Search Results for: work
Happier at Work in Just 11 Minutes
When was the last time you felt really energized and excited about your work? A few hours ago? A few years ago? When it comes to enjoying our work, some days are clearly better than others.
But what if you could find something to enjoy every day in your job?
Show your strengths
Last year Live Happy, the VIA Institute and I helped more than 2,000 people around the world to create an 11-minute daily strength habit to see if this made it possible to be happier at work.
While there is a growing body of evidence about the benefits of developing our strengths—those things we’re good at and enjoy doing—the truth is, most of us struggle to find the time to fit it in. So we tried to shrink the time needed make developing your strengths busy-proof by harnessing the brain’s neurological habit loop of cue, routine and reward. It turned out that just 11 minutes each day of doing what they did best each day was enough to help many participants feel more engaged, energized and flourishing at work.
New habits that take eleven minutes or less
Here are some of the most popular daily strengths habits people tried during the one week global Strengths Challenge:
Curiosity: Learning one new thing each day—When I turn on my computer (cue), I will spend 10 minutes reading something new and make a note of what I learn (routine). I will then open my emails (who knows what’s in there!) (reward).
Creativity: Finding fresh solutions—When I sit down for my morning coffee (cue), I’ll spend 10 minutes brainstorming as many ideas, solutions, possibilities to a problem or opportunity our team is facing (routine). I’ll share the best three ideas with another team member (reward).
Fairness: Being fair to others—When reviewing my schedule each morning (cue), I’ll look for one thing I can do today to make life a little easier for my colleagues or a client (routine). Then I’ll grab my morning coffee (reward).
Gratitude: Creating a daily gratitude habit—When I pack up to go home (cue), I’ll take a few minutes to thank someone for how they made my day a little better or easier (routine). Then I’ll go home (reward).
Perseverance: Delivering what matters most—Each morning when I complete my daily planner (cue), I will prioritize the three goals I most need to accomplish (routine). I will tick these off as I go (reward).
If you gave yourself the gift of just 11 minutes a day to just a little more of what you do best, what might your habit look like?
For more information, go to strengthschallenge.com.
Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author and coach with a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
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5 Tips to Make Work Your Happy Place
When you think “happy place,” your mind probably conjures up a sandy beach or a quiet mountaintop, an elegant outdoor café or maybe just your cozy bed on a cold winter morning—pretty much anywhere but your workplace. A happy place is where you feel the most calm, comfortable and at ease. Even if you love what you do, the deadlines, duties and long hours spent at the office (or wherever you work) can result in stress, which in turn wreaks havoc on your body and mind. We can’t turn work into play, but we can uncover little tweaks and easy practices that will make your workweek a whole lot brighter.
1. Make friends—it's worth the effort
No matter how much you love your job, the daily grind can grow dull. Our minds crave novel experiences and when you do the same thing day after day at work you’re bound to experience some unhappiness. Shake up your work life and increase well-being by creating fresh relationships at work—either with someone new to the office or someone you haven’t gotten to know yet. Invite a coworker to lunch or schedule a coffee date.
2. Keep track of the good stuff
It’s often easier to focus on what’s going wrong than what’s going right at work, creating a cycle and culture of complaint. To remind yourself to take note of the good things, put a jar (or coffee mug) on your desk; every time something good happens—your boss says “Great job!,” you land a new client or you complete items on your to-do list—write it down on a slip of paper, fold it up and tuck in the jar. At the end of each month, read the “good moments” for an extra boost of happiness. Then empty the jar and begin again.
3. Create a chain of kindness
Acts of kindness can inspire more kindness. Studies have shown that those who experience kind acts are likely to do something kind to others. Creating a chain of kindness at your workplace can start with you! Commit one small act of kindness¾email your boss about a colleague’s great work, offer to help with a project in another department, bring your coworker her favorite cup of coffee—every day for a week. You’ll be surprised by how much happiness you’ll experience!
