CAREER ADD AFFLICTION NO. ONE

On my website at www.passiontocareer.com I used to list Eleven Afflictions of Career ADD. 

Truth be told, told there are several more.  However, these are the afflictions that quite naturally came up for me as I pondered my own ADD issues related to my career life.

In my next few blog posts, I hope to describe in more detail how each one of these afflictions has impacted me and others I’ve worked with.  In turn, you may relate to how each one has impacted you, more or less, and learn ways to decrease or manage them while moving closer to career happiness.

The No. One Affliction listed is when

We are overwhelmed with the tasks in your job that you simply despise

So what does it look like and when do tasks become overwhelming for those of us with Career ADD? 

Here is what can happen:

1. we make mistakes – big and small,
2. we don’t meet deadlines,
3. we procrastinate over and over again,
4. our moods change when we have to do them,
5. we snap at people,
6. we are impatient,
7. we are bored
8. we get physically uncomfortable,
9. we make excuses why we aren’t getting things done,
10.  we ultimately jeopardize our jobs,
11.  We dread going to work, and the things we enjoy doing in our jobs are overshadowed.

It can be a sorry state of affairs to feel overwhelmed and powerless to get things done when any of these symptoms occur on the job.  Worse yet, when we work under any of these conditions, not only are we doing a disservice to ourselves, but we are impacting co-workers, employers and, most importantly, the customers we serve every day.  Doesn’t it, therefore, behoove us to find the joy in our daily tasks so that everyone benefits?  This doesn’t necessarily mean that you must scrap what you are doing and start over.  It can be as simple as making a few tweaks so that you are maximizing your enjoyment and have something to look forward to each day.  This information will become even more critical once you are transitioning to another job or career – so (ahem) take note.

So ask yourself this – what is one task or activity in your work that you despise or ignore (notice I did not say all of them).  Now, see if you can negotiate with your employer to delegate this one task, switch it for something else you enjoy, do more of what you enjoy or decrease the time you are required to allot to this loathsome task.  Now check to see if it makes a difference in how you approach your work knowing that, not only will YOU benefit, but others will benefit as well.  Start with one and go from there.