Work Attitudes & Motivation in the Workplace

Get Pumped

Say a big project or presentation is coming up. You and your team can either go into it with dread and doubt, or you can go into it with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is key, because it makes the process enjoyable, assigning less weight and pressure to the final result. For example, if the team is traveling to a conference to present a new idea, get everybody rallied up and excited on the trip over. This makes the preparation more agreeable and builds a sense of camaraderie. When it's time to present, you'll feel the combined energy of everyone's positive feelings kicking in.

Get Through It

Face it, some parts of the work day are less pleasing than others. It's dangerous to fall victim to procrastination, though, because this only makes the work pile up. Instead, put on your game face and get through the hard parts. Answer the emails, fill out the paperwork, and enter the data. Even though they aren't thrilling, odds are these tasks are crucial to keeping a smooth work process. If you need to, create ways to make these tasks more entertaining. For example, time yourself. See how many emails you can answer in a half-hour, and reward yourself with a quick stretching break or loop around the office if you meet your goal. Remember: Attitude is tweakable. You can always make a boring task feel less like drudgery if you use your imagination.

Manage Stress

According to the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking reduces stress and increases your ability to handle tough situations. The workplace is bound to present some challenges, and only you can control how to handle them. The Mayo Clinic states that "self-talk," or the stream of thoughts that run through your mind each day, can either be positive or negative, but self-talk in general controls your perception of everything around you. While some self-talk stems from logic and rational thinking, other self-talk comes from emotions and lack of information. Make sure you second-guess your negative self-talk by bouncing ideas off others or researching an idea to see if it has any merit.

Stay Satisfied

According to New Charter University's learning module titled Leadership and Organizational Behavior, satisfaction is one of the most important workplace attitudes. Without it, your work suffers as you struggle to find a motivation to continue striving. An overlapping attitude, called organizational commitment, sometimes dictates how satisfied you'll be at your job. Organizational commitment defines the emotional attachment you have to your company. If you feel dissatisfied with your job, examine how emotionally connected you feel to your department, your co-workers, and your organization as a whole. Perhaps if your values and principles line up with the bigger missions of your company, your role will feel more satisfying.