As with most jobs, there are often tedious tasks to wade through before getting to the exciting bits that challenge and motivate you to be a more productive worker bee. Recently I was tasked with compiling a list which felt like it went on for days. Its completion haunted my every waking moment and I vowed to do whatever it took to get it done. I told myself like some of us do, even exclaiming out loud for extra effect, that there was purpose to this list aka “method to the madness”. With that front of mind, I “slayed” that list. And eventually, as I drew closer to the finish line, all initial feelings of “why me” was pleasantly replaced with a real sense of accomplishment.

Anyone whose had actual success on a diet or perhaps changed to a vegan lifestyle or made a drastic career change, let’s say from Accountant to Fitness Guru or perhaps from Teacher to Web Developer, will tell you it wasn’t easy at first. They will probably also profess, that consistency is key. Intentionally choosing to eat mostly leaves or get up at 5am to do squats, must if you ask me, entail a good scraping together of some strong willpower.

Any goal, achievement or taste of success requires pushing through a whole lot of mundanities and once you’re over the worst, that rewarding feeling is most often than not – worth it.

Even when it comes to a blog like this, creatively crafting a written piece requires a good ol’ reimagining, rethinking, and refreshing to reword an idea or story, that has probably been penned before throughout the ages. And believe me, the process is not always as fun as you might think. You can sit for hours toying with variations of a sentence that might not read as well as you think it should.

When it comes to jumping ship to another job, it often requires dusting off that CV and giving it an update or perhaps a redesign in its entirety, as you have now acquired more skills or tech savvy abilities.

Here are 4 simple ways to tackle any task head on:

Stop procrastinating and just start already –

If you’re going to keep telling yourself I will do it later, then you most likely will. Only much later than you intended and having wasted loads of time you could have been busied getting the duty done and dusted. Once you start, you usually find that you slowly but surely become motivated to work harder to get to your end goal. Take out that flash or hard drive where your CV is saved and perhaps just start by including your latest job or finding a different format design. You could even include an updated CV-appropriate selfie if you’d like.

Set aside & sacrifice actual time for each task –

If you have more pressing things to do then check your schedule and perhaps set a reminder for a timeslot you will dedicate to that duty. Or perhaps with a CV or applying for a new job, sacrifice some time after hours to scour for example available jobs on Datafin’s website, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find the one you’ve been daydreaming of and you can contact or video call the consultant to chat about the position.

Give yourself smaller goals to help push you to attaining the big ones –

What eased me through what initially felt like a daunting list, was to prioritise smaller sections, and instead of only focusing on the grand deadline, I set myself tinier ones within which to complete specific sections. With each one I completed; the smell of victory drove me into super workhorse mode. Okay, I know I have a bit of love for the melodramatic, but you get the gist of it I’m sure.

Lastly, Mind over Matter –

Give this some food for thought if today you find yourself struggling to triumph over the mundane or contemplating leaving your current job for a new one or just staying positive to push “onwards and upwards” in a climate of much uncertainty under the cloud of Covid-19.

Our late former President Nelson Mandela, or our beloved Madiba as we fondly like to refer to him, endured 27 long years during which his every move of his life was dictated to by prison officials. Yet, he managed to muster the might of his mind and power of his voice, to mentor fellow inmates and continue to inspire the masses to fight for the democratic freedom we as SA citizens now enjoy.

So, when you’re ready to tackle the tedious, remind yourself that getting through the monotonous and the humdrum, gets you so much closer to where you want to be like an Amazing Dream Job. And remember, the power of the mind remains the most crucial step to getting over the matter so you can do what matters most.