“Are You Energized, Focused & Engaged In Your Work?”

In a recent coaching session with a 40 something professional, I was asked “What’s wrong with me? I loved this job when I started two years ago, but now my mind wanders and I don’t feel engaged at all.” He went on to say “I know I should be happy every day because this is a great job and I’m lucky to work in a growing field”.

This is a very common dilemma that many people face in today’s workplace. Let me ask you the question: are you energized, focused and engaged in your work? I believe that there are some things in life that just sound really good. Waking up each day excited about work and arriving on the job with a high level of energy, focus and commitment is one of those things. In reality, it seems that this total package of ongoing happiness and challenge is something that eludes many of us, yet we feel like we should experience those positive feelings on a daily basis. This “should” is strong, and many of us even beat ourselves up a bit when we feel our energy wane, our focus drift and our engagement relax in the work that we are doing.

In my experience, most people struggle to “love what they do”. This is not because they aren’t trying hard enough or aren’t committed enough; it is because things ebb and flow naturally and the cycle of things, especially in a work environment, naturally has its highs and lows. If one can maintain a basic underlying commitment to the work they are doing over time, the chance to revive and increase energy, focus and engagement at work is always within reach.

Here are a few suggestions that may help you get through a period of time where your energy and focus lag:

1) Write down a few examples of day-to-day activities that you feel bring energy and focus to your work. Using whatever level of autonomy you have in planning your daily activities, do as many of these as possible.

2) Do something each day that utilizes one of your strengths and delivers a jolt of enthusiasm. For example, if you are a good problem solver, spend a few minutes thinking about an intriguing problem you face at work and plan to share your ideas with a colleague.

3) Remember that you are not alone. Find a way to constructively talk about your attitude toward work with a colleague. Rather than complaining with somebody else, find someone who can support you as you rebuild your sense of positive focus and engagement.

4) And finally, know that the workplace evolves in a cycle. The most important thing is to maintain an on-going commitment to your work, which will keep you engaged enough during the challenging times.

In some cases, however, there can be issues beyond just the natural cycle of highs and lows at work. Occasionally people compromise their values and perhaps even a long-term goal or dream that they have for themselves by staying in a job. In these cases, it is less realistic to think that exercising patience during hard times will ultimately result in the return of a higher level of energy and focus in the future.

A good way to find out if your own values are in conflict with the work you do is to do a quick “values sort”. Write down 10 – 15 values that you hold dear (i.e. being challenged, attaining financial reward, respect, teamwork, etc.). Next, circle the four or five that are the most important to you. After this, make an honest assessment of how these values are or are not being met in your current work. If you must honestly say that more times than not you are compromising your core values at work, the chances of becoming more fully energized, focused and engaged in your work are slim. Once we compromise our values over a period of time (knowingly or unknowingly), we lose the integrity that is needed for maintaining a true commitment.

Imagine what’s possible when we find something, even something small, each day that brings energy, focus and engagement to our work.