Looking Forward To Hard Work?

MOTIVATION

The power of perception

We all have our good days, and our bad ones. Whether it’s because you’re exhausted, worried about something (work or non-work related) or just not in the mood, an unproductive day is a setback we all have to contend with once in a while.

Being in the mood to do something works wonders.

You’re more productive because you’re having fun, right?

Unless you provide yourself with the ideal conditions to work in, ‘the mood’ will rarely come to you on its own. That’s why it’s important not to burn yourself out and rest every once in a while.

A break won’t get you in the mood to write that awkward, uncomfortable email , but tackling it when you’re refreshed helps.

A common misconception is that if you arrive at work feeling excited, eager and focused, you’ll get everything done quickly. Your work will be easy, engaging and fun.

Wakeup call incoming.

Regardless of how good a mood you turn up to work in, you’ll still find the same calibre of challenges awaiting you at your desk. Trying to preserve the ‘good mood’ feeling will tend to result in abandoning hard or overwhelming tasks, leading to deadlines being missed.

Disclaimer: I’m not saying a day’s work isn’t done unless you feel like you’ve been hit by train, but it’s important to acknowledge the fact that not all your tasks will always be rewarding.

Doing unpleasant work often feels uncomfortable or difficult. It’s like you’re forcing yourself to do something you really don’t want to do, which can feel coercive.

It’s important to take a step back at this point and take a wider (psychological) perspective of things.

If we only focused on doing the fun stuff, that would imply we’d never do anything hard. It’s this mind-frame that has to change.

What if we could reverse engineer this thought, to help us tackle harder tasks, or even (dare I say it) look forward to them?

Perception is everything.

Working out at 5 am can either be seen as a drag, or a chance to beat a record.

That uncomfortable email you have to send by tonight can either be seen as a problem, or an attempt at being diplomatic.

Writing this article can either be seen as a chore (I’m not particularly in the mood to write) or as a chance to share my views about something I believe in.

It’s all about the way you perceive things.

Once you place yourself in that mindset, you’ll be able to change your perception of any task, no matter how hard it may feel. Purposefully seeing difficult tasks in a different light will make them seem less daunting.

This might sound like a cliché, but it’s also important to be grateful what you've achieved. Sometimes a particularly daunting task can be enough to make you want to quit.

Looking back at what you’ve achieved is important, no matter how little it may be in comparison to others.

I’m coming up on 500 total reads on Medium. Sure, some writers make that off a single article, but I can’t let that get me down.

My reasoning should be; 500 reads over a few weeks is still progress compared to the day I started.

Think of your challenging task as building a house. Whether you’ve only finished the foundations, or you’re laying the last row of tiles on the roof, there's still progress that can be measured (and used to spur you on).

You probably don’t remember the first time you rode in a car, but I’m sure you remember your first time driving.

Difficult experiences tend to be more meaningful because more effort went into them. They’re the reason to keep going, even when the future is uncertain.

Having a few meaningful (difficult, uncomfortable or downright hard) episodes under your belt will help fortify you for whatever comes next. You’re not afraid of what you've conquered, so why should you shy away from a challenge, even if you’re not sure how to tackle it?

Related posts:

So many goals deleted like spam, never reached or never started, a life of failures or one of adjustments, shifting gears on shifting sands, detours and roundabouts, back-tracking and full speed…

Ada salah satu quotes terkenal dari Ika Natassa yang berbunyi, “toko buku itu bukti nyata bahwa keberagaman selera bisa kumpul di bawah satu atap tanpa harus saling mencela”. Begitupun dengan…

CryptoPerHour.com is a micro-job website that offers a unique approach that provides employers with a guarantee that every successfully completed task is paid, while simultaneously guaranteeing that…