How to Keep Working When You’re Just Not Feeling It

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Continuous

Design Goals, Not Chores

chore: 杂务，困难的工作

Ample (丰富的；足够的) research has documented the importance of goal setting. Studies have shown, for example, that when salespeople have targets, they close more deals, and that when individuals make daily exercise commitments, they’re more likely to increase their fitness levels. Abstract ambitions—such as “doing your best”—are usually much less effective than something concrete (具体的，混凝土的), such as bringing in 10 new customers a month or walking 10,000 steps a day. As a first general rule, then, any objectives you set for yourself or agree to should be specific (作为第一个普遍的准则，你为自己设定或同意的任何目标都应该是具体的).

Goals should also, whenever possible, trigger intrinsic (触发内在), rather than extrinsic (外在), motivation. An activity is intrinsically motivated when it’s seen as its own end (当某项活动被视为自己的目标时，便具有内在动机); it’s extrinsically motivated when it’s seen as serving a separate, ulterior (将来的，较远的) purpose (当它被看作是服务于一个单独的，将来的目的时，它是由外部驱动的)—earning you a reward or allowing you to avoid punishment. My research shows that intrinsic motives predict achievement and success better than extrinsic ones do.

目标应该尽可能的触发内在动力，而不是外在动力。当某项活动被视为自己的目标时，变具有内在的动力；当它被看做是为未来一个另外的目标打基础的时候，它是由外部驱动的—也就是在将来为你赢得奖励或者避免惩罚。作者团队的常年研究表明内在驱动比外在驱动在未来更可能获得成功。

The trick is to focus on the elements of the work that you do find enjoyable.

诀窍是把注意力集中在你觉得有趣的工作元素上。

Take New Year’s resolutions. We found that people who made resolutions at the start of January that were more pleasant to pursue—say, taking on a yoga class or phone-free Saturdays—were more likely to still be following (继续跟进) through on them in March than people who chose more-important but less enjoyable goals. This is despite the obvious fact that aspirations (愿望，志向) for the New Year are usually tough to achieve; if they weren’t, they wouldn’t require a resolution!

Of course, if the external reward is great enough, we’ll keep at even the most unpleasant tasks. Undergoing chemotherapy (进行化疗) is an extreme example (一个极端的例子). In a work context, many people stay in their jobs for the money, feeling like “wage slaves.” But in such situations they usually do the minimum required to meet the goal. Extrinsic motivation alone is unlikely to help us truly excel (只有外在的动机是不可能帮助我们真正出类拔萃的).

In an ideal world (在一个理想的世界中) we would all seek out work roles and environments that we enjoy and thus keep our engagement high. Unfortunately, people often fail to do this. For example, my research shows that when asked whether positive relationships with colleagues and managers are critical in their current position, most people say yes. But they don’t remember that office morale was key to success in past jobs, nor do they predict it will be important for them in the future. So simply remembering to consider intrinsic motivation when choosing jobs and taking on projects can go a long way toward helping sustain success.

In cases where that’s impractical (不切实际的，不现实的)—we don’t all find jobs and get assignments we love—the trick is to focus on the elements of the work that you do find enjoyable. Think expansively (广泛地) about how accomplishing the task might be satisfying (扩展地思考如何完成任务可能会令你满意)—by, for example, giving you a chance to showcase (展现，表现) your skills in front of your company’s leaders, build important internal relationships, or create value for customers. Finally, try to offset (抵消，补偿) drudgery (苦工，苦差事) with activities that you find rewarding—for instance, listen to music while tackling that big backlog (积压待办的事务,储备) of e-mail in your in-box (收件箱), or do boring chores with friends, family, or your favorite colleagues.

See you tomorrow