We are most motivated to work if we can find a sense in it. And especially now, after the holidays, many people face the problem of work motivation. How to get ready after a pleasant vacation to take a firm stand for the work that we do?

In order to help answer this question, it's important to know what motivates us to work. If we are not motivated for work before the vacations, we will be even less after that. In general, it is the best recipe for us to face it and we try to be motivated for our work.

Salary - not a sufficient motive

Money or salary is definitely a necessary condition for us to devote ourselves to work, as this ensures our material security. Nevertheless, salaries and other benefits are not enough to motivate us. The most appropriate work would be the one that we would do it if it hadn't been paid, and therefore it is very important to ask if we have at least approximately such a job. Unfortunately, in today's society being without money isn't the option. So it is necessary to work for money - and every worker is also worthy of his payment - nevertheless, the payment is not and should not be the only motivation that motivates us to work.

If we do the same work for too long, it becomes - despite good wages - a routine and uninteresting thing to do. There are no challenges for us, and consequently, our motivation is drastically reduced. To some extent, the fall in motivation may be compensated by the will or compulsion, if not because of another, for financial reasons, but also the power of the will, which, like the power of the muscles, can be weakened if we use too much. In addition, there is the danger of "burning out" and completely losing our will to work or even to live.

In addition to external forms of motivation, they are also important internally. In general, we distinguish three types: curiosity, the need for competence and efficiency, and the need for achievements.

• Follow the curiosity

Instead of trying to force ourselves to work, we should make sure that our work meets three fundamental elements of internal motivation, namely curiosity, the need for (development) skills and the need for achievement. Don't ignore things that attract your attention by saying, "Now I don't have the time to do this because I have a lot of work." If we take a few moments for what has attracted our interest, we can already benefit from it immediately, but surely, in the near future. It is also important that we develop knowledge and skills in our work, so don't avoid the challenges and opportunities for learning at work, as well as at any seminar or other education. If we want to keep the work interesting, we always need new achievements, things that challenge us, which push us to go far beyond what we have achieved so far.

• Develop a sense of competence

At the beginning of working period, when starting a particular job, we don't usually have to worry about motivation, because everything is new and challenging. When time passes and we get used to it, a sense of competence develops. We are more and more satisfied with our achievements, and we increasingly feel that work is mastering. This motivates us and replaces the curiosity and the challenge that prevailed as the motivating elements at the beginning. Even later, when the work is no longer new and our abilities don't develop anymore, the motivation can begin to decline. Of course, this is not immediately known to the performance of the workforce, since with the help of the acquired experience, we can, to a considerable extent, replace the decline in motivation. But sooner or later, if we don't act, the lack of motivation will lead to our poor results. This is also the time when it's necessary to start thinking about a change of work, whether it will be within the same activity in terms of advancement or replacement or even with a change of employment.

• The meaning of the work done

In addition to curiosity and the need for competence and achievement, motivation is also strongly influenced by the importance of the meaning we see in our work and what role it plays in our long-term goals. Even when our work is no longer new and our abilities don't develop anymore, the meaning of our work provides us with a strong source of motivation that can even surpass all others. Even though our work is predominantly routine, we can be highly motivated by it if we only see the meaning of what we are doing. If what we do is a step towards greater goals or helps us realize our dreams, or if we work in the present on something important already, we will generally be more motivated to work than if we don't see it the sense of it nor the future.

On the question of which is the right way to process after a wonderful vacation and to become motivated to work again, I can say this: we can actively deal with this problem and set ourselves the goal to bite into work with all the enthusiasm, the more so we lack the will. Or simply accept the fact that we will mourn for a short while for the great vacation we had, and then we will fall naturally back into the working rhythm that we used to be used before.

I know that my two weeks vacation done a lot of good to me, but now it's really the time to get back on track. Don't you agree? ;)