Changing Attitudes at Work
29 April 2008
Read by 1761 persons
We all have the power to improve our workplace. Creating a healthier work environment requires effort from everyone in a company. Whether you are an employee or an employer, take the time, during National Healthy Workplace Week (and beyond!), to change your attitude by putting some of the following ideas into practice to reduce stress, improve work-life balance, and promote a culture of workplace health.
1. Catch Others Doing Good
One of the biggest complaints at work is the lack of recognition. We can’t always get recognition from our boss or colleagues, but we can become the kind of person who recognizes others. Catch others doing good and encourage each other. Congratulate or thank those who work with you.
2. Notice Life’s Gifts
It’s hard to notice how we’re specifically supported and helped by others or by ‘things.’ Obstacles grab our attention. When things are going well, we often don’t notice or simply take them for granted. When we become aware of the support we receive daily, we see the world in a new light.
3. Prioritize Others First
For a whole day, put the needs of others first. Compare this new approach to your usual way of doing things. Notice where it’s hard. Discover the inner richness that prioritizing others can bring you. (Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson)
4. Listen Carefully
When someone you’re talking to on the phone is also checking their email, do you notice? Of course, you notice the long pauses, the noise, the fact that they ask you to repeat things, etc. Practice listening carefully. Give your full attention to the person you’re speaking to until the end of the call. When your mind wanders to your email, your next appointment or what you’ll have for supper, gently bring it back to the conversation.
5. Secret Services
Do an anonymous favor for one or more of your colleagues. Notice the difference between something that earns you social credit and something that doesn’t. Have fun.
6. Give Until You Leave
As long as you work, always do your best. Your employer, your colleagues, and your clients deserve your best effort, and you’ll have no regrets when it’s time to leave.
7. When Does Inaction Become Action?
Take time to sit in your garden, watch the sunset, stroll on the beach, curl up with a good book, take a nap. Life isn’t all work. We all need time to reflect or notice life’s wonders.
8. Be Attentive
Become a keen observer. Use all your senses to observe the world around you. When we’re attentive, we see what needs to be done, we notice the ripple effects of our actions, life becomes more interesting, and we get valuable feedback from reality. Be more aware of your workplace and take advantage of existing employee assistance programs that can help you with your needs and concerns.
9. One Thing at a Time
There’s a common myth that multitasking is productive. As much as possible, give your full attention to the task at hand. Then move on to the next task and give it your full attention. You might find you get more done and reduce your stress.
10. Conserve Your Energy
When we neglect the basics of our health – sleep, food, and exercise – we get sick, sooner or later. We also set a bad example, especially if we have subordinates. Our productivity and health improve when we eat well, walk every day (why not during your lunch break?), and go to bed before the 11 p.m. news.
11. Schedule Appointments with Yourself
Use your calendar to your advantage. We schedule appointments with doctors, dentists, and colleagues, and we note all sorts of meetings in our calendar. It rarely occurs to us, however, to schedule appointments with ourselves to finish a task. Put an appointment in your calendar to finish a report or start a project. Treat it like any other appointment, and tell your colleagues that you won’t be available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. that day.
12. Check Your Email at Set Times
Be your own researcher. Turn off automatic email notifications. For a week, check your email four times a day at set times and respond, forward, postpone, or delete. Resist the temptation to check constantly. Notice how challenging you find this research project. What did you learn during the week?
13. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Wrong
Be willing to make mistakes, try something new, experiment. Take risks to move forward. Be willing to gracefully acknowledge your mistakes, then see what remains to be done. Making mistakes is necessary to reduce the gap between an idea and its realization. Don’t hesitate to forgive others’ mistakes.
14. Full Effort is Full Victory (Gandhi)
We all want results. We need results to stay in business, maintain programs, and stay afloat. However, results aren’t entirely controllable. There are variables like time, the economy, illness, and war that challenge even the best plans. It’s a good idea to emphasize our efforts. If we give our full attention and effort to a task, we will succeed, regardless of the results. This deserves recognition even when we make changes later.
15. Speak Up
Even if you’re anxious or shy, speak up about work-life balance issues when the opportunity arises, such as in workplace discussions, performance reviews, etc. Do you want flexible hours, a limit on overtime, or job sharing? Make your opinion known and make your ideas concrete.
16. Clarify Things
When seemingly unreasonable requests are made, sometimes communication problems are at the root of the problem. Ask questions. Clarify your goals and objectives. Tell the person making the request everything you already have to do. Discuss tasks you might let go of. Assume things will turn out for the best, and prepare to succeed by doing checks and asking questions.
