Don't Like Work? Why? - DBR 062 | Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast

I want to explore what we mean when we say we don't like to work, or we don't like our work, or we don't like a task.

A buddy of mine, Justin Janowski, captured this recently saying about a task, "It didn't feel like work, it felt like hanging out with friends and having discussions." Punchline: I think he was referring to recording marketing videos in an all day session - something many people would dread.

Why can't we take this view more often?

I firmly believe that the evidence shows that our feelings about something have a huge impact on our experience with it. What I mean is, if we expect something to make us unhappy, it's very likely that it will.

Made to work

The material stuff of our universe is there for us to do things with, we can bring forth that which is not readily apparent
We're drawn to work. We like making places for ourselves, and we like occupying our attention with things.
Many of the things we desire to have or be require work
There are some things that we do at the request of other people, in exchange for money

Four categories of "work"

First category: you're going to your office or your business or your job, and you're doing the work
Another category that's often called work is chore. The goal is problem avoidance, maintenance.
The third category is Hobby. The goal is to "keep playing/producing", although it can be 'hard' work
The fourth category – entertainment and amusement - pleasantly engaged with light positive emotion.

Feelings about the four

There are a full range of emotions across the four categories - positive and negative
Dislike is a value judgement, not an emotion, although it can be spurred by negative emotion
Chore vs. hobby - who has control of the standard of quality
Chore and Economic work - both have an external (uncontrolled) standard
Hobby - can be physically, emotionally, and mentally hard, but we don't dislike doing it
Entertainment/amusement - the standard is very low.

Dislike?

Not owning the standard may correspond to dislike
Mindset is the key to owning the standard
Culture is the primary force that tells us work is "bad" - can we not adopt that trope
Our minds give us what we expect

Takeaways

Own the standard and move chore and economic work toward hobby
Refute the cultural meme about people who enjoy their (economic) work
Entertainment/amusement is addictive in our culture; so is hobby (but hobby produces results)

I think both economic work and chore can be elevated out of the dislike category. Own the standard and raise your skill so that your standard exceeds the external one.

Entertainment/amusement is probably dangerous and should be strictly self-controlled.

[email protected]; linkedin.com/in/larrytribble

Don't Like Work? Why? - DBR 062

About this episode

Get every episode summarized

Hosts & guests

More from Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast

Why Self-Improvement Should Be a Group Activity - DBR 100

Cognitive Ergonomics for the Pain of Productivity Anxiety - DBR 099

The Art and Science of Focus for Knowledge Workers - DBR 098

Fables of Work: Hard Work #2 - Beyond the "Brute Force" Model - DBR 097