New year’s resolutions are meant to inspire us to achieve new or even loftier goals in the upcoming year. New year, new you, right? However, actually reaching those goals can be much more difficult than you anticipated.
Despite our lofty aspirations when starting a new career or project, it can be incredibly easy to lose motivation. Life distractions often compete with work, and you can become bored with repeating the same daily routine (especially if you don’t continuously see positive progress or profit).
How do you keep from feeling burned out? While you may be tempted to give up, consider these five tactics first to refresh your creative spirit:
Rediscover your hobbies
It seems backwards to add yet another distraction in your life, but sometimes stimulating yourself with a beloved activity that isn’t work-related can actually help you regain new focus when you return to a project. Taking a much-needed break can inspire fresh ideas and new perspective.
Incorporate interests into your work
If you aren’t loving what you’re currently doing, search for ways to do what you actually love. For example, if you love design, volunteer to help your coworker decorate the office. It also helps to find what first drew you to your industry or project (certain clients, topics or tactics), and focus more energy toward that.
Have an office-wide ‘vision’ day
Often we get so caught up in checking off daily tasks that we feel we simply don’t have the time or energy to step back and see the bigger picture. Make this a priority by scheduling a full day to review your mission, goals and strategies. Include planned activities meant to stimulate creativity and spur discussion among coworkers.
Seek out other professionals
Particularly if you work remotely or in a small organization, setting up a meeting with a like-minded professional is a must. Sometimes it helps just to commiserate with someone who understands or bounce ideas off someone else. Seeing other people finding success in your position can be incredibly motivating!
Take a mental health break
If nothing else works, consider stepping away for a short time period. Take a mental health day, travel, or even binge watch TV if you’d like—all will help relax your mind and give you new sights and experiences to draw from.
If you’re experiencing a dry spell, let the creative minds at SKYFALL BLUE spark your imagination. A little bit of brainstorming can go a long way!
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