The Boring Stuff
“We're just alike, you and I. Except you're boring.” - Jim Moriarty, as played by Andrew Scott, Sherlock
Every job you will ever have is going to contain some boring aspects. I’m confident that even spies and fighter pilots sometimes have to fill out paperwork. While MMA fighting is probably very exciting, even those people have to spend countless hours doing the same training over and over. I can only imagine that at some point it gets a bit monotonous.
Even things we love doing can feel like a task to be avoided sometimes. Case in point, the entire idea for this post was born out of me not wanting to write a blog today. I had a whole topic planned out and then I sat down to write it… I had nothing. Which got me thinking differently about procrastination. Normally, I find myself wanting to procrastinate on two different types of tasks.
First, overly complex work that requires loads of brain power because you are figuring out how every little piece needs to fit together and second, boring work. But this blog isn’t either of those things. In fact, writing these articles is one of my favorite parts of my week. Yet still, this week it sounded like a big chore to write it. So much so, that I even considered coming up with reasons to skip a week.
But then I started thinking about the idea of things we love to do sometimes feeling mundane and boring. And then I was off and running…
In some previous blogs and speaking engagements, I have given the advice that if sometimes our brain isn’t in the right mindset to work on a specific task, it might be worth not doing the task at that moment. I think that is great advice for when we are feeling stuck on a task. Put it down, try something else, and then come back at a later time with fresh eyes and a clearer head. Of course, I do caveat that with the idea that sometimes, we can’t put things down because of deadlines.
So let’s address that part. This blog for instance publishes every single Tuesday and I’ve only ever taken one week off. I was on vacation, camping. So I don’t truly consider taking a week off just because my brain doesn’t feel like it’s in the right space to write a blog as a acceptable reason.
Let’s talk about what do to when you have to do something you love but just aren’t motivated to do at the moment.
Change It Up - For me this meant switching to a different topic for this week. Just changing my plans helped put me in a better mindset to approach the task and get it done successfully. If you are working on a project, this might mean working on a different portion of the project for a bit or maybe asking someone else for some insight.
Remember Why - This might seem cheesy but think back to why you love the thing that you are working on. Allow yourself to reflect on what brings you joy about that task. For me, this was thinking about how I wouldn’t want to skip a week of the blog because I love having the opportunity to communicate with an audience that find my articles helpful. The fact that people get something positive out of this blog is the main reason that I do it.
Experiment - If the task you love has become routine, that can lead to it feeling mundane. In this case, the best thing you can do is try something different. If you create things, try creating something different than you normally would. For myself, as a game designer, I usually work on board and card games… but I felt a bit stuck. So I entered a contest to write and Role Playing Game. It allowed me to take a fresh approach with my design work.
The biggest takeaway from all of this should be to not get down on yourself when you feel the tasks you love becoming mundane. I think we all go through those times in our lives. We get busy and we get stressed and that can take the fun out of anything.
Lastly, I want to point out that sometimes when we find we aren’t enjoying a task anymore that we used to love, it can be for a much different reason. It may not seem obvious right away but it is of course possible that you are moving on from some of the work you loved in the past.
Maybe you’ve outgrown it or maybe your tastes have changed. Don’t beat yourself up about moving on. I used to make independent films. I did that as a hobby and side gig for fifteen years. Over the course of several years while working on the last project, I realized that I really didn’t want to make films anymore, at least not at the current time.
Pivoting away from working on films bummed some people out and it made me feel guilty. But I had to remind myself that if I wasn’t passionate about it anymore, then I should move onto other creative endeavors that gave me joy. Don’t be afraid to do the same thing for yourself.
-Jason