4. Re-think your workday routine
We often fall into a workday routine out of convenience. Take stock of your day, from when the alarm goes off until you come home in the evening: What could you change that would have the greatest impact on your weekday happiness? Ask to move your desk in order to get more sunlight? Tidy your office before you leave each day? Keep the office refrigerator stocked with green tea instead of Diet Coke for a healthier afternoon pick-me-up? Set a goal to make the necessary changes and you’ll see huge improvements to your week overall.
5. Spice up your workspace
Most workplaces are designed for utility, not beauty. To make your office or cubicle more of a happy place, liven it up and make it yours. Family photos are just the starting point. If you have a favorite color, flower or theme that you love, go to town. Love owls, pugs or Captain America? Hang artwork and images to reflect that. If possible, bring in a small plant or something else to remind you of the natural world beyond your office; a beautiful desktop wallpaper is the next best thing.
Happy working.
Dani DiPirro is an author, blogger and designer living in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In 2009, she launched the websitePositivelyPresent.comwith the intention of sharing her insights about living a positive and present life. Dani is the author ofStay Positive,The Positively Present Guide to Life, and a variety ofe-books. She is also the founder of Twenty3, a design studio focused on promoting positive, modern graphic design and illustration.
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Learning to Unplug from Work with Christine Carter
In this special podcast series, we have partnered with top well-being experts to help coach five members of our Live Happy team on how to make better choices and build habits that lead to more fulfilling lives. Through this series we'll tackle life-changing topics such as improving communication with others, managing negative thinking, overcoming chronic insomnia, setting life goals and learning to unplug from work.
In this episode, Live Happy science editor Paula Felps talks with Christine Carter who is a sociologist and senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and author of The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Work and Home.
What you'll learn in this podcast:
How to improve the ratio of positive to negative emotions
Easy-to-implement strategies to help you reduce your stress at work
The myth of more
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
Find out more about the 90 Days to a Happier You project
Read about Donna Stokes and her journey to unplugging from work
Thank you to our partner - AARP Life Reimagined!
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The Myth of Work-Life Balance
This year, will you take more time off from work than you did last year to spend more time with loved ones and do more of what brings you joy? Or will you, like many of us, try and fail to do it all?
Work-life balance is a sham, an ideal that is nearly impossible to achieve."
The dictionary’s definition of balance is “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.” But your priorities are never in equal proportions, nor should they be! Sometimes work takes precedence, or family does. A more realistic way of thinking about our lives is that we can set our own priorities and be flexible about what’s important when.
The overflowing barrel
Think of two big barrels sitting side-by-side. Imagine each of them filled with water. One barrel is your life and one is your work. Now imagine that in one barrel, the water level rises and rises, and starts to overflow. You know that feeling, when life or work demands become overwhelming—especially now, at the busiest time of the year. When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed with work, step back and visualize that barrel overflowing, and think about what constraints, or boundaries, you need to set for yourself.
As we ask our coaching clients to ask themselves, “If I take on this new project, which project should I put lower on my priority list?” Find a thoughtful, honest way to share your boundaries with bosses, clients and others.
Read more: 5 Ways to Survive a Micomanaging Boss
What are your priorities?
Here are a couple of our own examples of constraints that we have set to focus on what’s important to us: Senia takes Thursday afternoons off to be with her children. That’s a good day of the week in terms of their extracurricular activities, and Senia gets more in-depth time with her kids in the middle of the week. Now that Margaret’s children are grown, her husband often travels with her on business and they tack on days at the end of the trip to explore the new city or country.
Michelle Phan, the YouTube star who has launched a makeup subscription service, describes starting the day with a fully charged laptop and phone. When the batteries die, she stops working for the day. She figures that if they need to recharge, she does, too.
Pay attention to when your barrel overflows or your batteries fade. Knowing that you can be flexible and set your priorities accordingly.
Read more: 6 Steps to Transitioning at Work
Setting priorities
Make lists of do’s and don’ts to keep you on the right track.
