The Meaning of Meaningful Work
Over the years I have learned how to manage an effective schedule at work, picking and choosing what is truly important, and ensuring that as many people as I can feel listened to and appreciated under my leadership.
However, in my day-to-day tasks, it was always the menial, paper-driven background work that I found unmotivating, particularly if there was no close deadline.
These tasks just lacked meaning for me as a practical, face-to-face communicator.
It was not procrastination that was the issue as I follow a plan to get through procrastination which I’ll share with you quickly.
When procrastination hits:
Break down the task you are procrastinating over into small chunks of time, let’s say up to 20-minute chunks as that is the average concentration span of adults and children before their attention wanders.
Prepare the resources and place them in your work area before you start the task.
Set aside 5 uninterrupted minutes to start the task you are procrastinating over. 5 minutes usually becomes many more as you fall into focusing on the task.
Lock yourself onto the chair where you will tackle that task or in the space where you will be beginning it.
Celebrate each chunk as you complete it with a small treat or break.
The reward for achieving the completion of a task you didn’t want to start is a feeling of relief and also the development of your resilience and tolerance to less-exciting jobs that just have to be done.
Unfortunately, many of us work in jobs that just don’t seem to have a lot of meaning to them. However, meaning may not come from the specific achievements you make for your organisation or business, it may come from what surrounds the job. Think of the relationships you make along the way, providing for yourself as a responsible adult, or providing for your family as a responsible partner or parent.
Meaning comes from a sense of purpose, and in any job, you have a purpose. It may not identically line up to the purpose you want, but it is a purpose, and it has meaning in one way or another.
If you are in a job which you are looking to change, then it is important that you purposefully seek and do what it takes to get that career that hold more meaning for you.
In the meantime, appreciate and be grateful that your current job is supplying you with enough to be able to seek something else. It may afford you the money to just survive while you look or provide for others in your care.
The ultimate in purposeful work is when you feel that you are contributing to help your own positive growth and the growth of others. The appreciation from others when you help them or the inside reward of knowing you are helping others is available to us all, despite our job role. You can learn to “pay it forward,” that is, bring some unconditional good to the world where you experience no need for a return for your actions; smile at a colleague, offer to help them out, ask about their weekend. All of these efforts are meaningful and contributes to your fellow human’s joy in life.
Everyone can work toward finding meaning in their work, and if you can’t, then it is likely that this work is not benefiting your wellbeing at all. Remember YOLO, “You only live once.”
When working with others in your workplace, be part of the team. This does not mean you have to be outgoing and try to impress others. It means being yourself and simply connecting in a positive and supportive way, which can be a smile, a nod or any acknowledgement to show you recognise and appreciate their existence.
It’s one thing to realize how meaningful your work is … and another to actually feel that meaning throughout the day.
The key tools to help you connect any task to meaning are these:
List all the positive reasons why your job has purpose.
Think of opportunities when and how you can make a difference to the colleagues in your workplace.
If you are desperate to change job or career, don’t burn your bridges until you have a plan to take action on unless you have an opportunity that is too great to pass up.
The universal concept of purpose and meaning is that whatever we value is rarely acted upon in isolation of the people or creatures we share our lives with.