8 ways to rethink your work style!
How do you get the most out of the time you spend working? Research on mind and body provides some answers
WORK WORK WORK. We all are familiar with this terminology "WORK". And we even know what it means to us for living a properous and happy life. Whether be to earn for monetary standard or to earn for self satisfaction, we need to work and its so much essential that without working we can not achieve our objectives for what we are borned for.
As i have mentioned in my previous articles, for personal development also, the tips, tricks and techniques are just the base. To achieve it, all you need to do is "WORK".
We all have a day of 24 hours. Within this, we have to accomplish various activities from home work to professional. This duration is sufficient for some, but for some, this day hours is also insufficient. Why do some people get so mcuh done while the rest struggle just to get by? The research suggests that productivity comes more from the ways we think and live than from the number of hours we invest in a given task. Paying attention with the mindset with which you approach your work can pay big dividents in how much you accomplish each day.
The Ways:
As i have mentioned in my previous articles, for personal development also, the tips, tricks and techniques are just the base. To achieve it, all you need to do is "WORK".
We all have a day of 24 hours. Within this, we have to accomplish various activities from home work to professional. This duration is sufficient for some, but for some, this day hours is also insufficient. Why do some people get so mcuh done while the rest struggle just to get by? The research suggests that productivity comes more from the ways we think and live than from the number of hours we invest in a given task. Paying attention with the mindset with which you approach your work can pay big dividents in how much you accomplish each day.
The Ways:
1) Go with the Flow
People who find a balance between their skills and the challenges they face are more likely to be productively involved in whatever they are doing, says Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He calls that balance flow and has found that high achievers spend more time than low achievers in periods of flow.
To reach that state, he explains, high achievers invent ways to challenge themselves, whether they are studying, working or just moving to the lawn.' Workers who enjoy what they are doing,' he says,"spend more time working than adults who do not seem to enjoy their jobs. These people are going to be more productive." There is one famous saying also "If you enjoy your work, you do not have to work a single day in your life".
Psychologist Dean keith Simonton agrees that the most prolific people in many fields find their work pleasurable, at the very least. The truly extraordinary go well beyond that. Simonton has studied such incredibly productive figures as Mozart (600 compositions), Thomas Edison (1093 patents) and Napoleon bonaparte (68 battle). "Exceptional achievers in almost any domain," he says," consider their endeavour their main hobby."
2) Great expectations Breed Success
Psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman discovered the profound power of optimism in a profession that could discourage even the most positive souls; life insurance sales. When he compared the personalities of trainees with their first two years' performance, he found that those who "see the glass half full" sold 37% more insurance that their pessimistic cohorts. Why? When optimists encountered tough luck, they did not feel that one or two bad days meant they would not do well in future.
The good news, Seligan says, is that pessimists can learn to be optimists. Based on his findings, a company developed MOST, or Metropolitan Optimism Sales Training. The programme, which focuses people on how they think at work rather than what they do, was first used in 1988 by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Insurance sales people have particularly strong need for positive ways of dealing with rejection. As Richard Calogero, a director of planning and research for human resources in personal insurance at Metropolital Life, explains,"Our people do a lot of coid-calling. After 20 calls, they may have only one interested client. Optimism training gives them a sort of immunity to all the turndowns". The training gives people three cognitive tools to use when things go badly at work, they are;
(i) Avoid blamming yourself for your failures
(ii) Realize that mistakes usually have only a temporary effect and
(iii) Do not let mishaps or down days infringe on other areas of your life.
It is also important to take credit for your successes and think of them as lasting achievements that will pay off.
3) Be Mindful, Not Mindless
Rigid automatic thinking leads to what psychologist Ellen Langer calls mindlessness. "Mindlessness," she says in her book by that name,"is seeing the novel in the familiar," a kind of flexible and creative style that turns "stumbling blocks to productivity into building blocks." Langer offers wheelchair manufacturing as an example."People were making only one kind of wheelchair for year,"she says."To break out of the mindset associated with handicaps and hospitals",people who make wheelchairs "could see themselves in the transportation or the recreation business."
Mindfulness also alleviates burnout by motivating people to find innovative solitions to the same old problems. Mindless people burn out when they see their job as the same old thing. "In their single minded view," Langer explains, they think,"We have always done it this way," and they give up. With mindfulness, you know there are multiple solutions."
In teaching people how to be mindful, Langer stresses what she calls the power of uncertainty, the need to keep your mind open to the many ways information can be understood."A belief in uncertainty leads to taking more risks,"she says, which leads to innovation.
People who find a balance between their skills and the challenges they face are more likely to be productively involved in whatever they are doing, says Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He calls that balance flow and has found that high achievers spend more time than low achievers in periods of flow.
To reach that state, he explains, high achievers invent ways to challenge themselves, whether they are studying, working or just moving to the lawn.' Workers who enjoy what they are doing,' he says,"spend more time working than adults who do not seem to enjoy their jobs. These people are going to be more productive." There is one famous saying also "If you enjoy your work, you do not have to work a single day in your life".
