How many of us start to dread Monday morning as Sunday ends? What is it about the thought of the work week that causes dread and anxiety? On the other hand, as Friday nears most of us feel excited as we think about what we will do with our free time. Why does how we spend our time either feel like work or fun? Imagine if you could make a change within yourself and no longer feel the anxiety of beginning another work week. How refreshing that would be.
I have a theory about this topic. My theory is that we are conditioned throughout our lives to identify work as a necessary pain that must be endured and recreational activities as time we get to enjoy ourselves. This conditioning sets us up to interpret much of our lives as dull and boring. Who in their right mind wouldn’t dread activities that are interpreted as dull and boring? I know I would and do. However, there is something that we can do about this. With practice and work, we can recondition ourselves to interpret work as a worthwhile activity.
I don’t think that our parents, teachers, or mentors instilled in us that work is hard and unenjoyable on purpose. They experienced the same conditioning and just passed it on down to us. However, we can do something about it for ourselves and for those we have influence over. For us, the first step is bringing it into our awareness and being mindful of our experiences with what is interpreted as either work or fun. We then can identify the value and purpose found in the activity in order to find fulfillment in it. Take folding laundry as an example. It needs to get done, but many find it tedious and annoying. Let’s examine it and find the value and purpose in folding laundry.
Why do I fold laundry? So my room does not have piles of clothes cluttering up the space. Why don’t I want clutter? Clutter is frustrating and causes me anxiety. A tidy room helps me relax and reduces anxiety. How does having reduced anxiety help you? Reduced anxiety helps me think clearer and feel relaxed. Is feeling relaxed important to you? Having a manageable level of stress and feeling relaxed is important to me.
We can see, from examining the activity of folding clothes, that the value is cleanliness and order, and the purpose is to reduce anxiety. The time and energy put into folding clothes is not wasted, but produces an effect that is desired. Now, when we fold clothes we will not think of it as something to dread, but instead as an activity that benefits us.
As stated earlier, we learned that work is not fun while in childhood. We need to teach the next generation that value is found in all worthwhile activities. They need to be taught that each activity has its purpose, place, and time. How can we do this? First, don’t make household chores a punishment for poor behavior. Second, don’t use fun and games as a reward for doing work. Third, teach them that every worthwhile activity has value and purpose. Children’s minds need to be wired correctly from the get go.
With effort, we can rewire our brains to stop seeing work as a necessary evil and start seeing it as a worthwhile activity that brings its own rewards. We can also stop the cycle of instilling the negative connotation of work in today's youth, whether they are our children, students, or mentees. Let’s make a change in ourselves and in those that we have influence over. Each day can be fulfilling regardless of the activities we find ourselves doing.