DO plan how you’ll exercise when you’re on a business trip.
DON’T check email at your child’s holiday performance.
DO create an out-of-office message to let people know when you’ll be back.
DON’T let work worries spoil your Christmas or Hanukkah.
Ask yourself: Twenty years from now, what do I want to remember about today?
Margaret H. Greenberg and Senia Maymin,Ph.D., are highly sought after organizational consultants and executive coaches, and authors ofProfit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business. For more information about Senia and Margaret, go toProfitFromThePositive.com or to their Facebook page.
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6 Steps to Unplug From Work
As part of Live Happy’s series 90 Days to a Happier You, we’ve gathered experts from around the country with unbeatable advice about how we can change habits and live better in 2016. Below, in the first part of her ongoing blog series, happiness expert Christine Carter, Ph.D., walks us through the steps of successfully unplugging from work.
Lately it seems like more and more of my coaching clients have been asking for guidance with one specific challenge: Help me unplug!
Such was the cry for help that came from Donna Stokes, managing editor of Live Happy, as part of the “90 Days to a Happier You” project. Donna’s life was typical; she was spending most of her waking existence monitoring her email. She’d begin each day by checking email at home before breakfast, which often derailed her morning routine. Once she got to work, the emailing continued—before, during and after meetings. Lunch? She’d “catch up” on email and then maybe take a short walk—with her phone, in case an urgent email or text came in. (When I asked her for an example of what could be so urgent that it couldn’t wait 20 minutes, she couldn’t give one.)
Donna’s email checking continued long into the evening, once she’d left the office. For example, she’d check email on her phone while waiting for dinner in a restaurant with her husband.
Sound familiar? If so, you, too, could use an email intervention. Here are six simple steps to end your email addiction.
1. Decide what you’re going to do with all that free time
If you are going to spend less time monitoring your email (and social media feeds, and anything else that is constantly nagging you for attention), what would be a more productive or joyful way for you to spend your time? Donna wanted to spend more time doing focused, intelligent, creative work during the day, and she wanted to spend more time relaxing, exercising and hanging out with her husband before and after work. You can motivate yourself to unplug by actually putting these things on your calendar. Block off time in your schedule for activities like “Read with hubby” and “Do focused writing/thinking,” or whatever will motivate you.
2. Schedule two or three specific times per day to check your messages
I counsel many of my clients to check email first thing in the morning and in the late afternoon—and that’s it. Here is the key: During those times, you’ll need to block out enough time to get through new emails, and, if possible, all the way to the bottom of your inbox. If a particular email is going to take more than 5 minutes to read and respond to, put it in a folder (“to do this week”) and add whatever it entails to a task list. If you need X hours a day to deal with your email, make sure you’ve scheduled X hours daily.
3. Turn off all your alerts
Unless you are actively checking your email and messages, you don’t need to know what messages are coming in because you’ll be devoting your full attention to something else. So turn off all notifications on your desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone. Vibrate counts; turn it off. Now, do this for your text messages and all of your social media feeds. Breathe.
(Note: Even if, through the strength of your iron-clad will, you are able to resist reading a message that comes in, if you see or hear or feel some sort of notification, your brain has still been interrupted by that alert. Even a millisecond-long hijacking of your attention will make you less focused, more irritable and less able to resist other temptations.)
4. Hide the bowl of candy
If you were trying to eat less candy, would you carry a bowl of it around with you? Would you put it on your nightstand and reach into it first thing in the morning? And then carry it with you to the bathroom? And then set it next to you while you try to eat a healthy breakfast? And then put it on your dashboard? I didn’t think so.
So keep that smartphone tucked away until you actually need it. Think of it as a tool, like a hammer, that you don’t need to pull out until one of your strategically designated times. (If you are a parent, make the adjustments you need to in case there is a call from your child’s school or another kind of emergency.) Get creative: Dig up your old-fashioned alarm clock, update your car’s navigation system, and put that digital camera back in your bag for the times when getting a call or text will tempt you even if the sound, vibrate, and all other alerts are off. See note in Step 3, above.
