Things we should do when we are stuck in our work
feeling stuck is what usually happens in our daily work life and getting out of the “Stuck” can be quite challenging.
We all have periods throughout our lives in which we get stuck in our daily routines. We have failed to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves or are we going through a challenging transition to a new phase in our lives? Sometimes we also have difficulty finding the motivation to move forward. Why? Because we are stuck in our comfort zone and fail to realize that true change must occur from within ourselves. If we compare ourselves too much and focus on the achievements of others, then it can limit us to grow and make it difficult for us to live a fulfilling and happy life.
Fear usually paralyzes us and leads to contra-productive behavior. This can make us delay taking action because we are afraid that it will make things worse. It can also lead us to focus too much on more easily attainable, short-term demands because we fear an uncertain future. If we are afraid to face the future, it can cause us to cover up our true feelings. Sometimes we focus too much on anticipating bad events, it can make us not dare to take action. Sometimes we want to give up, but it would be better for us to try to change our mindset in facing and overcoming fears both in the family and at work so that we can move on from the feeling of being stuck that we are experiencing. Here’s how to change the mindset to be free from “feeling stuck”:
1. From disadvantages become advantages.
We are usually afraid of feeling inadequate in managing a team, position level, money, and so on, so they can hinder innovation. A mindset that focuses too much on flaws can hinder expansive and innovative thinking.
To overcome this type of fear, we can make a list on a piece of paper consisting of two columns where the first column is a list of items that we are lacking or our weaknesses. The second column is filled with the strengths that we have. By making this list, we can get a clearer picture of our fears (first column) and the facts of our powers (second column).
2. From close to open.
Hybrid work systems can allow us to collaborate with the entire team at one time through application. However, because collaborating in various teams, miscommunication often occurs so that more time can be spent and meetings are carried out more intensively than face-to-face work, causing us to focus too much on prioritizing working relationships with the closest teams. That focus can prevent us from taking advantage of remote working opportunities.
hybrid work system can indeed make employees work anywhere and anytime and can limit us in interacting, for example, because many meetings can make us focus too much on our own team, while people outside our team who are related to our work can only go through online meetings (teams) instead of speaking directly.
Too much focus on ourselves or our own team can create fear of things outside, causing us to be less familiar with other teams. To overcome this, several things need to be considered, including:
What do we need to do this week so that the hybrid system does not limit our movements? If we are afraid of the other team’s response to the decisions we submit, then we can invite them for an offline meeting over a cup of tea or coffee and find out what they think about the opinions we convey. Second, we can invite other teams to work together so that we expand our interactions with other teams and can avoid a silo mentality (reluctance to share information or knowledge with other divisions/departments within the company).
3. From freezing to moving.
When we fear the consequences, we may think that no course of action is the best course of action. But not making a choice is also a choice. If being stuck block progress, then we have to move to destroy these obstacles. To overcome this, we can start with small things, instead of ignoring requests to make decisions, then we can take further action to determine resources or projects, we must identify or determine the next step. For example, we conduct a survey to find out which services are used frequently and rarely used so that we can find out the information. The next step is to improve the services we have.
In addition, we can also make a scale from 1 to 5 (1 for not suitable to 5 for very suitable) for our team or other teams to find out how far they match our goals. For people who get a scale of 1, we can talk to them, so they don’t doubt us and invite other teams to doubt us. For people with the highest scale, we can talk together so that people with a low scale can be aligned with the goals we achieve. People with high scale scores can be invited to cooperate and people with low scales also prove that we also need to change our mindset because there are wide differences between other people’s perspectives and ours. At that time, we can figure out the next step.
4. From panicking to facing our fears.
When we are afraid to finish work because of the hybrid system that takes up our time because of the online meeting, we usually make a makeshift list of activities to avoid fear. But we don’t take email, chat, or meeting invitations into account which can be time-consuming. This makes us even more afraid and feels that we are too busy to overcome our fears.
In dealing with this, it’s a good idea to block 15 minutes on the calendar to avoid distractions and make three columns of worst-case scenario, current situation, and best possible outcome. Then identify what needs to happen to estimate the probability that it will occur. For example, we create the worst scenario where our KPIs are not met, and the best results are if our KPIs reach 50%. To meet the best results, we can estimate the current situation, so we need additional time and resources. That way we can focus on pursuing KPI targets and describe the activities to be carried out so that the progress of the achievements is more visible.
Which of these strategies feel like they will work best for you and your current stuck situation? You don’t have to use all of them, it just takes one. Remember, any movement, momentum or shift will help get you unstuck and moving forward again.
