It’s back to work, say goodbye to summer
Stress for Success
September 25, 2007

Labor Day has past so it’s time to say goodbye to summer. The kids are back in school and you’re back to the work "grind". But take it from me you’d be bored to be on vacation every day.

After nine months of our year-long sabbatical (motor-homing around the country) my husband and I were both ready to return to a "normal" life. A Canadian RV park manager said it perfectly, "You can only play so long."

It's very common for us to dread work and live for our weekends. Bill Cosby did a great stand-up routine poking fun at the Americans who drag themselves through their work-week anxiously awaiting their weekends just so they can stuff themselves with every bad habit, food, and drink possible. Then they haul themselves back to work on Mondays to suffer through yet another work-week.

But humans need much more meaning than this and much of it comes to us from work, psychologist and author of "Finding Flow", Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, found. Most of our “peak experiences” are from work.

In the introduction to his book, Csikszentmihalyi says, “… we often walk through our days … out of touch with our emotional lives. As a result of this inattention, we find ourselves constantly bouncing between two extremes: during much of the day we live inundated by the … pressures of our work and obligations, and during our leisure moments, we tend to live in passive boredom."

To avoid this uninspiring lifestyle he encourages us to engage in activities that require a high degree of skill and commitment. Instead of watching television, perfect a hobby; transform a routine task with a new goal, “learn the joy of complete engagement” by making desirable and undesirable tasks into “flow” activities by:
· Defining your goal
· Creating a sense of control
· Getting relevant feedback on how you’re doing
· Stretching your skills to reach your goal
· Having uninterrupted focus
· Appreciating what you’re doing but it isn’t necessary

For example, for me, skiing is a flow activity.
· My goal: enjoy the challenge while getting safely to the bottom of the hill
· I mostly ski within my limits to give me control
· My feedback: not falling too frequently and reaching the bottom in one piece
· Believe me, I’m stretching my skills just to ski
· The time is uninterrupted; I’m completely focused
· I love the challenge, the beautiful surroundings, and the wind rushing by my cold ears!

You can even make mundane chores, like mowing grass, less undesirable:
· Make a goal to mow it more efficiently or neatly
· Your new goal gives you control
· Your feedback is whether or not you accomplish it
· Make your goal require stretching your skills to reach it
· Focus completely on the task to accomplish your goal
· Appreciate your improved outcome

Boredom and lack of motivation are very stressful states. Make your life much more interesting and fun by turning daily activities into flow activities.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.