Every day we wake up to face the grind.

We think to ourselves — “it’s time to get to work” — believing that that statement is motivational and uplifting. That it’s intended to help us keep in mind what we hope to accomplish. The problem, that statement isn’t usually used in a positive or inspiring context, nor does it inspire those feelings.

How many times has it gotten someone excited?

A few instances here and there, sure, but let’s assume it usually involves taking a deep breath, sigh, and speaking the words as a way of promising the person next to us we’ve committed to the task at hand for the sake of the task itself, which ends as the clock does.

Is there a way to reframe our mind to associate work as bliss and reward?

The national bestseller — flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — makes the claim that positive psychology can make us love the process as much as achieving goals. He explains that using expectations to attain an understanding of a task, frees us form the anxiety it generates; allowing narrowed focus by first taking the time to understand parameters. Work remains work, but we can indeed cope with it more effectively using mindset.

Csikszentmihalyn explains:

“Ironically, jobs are actually easier to enjoy than free time, because like flow activities they have built-in goals, feedback, rules, and challenges, all of which encourage one to become involved in one’s work, to concentrate oneself in it.”

“…but the only real answer to coping with work stress is to consider it part of a general strategy to improve the overall quality of experience.”- (of living)

Most of us will never escape the grind because we actively seek out fulfillment in most aspects of life. Even those of us that do eventually replace work with hobby or work we choose that will make us happy will always face this same fundamental problem.

But one additional strategy is to reframe the initial statement itself to;

“It’s time to get to making progress.”

Because that’s the truth. That’s what it has always been. We never work on something expecting less whether we realize it or not. Even the most disparaging work makes progress towards getting you your next meal.