Have you noticed that many people genuinely do not seem to like the work that they are doing as part of their job? My experience has shown me that there are so many people in that situation, going to work five days a week to do tasks that they are not happy performing. Maybe you are even one of those people. I know that in the past, I have been one of them.
It is crucial to realize that we constantly make decisions about how we engage in our work and that those choices directly impact how we feel about our work.
We can drastically change the way that we feel about our work by making the right choices.
We honestly have the power to do that. I would argue that we even have the responsibility to do so, as spending such a large portion of our limited time on this earth performing tasks that are not meaningful to us effectively means that we are wasting considerable opportunities in our one and only precious life.
We often think about work as nothing more than simple transactions; we engage in a mere transactional exchange of time for money. Keeping it at the transactional level is what makes us unhappy though. We need to move beyond this limiting model and get to a place where we are exchanging our strengths and talent for value.
Moving into a model where people are performing tasks that they excel at, and that fit their unique way of working and set of skills offers huge benefits, both to the organization and to the employees. The employees will be more engaged in their work and produce better results, all while having an increased sense of loyalty to the organization. Better results and improved employee retention are of enormous benefit to any organization, given that so much of an organization’s expenses are related to salary.
Let’s be honest; when we trade our time for money, what we are exchanging is our life for money. After all, time is the only thing that we really cannot replace. We need to treat it with the utmost respect. I understand that you need to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head. We all do.
What I want to suggest is that there are ways of doing that, while moving beyond the simple transactional model of just trading your time for money.
Going to work with the sole purpose of earning money is not ideal. It brings no sense of fulfillment or joy to you, nor does it permit your best self to add value to the organization. Most people need to feel that we are bringing meaning to the world, that what we do matters. We need to feel like we are using our unique set of abilities to contribute.
Work needs to feel more like play.
That indeed is the ideal, the sweet spot. Let’s not kid ourselves; there is no perfect job out there that will always feel like play. If you spend your time chasing that, you are wasting precious time and energy. My message is that you can continuously improve your job, finding ways to bridge the gap between work and play.
The reality is that we spend a massive chunk of our precious time at work, so it is essential to put in the efforts to ensure that we can enjoy the job, or at least the majority of it. There will always be certain elements that are not fun, but that does not mean that you should dread doing all of your everyday tasks.
To bring yourself closer to having your work feel more like play, you can create your own role in your organization, one that maximizes the amount of time that you are spending working on tasks that you are naturally drawn to. Over time, you can shift yourself into a new role in the organization or industry, even if that role does not yet exist in the organization.
I know that it may seem unbelievable to think that you can do this, but I know from first-hand experience that it can be done. I was able to do it while working in one of the most change-adverse and hierarchical environments that you can imagine. Over the course of a couple of years, I was able to shift my job from something that I was not at all excited about into a role that was custom-built just for me, that catered to my specific strengths and interests. As a result, I now excel at my job and am recognized as one of the high-performers in the organization. That is not because I am any better than anyone else, but because I found creative ways to insert myself into the type of work that I was good at and that inspired me, while at the same time filling a gap in the organization.
I crafted my own job, one which closely aligns with my strengths and unique set of skills. You can do the same. But how? Let me lay out for you what I did. I am convinced that it can work for others as well as it worked for me.
- Pay attention to the functions that you are required to do as part of your job. Which tasks are you naturally good at executing? Which ones do you enjoy doing? Which aspects of the job do you not enjoy doing or do you struggle to realize? What type of work do you deliver with ease? What are the kinds of tasks that others consistently look to you for help in delivering? Pay attention to how you feel when performing a task, and take notes.
- Reflect on how you can start doing more of the activities that you enjoy and are good at, the things that come naturally to you and which others turn to you for help. These are your “super-powers.” Put some strategies in place that will allow you to leverage these super-powers. You need to spend more time on tasks that leverage them. Take a strategic look around your organization and determine where and how you can add value by performing those activities that are lined up with your super-powers. Then start doing these things. No need to ask for permission, just get started. Collaborate with people in this space. Contribute. Offer to help. Start delivering concrete results. You will further your credibility in that area, and you will naturally perform well since it is the type of work that you enjoy doing and is in your wheelhouse. You will naturally put forth a high-level of effort into these tasks since you care.
- Reflect on how to reduce the amount of time that you are spending doing things that you do not enjoy doing or are not good at (yes, they tend to be the same things). Is there another team member who is good at the task that you are trying to eliminate? Is there someone that is looking to take on that type of work? How could you approach them with a “win-win” proposal? If you have staff working for you, is there someone to whom you could delegate this type of task? Does it always need to be you, or is there someone that is looking to move up and would love the opportunity to take on some of your tasks? Note — do not just dump on your employees if it does not line up with their jobs. That is likely to backfire spectacularly. But do find a way to give people opportunities to work at things they are great at, or opportunities to explore in areas that they are seeking to develop.
- Take on extra work that aligns with the type of work that you want to be doing. I know, people do not like the idea of taking on more work. However, the reality is that to craft your custom role you need to decide the space in which you will become the “go to” person in the organization and then deliver consistently in that area — while still producing results on your core job deliverables. Over time your job will naturally take on more and more of the work that aligns with the type of work that you are trying to take on. As your workload increases, you will be positioned to transition tasks to others, as people will willingly acknowledge that you cannot do everything. Supervisors tend to want to have their people producing as much as possible (it makes them look good!), so they will be open to letting you focus in those areas where you have been adding the most value.
- Go back to step 1, and take another step forward. Keep finding ways to reduce the amount of work that does not fully align to the type of work that you are trying to get to, and increasing the number of tasks that are best suited to your interests and super-powers.
Over time as you take on more and more work that directly aligns with your unique set of super-powers, your role in the organization will slowly shift. You will excel at the work that you do since you are now leveraging your super-powers. People will appreciate the results, and you will have slowly transitioned yourself into a role that was custom-built just for you. Being in a role that was custom-built for your strengths and interests is a great position to be in, and will go a long way to making you love your job again.
This approach worked for me, and I genuinely believe that it can work for you. Try to start applying it and reach out to let me know whether or not it is working for you!