A university lecturer from my undergraduate degree once gave me the following advice on my career:

Follow the tasks you enjoy.

I now know this as really advice around “energy management” which has become popularized online of late, but didn’t have this language at the time.

Practically, she suggested not focusing so much on the exact job that I wanted, but rather remaining mindful of the tasks involved in any job I am employed in and their effect on my energy. And so I started to take note of things like how much I valued independence and autonomy, how much teaching filled my cup, and how much I felt depleted by repetitive data crunching. The process is something akin to what James Clear proposes in automatic habits where he suggests writing a list of all the tasks you do everyday and then scoring them with a “+” or “-” to consider if you want to continue them.

I was reminded of this advice recently for a couple of reasons:

1. A mentor felt I was needed to address my weak points to help in my career development and
2. I applied for a new job.

These events led me to this reflection:

I just want to do the tasks that I enjoy (regardless of the job I am in).

This is a positive mindset shift for me! I have long been fixated on career progression, on hitting KPIs and trying to satisfy what others felt would be the next best career move for me. Whilst I wouldn’t discount these things entirely, I am grateful that these are no longer the most important thing to me. Ultimately, we spend so much of our lives at work, so I want to be playing to my strengths and doing the tasks I enjoy on a day-to-day basis, and not just once I’ve got my “dream job”.

How do you manage the conflict between career progression versus enjoying your current role? Have you used energy management to figure out what your dream role is?