Our Relationship with our Work

Our most important relationship on earth is the one we have with ourselves, and it manifests itself through the way we relate to our work. Our deepest fears, obsessions, neurosis and desires find their ways into our lives through our work. But dominating these demons need not be so mystic. After a conversation with a friend who faces many of the same issues as a journalist, we compiled a list of tips that have proven helpful in combating our "work gremlins".

1. Have faith in God and yourself. (See Miller's Book of Practical Faith.) As you work, trust your own capacities but also use worry as a signal that you are trusting only yourself when you need to trust a greater resource. Pray about it. Okay, maybe this is still sorta mystic, but more concrete advice follows...

2. Start early. Like 6:30 early. Sit down directly in front of the computer or books. Make this the first thing you do. Take on the hardest task of the day before any other.

3. Stick to a routine that favors your biorhythms. My brain, for example, turns off a bit after 3:00 pm. I can read fiction after that but not theory. And I can't write at all. Read this great little article called "Know Your Power Hours".

4. Incorporate exercise into your breaks. My favorites of late: yoga and swimming.

5. Stop procrastinating/avoidance. If you are a shitty perfectionist like me, you put things off because you want to do them "right" and then it's too late to do them at all. Perfectionism is a crippling disease that is too closely linked to depression. Keep it out of your life.

6. Know how and when to cut corners. Just say no. Only say yes to the work which your spirit truly years for. In my case, I sometimes I'm hungry for feminist theory but sometimes I crave economics. Pay attention to your appetites. (Read Beck's Find Your Own North Star for help on identifying your truest desires among the muck of societal/academic pressures.)

7. My personal favorite: use lists and schedules to divvy your work into small, bite-size goals you can accomplish on a daily basis. When I'm in a real crunch, I plan down to the last minute and for a control freak like me, it's a rush.

8. Be careful about working out of your home office. I like to write from home because my library is here but there are too many distractions when it comes to muddling through dense academic articles. For that I need to actually take a shower and have a change of venue.