JKLTip For the stuff that adds less value to your work, life ask if someone else can do it, and if not just make a list and plow through asap
We have to just plow through the boring things in life. Being mentally prepared for the fact that we need to go full speed, aggressively at the boring stuff will help create more opportunity to do the things we consider fun. No one, well maybe someone, but hardly anyone likes to do the “boring stuff” but everything we enjoy has aspects we enjoy less, or perhaps hate. This isn’t restricted to knowledge, or office work, it exists for creatives, or health professionals just the same.
If we don’t hire someone to do the work, then when it comes to emails, reports, mail, paperwork, bills, these things pile up and create a sort of low grade anxiety because we don’t really want to do them. The best way to approach this is twofold: One, appreciate that the sooner and more efficiently we get them completed, the sooner, and with more time we will be available to do the more intrinsically rewarding, “fun” things. Two, create a challenge of “how quick can I get through this list” with yourself and plow through as a challenge, just the same we would a sled workout, or a run. No one who competes would say that it is “easy”. It’s difficult, and we want to quit, but we keep going. So, set up the list, crack your knuckles and plow through the boring stuff, take quick breaks, re engage and just get it done.
The reason we have so much trouble getting to this stuff is because we see it as less important, less rewarding, or less fun. If we are thinkers and dreamers we see these tasks as meaningless, or useless. This is something I have struggle with because I know that much of the work will not matter in the end. The problem is these useless tasks, these things that “don’t matter” really do matter in that they unlock the opportunity to work on the things we really do enjoy. More on to-do list’s in tomorrow’s post (I have a neat chart to share) When it comes to this method though, it is important to first ask, could someone else be doing it and is it something that absolutely has to get done? Once we’ve gone through that checklist it’s time to set em up and plow through.