We all know the kind of thing. Mind-draining, soul-sapping routine jobs at work or at home. Your eyes start to glaze over at the very idea of writing 1500 wizardly words on widgets, or doing the pile of ironing lurking in the corner.
As I am a great believer in reprogramming your mind to make life better, I have been trying a new technique recently. I now aim to approach every single task with the attitude that this is the best work I will ever do. It’s a sort of heady mix of two concepts: “living in the moment” and “appreciating what you have”.
It is amazing how this little mind trick works. It takes time to make it habitual and I am constantly having to pull myself up when I find myself reverting to default “this is boring” mode. However, to my great surprise, I am now really enjoying small jobs I used to find incredibly tedious, challenging myself to do them better and better.
It works for all areas of life, so as I chop endless carrots for the alpacas or haul the dogs out on an uphill walk when I don’t feel like it, I think – “do this as if it will be the last time you ever do it, make these carrots the best you have ever chopped, make this walk the most amazing the dogs have ever had”.
It slams you headlong back into the present moment. Makes you appreciate how lucky you are to be working with words for a living, having alpacas to chop carrots for and dogs who love you.
Try it!