48.

Make Dull Tasks Fun


In every business or job there will be times when you are required to perform a task that is, shall we say, less than wonderful. When this occurs the usual response is to moan and complain about having to perform this particular task.

Rather than complaining, why not look for ways to make the task enjoyable? When I owned an audio/video production company in New England, we had to label and pack several thousand audio CDs into several hundred individual packages and get them ready to ship. While this was not really part of my job as the program’s producer, it needed to be done.

What we did, instead of complaining about it, was to find a way not only to get it done but also to have fun in the process. We organized a “packaging party,” complete with beer and pizza for everyone who chipped in to help. We invited a couple of friends who were kind enough to help, and turned a boring task into a fun afternoon.

One of the people who came to help out was my business partner’s college friend who was, at the time, a high-level navy scientist. Here was a man who worked on top-level defense projects, spending a Saturday assembling training programs. He had a blast. He was so happy to be doing something mundane instead of his usual highly scientific work.

There will always be boring tasks that need to be performed. When faced with one, you have two choices. You can, like many people, start complaining about how unfair it is, how it’s not really your job, and how boring it is, or you can look for ways to make it as enjoyable as possible.

It’s up to you. You can choose to focus on how much you don’t want to be doing this and how much you dislike it; however, all this will accomplish is to leave you feeling angry or depressed. You’ll still have to complete the job at hand.

Your other choice is to find ways to make it at least bearable, if not actually fun, as we did with our packaging party. Changing your focus to find ways of making it fun will leave you feeling better and, in all likelihood, get the job finished faster.

It’s your choice. You can choose to be happy, regardless of the circumstances, or you can choose to be miserable. Personally I choose happy whenever possible. The next time you’re faced with a task you’d rather not do, ask yourself what you can do to make it more enjoyable.

Another way to handle these types of situations is to set up a reward for yourself for completing the task or, in the case of larger projects, for reaching a particular milestone.

Many people in sales and business are typically faced with making cold calls. I do not particularly enjoy making cold calls and have never met someone who does but sometimes it needs to be done. The way I motivate myself to do it is to establish a small reward for making a certain number of calls. I may, for instance, make an agreement with myself that I will go out for a nice lunch after completing my calls for the day.

It’s not really important how you handle those undesirable tasks; however, it is important how you feel doing it. If you look for and find ways to make all aspects of your job enjoyable, you will be happier at work regardless of your assignments at the moment.