Psychologist Dean keith Simonton agrees that the most prolific people in many fields find their work pleasurable, at the very least. The truly extraordinary go well beyond that. Simonton has studied such incredibly productive figures as Mozart (600 compositions), Thomas Edison (1093 patents) and Napoleon bonaparte (68 battle). "Exceptional achievers in almost any domain," he says," consider their endeavour their main hobby."
2) Great expectations Breed Success
Psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman discovered the profound power of optimism in a profession that could discourage even the most positive souls; life insurance sales. When he compared the personalities of trainees with their first two years' performance, he found that those who "see the glass half full" sold 37% more insurance that their pessimistic cohorts. Why? When optimists encountered tough luck, they did not feel that one or two bad days meant they would not do well in future.
The good news, Seligan says, is that pessimists can learn to be optimists. Based on his findings, a company developed MOST, or Metropolitan Optimism Sales Training. The programme, which focuses people on how they think at work rather than what they do, was first used in 1988 by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Insurance sales people have particularly strong need for positive ways of dealing with rejection. As Richard Calogero, a director of planning and research for human resources in personal insurance at Metropolital Life, explains,"Our people do a lot of coid-calling. After 20 calls, they may have only one interested client. Optimism training gives them a sort of immunity to all the turndowns". The training gives people three cognitive tools to use when things go badly at work, they are;
(i) Avoid blamming yourself for your failures
(ii) Realize that mistakes usually have only a temporary effect and
(iii) Do not let mishaps or down days infringe on other areas of your life.
It is also important to take credit for your successes and think of them as lasting achievements that will pay off.
3) Be Mindful, Not Mindless
Rigid automatic thinking leads to what psychologist Ellen Langer calls mindlessness. "Mindlessness," she says in her book by that name,"is seeing the novel in the familiar," a kind of flexible and creative style that turns "stumbling blocks to productivity into building blocks." Langer offers wheelchair manufacturing as an example."People were making only one kind of wheelchair for year,"she says."To break out of the mindset associated with handicaps and hospitals",people who make wheelchairs "could see themselves in the transportation or the recreation business."
Mindfulness also alleviates burnout by motivating people to find innovative solitions to the same old problems. Mindless people burn out when they see their job as the same old thing. "In their single minded view," Langer explains, they think,"We have always done it this way," and they give up. With mindfulness, you know there are multiple solutions."
In teaching people how to be mindful, Langer stresses what she calls the power of uncertainty, the need to keep your mind open to the many ways information can be understood."A belief in uncertainty leads to taking more risks,"she says, which leads to innovation.
4) Exercise for Energy
Exercise scientist Daniel lanfers points to research showing that people are in a better mood and think faster during or after exercise than at other times-- changes which increase productivity."If you perceive you have got more energy,you will approach tasks you might not otherwise think to attempt,"he says.
Exercise raises the levels of endorphins, hormone responsible for causing the sensation of euphoria, and cortisone, a hormone that creates a feeling of arousal. These changes, says endrocrinologist George Chrousos, could lead to a sense of well-being that bolsters productivity. Amount of exercise needed to generate such boost may vary upon individuals, but it probably takes a relatively vigorous activity like running or swimming 3 times a week. Apart from this aerobic exercise, stress relieving mental training like autogenics, transcendental meditation is also recommended.
Exercise scientist Daniel lanfers points to research showing that people are in a better mood and think faster during or after exercise than at other times-- changes which increase productivity."If you perceive you have got more energy,you will approach tasks you might not otherwise think to attempt,"he says.
Exercise raises the levels of endorphins, hormone responsible for causing the sensation of euphoria, and cortisone, a hormone that creates a feeling of arousal. These changes, says endrocrinologist George Chrousos, could lead to a sense of well-being that bolsters productivity. Amount of exercise needed to generate such boost may vary upon individuals, but it probably takes a relatively vigorous activity like running or swimming 3 times a week. Apart from this aerobic exercise, stress relieving mental training like autogenics, transcendental meditation is also recommended.
5) Manage your Time
The key to organizing time or time management, is realizing whether you are mainly an organized left-hemisphere thinker or a creative right-brainer. If you like to make lists, handle details and put things back where you found them,you have a left brain orientation. If you relish talking ideas over with coworkers and keeping you are working on in sight, you are a right-hemisphere manager,says management consultant Ann McGee-Cooper.
Which ever you are, says Cooper, you should accept and work with that natural style of self-management. Most of us have learned only left-brain kinds of rules for managing time, such as,"Handle each sheet of paper only once" and "Finish one thing before you start another." That is useful advice for left-brainers, who carefully plan out each day, set their priorities and schedule everything precisely.
"But this overlooks a part of mental process, some creative people use",says Cooper. They tend to file in piles, on their desktop, rather than putting each document in a drawer as soon as they receive it. This looks like clutter to some people."But to a dominant right person, this 'mess' works as visual organization and order," Cooper says. Many of our bad habits are really"gifts that we are wearing wrong-side out."
