How to find inspiration for boring tasks

Before, I always found myself in the same situation: I would postpone boring tasks for later. For example, when I was already living alone in my apartment, my mother would ask me to move my indoor plants so they wouldn't die. And I would promise to do it in the near future.

Days would pass, the second, the tenth, and the plants would still be in their old pots. If someone asked me why, I would say something like "I simply didn't have time." In reality, I had more than enough time, I managed to do a lot: deep cleaning, solving tasks and launching projects at work, going to training 2 to 4 times a week. Everything, except transplanting the plants.

Why? Because I had an internal resistance to this task. I didn't know how to transplant the plants correctly, what substrate to choose, how to care for them after transplanting, etc. Although all these questions were not urgent separately, their quantity overwhelmed me. And on top of that, I felt guilty towards my mother.

What I did

I realized that I wasn't inspired to carry out this task. Specifically:

• I didn't exactly understand what my mother wants. Why these particular plants? Wouldn't it be easier to buy others? Maybe I can do something more interesting and hire a specialized service to transplant the plants, or pay for my mother’s tickets to come and do it herself.
• I didn't visualize the tangible benefits of achieving a good result. What positive changes will occur in my home after the plants are transplanted?
• I mixed research, preparation, and execution into a single matter. I ended up with a "knot of uncertainty" that is difficult to unravel into understandable parts.

In the end I decided to:

• Clarify the task: "Why do these specific plants need to be transplanted?", "What kind of soil is best to use?", "What flowerpots are best to buy?", "How to avoid making a mess in the house?".
• Discuss with my mom the benefits I will gain by transplanting the plants in general and why I should do it instead of my mom or an external service.
• Research separately about transplanting plants, prepare everything necessary separately, and carry out the transplant itself separately. And after each stage, thank myself for the work done.
• If necessary, ask for help. For example, my neighbor has experience in this, why not ask her to come and help me a bit the first time?

Now I am not tormented by a boring and incomprehensible task, but inspired by the prospect of improving my home and my mental state.

At work

This approach offers many advantages besides getting tasks done more quickly:

• People around me feel that I really care about their requests and want to do them well. When I talk to them about it, this is much more valuable than simply agreeing.
• Often, my communication helps to find more successful solutions than the original task. They wanted a text document, we talked, made a presentation, and it worked better.
• It is much easier for me to overcome difficulties because I live in a more relaxed and happy state.

"But I have a boring and useless job!"

Here's how to see it.

It's one thing if a person tries to inspire themselves but doesn't find reasons and circumstances. For example, if you work in a library that no one ever visits, no matter what you do, it’s not useful to anyone. In that case, if you want to do something useful and interesting, you should look for another workplace.

And there are times when you simply don't have the habit of inspiring yourself.

Many are inspired by Elon Musk.

However, I try to inspire myself.