Finding The Fuel To Drive You Down a Project’s Long Road
Often, when knee-deep in a long, complex, or uninspiring tech project, it can be a challenge to gain motivation and maintain the momentum needed to complete the project successfully. Fatigue, distraction, and a lack of focus and enthusiasm can interfere with our ability to take care of business. But unless you are okay with failure, you’ll need to find a way to stay on track.
Here are six tips to help you gain motivation when your next big tech project comes down the pike.
Break It Down
One of the dictionary definitions of “overwhelm” is to “bury or drown beneath a huge mass.” That is precisely what can happen if you look at a “huge mass” of a tech project as one giant task. You may panic about whether you’ll get everything done on time or how you’ll juggle so many moving parts.
But if you break one large project into many smaller ones and focus on knocking out these smaller, manageable tasks, things won’t seem as intimidating or impossible.
How do you do that? By defining tasks and who has ownership of each one. Take advantage of your company’s project management system and its capabilities to break down your project into multiple tasks and subtasks and create checklists and to-do lists that define the requirements for each task. Focusing on these smaller “trees” may help you gain motivation to conquer the forest ahead.
Celebrate Small Victories
When you complete a defined section of a tech project or a significant subtask, pat yourself on the back and acknowledge that small achievement. This doesn’t mean prematurely celebrating when your project has many more tasks and phases ahead. But it does mean acknowledging your hard work and that of your team. When you derive satisfaction from completing a task you worked hard on, you will look forward to feeling that satisfaction again when you dive into the next task.
Share your achievement with other team members and congratulate them when they share a similar accomplishment with you. Even a high-five or quick positive affirmation can help you and your colleagues gain motivation for the work ahead.
Gain Motivation From Other Aspects of Your Life
While many tech workers gain motivation from their jobs, most people are also driven or inspired by other aspects of their lives outside the office. Spending your off-hours doing things that bring you joy or a sense of satisfaction puts fuel in your tank that can help you power through an uninspiring tech project.
That is one of many reasons to maintain a healthy work-life balance and spend time on the physical, emotional, intellectual, or social activities that all of your hard work facilitates.
Read More: How Can IT Professionals Have a Work-Life Balance?
Listen To The Music
Unless your company or responsibilities preclude you from doing so, putting in your earbuds and jamming to your favorite tunes can yield positive results. Music can make you happy but can also motivate and enhance focus, make time go by faster, and distract you if you are working on a particularly dull task or project.
Laugh It Up
Whoever said that “laughter is the best medicine” knew what they were talking about. Laughing relieves stress and improves attitudes and outlooks. By sharing jokes or funny videos that make each other laugh, you and your colleagues will be happier, and your team will draw closer together. Harmless pranks or establishing funny traditions are great ways to share a chuckle.
Give Yourself a Break
Especially when your large tech project is intense or deeply involved, breaks are indispensable. This may seem counter-intuitive because you want to get as much done as possible. But studies show that giving yourself a break is far from wasting time, as doing so can reduce stress and restore energy and focus.
But not all breaks are created equal. For instance, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill encourages students to engage in regular study breaks that do not involve the use of technology. The need to constantly scroll, click and like on social media may not give you the needed brain break to gain motivation to reach the next milestone in your tech project.
Whether your break involves working out, grabbing a cup of coffee from the break room, going for a walk, running errands, or simply sitting at your desk doing anything other than staring into space, take time throughout the day to take some time off.
Gain Motivation For Your Large Tech Project By Enlisting GTN Technical Staffing to Help
Sometimes even the most highly motivated IT professionals need a little help to get the job done. This is when calling on the experienced tech recruiters at GTN Technical Staffing is especially helpful. We have the resources to get you the top IT candidates you need to get that tech project done, whether your project involves field services, cyber security, digital transformations, or any other professional IT services.
Speak with one of our technical recruiters today to get started.
