So I’ve mostly stopped caring about trying to help others and mostly make them for myself. I might use it more as an opportunity to learn something new (software or process or whatever).

It’s a weird feeling to relate to all of this having only graduated college a year ago and been working a “real” job since then. I work for a giant company - they can afford whatever they want, but I’m underpaid, so I underwork. I do enough to stay out of trouble and that’s it.