How To Turn Mundane Tasks Into Meaningful Work

Let’s look it—there are galore things we don’t want to do. How galore group wish they didn’t person to hole dinner, do nan laundry, constitute Thank You cards, make their beds, aliases do their taxes?

But it’s not conscionable astatine location wherever we must woody pinch mundane tasks. At nan office, we’ve sewage emails, administrative reports, and each sorts of paperwork that half nan clip seems unnecessary.

Not wanting to do these tasks doesn’t mean we don’t person to do them. In fact, they are often overmuch much important to our lives than opportunity Netflix, nan Playstation, aliases YouTube (aka nan things we enjoy).

But that’s life—part fun, portion mundane. Not everything is meant to beryllium fun.

That being said, mundane tasks don’t person to beryllium nan balanced of a guidelines canal. There are ways to move mundane tasks into much meaningful work.

Can You Turn Mundane Tasks Into Something Meaningful?

I started my profession school kids, and if there’s 1 point I learned from school them, it’s that getting immoderate of them to do homework aliases different mundane tasks was excruciatingly painful.

As a coach and parent, I often person to fig retired ways to move nan mundane into thing entertaining or, astatine nan very least, not truthful mundane. I’ve learned that nan secrets of turning mundane into meaningful aliases enjoyable are threefold: acceptance, speed, and distraction.

What I’ll connection successful this article are immoderate imaginable solutions for dealing pinch mundane tasks and, therefore, improving your cognition and wide well-being.

Step 1: Acceptance

First of all, we must judge that galore mundane tasks cannot beryllium avoided. Doing one’s taxes is astir arsenic overmuch nosy arsenic watching overgarment dry, but nan action is having your slope relationship stiff aliases moreover ending up successful prison.

Just because we don’t for illustration something, doesn’t mean we get to expanse it nether nan rug. It still needs to beryllium done. Otherwise, location will beryllium repercussions (sometimes achy ones).

In AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), location is simply a 12-step programme that they usage to rehabilitate addicts. The first of which is admitting they person a problem. The aforesaid is existent erstwhile it comes to mundane tasks.

Simply admitting that a task needs to beryllium done is nan first measurement to doing it. There are those group who for illustration to excuse doing a mundane task by simply saying to themselves it’s not that important.

That mightiness beryllium existent if you time off your laundry for a time aliases two. But a week and your hamper mightiness opportunity otherwise.

Instead of viewing a mundane task arsenic unimportant, it’s wise to attack it from a different angle. What are nan consequences of not doing it?

Thinking of nan antagonistic effects will push america to return action.

What if my partner sees a heap of apparel successful nan laundry room? What will my mother do if I don’t make my bed? What will my leader do if this isn’t done?

Bestselling writer Brian Tracy wrote a book entitled Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done successful Less Time. It was devoted to 1 azygous concept: doing what we don’t want to do first.

Mundane tasks are often things we don’t want to do, truthful they fresh nan bill.

Do nan laundry first thing, and you won’t person to interest astir it later. Kids that do their homework erstwhile they get location tin bask nan remainder of their evening without worry.

Step 2: Speed

As I mentioned earlier, I started my profession school children, which taught maine a batch of valuable skills successful my coming vocation arsenic a productivity consultant. I would rack my encephalon for ways to move dull, boring games into high-octane ones that sewage nan kids’ humor pumping.

I recovered that 1 measurement to get kids excited was to simply ramp up nan speed. So, really does that thief us?

The problem pinch mundane tasks is that they are often time-consuming. We mightiness person to perceive to a speech connected statistic arsenic a request for our work, but really adjuvant will it beryllium for astir people? Answer: not much.

As such, there’s nary request to beryllium location for 2 full hours listening to it. The solution? Speed it up!

Most package coming offers nan action of changing nan playback speed. It’s moreover disposable connected YouTube.

What galore group don’t recognize is that expanding it to 1.25x does not alteration our expertise to understand that material. In fact, pinch immoderate materials, you could summation it to 1.5x and still beryllium capable to support up.

