Posted : November 2008
Author : Writer
Sometimes work can be a drag. You get caught up in trying to
be more productive and suddenly your life turns into a series of to-do lists.
You gauge your measure of success by how much you accomplish. You even
determine how happy you allow yourself to be by how much you’ve gotten done in
the day. We spend a lot of time trying to find ways to be more
productive. To do things faster, better, cheaper and spend our time more
effectively. But instead of just doing more in less time, maybe we should focus
on actually enjoying the work we’re doing instead.
Here are 8 ways to make work seem like less of a chore and
more like a gift:
Follow your natural rhythms
A lot of the time I resent working is because I’m trying to
force myself to do something I don’t feel like doing. Naturally there will
always be some things you’re not crazy about doing (like cleaning the toilet).
But how often do you force yourself to work more, when you really want to
relax? When you force yourself to work when you’ve promised yourself a break,
you’ll likely just end up distracting yourself with other things and put off
working. Then you get stressed and end up resenting work. Instead, follow your
natural rhythms. When you feel like working, work. When you don’t, don’t. Don’t
over complicate things.
Do, don’t think
I’m going to stay true to this point and not think about
writing something elaborate. Just do, stop thinking about it. Fail, make
corrections later.
Don’t put sugar in your tank
You wouldn’t put sugar in your gas tank right? It doesn’t
make much sense to fill your body up with unhealthy fuel either. If you don’t
have the energy to get the work you need to done, work will feel forced.
Remove hidden roadblocks
What’s making you avoid working? What’s making your work
seem like drudgery rather than joyful? It might have something to do with your
beliefs about yourself. Maybe you believe you’re not good enough, smart enough
or don’t have enough experience. Question your beliefs about what you can and
can’t do.
Only do your best
Work can easily become a chore when you’re trying to
constantly be perfect. The truth is, some of your ideas might not be so great.
Others will be mind blowing. If you can accept that and just do your best, you
stop judging yourself. Guess what it feels like when you’re no longer picking
over everything you do with a fine toothed comb? It feels extremely liberating.
It feels like you can actually enjoy your experience, rather than worrying
about how everything is going to turn out. That is working effortlessly.
Act from your gut
When you think you have a great idea, believe it. Follow it.
Chase it until you’re out of breath and can barely hold yourself up. Because if
you don’t trust yourself, you’ll regret it later. The best way to live is to
follow your intuition and trust life. If nothing else, trust yourself. Because
if you can’t trust yourself, how can you trust your mistrust? That’s not very
smart is it?
Focus on what matters
Our minds are constantly pulling us in different directions.
We have to wash the cat, buy more apple cinnamon oatmeal, finish writing that
resignation letter to your no-longer-boss at your dead-end job, and all sorts
of other things. We have a tendency to follow what’s urgent instead of what’s
important. In order to get the important things done, we have to be ruthless at
removing distractions. If it takes bringing a laptop (or notepad) to a cafe to
write your grandiose novel, then do that. Avoid the vacuum of minutiae
urgency. Remove all distractions so you can focus on the important things. I
would much rather spend 4 hours working on an important project, then 4 hours
spinning my wheels and scratching my head trying to figure out what I did
today.
Refuse to do what you don’t want to do
I often avoid working because I’m trying to do things I
think I “should do.” I think I should read more because it will make me
smarter. I think I should buy new clothes because it will make me cooler. I
think I should work on this project because it will be good for my resume.
Forget what you think you should do (except maybe… paying your rent). Do what
you want to do. Other people will understand. In fact, they’ll probably envy
you.
~Blog Admin~
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