How to enjoy a job you don't love

It's funny - last week I was recording a video on 5 things I learned when living in 5 countries and realised I don't follow my own advice.

When moving across different countries, I realised that I tend to idealise and look forward to the future at the expense of what is happening now. I then concluded that as long as I don't make my days enjoyable now, there's no way I will enjoy them in the future because 'your head travels with you wherever you go' - whether that be space or time.

Yet, I don't apply this principle to my work life right now.

And I think it's not unique - we all have this tendency to look forward to things that are not here and now. Once I finish this, I will be happy. Once I make this amount of money, I will be happy. Once I leave this job, I will be happy.

But the thing is - and I’m sure you’ve experienced it yourself - that once you reach the ‘once I (…), then I'll be happy’, you will find a new 'once I (...), then I'll be happy'. As a result, we find ourselves in this constant loop of chasing something that is preventing us from being satisfied right now.

So yes, I found myself in this state in the past few weeks, particularly regarding my job.

It’s not that I dislike my job—it's quite cool most of the time. But it does sometimes wear me out, and I tend to put the cursor on the future when I will be self-employed.

But being realistic enough, I know that being self-employed will have its own ups and downs, and I don't want to constantly chase the lalaland, which exists only in the future.

So, I tried to come up with a few tangible ways to enjoy my job a bit more, putting myself in the here and now and just having a good time while I work towards being self-employed.

Here they are - 5 ways to enjoy a job you don't always love.

1) Serve others

I'm sure you often do things for others in your current job. I know I do. But I think it is the underlying intention that makes all the difference in how much satisfaction we feel from this act and, ultimately, how much we enjoy our work.

For example, you might take on an additional task at work because it is beneficial for your promotion and not exactly because your colleague is underwater and you want to relieve them of some stress.

While the practical outcome is the same in both scenarios, the intention behind the first one is self-serving, while the second is about serving others. And this can make all the difference.

In their book Build the Life You Want, Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey explain that focusing less on yourself and more on others contributes to higher levels of satisfaction - which you could argue, again, is about ‘me’ but let’s leave that thought out for now 😊

They mention an interesting study in which researchers compared the amount of happiness created when people focus on others rather than themselves (1).

In short, the study split participants into 3 groups: 1) Moral Deeds Group, 2) Moral Thoughts Group and 3) Treat Yourself Group. The first one was tasked with doing something for others every day (donating to charity, helping a community, etc.). The second was tasked with thinking positive thoughts about others and the third one with doing at least one self-care activity every day.

Results? Both moral groups reported higher levels of purpose and sense of control and felt less anger and isolation compared to the self-care group.

Applied to work life, focusing on serving your colleagues and occasionally leaving 'me, me, me' out of the equation, might be the answer to feeling more purpose and enjoyment in your daily tasks.

This is especially true in a corporate environment, where it can be easy to feel like a replaceable cog in a machine. But focusing on the human element of your work can infuse the sometimes mundane activities with more meaning and enjoyment.

2) Take ownership and responsibility

Then, there's accountability and taking full ownership of what you do.

I don't know about you, but when I feel I am accountable for something and own a piece of a deliverable, I am much more motivated to do work, and it becomes much more fun.

Why? I think a couple of reasons:

• One is creativity: bringing something new to life from scratch and realising your vision can be very rewarding and enjoyable.
• Two is an external image: when you're accountable, your reputation and credibility are on the line, which can be a powerful incentive to get into a state of flow and productivity.
• And most importantly, building up your self-image: creating something you're proud of and doing a little better than before helps build a self-image of someone who is capable and responsible, someone who is growing and doing their best, which can be very rewarding.

So, if you dislike what you do, taking on additional responsibility can help you feel more engaged and enjoy your work more.

3) Approach your work as a school

There will be plenty of situations at work, which you don't like.

Your boss shutting you down, presenting in front of a large audience or working on a topic that doesn't interest you - all making you enjoy your job even less.

I find that a very effective way to deal with these situations is to approach them as mini-lessons.

Whether it is a lesson on how to stand up for yourself, deal with a rush of emotions before presenting, or be open-minded, there is always something you can take out of it, which I think is really empowering and enjoyable.

Then, any challenging situation isn't just something to endure until the next one comes around - it becomes a way to improve yourself a tiny bit every time.

Approaching work as an extension of your education is a small shift in perspective but one that can be really useful in finding more pleasure in your work.

4) Upgrade your working space

Even if you're doing what you love, working in an unpleasant environment can quickly turn the experience sour.

Right now, my work-from-home setup is less than optimal.

I work on a small laptop, slouch all day long to see the tiny letters on the screen, have no dedicated space for my work stuff and after sitting glued to my desk for 10 hours without much movement, I end the day with muscle pain and feeling sluggish.

It’s not very fun.

So, I decided to upgrade my space and get a standing desk, a walking treadmill, and a large monitor more suitable for working on PowerPoint and Excel.

Yes, I recognise not everyone can afford a great work setup, but if you have a job and make a regular income, I think it would be worthwhile to save up and upgrade your working space within your means. After all, you will spend a large chunk of your days working, so you might as well do it in an environment you don't despise.

I can't say what the effect of this change will be on how much I enjoy work but I anticipate it's going to be huge.

5) Find pleasure points in your work

Remember the article on defining your pleasure points? Find them in your current job.

You sure have at least a few tasks in your work you don't like but you can make even the most boring ones more enjoyable by weaving in things you do like.

Let's take the example of creating PowerPoint slides, which are the bread and butter of every client engagement in consulting. It's not the most exciting task and can easily be thought of as mindless rearranging of boxes on a blank page.

But when you reframe it and find elements of design to it, it can be much more fun.

Each slide needs to be visually appealing and guide the reader through the page in an intuitive and logical way. It also needs to build on the previous one and set the stage for the next one, telling a compelling business story as a whole.

Looking at it from this perspective makes it much more tolerable, not to say just fun.

I'm sure there are aspects of your job that you don't particularly enjoy. But, by identifying elements you do enjoy and integrating them into these tasks, you can make even the most mundane tasks more enjoyable.

Conclusion

There you have it—five things I started doing to make my work more enjoyable. If you try any of them, let me know if they help.

Speak next week xx

References:

1. Waytz, A., & Hofmann, W. (2020). Nudging the better angels of our nature: A field experiment on morality and well-being. Emotion, 20(5), 904.