Flow: The art of being happy at work
28 November 2012
Read by 1611 persons
You want change but don't know how to get there? Here's advice from author and speaker Jean-Pierre Lemaitre to help you. This week, he presents the factors that make a job enriching, stimulating and make us happy at work.
One third of our waking hours is spent at work. It's important, even fundamental, to choose a profession where we feel good.
An American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, passionate about positive psychology, spent more than 30 years studying what made people happy. His work led him to focus on what he calls "optimal experience" or "flow".
This optimal experience refers to a feeling of happiness, satisfaction and inner joy that we sometimes experience when we do something.
You've probably been absorbed in a task or activity to the point of not noticing the time passing and forgetting your daily worries. These flow states are very common among athletes and artists.
This feeling can also be experienced at work. One way to achieve this? Appreciate your job. As Steve Jobs said "(...) you have to find what you love..." When this is the case, it increases well-being, reduces stress and develops energy and self-confidence. Moreover, contrary to what one might think, individuals often have more pleasure at work than in their leisure activities.
Increasing your chances of experiencing this flow state
1-To have pleasure, it is necessary to do an activity that you like. Giving meaning to what you do contributes to a feeling of well-being and is often a much more powerful motivation than salary and working conditions.
2-Find the balance between an individual's skills and the difficulty of a task. A highly competent person performing a task that is too easy and involves few challenges will quickly become bored and demotivated. Conversely, a challenge that is too great will lead to stress and anxiety.
3-The complete absence of distractions is an important characteristic of the flow state. Being centered on the here and now allows you to focus all your attention on the task. This allows you to almost completely eliminate worries, concerns and unpleasant aspects of life.
4-We reach this flow state when our attention is successfully invested in achieving goals that we intended to pursue. Our total commitment to an activity depends on the goal we have set for ourselves. Setting precise goals and sub-goals organizes our attention by filtering out external stimuli that could distract us. It then becomes easy to concentrate on each step leading to the final target.
The art of choosing well
Too many people choose a job that doesn't always make them happy. To avoid this pitfall, make sure you choose a profession where you can experience positive emotions.
Ask yourself about the environment in which you are most comfortable. Ask yourself about the activities you do, in which you don't see time pass and which give you a feeling of self-confidence or accomplishment. For example, are you more in your element when you have to work as a team or alone? When you have to show leadership or execute tasks?
All these questions are important if you want to make your workplace an environment conducive to fulfillment allowing you to experience flow.
You have just realized how you can influence your well-being at work. Now, take the necessary steps if you want to experience positive emotions in your current or future job. No excuses to remember:
• Doing what you love increases the chances of having fun at work;
• A good balance between skills and the level of challenge creates the flow state;
• Target work environments and tasks that stimulate you.
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre.
Jobboom.com
Posted online November 28, 2012.
One third of our waking hours is spent at work. It's important, even fundamental, to choose a profession where we feel good.
An American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, passionate about positive psychology, spent more than 30 years studying what made people happy. His work led him to focus on what he calls "optimal experience" or "flow".
This optimal experience refers to a feeling of happiness, satisfaction and inner joy that we sometimes experience when we do something.
You've probably been absorbed in a task or activity to the point of not noticing the time passing and forgetting your daily worries. These flow states are very common among athletes and artists.
This feeling can also be experienced at work. One way to achieve this? Appreciate your job. As Steve Jobs said "(...) you have to find what you love..." When this is the case, it increases well-being, reduces stress and develops energy and self-confidence. Moreover, contrary to what one might think, individuals often have more pleasure at work than in their leisure activities.
Increasing your chances of experiencing this flow state
1-To have pleasure, it is necessary to do an activity that you like. Giving meaning to what you do contributes to a feeling of well-being and is often a much more powerful motivation than salary and working conditions.
2-Find the balance between an individual's skills and the difficulty of a task. A highly competent person performing a task that is too easy and involves few challenges will quickly become bored and demotivated. Conversely, a challenge that is too great will lead to stress and anxiety.
3-The complete absence of distractions is an important characteristic of the flow state. Being centered on the here and now allows you to focus all your attention on the task. This allows you to almost completely eliminate worries, concerns and unpleasant aspects of life.
4-We reach this flow state when our attention is successfully invested in achieving goals that we intended to pursue. Our total commitment to an activity depends on the goal we have set for ourselves. Setting precise goals and sub-goals organizes our attention by filtering out external stimuli that could distract us. It then becomes easy to concentrate on each step leading to the final target.
The art of choosing well
Too many people choose a job that doesn't always make them happy. To avoid this pitfall, make sure you choose a profession where you can experience positive emotions.
Ask yourself about the environment in which you are most comfortable. Ask yourself about the activities you do, in which you don't see time pass and which give you a feeling of self-confidence or accomplishment. For example, are you more in your element when you have to work as a team or alone? When you have to show leadership or execute tasks?
All these questions are important if you want to make your workplace an environment conducive to fulfillment allowing you to experience flow.
You have just realized how you can influence your well-being at work. Now, take the necessary steps if you want to experience positive emotions in your current or future job. No excuses to remember:
• Doing what you love increases the chances of having fun at work;
• A good balance between skills and the level of challenge creates the flow state;
• Target work environments and tasks that stimulate you.
Jean-Pierre Lemaitre.
Jobboom.com
Posted online November 28, 2012.
