Protect Your Joy

Doing the things you have to do so that you can enjoy the things you want to do

Image Credit: ChatGPT

You ever have one of those days where your to-do list reads like an endless pit of things you “have to do”?

1. Pick up groceries.

2. Respond to emails.

3. Pay the bills.

4. Complete sales report.

Meanwhile, joy feels like a luxury item - something you might get to. After meetings. After laundry. After you get a break from your to-do list.

No wonder motivation is hard to come by.

It could seem that you’re fulfilling some obligation to meet another obligation which in turn fulfills yet another one. Obligations are stacked and amidst all of them, your own happiness maybe an afterthought or just missing!

But you could reframe this. Put your activities in two buckets:

1. Things that add to your happiness, and

2. Things that protect that happiness.

Things that add to happiness are the good stuff:

• A walk in the park.

• An inside joke with a friend.

• Learning something new.

• Watching a fun movie.

• Feeling grateful for your life.

Now, make sure you allocate time to experience these. Make them as non-negotiable as you can.

But you cannot be doing these all day, can you?

There seem to be a myriad of things on your plate. You will need to take care of these to protect the happiness you get from the first list. For example, let’s say that you have a slide deck due by end of day and instead of working, you decide to just watch a movie. The quality of your movie-watching experience will be clouded by the nagging feeling of the impending deadline. So, working on that presentation is not just another thing “you have to do”. You now do it with the intention of protecting the quality of your movie watching experience i.e. protecting the quality of your happiness.

There are other examples of Protecting happiness that we find in our every day life:

• Paying the bills.

• Filing taxes.

• Showing up to work.

• Dropping off and picking up kids from soccer games

  …and the list goes on.

It’s easy to feel weighed down by the second list and also not find it joyful. But try reframing them as important to keep the roof from collapsing on your joy.

So the next time you’re unmotivated, maybe don’t ask, “Why do I have to do this?” Ask instead, “What happiness am I protecting by doing this?”

That shift might just be enough.