Four Ways to Stay Motivated on the Job

As temperatures start inching higher and summer Fridays begin launching at work, the atmosphere can get more casual and it can become more challenging to stay focused and motivated on the job. According to this piece on Psychology Today, there are a few ways to keep your head in the game. 1. Get inspired. The piece refers to the back story of sliced bread. The invention alone involved "imagination, inspiration and determination." The creator, Otto Frederick Rohwedder, originally asked a question. "Why can’t a loaf of bread be pre-sliced?" In 1912 he answered that question by developing a machine capable of slicing bread. 2. Take risks. As a jeweler, he didn't know anything about baking, let alone slicing bread. In fact, per the piece it took him 16 years to develop a slicer! He believed in his idea wholeheartedly and even sold three jewelry stores in order to pay for his bread slicing machines. 3. Stay determined. Rohwedder worked, worked, worked and oh yeah -- he worked some more. He worked on a few different prototypes per the piece and overcame obstacles when a fire destroyed his design blueprints in an Illinois factory. He stuck with it. A few years later he was able to recoup his losses and even had to land jobs as an investment and security agent. During his journey, he also realized there should be ways to prevent sliced bread from going stale. So, his challenge was simple: create a machine to not only slice it but wrap bread as well to keep it fresh. 4. Believe in yourself. Were bakers convinced by his concoction? Not really, per the piece but his manufacturing finally started to take off and just like that, the Great Depression took over. He had to sell the rights of his invention to Micro-Westco Co. They made him a vice-president and ultimately they were better at marketing the product than he was. The ultimate lesson learned? Rod Judkins writes in the piece, "The determination to see a project through is even more important than inspiration."

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Four Ways to Stay Motivated on the Job

Vicki Salemi

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Vicki Salemi