How to enjoy doing something you don't like to do

Well, the school semester is coming to a close, which means it's time for finals-frenzy. I've been studying like crazy, and when I'm not studying I'm worrying about how much I have left to study. Last weekend I spent every spare second I had sitting at the dining room table pouring over biology. I had a test Monday and I was frantically trying to get ready for it, hoping desperately that I could pull off a B. Needless to say, after about a day and a half of nothing but mitochondria, photosynthesis, chromosome transcription, and phospholipid bilayers, I was ready to scream. I couldn't concentrate on the words in front of me because I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that I would have rather been doing. I thought of biking, sewing, blogging, gardening, and hanging out with friends. After about twenty minutes of this I realized that I wasn't helping myself out one bit.  It didn't matter how much I wanted to do something else, I had to study that weekend, and I had to study well in order to be ready for the test.

I'm sure all of us have been in this position before, whether it be working a boring job, doing yucky chores, dealing with (sometimes yucky) people, or, like I was doing, studying like mad to get ready for a test.The thing is, these "yucky" things are always going to be yucky unless we make them enjoyable. No one else is going to make biology more fun or make a job more interesting. We have to do these things ourselves. But how? How can biology be more interesting after nine hours straight of studying it? How can a boring job suddenly be made enjoyable?

It's all about perspective. If a person can be optimistic about the yucky things in life, he or she can enjoy just about anything. Here is a simple guide to making yucky things interesting again:

1. Instead of thinking of all the things that would be better than doing the yucky thing, make a list of all the things that would be worse than doing the yucky thing. This really helps me to be thankful for the things that I am doing, even if they are hard or boring at the time. Here's what my list looked like:
Things that would be worse than doing biology:
-having absolutely nothing to do
-cutting/cooking meat
-cleaning something gross
-working outside in the cold
-feeling ill
-listening to annoying music that gets stuck in my head

2. Make a list of things that make doing the yucky thing worthwhile. For example, I studied biology all weekend because I wanted to get a good grade on the test so that I could get a good grade in the class so that I could move on to the next biology class so that I could further my education and hopefully in the future get a degree. If someone is working a yucky job he or she may decide that the reason the job is worthwhile is because he or she gets paid well and can support a family, buy good food, pay for nice things, and not go into debt. Once you come up with one reason why the thing you are doing is worthwhile, keep asking yourself more and more "why" questions relating to the first reason, and before you know it you will have a whole page of reasons.

3. Incorporate something you enjoy doing into the yucky thing. For example, sometimes when I am doing chores I don't like to do or working outside in the cold, I listen to my favorite music to get my mind off the yuckiness of what I am doing. Or when I am studying biology and beginning to get sick of it I treat myself to a little happiness by enjoying some fresh, sweet fruit or cold glass of chocolate soymilk. Make what you are doing fun by adding in something you really like to do.

4. Find something interesting about the yucky thing. If you have a boring job, find something new that you can learn about the job to make it more interesting. Start asking people questions and exploring things that you wouldn't normally spend time exploring. For biology I decided to quit concentrating so much on all the little details and instead concentrate (for awhile) on the part that I really like to learn about: genetics. I let all those cell definitions go by the wayside for a short bit while I had some fun learning about what I really enjoy, and then when I came back to the definitions I felt refreshed and ready to memorize all those long words.

5. Just get it done! Don't stall on the job or take forever making it enjoyable. Spend a little bit of time making it fun, and then just work your butt off until it is finished. Also, do a really good job. Being proud of the work you have done (no matter how boring or yucky) is one of the best ways to make it worthwhile. Give it everything you've got.

6. Reward yourself! After all that hard work, a reward is definitely deserved. Write out a list of all the things you would really like to do and then enjoy yourself!