Low reward tasks are only the worst because you perceive them that way

Do you have a handful or hundreds of unopened emails festering in your inbox?

Are you paralyzed by high effort, low reward errands that give you anxiety just thinking about them?

Do you avoid chores that aren’t a lot of work, but you’re not enthusiastic about?

You’re not alone in your exasperation. Millions people have their own version of an unmailed package sitting in the corner of their room that’s been collecting dust for a year.

Apparently the inability to complete seemingly basic tasks has become a cultural affliction. It’s becoming harder for people to execute certain duties where the payoff is far off in the future or abstract.

This phenomenon has been on my mind ever since reading a fascinating article about election behaviors. A sampling of young people were interviewed about their reasons for not casting ballots. A man in his early twenties said this.

I don’t find voting intrinsically motivational. The amount of work logically isn’t that much, fill out a form, mail it, go to a specific place on a specific day. But those kind of tasks can be hard for me to do if I’m not enthusiastic about them.

His point of view is understandable. Doing things we don’t want to do is the worst. Accomplishing mundane, medium priority tasks that won’t drastically improve our lives isn’t the most titillating proposition.

But in the spirit of compassion, I will respond to this lack of motivation trend with a few archetypes and possible solutions. Next time you find yourself procrastinating your basic adult tasks, pick one of the follow responses that best resonates with you.

*The football coach inside of me says, just suck it up and go stand in line you big wimp, it’s not going to kill you.

*The old man inside of me says, eighty percent of life is doing things you don’t want to do anyway, so welcome to the land of you don’t have a choice.

*The strategist inside of me says, wait a minute, why not outsource everything you can to technology and let the internet run your errands for you while you go for a bike ride in the park?

*The productivity consultant inside my head says, you need to either do, delete or delegate those open loops in your life, or you’re going to burn out.

*The existentialist inside of me says, going to the post office is as good as life gets, so either find a way to enjoy rolling that bounder up the hill, or go kill yourself.

*The slacker inside of me says, whatever dude, chores are for socialists, go smoke weed until you can’t feel your feet.

Now, those archetypes might not have inspired you to motivate yourself to run boring errands, and that’s okay. There is one last archetype to help you do things you’re not motivated to do. It’s been profoundly helpful for me. Here’s how it works.

First, you have to accept that meaning is made, not found. That it’s not out there for you to discover, it’s yours to create. Anytime, anywhere, and as much as you desire. Meaning is a skill you wield and a muscle you develop.

It’s the world’s purest renewable resource that never gets depleted by use, but instead grows stronger with practice. By changing your perception of this situation, you will change your experience of it.

With that, here’s the next step. If you need to execute something annoying or boring, find a way to layer meaning on top of the mundane. Figure out what your primary currencies are. And then before, during and after performing the tasks you despise, pay yourself with joy to counterbalance the misery.

Listen to an exciting audio book while you wait in line at the store, and your perception of time will compress. Make phone calls to your friends and family members on the twenty minute walk to that bullshit thing you don’t want to do, and you’ll feel deeply connected and loved by the time you arrive.

Also, when you finish taking action on whatever annoying adult responsibility you’ve been putting off for the past eleven months, reward yourself. Jot it down on your victory log. Buy a sweet treat that’s so delicious it makes your molars tingle. Bribe yourself if you have to. Who cares?

Find your core currencies, pay yourself off and get on with your life. You can inoculate yourself against exasperation by framing everything you do as a fulfilling contributor to your meaning making mission.

This technique may sound grandiose and cheesy and absurd, but isn’t that preferable to having a closet full of unworn clothes that still have price tags on them because you didn’t feel like returning them to the store?

Listen, high effort, low reward tasks are only the worst because you perceive them that way.

You may believe the payoff is a lifetime away, but the benefit is powerful and immediate.

We’re talking about your sanity here.

How much stress do you have from the inability to complete seemingly basic tasks?