For most people, daily life is a mix of interesting, challenging, and stimulating activities, along with more routine tasks.
If your work conditions change so that your tasks become less motivating, it can be a stress factor. Uninteresting tasks can lead to under-stress, where you lose motivation for the tasks. On the other hand, overly challenging tasks can also be stressful, as you may feel overworked trying to meet the demands.
Not everything in daily life needs to be fun all the time, but it should at least be meaningful. Maybe it’s not the most fun to make packed lunches, sit in traffic, do paperwork, attend long meetings, or answer a lot of emails. But these are all things that enable you to spend your time on what is valuable to you in your life. For example, being a good employee, a good friend, partner, or parent.
Try this
- Notice what tasks energize you: Pay attention to which of your tasks you find most interesting and energizing. Talk to your manager about which tasks particularly motivate you. Is there a way to incorporate more of these into your workday?
- Seek skill development or new tasks: If you miss developing new skills or taking on new tasks, involve your manager in your wishes and ambitions.
- Find meaning in small things: Think about how the routine tasks in daily life are all small steps connected to your life values – who you want to be as a person. For example: “I’m tired of all the household chores. But every little thing I do, I do out of care for my family.”
- Reflect on what you miss doing: Consider what you miss doing more of in your daily life, big or small. What is the smallest thing you can do today to make your day more interesting?
