How do I motivate myself to be a good cog in the machine?

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:00:37 -0800

How do I motivate myself at work now that I'm at a much bigger employer and my contributions to the organization aren't that important anymore? "Just do it" is the WRONG answer. So it GTD. I need a new way of thinking about the world, or a life coach, or something. At the start of my career, I had jobs at small organizations where the amount of effort I put in had a visible effect on the quality of the product we put out. I worked long, hard hours, and was passionate about my field. I'm still proud of the contributions I made, and of my rapid career rise. (I'm in a field where people rise by moving to larger, more prestigious, employers.)

About a year ago, I was hired by a fairly large employer, where my contributions are much less significant. I'm doing about 25 percent as much work as I'd done in the past, and for that I get praise, good performance reviews, and raises. Meanwhile, I spend most of my on-the-job time feeling bored and surfing the web.

It doesn't have to be this way! If I contributed more, my extra efforts would be welcomed. I could do more of the small projects I've always done, and I could even do some big projects I've always dreamed of doing. I finally have the time and resources to make it happen. But now that I'm such a small cog in the machine, now that even full-out effort makes relatively little difference to the organization as a whole, I can't seem to make myself work any harder.

I've read through a lot of "how to get motivated" threads here. I've even posted my own questions on the subject from time to time. I don't think a system that I come up with on my own, a kick by myself to my own pants, is going to help. I need some kind of outside intervention or a new paradigm or something.

I feel lost. I'm not happy being so bored at work, but I don't get much satisfaction out of trying to work harder, either. What should I do?

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How do I motivate myself to be a good cog in the machine?