5 ways to make your job better, even if it will never be perfect

I got some great responses to my post, Are You in the Right Spot? 7 Ways to Find the Right Fit. In particular, Elad Sherf's comment was worth expanding on.

He said, "it is important to ask yourself how many hours per day you do things that you like and that you are good at? Most people don't enjoy 100% of their work. The question is, what is the figure for you?"

He's right. Most people don't enjoy everything about their jobs or even their businesses, if they are  entrepreneurs. Instead of trying to find the perfect job, we should strive to increase the number of hours per day that we can apply our strengths and decrease the number of hours each day that we spend in our areas of weakness.

Here are five suggestions to get you started:

1. Review your workday and approximate the percentage of time that you spend in your areas of strength & weakness. Is it 20% strength and 80% weakness? Is it 50% strength and 50% weakness? A student once told me that her job required her to spend just 10% of her time in areas of strength and 90% in areas of weakness.

2. List the specific activities that allow you to do what you do best and those that put a spotlight on your flaws.

• What tasks do you love to do?
• When do you lose track of time?
• What type of work are you consistently recognized and praised for?
• What tasks do you hate to do?
• When does time seem to stand still?
• What type of work do you consistently struggle with?

3. Schedule more activities that draw on your strengths.

• Do you have the authority to make these decisions?
• Do you need to involve your supervisor?
• Do you need the cooperation of your co-workers?

4. Eliminate tasks that draw on your flaws.

• Is the task essential?
• Can you get help from someone?
• Can you exchange tasks with a co-worker that has complementary strengths?

5. Set a target. If your current state is 20% strength and 80% weakness, then maybe 50/50 is a worthwhile goal. Even a small change in this percentage will pay large dividends in energy, motivation and results. This, in turn, will help you to make it through the parts of your job that are less desirable.

If you want to learn more about how to find the right fit, you can listen to my interviews with Pam Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation, and Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade.

Comments

[Sudoku Print Puzzles]

I agree. Some Nintendo games are highly addictive.

[Kirk Abraham]

Have you ever seen a kid playing a video game? NOTHING can pull them away from the zone. I've heard Jeff Kaye refer to this appropriately as, 'Life in Nintendo'. How often are we there, in the zone? Likely not enough...