Why I Don't Come to Hate My Work Even When I'm Busy | Quietly Accumulating 110

Last week was one of those weeks where I left on the first train and returned on the last.

With the project reaching its peak, I worked over 100 hours of overtime, buried in work from morning till night.
I didn't even have the bandwidth to post on note for a week.

Hearing this, you might think, "Maybe you've come to hate your job." But strangely enough, that didn't happen.

There is no doubt it was tough. I was tired and it was grueling.
There were moments when I thought I never wanted to do this again.
Even so, I didn't come to hate the work itself.

Why is that?

Now that I've made it through those days of first and last trains and things have calmed down a bit, I've thought about it again.
Busyness and whether or not you like your work.
Perhaps these two things are actually separate.

Today, I'd like to write about why I don't come to hate my work even when I'm busy.
I'll try writing it down.

"Busy" and "Hate" are different things

After spending a week taking the first and last trains, I realized something.
It's that "busy" and "hate" are completely different things.

It's easy to lump these two together.
We tend to think in terms of the formula: busy = painful = hate.
But having actually experienced the depths of busyness, I found that wasn't the case.

Certainly, the busyness itself is grueling.
My body gets tired, my sleep is cut short, and my private time disappears.
That is undoubtedly difficult.

But,that difficulty and whether or not I like the work were on different axes.

If it's a job you hate, you hate it even when you're not busy.
Even if you're free or only have a little bit of work, you don't feel like doing it.

Conversely, if it's a job you love, you won't come to "hate" it even when you're busy.
It's grueling, but it's not something I hate. I only understood this difference after experiencing it.

Busyness is a temporary state. Once the busy season passes, things settle down again.
But whether or not you like the work is something much deeper.
It wasn't something that would be shaken by temporary busyness.

Last week, I was certainly exhausted. But somewhere in my heart, there was a part of me thinking, "I don't hate this work."

I think it was because I had that feeling that I was able to make it through those first and last train days.

When you get swallowed up by busyness, you tend to think, "I hate this job."
But if you stop and think for a moment, you realize that what you hate is the busyness, not the work itself.

Once you can separate those two things, I feel like your mindset during busy periods
changes a little bit.

Having colleagues to overcome it with

Another reason why I don't come to hate my work even when I'm busy.
That is,the presence of colleagues I work with.

I wasn't fighting alone during that week of taking the first train in and the last train home.
There were team members who were just as pressured, running toward the same goal.

This is bigger than you might think.

When you share the same hardships, you can strangely find the strength to keep going.
You think, "If everyone else is hanging in there, I can too."
Even in a tough situation, just having someone running alongside you makes the mental burden much lighter.

If I had faced that week all by myself, it surely would have been much harder. I believe I was able to overcome it because I had colleagues who saw the same scenery and shared the same hardships.

And,when you get through a difficult period together, the team's bond grows stronger.

The experience of surviving a crunch time together becomes a memory you can laugh about later, saying, "That was tough, wasn't it?" Trust deepens because you've shared both the bitterness and the joy. Being busy is also an opportunity to forge a team.

I previously wrote about non-person-dependent teams and delegation.
Supporting a team with systems is important.
But just as much, the emotional connection of having "gotten through a tough time together" also supports the team.

The reason I don't come to hate my work is also because there are people working hard alongside me beyond that work.

The busyness that might have broken me if I were alone can be overcome with colleagues. I think the very environment of having such colleagues is the reason I can stay fond of my work.

Taking pride in my work

The biggest reason I don't come to hate my work even when I'm busy.
I think it's because I take pride in my work.

I may have touched on this a little before, but
I am involved in new drug development in the pharmaceutical industry.

It is a job of creating new medicines. It is also work for patients who are suffering from illness at this very moment and are eagerly awaiting new treatments.

There are people waiting for the medicine we are developing.
When I think of that fact, a little busyness feels like nothing.

It's not that taking the first train in and the last train home isn't hard. But when I think, "Beyond this crunch, there is something that will help someone," the meaning of the hardship changes. It's not just busyness that wears you down; it becomes meaningful busyness.

Whether or not you can overcome the difficulty of work
I think it changes significantly depending on whether you can find meaning in that work.

Of course, I'm not consciously aware of that mission every single day. There are times when I'm chased by the tasks in front of me and lose my composure. Even so, at the root, there is a sense that "this work has meaning."

That is what supports me during busy times.

In any job, there is always "someone" on the other side.

Who is my work ultimately helping?
When you can see that, the way you perceive busyness changes.
The meaning of the task right in front of you starts to look a little different.

For me, that was the existence of the patients.

Someone I have never met, someone whose face I do not know.
But precisely because I can believe that it is for their sake,
I think I am able to keep from hating this job.

Busyness passes, but liking remains

Having gotten through a week of taking the first and last trains, I think about it again.

There were several reasons why I didn't come to hate my work even in the midst of being busy.

Realizing that "busy" and "hate" are different things.
Having colleagues to overcome it with.
And, having pride in my work.
Being able to think that there are patients waiting for new medicine beyond that.

Because of these things, even when it was tough, I didn't come to hate it.

Busyness will pass someday.
The busy season will end, and calm days will return.
It is only a temporary state.

But the feeling that you like your work, and the meaning you feel in that work, will remain forever. Even after the busyness has gone, it is still there, unchanged.

Therefore, even if you feel "I can't take this anymore" during a busy period,
that is an emotion toward the busyness, and you can think of it separately from your feelings toward the work itself.

If there is anyone right now who is struggling because they are being chased by work,
please try to stop and think for a moment.

Do you hate the work itself?
Or do you just hate being this busy right now?

If you try separating those two, you might be surprised to realize, "I don't actually hate the work." And if you can remember the "someone" who is waiting beyond that work, the meaning of the busyness should change a little, too.

Busyness passes. Liking remains.

If you can hold onto that feeling, I believe you will surely be able to overcome even the difficult times.

If this article was even a little helpful,
I would be happy if you could give it a like or follow me.

Let's continue to quietly accumulate in the next article as well.
Well then, I look forward to our continued relationship.