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This is bad advice, so don't do this, but here's what I do when I have a big project to tackle and want to work through it: I basically bribe myself with snack
by randycupertino 5y ago
This is bad advice, so don't do this, but here's what I do when I have a big project to tackle and want to work through it: I basically bribe myself with snacks or other stuff I like. Two more hours and I'll go make a peppermint tea with honey and lemon. Four hours in, I'll sit with legs up the wall in yoga pose. Six hours have some gummy bears. Etc etc.
It's not a good practice for all-encompassing stuff like the job overall, but for specific dreaded projects it tends to work well!
The other thing you might like to check out is Cal Newport's book "So Good They Can't Ignore You." His premise is basically that all jobs suck and are just jobs, and how you train yourself to "enjoy" them is to become the expert at the processes and things you do and do them so well that you end up enjoying the work for the sheer satisfaction of it. I don't know if I'm explaining that part well but basically you kind of learn to enjoy the frustration parts by learning to master them.
When all else fails, become friends with your coworkers and now you have friends at work to bond with and that makes it enjoyable!
- giantg2 5y ago"become the expert at the processes and things you do and do them so well that you end up enjoying the work for the sheer satisfaction of it." I've hit this before. The environment on this current team doesn't really allow me to become an expert. I'll add that book to my list though. Thanks!
- randycupertino 5y agoIt's sort of a mindfuck almost because at least when I did it myself for the #1 thing I had to master at work it was sort of a "hate it so much you love it" situation. It was budgets. So I hyped myself up so much to tackle the damn budget that in some weird twisted way I started enjoying doing it and now it's like, "AHHHH HAAAA I WILL CRUSH YOU" when budget projections come up. Although truth be told I still loathe doing it, I just make such a big dumb "thing" over it in my head that I enjoy it more for the stupidity and theatrics. The second you finish it, they change it! Wahoo! Lol.
- giantg2 5y agoI know what you mean. There are some things I take care of right away because I hate them. Most of my tasks vary wildly, so I haven't been able to expand that hatred to all of them (seems to require focus on just a couple).
- randycupertino 5y agoCrush it at your job with this one weird trick of hating everything! XD
- giantg2 5y agoThat would be better than my current situation. Everyone genuinely believes that I'm very intelligent because of the way I talk about my hobbies, the details I know, and the variety of hobbies I have. This leads them to believe that I'm really intelligent, but just not engaged or something. In reality I don't think I'm that intelligent, maybe the upper half of the normal range, if that. It's just that you don't meet many people in finance IT who are also into culturing mushrooms, beekeeping, creating Android apps, etc.
- the_only_law 5y ago> His premise is basically that all jobs suck and are just jobs, and how you train yourself to "enjoy" them Sure, all jobs suck, but I’d be a hell of a lot more content in some, than others.