Productivity: How to make work more enjoyable

When I was self-employed, I committed to writing some articles for an online magazine. The first month the deadline loomed, and I did nothing. The day of submission, I woke up miserable, knowing that I had only six hours left to write something that I’d not even started. In the last couple of hours before the deadline, I forced myself to write something, anything! The results were dull and not engaging. I felt that I’d let myself and the client down and vowed that next month would be different.

The next month the same thing happened. Except that by this point, I decided to cancel the writing commitment and to hell with letting the client down. Then I came to my senses. There was no way I could let the client down at this short notice; my reputation and integrity would be at stake. I had to find another way.

My first option was to go online and see if I could find someone who could write the article for me. But I’d left it too late to ensure the quality and content would be acceptable.

I needed a different approach.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love to talk. I’m an extrovert by nature who can get extremely

passionate and worked up about certain topics and talk about them for hours. Talking and being enthusiastic gives me great energy. So, I decided to channel that energy into my article. Instead of sitting at my desk with an empty screen in front of me, I got my smartphone out and started recording myself talking about the subject I was planning to write about.

I talked as if I was chatting with a friend about the subject. Words poured out of my mouth without the delay that I’d experienced at the keyboard. When I felt I’d got my point across, I played it back and typed up the key messages from my verbal download.

Once the key points were on paper, it was easy to flesh out the ideas and add relevant factual references. The article was written in about 30 minutes and was by far the most interesting one I had submitted. This was also validated by the response online. It had the highest engagement level and the most positive feedback from readers.

Did I change the task? No. I just found a way to introduce things that energised me into an activity that was previously always on the bottom of my to-do list.

In any job there will always be tasks or activities that you can’t get out of. They can’t be delegated or ignored. The key is to look at these with your energisers as a starting point.

Understanding your energisers or strengths, as they are known in the world of positive psychology, are important for making work more enjoyable. There are books and online questionnaires out there designed to make finding your strengths as easy as possible. In the absence of these, I can suggest something that everyone can do.

Step 1

Think about your current role in detail. Use last week’s or last month’s calendar and your current inbox or to-do list to see how you spend your time.

Think about all these activities in terms of challenge and interest. What did you enjoy most? What made you feel alive and thriving when you were doing it?

Imagine describing the activities you enjoy most to a complete stranger. Think about the whole context of each activity and start identifying the main things that made it enjoyable. These are your energisers.

What activities did you enjoy least?

What gave you a feeling of dread or boredom when you even thought about it?

Step 2

Now take your list of energisers and go back to your least enjoyable activities.

How can you build your energisers into these mood-hoover activities?

It may be that you hate analysing data but you enjoy coaching people. Is there a way to build some coaching of others into your data analysis? Could you offer to show someone less experienced how you do this, so they gain a new skill? That could be a win-win.

Or perhaps you despise writing policies, but you love networking. Could you use your extensive network to do the research for you, maybe someone out there already has what you need?

You might get bored of budgets and financial information but you enjoy processes and efficiencies. Is there a new technology you could find to make managing finances faster and less complex?

If you’re finding it tough to think differently about an activity, enlist the help of a trusted friend or colleague. Another person’s perspective could help you see an alternative option.

I can’t guarantee that you will be able to enjoy 100 per cent of any role. What I can guarantee is that, if you understand your strengths, you will have a faster, smoother route to enjoyable work.

Alex Kotsos is an experienced HR professional with over 20 years' experience working in various fast-paced companies. Originally from the UK, and currently based in Ireland, she is continually aware of the complexities facing HR as a function and supports the continuing campaign to get the HR function recognised as an equal partner in business. She thrives on seeing people achieve their potential and endeavours to ensure that all her work enables people to do their best work every day.