Working Hard - or Hardly Working | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Working Hard - or Hardly Working | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karen Grimm
08/01/06
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

Working hard is what I intend to do when I start each day. But “hardly working” is often what I end up doing. I am easily distracted – by emails as they pop up, by conversations that I simply must join, coworkers who need my help on their projects. It’s so much more fun to do someone else’s work than my own.
When I think of work as a list of tasks I need to get done for someone else, I have trouble staying motivated. When I worry about whether I can do what they want, the way they want, when they want it, I become anxious. That’s when I get distracted to escape. When I was young and I was overwhelmed by my homework, I daydreamed. It was very frustrating that I took so long to get my homework done because my mind wandered so much. I could not seem to control it. Telling myself to stay focused, getting mad at myself, feeling ashamed, all make the problem worse.
I noticed what I was feeling when I felt tempted to follow the lead of a distraction. I was feeling a little bored – I needed a challenge. I also felt anxious - could I even do this work? I felt resentful that I was spending my time working toward someone else’s goals and not my own.
I wrote down all the projects I was involved in and their goals. I looked for how all those project goals related to my own personal goals, my values, and my mission and purpose in life. Platitudes about doing my work “as unto the Lord” weren’t enough. I asked myself in what way each project or task was a service to God. I work in a secular public service organization. Nearly everything I do is connected in some way to serving God by serving others, but the connection is indirect and sometimes hard to see. When I thought of each of the projects as something I was doing to accomplish goals I set for myself, I felt energized and motivated to complete the projects above and beyond what was required. I no longer had to try to keep myself on task through will power.
After a day or two, my motivation began to fade. I found my attention wandering again. I think I need to review the goals for the projects every day. Also, perhaps I need to look at changing work. My present job isn’t something I am passionate about. I can see that God led me here, but I don’t think this was meant to be the final destination in the journey. I am learning so much in this job and getting such good experience. I’m excited to think about how God is preparing me for the next thing He has planned. Now I have my motivation back.

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.