The ‘Monday Blues’ describe a set of negative emotions that many people get at the beginning of the workweek. Especially, if there is a sense of uncertainty, unhappiness or because things are not going as we expected them to be. It can make you feel unmotivated, tired and a sense that work is unpleasant but unavoidable.

Such feelings are broad and make it difficult for us to exactly pinpoint what is going wrong. As there is this human tendency called the negativity bias, where small negative things are perceived as large and permeate everything we do, we need to become aware if what it is that is making us feel this way so that we can better address this feeling and use it to become aware what exactly is affecting us and learn to use it for our own benefit and growth, instead of letting it permeate everything we do. If we don’t, it will have a huge effect on the quality of our work and on our productivity- just to mention a few effects.

How can the 10 factors of Emotional Salary help you? This article gives you a hint of some questions you can start asking yourself to learn what is making you feel the way you do at the start of the week and discover what exactly is going on so that you can sart changing it.

How do I feel today?

“I can’t do the job because I don’t feel motivated” “My team didn’t get the results we needed because they feel unmotivated” “Ughhhhh It’s Monday, I don’t have the energy to do anything today” Sound familiar? For many people it is like a Monday Mantra to start the day with that.

First and foremost, think about the consequences of such a thought. What is the tone you are setting for the week? Or for the time ahead of you? Is it really how you want to start the week? If we think of time as a finite and very valuable resource, do you think that starting the week like that is a good investment? I don’t think so, but we cannot deny that the feeling is there and we need to deal with it and learn to manage it. How can Emotional Salary help you to overcome that feeling?

Well, instead of labelling yourself as “unmotivated” try to think beyond the term and think, what is it in the situation I am in that makes me feel like this? Are you asking yourself the right questions?

How the 10 factors of Emotional Salary can help you get unstuck

Use the 10 factors of of Emotional Salary and think of how they are affecting your motivation at work. For example:

Belonging– Do you feel that you belong to the team or organization? Do you feel seen, heard and understood at work?

Direction: Are you missing a sense of Direction at work? Do you have specific goals you want to achieve or are they blurry? Do you feel that your work is getting you somewhere? And does this “somewhere” make you smile?

Mastery: Do you feel completely prepared and up to the task to do a great job? Or do you feel uncomfortable not knowing even where to start because you are missing some skills?

Inspiration: Do you feel inspired to do your job? Do you have a clear sense of cause and a vision that your work is worth more?

Creativity: Do you feel tired of doing the same thing every day and is this draining your energy?

Autonomy: Do you feel trapped in your work? Do you have a sense that there is no space for you to make any decisions at work?

Enjoyment: Do you feel bored at work, are there days that pass where you don’t share a laugh with anyone or if you analyse your day you didn’t smile once at work?

Purpose: Apart from getting money out of your job, do you feel that whatever you do will not have a bigger impact on others or you don’t see the intention and aim of your work apart from the purely finite ones such as “ sell xxxx amount” or “reach XXX objective”?

Personal Growth: Do you feel that through your job you are not developing or growing as a person, or do that you feel that your personal strengths are not used at all?

Professional Growth: Do you feel that your job is not developing your skills? You are not learning? You don’t feel stretched with what you do? And have a feeling of being stuck?

Start small end big

Once you start using Emotional Salary to better pinpoint what you want, you will be more prepared to take responsibility and start building bridges (say, for example, explain to your manager that you are ready to take on a new task), start to make small daily choices to get where you need to be and put more energy into your work.

Remember that we need to think of motivation at work in broader terms. Not only as a way to achieve specific objectives and results, but also as time invested for something bigger, greater and which is bringing you somewhere – and this somewhere is a place that makes you smile and be proud of yourself.

If you want to know more about Emotional Salary, visit our webpage www.emotional-salary.com or if you want to implement the Emotional Salary Barometer in your company, write me an email at [email protected]. I would love to learn more about the challenges you are facing now and use our research and work to help you achieve your goals.