Most of us have felt a sort of workplace ennui at some point, struggling to get going on a task or to finish a project. Sometimes it’s procrastination and irritability, and other times it’s more significant feelings of apathy or overwhelm where you can barely accomplish the bare minimum.
Feeling unmotivated at work at different periods of your career is a common experience—so much so that a 2024 Gallup poll showed disengagement is widespread across industries and seniority levels. How low? Only 31% of employees in the U.S. reported feeling engaged and I suspect the number is similar in Canada. The poll results also highlighted a growing trend for employees to feel detached from work, particularly workers under age 35.
Even though this is a well-documented, common experience, many professionals experience feeling unmotivated at work as some sort of personal failure that should be hidden and pushed through.
According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), disengagement is misunderstood as laziness when in fact it’s typically a symptom of:
- emotional exhaustion or burnout.
- struggling to find meaning in work.
- a misalignment of values.
The bigger problem, according to HBR, isn’t folks feeling unmotivated at work (because that’s normal at times); it’s how we respond when this happens.
Why “Just Push Through” Doesn’t Work
The most common advice for someone who is feeling unmotivated is to work harder (focus and just do it!), be disciplined (make a list!) or just slog through (keep going!).
It doesn’t work, and often makes things worse. This kind of advice underscores the idea that feeling unmotivated at work is a personal failure.
If these feelings are invalidated, ignored or overridden, there are some predictable results.
- Feelings of stress and emotional depletion increase.
- Creativity and the ability to make good decisions decline.
- Cynicism overshadows—or replaces—curiosity.
- Folks withdraw from colleagues and avoid collaboration.
As leaders, we need to be mindful of how we respond to someone who is unmotivated or model how we handle our own struggles with this common experience.
If, for example, a leader normalizes over extension and emotional suppression, those norms will shape the culture of the team.
It’s possible that disengagement could spread like a contagion because folks watch what’s rewarded and what’s ignored and behave accordingly.
Another issue is that pushing through and soldiering on might produce results in the short-term, but it’s not likely to restore energy, help someone rediscover meaning or reinvigorate commitment.
Instead, HBR recommends four ways to respond that can help folks when they’re feeling unmotivated at work and showing signs of overwork.
1. Practice Detachment as a Leadership Skill
It sounds counterintuitive, but one way to find your way back to re-engagement is to first detach enough to give some distance and observe what’s happening instead of reacting (so in this context, detachment is a skill rather than the idea of detachment as avoidance).
By pausing, you create the reflective space to ask yourself questions such as:
Are there patterns that I’m getting stuck in?
Which emotions am I experiencing?
Are there assumptions that I’m making?
Using detachment in this way encourages self-awareness and greater emotional intelligence as well as clarity about why you are feeling unmotivated at work. It’s a very valuable first step because before you can change anything, you need to understand what’s happening.
2. Employ Empathy
As we’ve discussed, when motivation drops, self-criticism is typically the loudest inner voice folks experience. Responding to others who share they’re not motivated is also usually critical (even if that’s not the intent).
The antidote? Having empathy for yourself and others in times of low motivation.
Having empathy for yourself allows you to recognize your limitations without feeling shame. Being compassionate and empathetic when responding to others builds psychological safety (thereby also trust and innovation).
Not only does leaning into empathy help team members experiencing burnout by listening, validating and supporting them, it helps leaders find and strengthen their own sense of purpose. To be clear, being empathetic isn’t lowering standards. It is creating conditions where team members can meet standards and achieve goals sustainably.
This aligns with Padraig’s coaching philosophy: Leadership isn’t about pushing harder; it’s about understanding more deeply and leading with empathy to build stronger relationships.
3. Take Steps Toward Action
When we’re feeling stuck and unmotivated, we sometimes search for the solution. It feels like change should be substantial or we should take bold action. In reality, what we need is to build momentum—and that can be achieved through small actions.
Tiny shifts can make a big difference when you’re feeling unmotivated at work.
Reset a boundary (carve out uninterrupted work time).
Have an honest conversation (I need more support from accounting for projections).
Finish one task that will move you toward the goal (write a first draft of the pitch today).
Accomplishing small actions gives the feeling of making small wins. This restores a sense of agency, which assuages feelings of overwhelm and can help rekindle passion for work. Progress follows clarity, and sustainable performance is built on realistic, human-scaled actions.
4. Reframe Work and Identity
During a period of low motivation, make time for deeper reflection. To help understand how you or a team member see your work and identity (which are integral to feeling motivated), ask questions such as:
What defines success for me? for my team? for the organization?
Which aspects of work are energizing?
Which parts of work are draining?
Do work and values align?
Reframing how you see yourself and the work you do is strategic. This self-reflection helps to set healthier boundaries, make better decisions and be more intentional in leading others.
Leadership When Motivation Drops
Feeling unmotivated at work is common and widespread. Disengagement causes reactions that have a ripple effect and can affect performance across the team—but so does self-awareness and empathy.
When leaders normalize reflection, resting and finding meaning in work, they build healthier cultures. The message is that being human and a high performer is not a conflict.
It is possible to build resilience and turn stress into fuel for growth and innovation. When team members feel heard, seen, trusted and connected to a purpose, they are more motivated and engaged.
This is where using a coach approach to leadership helps folks understand what they are experiencing and find their own way forward (instead of “fixing” them by telling them what to do).
Feeling unmotivated at work can feel very discouraging, but it’s an opportunity to adjust course and gain strength.
Coach’s Questions
When was the last time you or a team member admitted feeling unmotivated? What would change if you took these four steps instead of trying to force an immediate solution? What message might your current behaviour be sending to your team? What changes can you make for yourself and others?
