Naiman Labs newsletter #17. Journey or destination?

Hi friends and welcome to Issue #17 of Naiman Labs' weekly newsletter. I hope you're enjoying the updated format! If so, let me know by clicking the social media links at the end of this e-mail 😉

Recently, I've realized that if I had to choose a single theme in the HR-related area, it would be motivation. Motivation in a very broad sense, as it's the never-ending search for an answer to the question, "What motivates us to do what we do the way we do it?"

Let's look at these two famous quotes:

Now take a moment and think which quote better resonates with you?

I believe that neither of these quotes is entirely applicable to our lives.

The first path is about suffering, constant suffering with an expectation of something great at the end of the journey.

The other path is about passion and joy before the result. While it sounds great, what if your passion is playing video games? To make this passion useful, you would need to be one of the top 0.001% of players in the world and turn it into a full-fledged career.

So, the truth is somewhere in between, I think. There's nothing more soul-sucking than doing a boring job that you hate all the time. However, sometimes we can't completely avoid this, and when we have to do something that we don't enjoy, we need to find some hacks and ways to make it more enjoyable. And then motivation will come.

Therefore, we need to learn to enjoy the things we're doing. When we enjoy the process, motivation and productivity will follow.

I know that sometimes it feels like you cannot implement any of these hacks and even if you do none of them work for you. Then you probably need to look at the mirror and ask yourself if you are doing the right thing. May be you need some major change in your work. But that’s a bit different story 😉

Here are a couple of quick tips to try and add some joy to your work process:

🧠 Tip 1. Shift your mindset. If you approach a task with a mindset of "Oh my, I hate this. It's extremely boring/hard/stupid," then you have zero motivation to do it. Instead, try to add some fun to your mindset. Think of something positive you can get out of it. Pro tip: If the task is extremely dull and boring, try to slightly increase its complexity. Instead of manually copying and pasting, try to find a way to automate it or streamline the process to make it more efficient. In this way, the task will become a bit more challenging and, subsequently, more fun and interesting to solve.

🖥️ Tip 2. Build up your environment. A nice, aesthetic, and convenient environment increases our motivation. Get a new T-shirt for your gym, or buy a new beautiful notebook to motivate your writing. Pro tip: Don't overvalue this. Don't become someone who says, "I can't do this until I have all the best and beautiful tools and environment."

🏁 Tip 3. Acknowledge your results. Or even gameify them 🎮. Make checklists and tick off the boxes, add some color coding to your tasks, and think creatively. Your goal is to visualize your progress and see some quick results.

👭 Tip 4. Bring others on board. This is great for building habits or doing something you're not motivated to do. Why? It brings more fun and less pressure. And at the same time, it increases your commitment. It's harder to skip your morning stretch routine if you have a group of people sharing their stretches with you.

🙌 People management article of the week

We all have tons of meetings at work. And 1-1s are a substantial part of our meetings. They are important if you manage a team. But if you're a team member, 1-1s with key stakeholders, such as your boss or internal and external clients, are also important for your development.

Today, I am sharing a simple article on how to get the most out of your 1-1s.

Also here’s my personal advice:

1. Keep in mind that your 1-1s are important and part of your work. 💼

2. Prepare the agenda - think of what you're going to talk about. Sometimes, the best way to conduct a 1-1 with your manager is to discuss something personal or brainstorm on ideas. Don't make it a boring status update. 🤔💡

3. Follow up. Make a meeting note or a notebook where you store the meeting notes and share them after the meeting. 📝👥

Hope these tips help you get the most out of your 1-1s! 😊

⚙️Productivity tip of the week

"Hell yeah or no." 🤔💭

Next time you're presented with an opportunity, ask yourself, "Is it 'well...maybe,' or 'yeah, kind of okay,' or is it 'oh yeah, I definitely want to do this!'?"

According to Derek Sivers in his book "Hell Yeah or No", we often say "yes" to too many things in our lives. It's worth checking our reaction and the key takeaway here is that if it's anything less than "hell yeah," then it's a "no."

Hope this helps you prioritize your time and energy! ⏰💪