Some of us are lucky enough to love our careers. Going to work is something to look forward to, and something deeply fulfilling. For others, getting up to face another work day is difficult, with no motivations or driving forces to even try to be productive. Likely everyone has experienced this at some point in our lives. Psychologists and professional coaches alike can attest that falling into this rut happens from entry level positions all the way up to the C-suite, and everywhere in between.
There are many schools of thought on how to break this cycle of overwhelm and exhaustion. Daily meditation or mindfulness practices, vigorous exercise, or taking time off for self care are just some of the common recommendations to get a bit of a spark back in your work life. Two Harvard researchers, however, have found a step-by-step method to revive your motivation and happiness in the workplace. They affectionately call it the DEAR Method, and it was featured in one of the recent HBR Ideacast episodes.
DEAR stands for: Detach, Empathy, Action, and Reframing. To detach, one might go through the list mentioned above: meditate, get outside, or take a long weekend to step away and get your thoughts off of the drudgery. Interestingly, the authors of the research recommend talking about oneself in the third person in order to gain perspective “(Insert name here) is struggling at work and feeling bored. What should (he/she/they) do?” Empathy in this context is a very deep concept. Not only do we need to practice self-compassion and grace, but those who are exhausted and unmotivated at work also tend to lose empathy for their co-workers. Feeling burnt out at work can make people run on autopilot when at the office, and this can in turn take away some of the humanity of fellow employees.
Action, here, refers to specific tasks that can help organize your thoughts about work in a different light. Making to-do lists just for the dopamine hit every time an item gets crossed off, for instance, is a good way to feel better quickly. Developing a hobby outside of work is another way to feel motivated about the world in general. And lastly, reframing. This is done last in order to really see if a change in perspective is possible. Of course, once the previous three steps have been taken, what might come to light is that the job needs to be changed more drastically than is possible, and that’s okay. These steps are guaranteed to at least shed some light on what should be done.
Give the Inc.com article a read for a quick synopsis, and listen to the HBR podcast episode here for a bit more information on the research behind these action items.