Ever since I was small, I always had this feeling that I’m kind of a misfit.
Sure, I wasn’t exactly stupid or precocious or anything, and I wasn’t at the top or the bottom of the socializability ladder either. But if there’s one thing I hate to do, it would be to chill out and get “driven by the environment” like many others do.
Indeed, I never understand why people can content themselves with slacking off. Of course, that’s not to say that there is no occasion where I really, really don’t want to engage in certain work, but at least I know that if I don’t, I would end up feeling terrible as a result.
So while others are watching TV, socializing or playing games, I often find myself doing things such as learning stuffs or honing skills, and over the years, this pattern has only become more and more pronounced (which further accentuates my alienation from the general public).
And now that I’m a grown-up, I realize that I’m not the only one with this personality and makeup. If anything, people like these are actually found in all walks of life: from professionals and entrepreneurs to athletes and speakers.
And while many people in these groups are type-A personalities or higher-achievers, I have a hard time putting myself in those categories. Truth be told, I’m only driven to move towards my goals because I feel more at ease when I do, and less at ease when I don’t. And if I can’t afford to lose my focus on trivial things, it would be only because my time is limited.
But either way, the outcome is still such that as I continue to move forward in life, I find myself becoming more and more like a workaholic. And while this means that I can often get things done faster than many people can, it also means that my well-being is taking a toll. For example:
- Every once in a while, I would get headaches caused by inflammations.
- I would often find myself pushing through large tasks — despite symptoms of burnout.
- Over the years, I become increasingly moody and unhappy.
So that definitely got me thinking: “if work prevents me from doing the things I want to do, but doing the things I want to do prevents me from moving ahead in life, what else can I do to get me out of this trap?” And the answer, as surprisingly simple and counter-intuitive as it is, is this:
“Try to do both, at the same time.”
To give you a bit of context, in my life diagram I’ve identified running and listening to music as two of the things to incorporate into my daily routine. But often, I would found myself engaged in computer work, which prevents me from doing both things.
But then, after giving it a bit of thought, I realized that that is actually not true. Yes, I might not be able to actually do computer work while running in a field, but that doesn’t prevent me from doing either stationary walking or listening to music while doing computer work.
With that realization, I started to incorporate this idea into practice. Actually, I’ve done a bit more to make my work as enjoyable as it can be, and this includes changes in routine and habits such as:
- Changing the screen to make it less inflammatory to my brain
- Inverting the colors to make the screen more gentle on the eyes
- Watching the landscape when engaged in writing
- Doing some walking around the room every 45 minutes to clear and redirect my thinking
In other words, if there’s some part of my work that I don’t like, I can just replace it or minimize it with something else — something that I yearn for. This way, I don’t have to worry about being a workaholic or alternating between work and life, because under this mode of operating, work and life are happening at the same time.
In fact, this concept, which I call work/life simutaneity, proves to be a multiplier in my life. It informs me that we don’t have to work the same way we used to (or are told to), and that we can actively participate in the design of our work to bring out the best of our life.
So the next time you come back to work, ask yourself if you can there is anything you can do to make your work as “life-like” as possible. For some, it might be planning your day while having a meal. For others, it might be singing while crunching a spreadsheet. But the point is, you have a choice, and it’s up to you to make your work and life as enjoyable and sustainable as it can be.