ļ»æEpisode 10_ Ugh. That Dreaded Task
[00:00:00] Hello, welcome to the Productivity Genius Podcast. I'm your host, Kelly Fifield, and I help you master your schedule so you can achieve extraordinary results. In today's episode, we're talking about that dreaded task, that thing you have to do at work that you absolutely freaking hate.
And by the end of this episode, you're going to have a plan for dealing with it. So first let's look at what dread is. Dread is an emotion and it's caused by our thoughts about that particular task or activity.
Now dread is usually a pretty strong feeling. It's a strong negative feeling and it's often also associated with like apprehension or fear or reluctance. And it can feel really heavy.
Now the reason why it's kind of important to look at dread directly is very often the things that we dread, we procrastinate on. And because we do that, the reason we're doing that is we're trying to escape those negative emotions. But in the long run, that leads to prolonged dread and no relief.
So [00:01:00] let's pick that task. I mean probably when I said today we're talking about that task that you absolutely dread, it came right to mind. But if you haven't picked a task at work that you dread, let's pick that first. So choose a task that you really hate at work. Now if that task is an important factor in you like achieving some goal, then it's really important that we take this head on and figure it out because it can really hinder your progress on achieving that goal.
Many times people don't achieve their goals because of the tasks that they're dreading because they're procrastinating on them. podcast. And I'm only on episode 10, so we haven't probably made huge progress yet, but don't worry, we'll get there.
So here's a fast two-step process you can do right now to help you this week. I know it's hard to invest time ahead of time, especially when we're talking about a dreaded task because you probably don't even want to think about it. But if you just dedicate a couple minutes to this, it will make such a big difference, especially [00:02:00] if this is a task that you do regularly.
Okay, so the two steps are step one, understanding it, and step two, deciding how you want to deal with it. So let's look at step one.
So part one is do a timed brain dump. So set a timer for five minutes, 10 minutes if you want extra credit and you're going to brain dump all of your thoughts about the task. No holds barred, just like all of the things.
Here are some questions you could ask yourself for your brain to What don't you like about this task? Are there other people involved and are they part of the problem? What are the requirements? What are the steps? How often do you have to do it? How long does it take?
Why do you have to do it? What's the purpose of the task? What is stupid about this task? What's stupid about the person who assigned it to you? What's hard about it?
Now dig deeper on some of what you wrote. For example, if you said it's complicated, well, what makes it complicated? Or if you said it's draining, [00:03:00] then what makes it so energy draining? Or if you said it takes a long time, like how long? Be specific. How long is a long time? How long should it take in your mind?
Okay, so part two of understanding it is evaluating your thoughts with compassion. Look at what you wrote down. Now, I know your thoughts about it are predominantly negative. How do I know? Because you picked it as a task. You dread and dread as a feeling and therefore caused by your thoughts. So you must have dread-inducing thoughts about the task or you wouldn't dread it.
Now, when I say that, you might be thinking, uh, yeah, but it's actually totally true. It is just a dreadful task. It's not the way I, I'm thinking about it. It's horrible.
I think this way about it because it totally sucks. Remember, I'm 100 percent on your side. I'm not going to try to convince you that it's wonderful and you should just enjoy it and put on a happy face. But let's both be on your side. For now, if you're [00:04:00] naturally internally arguing with us a bit, it makes sense.
We were raised to believe that forces outside of us cause our emotions. Like. did that little girl hurt your feelings? Does that make you angry? Isn't that so frustrating, right? We are taught that things outside of us are what cause our emotions. So if you are right now arguing that no, the task itself is what's dreadful, then it makes sense.
It's just how you were raised. That's how we were all probably raised in this culture, that it's things outside of us that are causing our emotion. But the dread you are feeling is caused by the way you're thinking about the task. but don't worry, I'm gonna help you with that shortly.
For now. Just look at what you wrote and notice how you feel when you read it.
Alright? And then step two is to decide.
Okay? And then step two is to decide. how you want to deal with it so I'm going to give you several options.
Okay, now option one is to improve the task. Now you're like, hello, you [00:05:00] just said the task isn't what's causing my feelings. And it doesn't. But if we are to change the circumstances of the task, it may be in such a way that it would be easier to think pleasant thoughts about it.
For example, maybe one of your thoughts about it is, Oh, it takes forever. So if you were able to create like a way to get it done in half the time, would you think that was much better?
Now it's still all in your head. For example, if it takes you an hour a day to answer emails, I might be like, Oh my gosh, that's terrible. An hour? But you might think, Actually, it's awesome. It used to take me twice that. So it really isn't the time, the cutting the time in half that would make you feel better.
It would be thinking, Oh, this is taking me half the time. That's great. See what I'm saying there? So look at what you wrote. What are the things you don't like about the task? Here are some questions I love to ask myself to improve a task. [00:06:00] How can I get this done in half the time? If I had to get this done in five minutes, how could I do that?
What parts of this can I eliminate? Can I create a template or a cut and paste bank or some sort of system to make it easier? Can ChatGPT do this for me? Will anyone notice if I don't do this? What does the person who requires this of me actually care about? What would be faster and get a better result?
How could I batch this? How would an efficiency expert do this?
Take just a few minutes to explore these questions, maybe ask yourself some other questions and see if you could improve the task
in such a way that would make it easy for you to feel better about it. Okay. Option two of deciding how you want to deal with the dread is eliminating the task. So one, option one was improve the task. Option two would be to eliminate the task. What could you do or create that would make this task obsolete or unnecessary?