The fact is, in some professions, and in most highly creative fields, ignoring the clock may be the best way to use time.
McGee-Cooper emphasizes the importance of what she calls brain-balance for everyone--teaching the other half's tricks to the "better half". For left-brain organizers, this could mean scheduling two or three "joy breaks" each day."Take a few minutes out for relaxation, buy some fresh flowers or call a friend," Cooper suggests.
Right brainers might choose a left-brain coach for pointers on scheduling or the use of a calendar. They also need to lighten up tasks they tend to avoid, such as paperwork, perhaps stationery or several different pens."Engineer a way to bring fun into your system,"Copper suggests.
The key to organizing time or time management, is realizing whether you are mainly an organized left-hemisphere thinker or a creative right-brainer. If you like to make lists, handle details and put things back where you found them,you have a left brain orientation. If you relish talking ideas over with coworkers and keeping you are working on in sight, you are a right-hemisphere manager,says management consultant Ann McGee-Cooper.
Which ever you are, says Cooper, you should accept and work with that natural style of self-management. Most of us have learned only left-brain kinds of rules for managing time, such as,"Handle each sheet of paper only once" and "Finish one thing before you start another." That is useful advice for left-brainers, who carefully plan out each day, set their priorities and schedule everything precisely.
"But this overlooks a part of mental process, some creative people use",says Cooper. They tend to file in piles, on their desktop, rather than putting each document in a drawer as soon as they receive it. This looks like clutter to some people."But to a dominant right person, this 'mess' works as visual organization and order," Cooper says. Many of our bad habits are really"gifts that we are wearing wrong-side out."
The fact is, in some professions, and in most highly creative fields, ignoring the clock may be the best way to use time.
McGee-Cooper emphasizes the importance of what she calls brain-balance for everyone--teaching the other half's tricks to the "better half". For left-brain organizers, this could mean scheduling two or three "joy breaks" each day."Take a few minutes out for relaxation, buy some fresh flowers or call a friend," Cooper suggests.
Right brainers might choose a left-brain coach for pointers on scheduling or the use of a calendar. They also need to lighten up tasks they tend to avoid, such as paperwork, perhaps stationery or several different pens."Engineer a way to bring fun into your system,"Copper suggests.
6) Be Goal-Guided not Goal-Governed
When psychologist Richard Guzzo and his colleagues analyzed almost 100 studies of worker productivity. they found that goal-setting outdid most other techniques-- including pay raise and flex-time arrangements-- in raising the quantity and quality of work. "If you want to accomplish anything, you have to set explicit and challenging goals," says psychologist Edwin Locke, who has studied goal-setting for about 25 years. Aiming for easy or vague goals does little for productivity.
"We have found that you've got to be committed to your goals, and you have got to be convinced that the goals are important and worthwhile,"Locke says. He also suggests breaking up future objectives into weekly and daily goals, since"short term goals, make long-term goals seem more psychologically real".
Langer warns, however, that blind pursuit of any one goal may hinder the overall level or quantity of your achievement."You want to goal-guided not goal-governed,"she says, since the initial course you se to reach a goal may not turn out to be the most fruitful.
7) Take time to Play
Stephan Colarelli, a psychologist, points out that "rest and reflection" are crucial to productivity. We are obsessed with busyness, but some of the most productive public figures rook time to rest,"Wiston Churchill, for example, took one long nap almost every day, even during World War II.
Health educator Allan Luks, executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of health, offers a more recent testimonial to the benefits of relaxation:"When stockbroker Robert Lo Pinto joined the Washington,D.C., office of E.F.Hutton in 1982, he admitted having an unusual habit for a pressured stockbroker. Every morning and evening, he practiced transcendental meditation. Lo Pinto believes his superiors might have thought him strange for doing these claming 20 minute relaxation exercises, except that he became and remaind E.F. Hutton's top salesman for all brokers who started in his training group."
8) Look at your Environment
Internal factors are not the only elements that influence how much a person can get done. It is also important to consider environment. Colarelli and his friends studied 280 first-year accountants, looking at characteristics of both employess and their workplace. After a year on the job, the researchers found that work environment- the degree of decision making freedom managers gave workers, for example--had a performance than did IQs or economic backgrounds.
Simply hiring bright people does not guarantee good performance,Colarelli explains. It helps to be surrounded by competent managers and motivated coworkers, of course, but the crucial element in performance is feedback.
The right environment can even make a group of talented, poorly managed professionals who are performing below capacity shine. Even if your work environment is less than inspiring, however, there is plenty you can do personally to be more productive. A healthy lifestyle,an optimistic, flexible outlook and time management geared to your style of thinking will all help you accomplish more. Focus on the intellectual challenge of each task and draw on the enthusiasm and drive generated by the best of your coworkers. Productivity, in short, is large a personal matter--with a little help from your friends.
