Staying motivated in the final days of a job
May 3, 2011 7:19 AM Subscribe
It's the last week at my current job and I'm finding it challenging to finish my One Last Project to the quality and depth that I think my boss deserves. Please help me not to burn any bridges.
I'm going to start a new job in a few weeks that I am absolutely excited about. It's the Dream Job. My current job has been "ok". I've been with the company a while and I sort of fell into this current role. I'm apparently pretty good at it but I find it boring and annoying, thus the new job. My boss has been excellent, super supportive, all around great manager. And yet, for this one last big project I'm having problems concentrating and staying motivated.
If I was staying, I would put in my usual high effort into it because it's good for my team and my career. But this one last project? Meh, not so much. I'm just plain sick of it! I don't even care if it helps the company at this point. But we've agreed it's my last deliverable and I'm presenting it on essentially my last day. It's like it's my last final before graduating and I've already been accepted into Harvard.
How do I keep myself motivated enough to make it worthy swan song rather than a half assed piece of turd?
I'm going to start a new job in a few weeks that I am absolutely excited about. It's the Dream Job. My current job has been "ok". I've been with the company a while and I sort of fell into this current role. I'm apparently pretty good at it but I find it boring and annoying, thus the new job. My boss has been excellent, super supportive, all around great manager. And yet, for this one last big project I'm having problems concentrating and staying motivated.
If I was staying, I would put in my usual high effort into it because it's good for my team and my career. But this one last project? Meh, not so much. I'm just plain sick of it! I don't even care if it helps the company at this point. But we've agreed it's my last deliverable and I'm presenting it on essentially my last day. It's like it's my last final before graduating and I've already been accepted into Harvard.
How do I keep myself motivated enough to make it worthy swan song rather than a half assed piece of turd?
As you grind through these last few days, it may help to remind yourself that for YEARS of your life you will be relying on this employers to sing your praises when you are job searching. There is nothing quite like that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomache as you hand out resumes, *knowing* that X boss will be contacted, yet having No Idea if they will say good things or bad things about you. Make the commitment to leave a good last impression. It pays dividends in peace of mind as you proceed on with your working life.
posted by Ys at 7:38 AM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Ys at 7:38 AM on May 3, 2011 [3 favorites]
How long will this last project take? I find that with long term projects, the only thing that makes it palatable was breaking it up into small steps, and scheduling those.
I don't even care if it helps the company at this point.
Try thinking of it more as "I care about maintaining my high standards and reputation for awesomeness."
I also think that xingcat's idea for working with someone else who's staying will help. You need to remember that your work will impact those people who are staying, and if you didn't owe it to your company (which you do,) you certainly want to help those people, right?
posted by punchtothehead at 7:46 AM on May 3, 2011
I don't even care if it helps the company at this point.
Try thinking of it more as "I care about maintaining my high standards and reputation for awesomeness."
I also think that xingcat's idea for working with someone else who's staying will help. You need to remember that your work will impact those people who are staying, and if you didn't owe it to your company (which you do,) you certainly want to help those people, right?
posted by punchtothehead at 7:46 AM on May 3, 2011
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posted by xingcat at 7:36 AM on May 3, 2011