Is the task part of a bigger project or system that [00:07:00] could be reworked to eliminate the task? What would your boss love more that would get a better result and you would like it more? Can you delegate all or some of the task?
Now, option two might not be an option you want. You might think, nope, there's no way I can get rid of this, not gonna try. Alright, so let's look at option three.
Accept the dread. Now, this might seem like a really awful option, but after you take some time to see how you could change it and if you can improve it and considered whether or not you can eliminate it, maybe you get to a point where like, you know what, this is just going to be part of my job for now.
I'm just going to accept it. And honestly, long-term, this might work out best for you. If you've thought about it, and you really can't get much space from the dread, it's not a problem. So if this is what you choose, let's look at this in a way that makes you grow. I think we all know that there's going to be things in our lives that we dread and it would be really helpful long term if we had a [00:08:00] system for dealing with anything we dread.
Dread isn't fun, but it's an emotion and you're totally capable of experiencing it.
So let's see how we could use this task at work to create a system for dealing with all the things that we dread.
Okay, so here's my system for dealing with the things that I dread. First, I acknowledge the dread. When I feel it, I take a moment and identify it. Oh, I'm feeling dread. I'm dreading this task. Noticing the dread gives me some space from it.
Now I've stepped away from it. I'm not like one with it. I've now gotten a little distance and now I'm observing it. And I can also see with that little bit of space that I'm creating it. I can acknowledge that and just compassionately say to myself, okay, I know you don't want to do this now and it seems hard, but we can do hard things one step at a time.
So first I acknowledge it. Second thing I do when I'm doing something [00:09:00] that I really dread is I micro step it. When I break the task into tiny pieces, it seems easier to tackle and certainly easier to get started with. I definitely want to microstep at least the first few steps, because you probably have noticed once you get into something that you're dreading, very often it just starts to flow a little bit easier once you get on a roll.
So if I'm super time crunched and I don't have time to microstep out the entire task, if it's like a one off task and I'm not going to take the time to microstep, I will at least... think of the first few steps. So like, for example, let's say I'm creating a presentation, I might think, okay, I really, this is like, I'm not quite sure exactly what I want to say yet, and this might take me a long time.
I might, might start feeling dread because of those thoughts. And I would say what do I need to do to get this presentation done? Okay. So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to open Canva. So step one, open Canva. Step two, I'm going to select a template. Step three, I'm going to make the title slide.
[00:10:00] So those three things, opening Canva, easy. Picking a template can be kind of fun because they're kind of pretty. And then making the title slide, not hard. So those three steps will get me into it, and then hopefully once I get rolling, then I'm less resistant to starting the task.
The third thing I do is I set a timer. I'm not sure why setting a timer helps people focus, but I think part of it is knowing that there's an end to the dreaded task. I don't know maybe it comes from like School where we had like time tests and you learned to work super efficiently in a short amount of time Maybe that's why but often setting a timer helps the fourth thing I do is I go at that task with focus and determination.
So once I've decided I'm doing it that I'm all in focused because I want to get this thing done quickly. And then the last thing I always do after I do something that I've dreaded is I notice that relief and that great feeling I have [00:11:00] when it's done. done. You want to make sure you enjoy that accomplishment and that feeling of power that you've tackled a task that you didn't want to do.
This is how we build up our self-confidence. We learn that there's no emotion that we're not capable of feeling. we're creating this evidence that we can feel all the hard emotions and perform at a high level.
Attacking it in this way will also give you a sense of like pride and a little dopamine release, which is rewarding. Working as quickly as possible also helps shorten the duration of the dread you're feeling, making the overall experience more manageable. Now this is not our natural inclination.
Now this is not our natural inclination. Our natural inclination when we feel dread is usually to procrastinate. And that makes sense. Because it totally works. When we procrastinate, we do something else that doesn't cause dread.
So then we have a better experience in the short term. We get immediate relief, right? Like, think about it. If you had some big project to [00:12:00] work on right now, your brain might offer you some thoughts like my brain would offer. Like, well, I have to clean my desk first. Or I need to get a snack. Or let me go get a drink of water.
All of those things would involve emotions that feel better than dread. So I get immediate relief when I decide I'm not going to do that presentation right now. Instead, I'm going to do something else. But we know that really procrastination just prolongs the dread in the long term. we wind up worrying and spinning until we finally do the darn thing and then we experience the dread along with the stress and self-judgment we've now layered on top of it beautifully for having procrastinated.
So, it makes sense to just face dread head-on and take action immediately instead of delaying it.
Now, I suggest the things that you dread, you do them first. Whenever you, are about to do your tasks for the day, get the dreaded things out of the way first.
they can take up so much mental energy as you're anticipating them throughout the day. [00:13:00] Plus, in the morning, you haven't used much of your daily allotment of willpower and you're unlikely to have much decision fatigue at that point.
so it's a great idea to get a handle on dread. If you have big goals, you're likely going to invite a lot more dread into your life.
You might even maybe be able to start to see dread as a great sign that you're pushing yourself to grow.
Okay, I think the next episode should be a happier one, right? Like you can't follow up an episode on dread with another negative topic. So how about time off?
Do you have any time off? Like when your workday is done, do you stop thinking about work? If not, I might argue that you're always working.
So if you think about work after you clock out or you close your laptop, then next week's episode is for you. But until next time, have an amazing week.
