3 Easy Habits for Staying Happy in Your Workplace

Work disengagement is no laughing matter. A 2015 Gallup survey found that only 35% of employees feel engaged – or involved, enthusiastic and dedicated – to the organisation that they work in. It is as alarming as it sounds.

When you don’t feel committed to your job, you feel unhappy, unmotivated and stressed. Other common signs of work disengagement include absenteeism, low energy, negative attitudes toward work and a lack of initiative. Do these sound familiar? Don’t worry, there’s still hope!

You can avoid becoming disengaged at your job by incorporating these 3 positive habits to your daily work life:

Start the Day Right

Your mood at the start of the day can dramatically affect how you feel at work. A study conducted by the Academy of Management that analysed the moods and productivity of customer service representatives found that respondents who were in a good mood in the morning performed better throughout the day and had more positive interactions with customers.

What you can do:

Do simple things in the morning that will make you feel good. Prepare and enjoy a breakfast that you like, take time to enjoy your favorite beverage (coffee, tea or smoothie?) or do a short exercise. Similarly, make sure you get a good night’s sleep so you feel well rested in the morning. These simple activities can do wonders to your mood and prep you for the day.

Limit Your Decision-Making Activities

Decision fatigue is a psychological phenomenon that happens when you are confronted with many decisions throughout the work day. Whether it’s as small as choosing what dress to wear or as major as hiring a new manager, every decision that you have to make will take a toll on your mental resources making it more difficult to make a favorable decision as the day goes by.

Global leaders like Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg are well known for limiting their wardrobe options to one or two outfits in order to limit the decisions that they have to make.

What you can do: Evaluate which decisions in the day you can scrap. For example, if you notice that you spend a lot of time fretting over what food to eat before work, then consider preparing the same default breakfast for a week before changing it up for another week. Now you can focus your decision-making powers on more important tasks at work.

End the Day Right

Our brains are wired to keep track of negative things more than the positive. From an evolutionary perspective, this protects us from harmful situations but, on the other hand, this can make it more challenging for us to feel happier at work. For example, you may find it easier to remember all the deadlines that you have to beat than the positive contributions you made to the team. Fortunately, there is a way to keep our brain from being negative.

What you can do: Do simple activities that will remind you about the positive things you have done at work. Did you accomplish any urgent tasks? Did you help a teammate with a project? Write these down in a journal at the end of the day. Making conscious effort to focus on the good instead of the bad will do wonders to your mental wellbeing.

These habits may be simple and easy but if you consciously make them a part of your life, they can dramatically change the way you feel about work.

 

Sharon Kaibel is a performance and productivity coach. Sharon helps business owners create the strategy, structure and systems to build and grow a profitable business. Join her Closed Facebook Group, the #ACHIEVERNETWORK for the community, resources and trainings to become an extraordinary achiever.