Laid back to fall over

October 11, 2012 5:19 AM

Starting a new job soon; unless I can manage my chronic motivation problems, it's all going to go wrong. Help me mefi's; what's wrong with me, what can I do? What do you do?

Snowflake details:

Previous job was high pressure, constantly fascinating but ultimately had no progression. I spent a lot of time feeling like I was working hard but going nowhere. I spent a lot of time not feeling motivated to work hard. Although I felt justifiably unmotivated, I'm concerned that I was just finding an excuse for being chronically lazy.
Current job has been extremely unrewarding & uninspiring, but it's also been very undemanding. I havent been under pressure to do anything so I've more or less stagnated.
Now, I have a new role; high pressure, expected to deliver, no messing around. Also working largely on my own; so no team to help keep things on track.

I dont know what to do. I really dont know how to approach a challenge like this. Previously, when under pressure to delivery I have simply refused to engage; just ignored it to everyone's (and my) frustration. I'm terrified I'm going to do the same thing; flick any challenges the bird, alienate myself, fail to deliver and disappoint everyone.

Am I the only slacker with ambition? The only person whose potential is thwarted by laziness?

What can I do? What tactics, what silly methods, what basic things can I do to change this?!

posted by BadMiker to work & money (10 answers total)

Are you perhaps doing work that doesn't fundamentally interest you? It's hard to get energized when doing something that's not of inherent interest. Is there anything in life that energizes you, or are you like this with everything? It sounds like there's a self-destructive element to your behavior and that might be because at some deep down level you really don't want to be doing that job. You might want to read a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
posted by Dansaman at 5:28 AM on October 11, 2012

If you're like me, it will take care of itself. When I have actual expectations, I'm happier and more productive at work. When it's tedious and undemanding, I start getting lazy and unmotivated, and then feel bad about being a less productive worker.

Also, motivation and getting shit done draws from your pool of self control/discipline. Is there a lot going on in your life outside of work that drains you? This is a huge deal for me. And it doesn't have to be outside obligations. For me it was anxiety/depression/adhd. When those are less managed for me, it takes so much of my mental energy and self discipline to manage my mental state, that getting anything done is like climbing everest. I just got on a medication combination that is working well for me, and it's surreal how much easier it is for me to be productive at work and in life. Something to think about, at least.

Either way, automating all of the little decisions and exercises of "willpower" is likely to help. I like to list everything. Tasks, stuff I need to get done later in the week, shopping lists, ideas for personal projects, anything and everything. This gets it out from circling my brain and down on paper I can look at later or deal with now. That frees up mental space whether or not I ever use the list.

Maybe look into automated reminders? Set up all the calendars and productivity tools on your smartphone if you have one. Little things like that. Save your mental energy for the important stuff.
posted by f_panda at 5:30 AM on October 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, maybe some cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, or some mindfulness practice could be helpful for you. Help you be more aware of when you're about to flip the bird to a challenge before you do it, and help you become aware of why you're doing that.
posted by f_panda at 5:35 AM on October 11, 2012

Just to offer a different perspective, I always procrastinate and refuse to engage when I'm sure, deep down inside, that I am going to fail. Since I can choose not to do whatever it is -- on purpose -- that's a lot more attractive than failure. I realize that sounds completely mental, but there you are.

I always succeed, more or less, when I have absolutely no choice about doing what needs to be done.

Just food for thought. I realized this about myself when I began to help run a theater company, and there were so many times I thought I was definitely not going to succeed, but not trying wasn't an option because everyone was depending on me, and I couldn't reasonably expect anyone else to pick up the slack - and it would be hurting so many people other than myself if I didn't even TRY.
posted by Medieval Maven at 5:38 AM on October 11, 2012 [4 favorites]

This sounds very familiar. I went from a job where there was never enough time to do everything, we were perpetually fighting fires and I took home work every weekend to one where almost nothing was required of me. It's amazing how hard it is to do work when there's no pressure and low expectations.

So:

1. Congratulations. You did the right thing by getting out. No pressure jobs can be excruciating and destroy your energy.

2. Getting stuff done in the new job: it may be worth highly srtructuring your work and days to make sure you perform. The usual bibles for this are Dave Allen's GTD and Neil Fiore's 'The Now Habit'. But there's no great secret there: write everything down. Break projects down into task. Make a list. Prioritorize or schedule. Work through it. Adjust priorities or schedule as needed.

3. Just get started: Part of the point of the schedule is to get you to take that first uncomfortable bite of a task, which is often what we shy away from. Once you get started, things won't seem so bad. Dedicate yourself to doing the unpleasant task for 5 minutes. Overcoming the inertia is often enough.

4. Milestones: you say you don't have any team to keep you on track. Can you find someone to make yourself informally responsible to? There must be someone who is a client or stakeholder for the work you are doing. Someone who you will report progress to, or talk over progress with, every week? Someone to keep you honest.
posted by outlier at 6:37 AM on October 11, 2012

It always helps to talk to someone. I have similar challenges, most related to a mix of anxiety, low-grade depression, and perhaps some form a attention-deficit disorder.

Funnily enough, I self-medicate with coffee. By early afternoon, after about 6 cups of coffee, I am focused enough to do work.

I also make lists of things to do.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:45 AM on October 11, 2012

I hate to diagnose over the internet, but sounds like this might have the element of ADHD to it, as KokoRyu mentioned. I have a mild form of this (diagnosed by a psychologist), and am currently unmedicated except for coffee, but it can make everything that is not totally 100 percent thrilling and engaging seem like such a drag. Like you, I have very few hard and fast deadlines at work, so the temptation to drift off onto Metafilter is ever-present. What has helped is making to-do lists and scheduling in specific times when I will work on specific steps of different projects, entering these blocks into my outlook calendar and making it into a sort of game to see how much I can cross off my to-do list. Even if the work I'm doing isn't inherently satisfying, at least crossing things off my to-do list is fun. And sometimes I end up engrossed in my tasks in spite of myself.

This doesn't always work, though. I'm still considering medication, because it doesn't seem normal to feel like one is clawing one's way through molasses just to achieve a modicum of focus at work. I don't know if that's your problem but wanted to add that perspective.
posted by indognito at 7:16 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yes, having a to-do list and then making a game of nailing the fucking things to the wall (ie, crossing them off) has worked for me.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:20 AM on October 11, 2012

It comes down to facing up to the fact that there's stuff you don't want to do that has to be done (which sucks), that you are the one who has to do it with no guidance or support from anyone (which sucks, but is also kind of good as why else would they have given you the job, and is also very good as you are working on your own and can set your own working processes without having to get the agreement of every office whiner on everything), and if you don't get started on it now then you're just delaying the moment when you're going to have to do it anyway (which sucks).

Realise that as soon as you start doing something you don't want to do then you have got closer to the time when you can start doing what you really want to do.

Either that, or get another job.
posted by Gentlemanhog at 2:48 PM on October 11, 2012

Thanks for the advice.

I have a young family so, for the past few years, have been perma-tired. That doesnt help with state of mind. I am also quite anxious about the new role. That's not helping either.

All of the posts are very useful and have helped break me out of my 'trench' mentality.

Ultimately, I just need to 'man up'.
Dammit!
posted by BadMiker at 2:35 AM on October 12, 2012