From fizzle to sizzle: 5 fail-safe ways to fall back in love with your job

Remember your first? The excitement, the butterflies and the racing to tell your family and friends. Fast-forward to today, the spark has gone and you’re hitting the snooze button more times than you’ve had zoom meetings this past year. Well, it may be time to infuse some life back into your job!

We fall in and out of love with our job all the time – it could be on a monthly, daily, or even hourly basis. The changes of 2020 and 2021 have put people’s relationships with work under the spotlight like never before. Whether we speak in terms of a great resignation or great re-engagement, one thing is for sure, the talent landscape is in flux as is people’s drivers, motivators, and expectations of employment.

With people evaluating their current position and future ambitions coupled with a thriving job market, many professionals may be looking for a change. However, if you are one of those feeling disillusioned with your current role, let’s explore if there’s an opportunity for you to fall back in love with your job before you take the leap and find another opportunity.

Whether you are job hunting, determined to make a radical career change or simply wish for more day-to-day satisfaction in your job, in this career guide you will find inspiration and a wide range of practical exercises to help you create more fulfilment and excitement in your career.

1. Take action: change what you can control

Some people make the mistake of assuming that the slump will pass or that there’s nothing they can do. But you shouldn’t sit back, and hope things change. Even small, incremental changes to your everyday work can prove transformative. The key is to take small actions and to do so deliberately to create a coherent, actionable strategy to get from dissatisfied to satisfied. Even the act of putting together some thoughts about what might improve your job tends to have a positive effect, here are a couple of examples:

Change up your workspace: It might seem like a subtle point, but your environment does impact your motivation. People spend most of their waking hours at work, so it makes sense to evaluate your workspace. If you’re working from home or the office switching up your work environment can help you gain a new perspective. Add a plant to your workspace, clear out that cluttered desktop or take a sabbatical to another room/office space.

Take a break: Burnout is a real thing, your mental and physical health must take breaks when you need them. Use a holiday or, if your company allows, take a personal day. If you don’t have the opportunity for either, do something completely different after work or at the weekend to disconnect and give yourself time to think about something other than work.

2. Redesign your role and own your career development

You don’t need to reinvent yourself and leave your current role behind to find happiness, you can fulfilment right where you are. You need to put yourself into positive situations by redesigning your job role t include more tasks you enjoy. We all get satisfaction from different things like helping others, completing a deadline, or organising files that have been long overdue. Whatever it is that gets you excited for the week ahead, think of opportunities where you can embed this throughout your work to find meaning, as opposed to shaking up your whole life because you feel like it’s the only option left.

The Dutch understand happiness through work better than anyone, they even have their own word dedicated to it! ‘Arbedjsglæde’, meaning happiness at work that derives from doing something. We feel good about the work we do when we enjoy it and have a sense of pride or accomplishment from completing it. So, find the things that make you tick, whether it’s being able to teach yourself something new each week or being able to communicate with others better, make a deal with yourself to redesign your role to make yourself a happier you!

3. Seek out passionate people

It’s important to surround yourself with people who are enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. It’s difficult to keep upbeat and enthusiastic every day, particularly on a rainy mid-January, Tuesday morning. However, some people just ooze out excitement, success and passion. They understand that every step is one step closer to fulfilling their goal no matter how monotonous it may feel.

Being around people like this will only have positive effects upon your own attitude, creating a positive atmosphere for you in your workplace but also in your personal life too. Positivity and motivation are infectious and can cause lasting ripples throughout the business, adopt this new energetic approach and your work will reach new levels of success.

4. Celebrate your accomplishments and the accomplishments of others

We all love to celebrate, whether it’s something huge that calls for your finest bottle of bubbles or a smaller self-gratifying, pat-on-the-back kind of win. Either way, it feels nice to be appreciated and share your successes with others.

We are a goal-orientated society and simply love crossing things off our to-do list. Sometimes the goal may seem unattainable and overwhelming, it can leave everyone with a sense of disappointment and burnout. By celebrating your own and others accomplishments, you will get a real sense of teamwork and increased motivation. Sharing celebrations can inspire others to do the same and leave everyone with a positive outlook for future goals. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love to feel good about their accomplishments?

5. Know when to move on

This may not always mean from your organisation, this could be an upwards move if you’re seeking more from your role. Likewise, it could be a side-step if you’d like a more specialised role or a move into a different department, or even a step back if you feel like you’re ready to spend more time on yourself or your family. Knowing when you’ve got everything out of your role for your own personal development and understanding when it’s time to move is also essential. Though it can be hard to move outside your comfort zone, don’t prolong your stay if you’re ready for your next chapter. ​

With the job market currently in the hands of the employee and competition rife, you also need to consider when it might be time to move on to your next career adventure.

You’ve stopped learning new things. You learn something new every day, or do you? Studies show how we are more motivated, confident and happier when we develop our understanding and knowledge at work. You may reach a point when you know everything there is to know about your role and you feel like every day is the same. Moving into a new role may feel like starting over, but actually, you can bring these transferable skills into your new role and become a well rounded and valuable employee. Find that role that plays to your strengths and provides new opportunities to learn!

Your personal life has changed, and now you need your work life to follow suit. We aren’t the same person we were 10 years ago; we move house, our families grow and our goals and outlook for our personal happiness alter. With this, our working arrangements may need to change. You may be looking for hybrid working arrangements, you may need to move geographically or simply you want better health benefits changes and another organisation has it to offer. Whatever the circumstances of your personal life, make sure your working life compliments this.

Lost that loving feeling? We’re here to help. From IT & digital to HR and engineering we have hundreds of exciting roles and the Morson team are on hand to find your perfect job match.