There’s stuff you’re not going to want to do, there’s stuff that’s hard to do, there’s stuff you’re not even that good at doing, and there’s stuff that might even be somebody else’s job.
Sometimes, you have to do this stuff.
I had drinks with a former professor of mine last week, and this was one of the topics that came up. How do you motivate yourself to do those things you don’t want to do?
I think it makes sense to talk about this in context of the strengths analysis; one of my conclusions from that process is that you need to figure out little tricks to getting things done in a way that leverages your natural abilities. The little trick is to figure out how to arrive at your destination using perhaps a less-than-obvious route, by using a technique or approach or method that works with your grain.
According to my colleague, there’s a similar trick to coping with those undesirable but unavoidable tasks: make them your own.
His example was a powerpoint presentation that needed to be done to his satisfaction; however, being the CEO, it was not really his responsibility to be doing such things by hand. That said, the presentation had not been done (to his satisfaction), and he found that he had to roll up his sleeves and do it himself.
What made it tolerable was a little righteous indignation: he had given others the opportunity to give their input, and to shape the task, but they had not done so, and so had forfeited all right to complain about what he eventually came up with. The train had left the station, and it was his way or the highway.
He still had to suffer through the task, but he made it his own. He did it…on his terms.
Such a blatant approach doesn’t always work, but you can always be subtle. If you don’t want to make dinner, season it your way, or play music while you cook, or whatever it takes. If you don’t want to analyze some data, format the spreadsheet in pretty colors. If you’re trapped in a boring meeting, think about how much money you’re making as each minute goes by.
If all else fails, there’s nothing wrong with resorting to childish methods. In your head, chant the mantra, “I’m not doing this because you told me to do it, I’m doing it because I want to do it!”