Tips From High Performers on Banging Out Those Boring Work Tasks

We’ve all heard the adage “There’s a reason it’s called work.” Which translates to: If accomplishing what’s on your plate were always fun, you probably wouldn’t get paid for it. In any job—even ones we love—there are uninspiring tasks we either ignore or move from one day’s to-do list to the next. But there are better ways of approaching this drudgery. We asked founders and other executives how they get stuff done. Here are edited excerpts from their online responses:

Envision yourself tomorrow. “I imagine myself in two different futures: one having not completed the task, and one having completed the task,” says Leigh Espy, founder of project management site ProjectBliss.net. The not-done-yet future is grim because you’re a stress case, behind on work, and unable to start other tasks. “It inspires me to stop avoiding the work,” she says.