It’s that time of year when the weather takes a distinct turn for the worse.  The temperature drops, the mornings get darker and the chances of rain and snow increase.

All told, it makes going out for a bike ride something that provides a stern test of my motivation.  Suffice to say, whenever I get out there, I always end up enjoying myself and being glad that I summoned the motivation to get outside.

A recent study explores how we tend to perceive the fruits of our activities very differently when we’re in the midst of them than before (or after).

Changing motivations

Participants were asked to evaluate a range of jokes of variable quality.  They were offered 5 cents per analysis, with asked the importance of the joke being funny but also to review the pay on offer for the task.

Half of the group were asked this latter question before they began the task, with the remainder asked it during the task.  It transpired that those asked during the task were more likely to place emphasis on the jokes being funny than those asked prior to the task beginning.

A second experiment saw people undergo a similar task, but this time some were paid more than others.  Understandably, those in the high pay group believed they would sustain their motivation for longer than their peers in the low pay group.

Subtle influences

Alas, that wasn’t really the case, with the financial reward for completing each task largely irrelevant to the success or motivation in the task itself.

Interestingly however, the timing of the question did produce very different responses.  The findings were replicated in further experiments.

For instance, gym goers were found to rate the enjoyability of their workout much higher when asked at the gym than if they were asked several days later.

Similar findings emerged when visitors to a museum were asked about the intellectual stimulation provided by their visit.

The authors suggest that this is because we experience things differently when we’re actively engaged in them than when we plan or review them.

What motivates us at work

This matters because it shows how we can shift our motivations at work by simply reframing how we approach the question.

I wrote recently about some steps we can all take to boost our employee engagement, and this study fits very much into that ethos.

It reminds us that tasks may seem uninspiring before we begin them, but once we get started things can seem infinitely more enjoyable.