Finding That Daily Workday "Power Up"

(*Editor’s Note: I’m a huge nerd.)

There is a reason why we refer to the days of a work week as “the daily grind.”

Many of us have to get up, commute to God-knows where, catch up on emails, sit at another meeting, continue a project, plan another one and deal with a whole host of problems before the lunch break. Then there is that comfort in knowing that it will all happen again and again (and again.)

There are some jobs out there that are missing these tortuous elements, and the people who work at them are lucky ducks. The rest of us have the luxury of gritting our teeth and bearing it in order to get the coveted paycheck.

I love my job. Yet, each day hosts new challenges and an endless list of tasks that need to be completed in a timely manner. Most days I am on fire and ready to take on the world, but sometimes it is a chore just to open up Gmail.

What keeps me going is the little things added to the day that encourage and motivate my fragile attention span. A nerdy guy like me thinks of them as sort of a “power up” for the day. Mario has his mushrooms, Pac-Man has his power pellets and I have my afternoon coffee.

A simple cup of coffee is like a “1 Up” to my workday after I have basically lost all motivation and need an extra life to continue. Although caffeine is always a welcome boost, plenty of other abstract power ups are available to avoid a “Game Over.”

Maybe it is a daily call to a good friend that can give your brain a boost at the office, or taking a walk with the dog right after the evening commute. A weekly outing to a favorite restaurant, a nightly glass of wine or cat-petting session are all valid power ups for us working folk.

I look forward to my weekly board game nights with friends, visiting my favorites cafés and chasing my cat around the apartment. These small bits of the week are powerful enough to keep me going on even the most stressful days.

It is not just the little things in life that make it great, but how we look at them and apply them to our own experiences. Done the right way, we can accomplish any task no matter what “difficulty level” is set.

I’ve mentioned before that there is a high score to the game of life, and I’d love to see more names on the leaderboards.

Man, I need to spend less time playing video games...