5. Tell people what you are doing
Tell folks you are working with a productivity expert (that’s me), and she’s coaching you to find more focus, flow and enjoyment at work and in life. You’ll only be checking your email at two or three set times per day. Tell them you expect to be able to respond more thoughtfully to email this way, and that when you’re with them, you’ll be fully present. Perhaps invite them to a smartphone-free lunch.
6. Notice what happens
It will not all be pleasant. Notice the difficult bits with curiosity (and maybe humor). How do you feel during the digital detox period? How are people reacting? Your tension levels will likely drop, and you’ll probably be less stressed. How does this feel in your body? Really see the people around you, now that you are looking up from your phone. Smile.
Read Christine's second blog here, and her final blog here.
To see Christine's recommendations in action, read coaching "subject" Donna Stokes' blog here.
Want more? Listen to Christine on our podcast as she explains how to unplug from work, here.
Christine Carter, Ph.D., is a sociologist and senior fellow at University of California, Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. She is a sought-after coach and speaker, and author of The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work.
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The Power of Teamwork
As I muscled my way across the long stretch of monkey bars, my arms grew tired. With each subsequent bar I gripped I couldn't imagine how I would muster the strength to continue…
Twenty minutes earlier, my friend Michele and I were stretching and trying to stay warm as we anxiously awaited our 3 p.m. start time. With the wind blowing and our adrenaline pumping, we nervously talked about what lay ahead. We were about to compete in our first Spartan Race—an intense challenge that combines a 3-plus mile run with 21 boot-camp-style obstacles.
For the past twelve weeks we had trained together and were now racing as part of the 60-person "Relentless Fitness Team”, comprised in part of members from our gym, Relentless Fitness. We were doing the Spartan Race in part to raise money for Steve’s Club, a national nonprofit that helps keep at-risk kids off the streets by inviting them into the gym to exercise after school. And so part of our team was made up of a group of teenagers from Steve’s Club. Running along with the teens, knowing that we were helping to raise money for them and their friends, gave added meaning to our endeavor, while competing alongside them literally kept us on our toes, because they were so fast!
Spartan Strong …or seriously crazy?
"Are we crazy?" we asked ourselves as our minds and muscles tensed and we tried to help each other relax and prepare for the race. And then it started and we had no choice: We were off and running.
One of the first obstacles we encountered was the monkey bars. Eyeing the unusually thick bars and then my small hands, I couldn't fathom how I'd grip just one bar, let alone navigate across at least a dozen of them. But anyone who competes in the Spartan has to do a personal penance of 30 burpees for each obstacle they don’t complete. Michele and I briefly considered caving in, but instead we encouraged each other to forge ahead. At the same time, we watched in awe as our fellow teammate Toni successfully maneuvered the bars.
I was inspired to give it a try.
My arms ached. I struggled and wanted to stop, but I continued moving as I heard Toni and Michele exuberantly shout, "Go Suzie!" I also thought of my husband James and 5-year-old son Liam, who I knew were somewhere on the sidelines. The thought of them also encouraged me to keep on going. Suddenly I felt myself energetically and adeptly—almost effortlessly—swinging like a monkey. Before I knew it, and to my utter amazement, I reached the other side without falling.
Strength in numbers—the test of teamwork
Michele and I had decided earlier that rather than compete as individuals we would run together throughout the race. We, along with Roger, the co-owner of Relentless Fitness, our fearless trainer Ross, and his strong and willowy wife, Amy, used our unique physical and emotional strengths throughout the obstacle course to help one another with the variety of challenges. Whether it was giving someone a boost to scale a 6-foot wall, sharing one's technique on how to successfully pull a 75-pound weighted sand bag (thank you, Michele!), or giving an emotional lift with a word of encouragement, we were there for one another.
