24/30: Comfort Zones and Happy Places
We spend nearly a third of our lives working. By some estimates, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work. Many people will work even more than that.
There was a time when that statistic made me feel utter and complete desperation.
While I admit it doesn’t exactly make me jump with joy today either, I’ve worked hard on molding my career and work life so it would bring me fulfillment, wherever possible.
I’ve also found a way to maximize activities that are comfort zones and happy places.
Here’s a few of them…
Research. I enjoy the quiet and focus that delving deep into subject matter provides. It was always a favorite activity. It doesn’t matter whether it’s data, text, video, audio, or visuals. I love doing research and connecting the dots between seemingly disparate areas.
Visualization. I’m probably happiest spending hours summarizing my work visually on a FigJam or Miro board, and preparing either a narrative I want to share or group session I want to facilitate. I will gladly spend hours on choosing just the right story, colors, icons, layout, etc.
People. I am a social animal. An extroverted introvert. People recharge me, until they don’t, and I need to seclude to process the wealth of amazing input I get. So I frontload my days with meetings and try to have afternoon focus time.
Workshops. I think a well-facilitated workshop can be a great catalyst for problem solving and bonding. I enjoy organizing and running them, and regularly survey workshop goers. My average rating is >4.5/5, and I’m proud of that to a degree that’s silly, quite frankly.
I do my best to surround myself with people who help bring out the best of me at work and by whom it’s a joy to be surrounded.
And that means you have to, too. But that’s what makes it all so fun in the first place!
