Can work be awesome? Can work be fun?

As agility and trust become the propelling force for workforce performance and productivity, there is a need for human resources managers to pay more attention to work patterns that build trust and agility in the workplace.

The pandemic, and now, the post-pandemic period have brought about discussions on how employees can and should work going forward. Most of the innovative ways we worked when the lockdown was strict were innovations born out of necessity. As more organisations adopt flexible styles of working (remote, in-office, or hybrid) there is a need to ensure the reinvention of work is human-centred.

Let’s say HR has provided flexible work environments and turned on the reinvention switch but you still find work not interesting. What can you do?

To be honest, it is easy to find your groove when you are in your dream job or performing tasks you are passionate about. The reality is, as much as we sometimes find a few tasks we enjoy doing in our day-to-day activities, there are usually a bunch that gives us nightmares. This article will focus on reinventing such tasks. Here are a few steps for you to take.

Understand how your task contributes to the big picture

When you perform tasks you are not exactly sure how it contributes to organisational goals and objectives, you tend to lose the vibe you need to get them going. The feeling of time-wasting may soon set in and tasks become boring.

Pause, take a step back to understand how a task contributes to the big goal.

Add something new to routine tasks.

We all know routine is boring even if it is your favourite food. Unfortunately, we find that a good number of our tasks are routine. What can we do? Add something new.

What you can add could be as simple as a new playlist just before you perform that task or, change your work environment settings just for that task. You may want to set a new target for that task as a way of motivating yourself to do more.

Marry fun and boring tasks.

The idea here is to simply reduce the stress that comes from performing a task you do not like by adding a task/activity you like. Let us say you love attending to clients’ queries but on the other hand, you do not like writing long technical reports. Unfortunately, these are part of your day-to-day task. What you can do in such a situation is to write a paragraph or a few lines of your report, stop, and move into responding to client’s query. Then come back to writing a new paragraph or more lines of the technical report. Repeat this till both tasks are completed for the day

Break tough tasks into small chunks and take breaks in between.

This strategy isn’t new but works always. A task can become so demotivating and uninteresting because of its complexity and size. Breaking such a task into bits and spreading them out can take away the complexity and bring back the groove you need to get it done.

Also, introduce short breaks in-between broken tasks to help you revamp some energy.

We have all experienced work that isn’t fun. But yes, it is possible to make work fun and catch your groove. Human resources managers do have key roles to play here. However, as individuals, there are also things we can do to reinvent how we work. We hope you enjoyed reading.