Psychologists might say that what we were experiencing was the strength of teamwork. Defined as "representing a feeling of identification with and sense of obligation to a common good that includes the self but that stretches beyond one's own self-interest," teamwork was definitely at play on this special day for me.
In their book Character Strengths and Virtues, psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman say that an "individual with this strength has a strong sense of duty, works for the good of the group rather than for personal gain, is loyal to friends, and can be trusted to pull his or her weight. He or she is a good teammate." I saw this tenet of positive psychology played out again and again at the Spartan Race. I think Michelle, myself and the others definitely acted as “good teammates.” As for “pulling our weight,” we certainly did that (those 75-pound sandbags!).
Collaborators, not competitors
When Michele and I fulfilled our promise to one another and crossed the finish line together, I felt a greater sense of joy than I would have if I had competed solo. And remarkably, rather than being depleted, I was somehow energized—and even did a celebratory cartwheel! To top it off, I found James and Liam standing at the finish line cheering me on and sharing in my happiness.
Competing in and finishing the Spartan Race was a challenging yet truly rewarding experience. The fact that I was able to do it together with a group of supportive teammates while being cheered on by my loved ones certainly enhanced my sense of achievement and overall fulfillment, almost like compounded interest in the form of added meaning and happiness.
SuzannPileggi Pawelski is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia and a contributing editor to Live Happy.
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Put Your Strengths to Work with Michelle McQuaid
This week Michelle McQuaid, best-selling author, workplace well-being teacher and playful change activator, joins Live Happy Now. Michelle holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied alongside the field's founder Professor Martin Seligman, and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Appreciative Inquiry.
In this episode, Live Happy COO, Co-Founder and Editorial Director Deborah Heisz talks with Michelle about how to discover your strengths at work and how to use these strengths to bring you a more enjoyable and engaging workplace.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to discover your strengths
Quick surveys you can take to discover your strengths
Advice on how to use your strengths at work
A simple habit that can make your job more engaging and enjoyable
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
StrengthsChallenge.com
MichelleMcQuaid.com
Take the free VIA Institute Strengths Survey to find out your character strengths
Discover your strengths with the Gallup Strengths Finder
Thank you to our partner - AARP Life Reimagined!
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Amazon and the Problem of Modern Work Culture
I typically have to flip to the Business section of The New York Times to get to the news I can use–information about workplace culture and management practices—all relevant to my job as an organizational consultant and executive coach. Imagine my surprise to see a long feature article, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,”on the front page of the Sunday paper. What could possibly be so big that it made front page news? Drones that can talk? Books that read themselves?What's the big surprise?I started reading and didn’t get it. Business review meetings that are anxiety producing? Aren’t they all? Putting in long hours and then logging onto email at night? A common practice for many, unfortunately. Employees who are put on “performance review plans”? Again, no different than countless other large corporations. As the title suggested, some people flourish in this fast paced, hard-charging environment, while others do not.A pointed rebuttalAfter reading the Times article I did a little poking around and found Nick Ciubotariu’s LinkedIn Blog debunking many of the claims against Amazon. Nick heads up Infrastructure at Amazon. His experience over the last 18-months has been quite different. And, if the over 600 comments (at the time of my writing this post) was a Gallup poll, we would find employees who have both flourished and floundered at Amazon. Before you cheer or damn Amazon, consider this one sentence that grabbed my attention:Thanks in part to its ability to extract the most from employees, Amazon is stronger than ever.”Extraction vs. InspirationClients often ask my co-author, Senia Maymin, and me, “How can I get the most out of my people?” We suggest they ask themselves a somewhat different question—one that doesn’t conjure up images of sucking every last ounce of energy out of employees, such as, “How can I get people to perform at their best?” The answer is simple. By getting them to identify, cultivate and use their strengths every day. Improving productivity using a strengths-based