Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to figure out what part of your job
Speaker 1: you like the most. Then you can seek out opportunities
Speaker 1: for more of that work and savor that work when
Speaker 1: you have the occasion to do it. In my forthcoming book,
Speaker 1: which is currently called Big Time, I offer some practical
Speaker 1: strategies for making workdays better. We spend a big chunk
Speaker 1: of our time at work, so it pays to do
Speaker 1: what we can to maximize our enjoyment. One strategy for
Speaker 1: creating better work days is to spend more time on
Speaker 1: your favorite work. You'll enjoy the time itself, and since
Speaker 1: we tend to enjoy what we are especially good at,
Speaker 1: spending more time on your favorite work may lead to
Speaker 1: your having a bigger impact at your workplace, too, So
Speaker 1: think about what your favorite work might be. If you're
Speaker 1: a teacher, you might realize that your favorite part of
Speaker 1: your job is lesson planning. A communications director might love
Speaker 1: pitching locally tailored stories to local media outlets. A mid
Speaker 1: level manager might value one on one time with direct reports.
Speaker 1: A good reason to identify what you love is that
Speaker 1: when you know what this is, you can consciously aim
Speaker 1: to replace work you don't like with work you do.
Speaker 1: For instance, that mid level manager who loves one on
Speaker 1: ones might realize he can spend less time on email
Speaker 1: by having reasonably frequent live check ins. The teacher who
Speaker 1: enjoys lesson planning might be able to do most of
Speaker 1: the lesson planning for the third grade team, while another
Speaker 1: third grade teacher who prefers assessing student writing does more
Speaker 1: of that. When you know what your favorite work is,
Speaker 1: you will also start noticing when you get to do it.
Speaker 1: If you love editing and your boss asks you to
Speaker 1: edit a major client document, you'll be excited. You won't
Speaker 1: think of it as just one more thing to do.
Speaker 1: You'll realize you get to do something you like and
Speaker 1: are good at for a high profile project. That is awesome.
Speaker 1: Of course, you may not know what your favorite work is.
Speaker 1: If that's you, you are not alone. A lot of
Speaker 1: participants in my Better Workday challenge were in the same boat.
Speaker 1: But if you really pay attention to how you spend
Speaker 1: your time and how you feel over the next few weeks,
Speaker 1: my guess is you'll be able to figure it out.
Speaker 1: Notice what you're looking forward to. Notice what makes you
Speaker 1: happy when you see it on your schedule. Notice those
Speaker 1: moments when you don't watch the clock. Think about what
Speaker 1: drew you to your job in the first place. Reflect
Speaker 1: on what you are a specially good at and the
Speaker 1: accomplishments you are most proud of. Consider what kinds of
Speaker 1: work tend to lead to a state of flow. Make
Speaker 1: a list of all of these, and then think about
Speaker 1: which of these things you would do first if you
Speaker 1: had an open work day and free reign to do
Speaker 1: what you'd like. That is a good clue to where
Speaker 1: your zone of genius might be. Once you have figured
Speaker 1: out what your favorite work is, you simply aim to
Speaker 1: do more of it when you can. One smart idea
Speaker 1: is to mention how much you like this work to
Speaker 1: your manager. A manager who has any sort of people
Speaker 1: skills will consider assigning you more of that work when
Speaker 1: she can tell your colleagues. You want people to say, Oh,
Speaker 1: you should definitely put Joe on the team to plan
Speaker 1: our department events. He loves that. When you have the
Speaker 1: opportunity to do your favorite work, make a point of
Speaker 1: savoring it. Know that this is likely what you do
Speaker 1: well and enjoy knocking it out the park. If you
Speaker 1: are a manager, you can, of course figure out your
Speaker 1: own favorite work, but be sure to ask your direct
Speaker 1: reports what their favorite work is too. If they're not sure,
Speaker 1: work with them to figure it out. Once you know
Speaker 1: what work they enjoy the most, you can keep them
Speaker 1: in mind for those assignments. If job functions on your
Speaker 1: team are constantly shifting, knowing who likes to do what
Speaker 1: can help you make adjustments that play to people's strengths.
Speaker 1: Prompting staff to reflect on their favorite work may also
Speaker 1: help them focus on the positives in their jobs. That
Speaker 1: is not a bad thing. People's jobs are vast and varied.
Speaker 1: When you know what work you like the most, and
Speaker 1: if you're a manager, what work your team members like most,
Speaker 1: you're in a position to seek out and savor opportunities
Speaker 1: for that work. When you're doing work you love and
Speaker 1: noticing that your workdays may start to sparkle, or at
Speaker 1: least feel a little more tolerable. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.