Tips: Have You Got Low Career Libido? Here Are 3 Simple Remedies

“There’s no spark any more.” “The magic’s gone.” What happens when you’re not saying those things about your love life, but about your job?

Like a long-term relationship, even a job you adore can start to get… well, a bit boring after a while. Things are working, everything runs smoothly, but the excitement and passion you once had for the work have waned. A minor problem, you might say. One should feel grateful to have a job in this economy. Maybe so, but boredom on the job could be bigger than you think; the death of passion can actually be a career killer.

When the honeymoon phase with a job is over, we can start to run on autopilot. We pay less attention to the details. Perhaps we no longer feel the passion we had in the beginning. After some time we somehow lose the excitement and to some extent interest.

It turns out you can take a job for granted just as easily as a partner.

How to put the spark back in your job
Just like with a marriage or long-term relationship, you’re going to have to put in some effort if you want to get the magic back in your relationship to your job. Here are three simple suggestions that can help rekindle the spark:

1. Try something new
The primitive parts of our brains are fascinated with the new—or, more specifically, a new twist on something we already thought we knew. When we repeat something over and over again, it becomes boring and mundane, but switch up just one aspect and the process becomes novel again. (Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand if you’re skeptical.)

The same is true for your work, and finding something “new” can be simpler than you think. You can, of course, request new tasks or volunteer for new opportunities, but you can also do something as simple as having lunch with someone different, working from a different place (home, cafe, even a different desk), or walking around while you take a phone call.

Any new experience you can incorporate into your work day, from taking a different route to work to standing up at your desk, can poke your brain just enough to remind it to be engaged and interested in what you’re doing.

Try this: Pick just one thing to change up this week at work and note the impact it makes on your engagement.


2. Learn something new
For me, and for many I suspect, learning is a truly enjoyable pursuit, and learning new things about my field inspires me to greater action. It doesn’t have to be as complicated as going back to university for an advanced degree (although that certainly counts); education can include reading the latest books in your field, listening to podcasts and reading blogs, attending conferences and workshops or taking a course (online or off).

In fact, the method of learning and indeed even the information are less important than the act of expanding our horizons and thinking outside of our cubicle or office. Learning about fields that are tangential to your own can be hugely beneficial to give you a wider perspective and broader view.

And, if you’re worried about having time, you shouldn’t be. Books, blogs, scholarly journals and the like can be read on your phone any time of the day. Podcasts and audiobooks could enrich your commute. And many conferences and workshops are being offered virtually these days, with no travel or personal days required.

Try this: Choose one book, blog, or podcast to consume this week that might expand your education.


3. Reconnect with your bigger “why”
In the day-to-day bustle of the workplace, it’s easy to forget the passion that drove you into your field in the first place, but it is possible to get that passion back. Recall how you felt when you first got this job, or got your first job in the industry. How did you feel? Were you going to change the world, make a big splash, or become the next [fill in the blank]?

Reconnecting with the driving force—what Simon Sinek in his TED talk calls your big “why”—that made you choose this field in the first place. How can you bring that purpose, that focus, back to your everyday working life?

Create a vision for yourself. Not goals, in the traditional sense of wanting to earn X amount by X date or earning your next promotion, but rather a vision of how you want to feel in your work and in the rest of your life. How can you make that vision a reality?

Depending on your vision, you might, for example, start a blog, either within your company or outside it; write for other websites in your field; or get involved on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Start discussions with the thought-leaders in your industry—or, better still, become one.

If you want to feel more happiness and fun at work, you might take it upon yourself to become the office’s morale officer, write and distribute a fun work newsletter that highlights your coworkers’ accomplishments, or just organize pot luck lunches and happy hours.

Whatever your original “why” and your ongoing vision of satisfaction in your work, it is achievable.

Try this: Take a walk down memory lane and try to recall what got you excited to go to work when you first started your job. Brainstorm some ways to incorporate those things back into your daily work.

Have you successfully rekindled the spark in your job? Are you feeling like the magic is gone in your current career? Please let me know your thought and share any comments on the topic below.