approach results in an energy-producing work environment where employees want to do their very best and will go that extra mile to accomplish their work and more.Negativity biasIt sounds simple enough, but in reality, focusing on strengths is very difficult for some people due to what psychologists call negativity bias. We are keen at finding fault. Many of us view the world through a deficit lens and are constantly asking questions such as: What’s missing? What isn’t right? What needs fixing? What are our gaps?From the Times article, it would appear that Amazon may be more focused on finding fault (and pointing it out immediately and vocally) than in cultivating strengths. Then again, Amazon has an amazing success record, which indicated they are doing something right.The danger here is that other companies eager to emulate Amazon’s success and looking for a quick fix may actually try to adopt some of the practices reported in the Times, even though the article was meant more as an exposé than a how-to. Amazon has been successful using the “squeeze-the-most-out-of" approach, but buyer—or job candidate—beware: Consider what work environment will bring out the best in you.Margaret H. Greenberg is an organizational consultant and executive coach, and the co-author ofProfit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business.She is also the Live Happy Positive Work columnist with Senia Maymin. For more information about Margaret, visitProfitFromThePositive.comandTheGreenbergGroup.org. Follow her on Twitter @profitbook andFacebook.com/ProfitFromThePositive.
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Put Your Strengths To Work!
Do you have the chance to do what you do best each day? Not just now and again. Not even just most days. But each and every day. Do you have the chance to do what you do best?
Living up to our full potential
I believe that there’s greatness to be found in each of us. I also believe most of us are living well below our potential and that the future of the world relies on us choosing to wake up each morning and doing what we do best – for the good of ourselves and others.
But just how can you pull this off?
Let’s face it: Often our job descriptions aren’t designed around our strengths, our bosses only seem interested in pointing out our weaknesses and we’re already too busy just trying to keep up.
I get it. Back in 2007 this was my life, and finding the confidence—never mind the energy—to do what I do best each day felt like a dream I simply couldn’t afford.
Until, I discovered that it took just 11 minutes of doing what I do best each day—of using my strengths—to finally create the career and life I longed for.
How could this possibly work?
The strength of curiosity
Positive psychology researchers have discovered that developing your strengths —those things you’re good at and enjoy doing—helps you feel more confident, energized and happy in your job. So after figuring out what my strengths were by taking the free, ten minute VIA Survey it was clear that I was completely underplaying my strength of curiosity at work.
Cue, routine, reward
With neither the time nor energy to fit in one more thing, in desperation I decided to try and create a tiny daily strengths habit by using the neurological loop scientists have discovered of cue, routine and reward.
In an effort to make my habit excuse-proof I decided to try applying this loop in just 11 minutes a day, so I could fit it in on even the busiest days.
Here’s how it worked:
I spent the first 30 seconds cueing up my habit by anchoring it to the daily act of turning on my computer.
Then for the next 10 minutes I developed my strength of curiosity by reading one new positive psychology discovery about how to enable human flourishing and seeing if I could apply this to my team.
To reward myself I’d use the last 30 seconds to note down what I learnt and each Friday I used to package these discoveries up and send them off in an email to my boss.
Here's what happened next
And do you know what? This tiny 11 minutes strength habit felt so good, that I did it the following week and each week after that.
Until nine months—and 36 emails—later my boss called me into his office and said: “Clearly we’re not tapping into your potential. Would you like to teach these positive psychology techniques across our business?”
And just like that my dream job was created.
Here’s what I want you to remember, when you choose to do what you do best each day, even for just 11 minutes, others have the chance to see the potential in you.
But don’t just take my word for it. If you’re ready to feel more confident, energized and happy at work then why not put this idea to the test by joining the free One Week Strengths Challenge and receive all the support you need to discover your strengths, design a small daily strengths habit and start doing what you do best each day at work. Just click here to find out more.
Want more Michelle McQuaid? Listen to Michelle discuss the Strengths Finder Challenge on our free podcast, Live Happy Now.
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