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Key points
- Addressing apathy at work is important to your well-being.
- First check that your apathy isn't a sign of burnout or depression, and then try to pinpoint its source.
- Try to get out of apathy with passion projects, redesigning your work, and making friends at work.
While trying to fight your way out of apathy can be difficult, it is important to your well-being. Apathy at work not only affects your own mood but it can also affect those around you, it can follow you home, and it can be contagious. Not caring about what you do for eight hours a day can reduce your energy levels across all your life spheres.
If one day you show up as a supportive colleague and the next you are indifferent, people around you may start to question whether they, themselves, have done something wrong. They may begin questioning their behaviours and feeling insecure—both of which can impact their own work performance.
1. Double-check it's not burnout.
Many aspects of burnout look like apathy. Depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment, and cynicism are three of the four aspects of burnout. To determine whether you may be burnt out, check this list.
If your apathy is burnout, you need to take time to recover. Just like putting a cast on your leg when it’s broken, you need to fully remove yourself from what is causing the issue. Vacation, short-term disability, or unpaid leave are some potential options.
2. Check that it's not depression.
Apathy can also be a symptom of depression. Losing your energy levels and interest can be an indication. Examine how long your apathy has been present. If it has been at least six weeks, think about other depression symptoms you may have. For example, has there been a change in your eating and/or sleeping habits? See these resources and if the symptoms sound like your situation, find a mental health care provider.
Address the Apathy in the Room
If neither burnout nor depression apply, it's time to try to figure out what disengaged you in the first place. Once you pinpoint its cause, you can create an action plan. Here are some common reasons for apathy and potential action plans:
- Bored of the routine? Switch up your schedule either at work or before/after work.
- No recognition? Ask for feedback or find a work hype-person.
- Not challenging? Find continuous improvement projects.
- Working alone? Find an online forum or a local networking group that can be colleague proxies.
- Hitting bottlenecks? Build better relationships and/or processes to help address them.
If you are still having a hard time understanding why, below are some suggestions on how to kickstart your mood.
Fall Back in Love With What Brought You to the Job. Remember what brought you to the job initially. Or determine when you last loved the job. Was it the company brand? Was it the portfolio? Was it the leader? Then determine how to reignite that spark. Rebuild connections or adjust your work schedule to ensure you have time to work on those things that initially excited you.
If the thing that intrigued you no longer exists, or the honeymoon period is over, try to see if there is a way to fix it. If you thought you were joining a company that valued high quality but it doesn't, ask to be involved in any quality assurance or improvement projects.
Find a Passion Project. If it's just that the honeymoon period is over, it's time to find a new passion project. This doesn't need to be your life's passion but can be something that rejuvenates you rather than drains you. For instance, if you like quick problem-solving, lean into emails or spreadsheets. If you love thinking about cool new ideas, read articles outside your area of expertise or meet with someone outside your department to brainstorm ways to make work easier or bring about a new initiative.
Redesign Your Work. If you don't have the opportunity to take on a whole new passion project, there are ways you can adjust your job to better suit your style. There are four broad ways you can do this: find tools and/or people to help you with your work, increase the time spent on meaningful work, and/or set boundaries around work that demotivates you. For instance, if you know you are a morning person, do all the tasks you dread early on to get them done faster and out of the way. Then, by the afternoon, you can re-energize with the tasks you enjoy.
Find Friends. As mentioned above, finding people who can help you with your job is helpful. Making friends with the people who may be the bottleneck can help you schedule tasks differently, help redesign the process, or empathize with the reasons why the bottleneck exists. Additionally, just having a colleague at work to be a support is key to greater well-being. You want this friend to be a good listener and to recognize you for your hard work. Avoid people who are also apathetic or cynical because negative feelings are contagious and can turn your apathy into more negative emotions.
Work should be a place where you feel challenged to build your competence, a place to build camaraderie, and somewhere you feel you have a point of view that is heard. When these three things are in place, there shouldn't be any apathy. Finding out why you feel apathetic is the first step towards finding satisfaction, and thereby passion, in your career.
