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By: Jacob Robinson
You became an entrepreneur for a reason. Maybe it was for freedom, to pursue your passion, or for the ability to make a difference? No matter the reason, you’ve undoubtedly found that although owning your own business has many perks, there are still tasks that must be done, that you dread doing.
You view them as a necessary evil. You dread doing them and end up procrastinating, substituting that time with something that you find a little more “fun” or “important”. This creates stress on a daily basis and can also effect the success of your business.
Let’s figure out how to overcome the hurdles that stop you from completing the tasks you hate.
Use These 9 Strategies to Overcome Life-Sucking Tasks
Keep the Big Picture in Mind
Know that the tasks you hate, are essential to your overall success. You wouldn’t do them if they weren’t. (Note – If tasks you hate are *not* essential to your success…. stop doing them.) 😀
They are the building blocks of larger goals that ultimately lead to the success of your business. Keeping the big picture in mind will allow you to find value in these smaller tasks.
Make a Plan. Break it into Steps.
There’s nothing harder than trying to achieve a goal without having a road map. 
A plan of action. If the task you are trying to conquer involves multiple steps, simply break it up. Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew.
Remember the one time when you made a New Year’s Resolution to get in shape? You probably didn’t achieve the goal (if you did, kudos!).
For those of us who didn’t achieve our goal of getting in shape… why? Well, we didn’t break our goal up into steps. If we had set our goal and made a plan to go to the gym on Tuesdays and run at the park on Thursdays, we would have been more successful at achieving our goal of getting in shape.
Make it Fun. Get Excited!
One of the best ways to make a task you hate, fun, is by doing something more enjoyable during the task. The key here, is to make sure the more enjoyable part does not distract you from the original task. Here are some great things to do while performing a task you hate.
- Listen to music
- Watch TV
- Dance
Find Accountability
Finding someone to hold you accountable is one of the most effective ways to conquer any task you hate. The reason this works so well is because you don’t want to let the other person down. No one likes to commit to something and then fail.
Change Your Perspective
View your task as critical to the success of your business. Without it, your business may struggle. People are depending on you. If you don’t do it, no one else will. Now go forward and conquer!
Bribe Yourself
Chocolate, a movie, maybe a glass of wine? What makes you happy? Find it, and then bribe yourself. If you didn’t find value in that hated task before, you will now. Remember, only reward yourself once you’ve completed the task!
Outsource it
One question any business owner has to ask themselves about tasks they hate is, “is it worth my time”? What are the opportunity costs associated with you performing this task? Maybe your time is too valuable and better spent somewhere else. If this is the case, sometimes the best thing you can do is outsource it, be it to a third party or a current employee.
Automate the Task
You’ve heard the adage, “work smarter not harder”. This is a daily mantra for any small business owner. As an entrepreneur you’re a master of innovation and finding ways to conquer problems. If you despise a task, find a way to automate it.
For example: instead of manually sending confirmation emails to your clients for signing up for your services, automate the process with a tool like MailChimp.
Make it a Game
If your task is routine, make a game out of it. See how fast you can do it, and then try to beat that time. Ready? On your mark, get set, GO!
JUST DO IT!
We have become fantastic at procrastination. As a kid you put your homework off until the day before it is do. Even today, you may wait until there is ZERO food in your home before you go grocery shopping. Humans are good at procrastinating. Probably too good. We are great at finding ways to rationalize not doing something.
Remember this: “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder”. – Mason Cooley
The next time you consider doing something else instead of the tasks you hate, don’t. JUST DO IT!
Are You Ready to Conquer?
Any job has certain tasks we find un-enjoyable. It’s a fact of life. The truth is, we don’t have to let these tasks affect us. By implementing one of the above strategies we can change the dynamic of a task we hate, by turning it into something more, necessary, important, or even fun.