Enjoy and Experience the work you do

It is very common to hear people complain about hard work, stress at work and more. Job/work, if rightly chosen, should express our ideas, skills, thoughts and passion to the rest of the world.  It should also shape us into better people over time. It should not be something which is crushing or stressing us out.

Pleasure in the job would bring perfection into it (as said by Aristotle). The resultant output of our work should speak for us (rather than us cribbing and complaining about it in all media possible)

Steve Jobs rightly said – 

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do

Here are a few simple tips to ensure that work does not become a burden:

Choose the right job

People choose a job for various reasons: Location, Designation, Role, Salary, growth, family preferences etc., However, satisfaction and fulfilment are the primary criteria for choosing a job. Choosing the right job would increase happiness and, in turn, bring out the best in you.

Too much responsibility 

Taking on too much more than you can handle would likely result in burnout over time. There will always be enough and more work to be given to a good worker; however, if you don’t watch out, you will crunch yourself. There is always a limit to what can be done in a day. Ensure that there is time for other things than work. A short span of intense and long working days is acceptable; however, it should never become routine. Taking on too much would deteriorate the quality of your work.

Pushing your limit

If you do not push yourself to your limits and challenge yourself, you will settle for mediocrity. With mediocrity, you can never experience a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. The two components (pleasure and satisfaction) are very vital as they aid in increasing our self-confidence, which in turn aids us in achieving greater things. Therefore it is essential to stop and ask yourself, “Are you satisfied with what you are doing?”. A word of caution here is that the satisfaction index should be based on your yardstick and not on what is driven by society, media, or the market.

Pause to pat yourself

You must occasionally stop and give yourself a pat on the back for what you have done. You must value what you do. External appreciation or monetary appreciation is secondary to appreciation from the self.

Live while you work 

Work is a vital part of our life; however, we must realise that it is only a part of wholeness. Therefore remember to live while trying to accomplish one dimension of life. Staying grounded and connecting with the people around us is very important.  

Your job is not just to do what your parents say, what your teachers say, what society says, but to figure out what your heart calling is and be led by that

– Oprah Winfrey.

Stay hungry, alert, and aware – Don’t mechanically slip into targets and goals. Listen to your heart. Work with passion, enjoy and experience every small success and every failure. Each would shape us into a better person, day in and day out.