patricia thompson

Reading Time: 6 minutes By: Patricia Thompson: Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know…

Reading Time: 5 minutes In Gallup’s 2017 State of the Global Workplace, it was reported that only 15% of employees feel motivated and engaged at work. This lack of motivation is undoubtedly a problem for the workers themselves; however, it’s an even bigger problem for the leaders who are trying to coax high performance out of a group of people who feel psychologically disconnected from their jobs.

Reading Time: 5 minutes Despite what your Instagram says, sometimes the best thing to do is to make the most of the job you have while looking for the one that will stoke your passions. After all, a lot of us have hard time feeling blissful when we’re concerned about being evicted or don’t know where our next meal is coming from! So, if you find yourself in this position, here are some tips that can transform the way you look at your work while you are in the midst of getting ready for your next move.

Reading Time: 3 minutes For the past couple months, however, I’ve begun adding walking into the mix, and I have to admit that now I really see what all the fuss has been about. Not only has it been good exercise that gets my heart rate up, it has also had a great impact on my mood, energy level, and my productivity at work. And, as you might expect, research supports my experience.

Reading Time: 5 minutes In my consulting work, I frequently help teams try to cultivate connection, understanding and shared goals. As part of the process, I set up exercises in which team members are given opportunities to self-disclose—on topics ranging from their preferred work styles to family background—and everyone chooses how much they are willing to share. Although the exercises are artificial, they work. I consistently hear from the team members how they help them to better understand their colleagues, feel closer to one another, and have better working relationships.

Reading Time: 5 minutes In my work as a leadership consultant and coach to executives, I repeatedly come across individuals (and groups) who are impatient with the process of problem-solving. In their states of tunnel-vision and desire for quick results, they actually undermine their ability to reach the best possible solutions. The forgotten byproduct of hyper-focus is the fact that, when we are setting our sights on a singular thing, we can’t see anything outside of our frame of vision.

The good news is that there are ways we can proactively help our brains be creative by giving them a little siesta from time to time. These three modes of “slacking off” can counterintuitively help you cultivate more creativity—on and off the job.

Reading Time: 5 minutes To help you to scale back, set boundaries for yourself – and write them down. Set a cut-off time for leaving the office or shutting down your laptop at home. Don’t leave your smartphone on your nightstand (or bring it to the dinner table); instead, put it on the other side of the room, so that you’ll be less tempted to check in on work while you’re in your bed or having dinner with your loved ones. Setting boundaries is simply a form of goal-setting, so for your goals to be most effective, consider them set in stone, so that you don’t allow for any slippage. To up the ante, select an accountability partner who can help you to keep your commitments to yourself.

Reading Time: 4 minutes As you might expect, having an all-consuming devotion to work is linked to a variety of undesirable outcomes. For example, workaholism is linked to work-family conflict, or having competing, and often conflicting demands in one’s professional and private spheres. In turn, work-family conflict can decrease satisfaction with one’s family, or even one’s life as a whole. After all, if your significant other or children are complaining that you’re not present enough at home, and you’re simultaneously feeling that you’re not living up to the demands of your job, it can be a pretty stressful and conflicted existence. Consequently, it’s not surprising that workaholism is also linked to burnout.

By definition, workaholism makes it difficult to psychologically detach from work, and can interfere with the individual’s ability to recharge and recover from the job.

Reading Time: 5 minutes Getting in touch with your values can also provide you an important cue—namely, that it’s time to move on if and when you determine that your values are in conflict with the work you are doing. Research has shown that when there is a mismatch between your personal values and that of your organization, you are at increased risk of burnout. Cynicism, one of the components of burnout, occurs when you feel less attached to, and engaged with, the work you are doing. If a values clarification exercise reveals to you that you are simply in the wrong job or at the wrong company, you might consider moving on.

Reading Time: 4 minutes The Vietnamese Zen Monk Thich Nhat Hanh said, “We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing.”

There are perhaps few environments where this rings truer than in the work world. Ironically, though, most professionals have heard time and time again that “work/life balance” is positive, and burnout isn’t—both for health and for productivity. Yet in my work as a consultant and corporate psychologist, I find that most high-achievers are resistant to the prospect of scheduling breaks during the day.