This query sold to the now-defunct Better Health & Living magazine. This is what I call an “opposite idea,” which is a great way to breathe new life into a tired idea. “Do what you love” was a mantra in the self-help world, so I flipped it on its head.

Jennifer Lawler, an expert I quoted, is a good buddy of mine. Warning: You don’t want to rely on your friends for quotes! But Jennifer had a great credential as the author of Dojo Wisdom. It’s typically okay to quote one or two acquaintances of yours in an article, but you really want to give a good range of sources. If an editor found out that all of your sources were friends and relatives of yours, she would not be happy. Lazy writer!

I’d already written for this magazine in the past, which is why I didn’t include my credentials.

DO WHAT YOU HATE — AND BE HAPPIER!

Life coaches and career experts everywhere urge you to do what you love. But what about those things you hate — paying the bills, writing thank-you notes, cleaning the oven, walking the dog on a cold night, going to the dentist, washing the car? If you’re like most people, you let these dreaded tasks pile up until they threaten to overwhelm you.

In “Do What You Hate — and Be Happier!” I’ll interview motivational experts and women-on-the-street to give readers unique tips (i.e., no suggestions that women reward themselves with food or jewelry) on how to motivate themselves to complete their dreaded duties and how to make the tasks more enjoyable. For example:

Be a Warrior

Jennifer Lawler, author of Dojo Wisdom: 100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person, considers unpleasant tasks “warrior training.” “In martial arts, you train because you are a warrior, not because you get some reward for it,” she says. “It works the same way for everyday chores. I remind myself that filling the dishwasher is a way to practice being in the moment, pursuing perfection and emptying my mind. Not that I look forward to doing the dishes, but it’s a lot less unpleasant than it used to be.”

Chunk It Up

If you’re faced with a task that makes you shudder with dread, try breaking it up into smaller, more manageable chunks. “If I need to clean a room but find myself avoiding it, I set a timer for 15 minutes and do whatever I can in that time,” says life coach Katey Coffing, Ph.D. “When the buzzer goes off, I look around and see how much I’ve done. It’s always an improvement, and that feels good. Plus, I often decide to finish the task because I’ve gotten over the hard part — starting it!”

Get It Over With

For small tasks, like paying bills or writing thank you notes, Meaghan Clawsie gets motivated by reminding herself that the chore will have to be done no matter what, so she can either spend some time doing it now and get it over with for good — or she can, as she says, “put it off, and think about doing it, and put it off some more, and mull over doing it, then finally do it, but only after wasting tons of time thinking about it.” Which would you choose?

No matter how small, tasks that pile up drain you of mental energy and create anxiety — how many times have you said that you can’t relax while the house is a mess, or that you can’t sleep when you know there’s a stack of unpaid bills waiting for you downstairs? “Do What You Hate — and Be Happier!” will help women clear their to-do lists — and their minds.

I could also take an informal poll and include a sidebar of the top 10 tasks that women hate to do the most.

May I write this article for you?

Thanks, and I look forward to your reaction!

Cheers,

Linda

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