That’s a 25% aliases 50% simplification successful clip invested, meaning we get to get backmost to doing what we want to do aliases different things we request to do faster.

Always Look for Ways to Speed Up nan Process

There are different ways velocity tin beryllium applied to mundane tasks.

A fewer years ago, I wanted to study really to edit audio files, truthful I popped complete to YouTube and spent a fewer hours learning nan ins and outs of Soundforge. No dense lifting and it sewage nan occupation done.

During nan lockdown though, I wanted to study to really maestro an audio file. In a nutshell, mastering is simply a measurement of taking audio files and getting them fresh for master use. It turned retired that doing it successful Soundforge was alternatively tricky, truthful I moved complete to Adobe Audition.

One YouTuber gave maine step-by-step instructions connected really to do it and I was disconnected to nan races, but nan existent concealed came astatine nan extremity of nan video erstwhile he explained that aft going done nan process (which took astir 10 minutes), I could prevention nan full process and use it to immoderate caller files I mightiness have.

This intends that nan adjacent time, I wouldn’t person to spell done each nan steps again. All I’d request to do is use nan saved process to my audio record and I’d beryllium done.

A process that would person taken maine an hr successful Soundforge ended up becoming a five-second process successful Adobe Audition.

The instruction present is two-fold. First, ever look for ways to velocity up nan process. That mightiness not activity for things specified arsenic ironing aliases cooking, which require precise amounts of clip to accomplish.

But while we mightiness not beryllium capable to velocity up nan cooking process, we tin amended our mentation clip by moving connected our cutting skills, keeping our knives sharp, and utilizing nan correct devices for nan job.

Second, sometimes nan solution is to alteration really we do it.

Again, it doesn’t ever work, but erstwhile it comes to tasks done pinch Excel, Access, aliases different programs, immoderate alternatives whitethorn suit your needs better. Be consenting to research them.

Step 3: Distraction

One of my favourite ways of dealing pinch mundane tasks is by chunking. Chunking is doing 2 tasks astatine nan aforesaid clip wherever neither 1 affects nan different successful immoderate important way.

My favourite shape of chunking is combining yoga pinch TV. Most group who watch TV simply beryllium connected their sofa and munch connected their favourite snack. I for illustration to termination 2 birds pinch 1 stone.

The older I get, nan much I understand nan value of stretching and keeping successful shape—enter yoga. Now, I could do what my woman does and simply dedicate 30 minutes each greeting to doing yoga.

But arsenic a productivity consultant, I americium ever looking for ways to velocity up processes. I simply do yoga while watching Netflix.

Do I get nan afloat relaxing use from yoga? No, not entirely. Do I sometimes miss a fewer lines from nan show because I’m doing a pose? Sure. But what I do is get some activities done successful 30 minutes.

Another illustration is driving. We thrust to our kids’ aquatics practice. We thrust to nan supermarket. We thrust to work. We walk a batch of clip successful our cars. The problem is astir group usage that clip to perceive to nan news connected nan power aliases singing on to their favourite songs.

Not altogether bad, but it’s not nan best. As nan precocious awesome Jim Rohn utilized to say, “Turn your car into a mobile classroom.”

That’s precisely what I did. I sewage free of my Beyonce CDs (I’m making love myself here) and started listening to nan likes of Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracy, and Brendon Burchard. Let maine show you, not only did I not miss listening to music, but I recovered myself much energized and excited astir life.

The constituent is we want to distract our minds from mundane tasks. Try and hide we’re pumping robust and our muscles are burning by listening to euphony or, amended yet, immoderate individual improvement material.

Final Thoughts

Mundane tasks are, by nature, dull. Doing nan laundry mightiness not look for illustration overmuch compared to giving a position to a multi-million-dollar client, but it still needs to beryllium done. Not only that, but they tin besides beryllium time-consuming.

However, by making a fewer elemental changes, you’ll beryllium amazed really mundane tasks tin go meaningful work.

Featured photograph credit: Magnet.me via unsplash.com