When Work Feels Emotionally Expensive
Tiny moments of joy can make difficult tasks feel easier.
Posted May 18, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
You sit down to answer emails. Twenty minutes later, you’re reorganizing your desk, reheating coffee you forgot about, and briefly considering a completely different career path.
The task itself may not even be difficult. It just feels emotionally expensive.
Modern work has created a strange psychological problem: Many professionals are overwhelmed by a constant stream of emotionally draining tasks that wear down their motivation throughout the day.
A brainstorming session may feel invigorating while answering emails feels exhausting. Updating spreadsheets can feel emotionally numbing while creative work creates momentum. Two tasks can require the same amount of time yet leave people with completely different levels of mental fatigue.
That difference matters more than we think. Psychologists have long known that motivation is shaped not only by discipline, but by how the brain predicts effort and emotional payoff. When tasks feel repetitive, stressful , or disconnected from meaning, the brain often interprets them as heavier than they actually are (Inzlicht et al., 2018) .
That is why someone can spend hours planning a new initiative but struggle to answer one difficult email. The difference is emotional energy.
Researchers have also found that small moments of positive emotion can improve persistence, stress recovery, and motivation (Fredrickson, 2001) . In other words, joy is not simply a reward after work. Sometimes it is fuel for the work itself.
The “Joy Interrupter” Strategy
I started thinking differently about this after noticing something strange in my own work life: On days packed with emotionally draining tasks, the entire day felt heavier. But on days when I intentionally inserted small moments of enjoyment between difficult tasks, I experienced far more momentum and less resistance.
These were not massive rewards but tiny ones: A short walk outside; listening to one favorite song; coffee before the next meeting; reading something enjoyable for five minutes; watching birds outside my window—these moments seem small, but psychologically they create emotional contrast and the brain no longer experiences the day as one endless wall of obligation.
I now think of these moments as joy interrupters— deliberately planned moments of positive emotion inserted between draining tasks to help regulate emotional fatigue before it accumulates.
Even anticipation of such moments matters. Research shows that anticipating positive experiences can improve mood and motivation before the experience even occurs (Van Boven & Ashworth, 2007) . Sometimes simply knowing a positive moment is coming helps the brain tolerate effort more effectively, which may explain why people often power through difficult work right before vacation.
Try This: The “Drainers and Restorers” Exercise
One simple way to improve workplace motivation is to stop treating all tasks as emotionally equal. Instead, begin identifying two categories throughout your day:
Then try one of two strategies:
The goal is not to avoid our hard work but to prevent emotional depletion. (For a free “Drainers and Restorers” reflection worksheet, click here.)
A psychologically healthy work life is not a life without stress or difficult tasks. Our goal should be creating enough emotional recovery throughout the day that our stress stops feeling suffocating.
Tiny moments of joy may seem small, but they remind the nervous system that work is not the entirety of life—and sometimes that small reminder is enough to help people keep going.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Inzlicht, M., Shenhav, A., & Olivola, C. Y. (2018). The effort paradox: Effort is both costly and valued. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(4), 337–349. doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.01.007
Van Boven, L., & Ashworth, L. (2007). Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more evocative than retrospection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(2), 289–300. doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.136.2.289
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Cathleen Beachboard, MA, is an educator, researcher, and author who studies how psychological hope shapes motivation and resilience.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.