17. What Excites You?
“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do something, put your whole force into it. Put your whole soul into it… be active, energetic, and faithful, and you will reach your goal. Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted April 29, 2008
healthyworkplaceweek.ca
1. Catch Others Doing Good
One of the biggest complaints at work is the lack of recognition. We can’t always get recognition from our boss or colleagues, but we can become the kind of person who recognizes others. Catch others doing good and encourage each other. Congratulate or thank those who work with you.
2. Notice Life’s Gifts
It’s hard to notice how we’re specifically supported and helped by others or by ‘things.’ Obstacles grab our attention. When things are going well, we often don’t notice or simply take them for granted. When we become aware of the support we receive daily, we see the world in a new light.
3. Prioritize Others First
For a whole day, put the needs of others first. Compare this new approach to your usual way of doing things. Notice where it’s hard. Discover the inner richness that prioritizing others can bring you. (Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson)
4. Listen Carefully
When someone you’re talking to on the phone is also checking their email, do you notice? Of course, you notice the long pauses, the noise, the fact that they ask you to repeat things, etc. Practice listening carefully. Give your full attention to the person you’re speaking to until the end of the call. When your mind wanders to your email, your next appointment or what you’ll have for supper, gently bring it back to the conversation.
5. Secret Services
Do an anonymous favor for one or more of your colleagues. Notice the difference between something that earns you social credit and something that doesn’t. Have fun.
6. Give Until You Leave
As long as you work, always do your best. Your employer, your colleagues, and your clients deserve your best effort, and you’ll have no regrets when it’s time to leave.
7. When Does Inaction Become Action?
Take time to sit in your garden, watch the sunset, stroll on the beach, curl up with a good book, take a nap. Life isn’t all work. We all need time to reflect or notice life’s wonders.
8. Be Attentive
Become a keen observer. Use all your senses to observe the world around you. When we’re attentive, we see what needs to be done, we notice the ripple effects of our actions, life becomes more interesting, and we get valuable feedback from reality. Be more aware of your workplace and take advantage of existing employee assistance programs that can help you with your needs and concerns.
9. One Thing at a Time
There’s a common myth that multitasking is productive. As much as possible, give your full attention to the task at hand. Then move on to the next task and give it your full attention. You might find you get more done and reduce your stress.
10. Conserve Your Energy
When we neglect the basics of our health – sleep, food, and exercise – we get sick, sooner or later. We also set a bad example, especially if we have subordinates. Our productivity and health improve when we eat well, walk every day (why not during your lunch break?), and go to bed before the 11 p.m. news.
11. Schedule Appointments with Yourself
Use your calendar to your advantage. We schedule appointments with doctors, dentists, and colleagues, and we note all sorts of meetings in our calendar. It rarely occurs to us, however, to schedule appointments with ourselves to finish a task. Put an appointment in your calendar to finish a report or start a project. Treat it like any other appointment, and tell your colleagues that you won’t be available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. that day.
12. Check Your Email at Set Times
Be your own researcher. Turn off automatic email notifications. For a week, check your email four times a day at set times and respond, forward, postpone, or delete. Resist the temptation to check constantly. Notice how challenging you find this research project. What did you learn during the week?
13. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Wrong
Be willing to make mistakes, try something new, experiment. Take risks to move forward. Be willing to gracefully acknowledge your mistakes, then see what remains to be done. Making mistakes is necessary to reduce the gap between an idea and its realization. Don’t hesitate to forgive others’ mistakes.
14. Full Effort is Full Victory (Gandhi)
We all want results. We need results to stay in business, maintain programs, and stay afloat. However, results aren’t entirely controllable. There are variables like time, the economy, illness, and war that challenge even the best plans. It’s a good idea to emphasize our efforts. If we give our full attention and effort to a task, we will succeed, regardless of the results. This deserves recognition even when we make changes later.
15. Speak Up
Even if you’re anxious or shy, speak up about work-life balance issues when the opportunity arises, such as in workplace discussions, performance reviews, etc. Do you want flexible hours, a limit on overtime, or job sharing? Make your opinion known and make your ideas concrete.
16. Clarify Things
When seemingly unreasonable requests are made, sometimes communication problems are at the root of the problem. Ask questions. Clarify your goals and objectives. Tell the person making the request everything you already have to do. Discuss tasks you might let go of. Assume things will turn out for the best, and prepare to succeed by doing checks and asking questions.
17. What Excites You?
“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do something, put your whole force into it. Put your whole soul into it… be active, energetic, and faithful, and you will reach your goal. Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted April 29, 2008
healthyworkplaceweek.ca
