4 Healthy Strategies to THRIVE at Work
When was the last time you felt really jazzed about your work? Do you look forward to Monday
mornings, or is your jump out of bed more like a slow drop and roll? I study the opposite of thriving, which is burnout. Burnout is a process of chronic disengagement that usually starts at work and can impact lots of areas of your life.
Thriving employees are valuable to organizations. They report less burnout because they’re able to create job resources (those things at work that sustain your energy each day and help you achieve your goals), and they miss fewer days of work and make fewer visits to the doctor. When people thrive at work, they also report more job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Thriving is defined as learning infused with vitality. Vitality represents feelings of zest and enthusiasm during the day, and the positive emotions given off by people who feel excited about their work is contagious. People who experience learning on the job are able to master tasks and grow in their roles by gaining new knowledge and skills.
Here are four ways you can increase your thriving at work.
Strategy 1: Be a Job Crafter
Job crafting involves actively changing the content or design of your job by choosing tasks, negotiating different job content and assigning meaning to different components of your job. Research shows that job crafting is predictive of work engagement, and to the extent employees proactively adjust their work environment, they can stay engaged and perform well.
People are motivated to job craft because they want more meaning at work, more high-quality connections with others, more fulfillment and more ability to cope with adversity.
Strategy 2: Look for Opportunities to Learn
Thriving employees want to continually get better at what they do. Seek out feedback from your managers so you can zero in on opportunities to gain new skills and continue to grow. Another way to experience growth is to identify times when you are in “flow.” Flow is a term coined by psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi to describe a person’s optimal balance between boredom (the task falls short of our capabilities) and anxiety (the task exceeds our capabilities). It’s the mental state where people feel like they’re “in the zone,” engaged and working in their sweet spot.
Strategy 3: Invest in Relationships That Energize You
There’s nothing worse than having to spend eight to 10 hours a day surrounded by people who drain your energy. Relationships that drain your energy have four times the negative effect as energizing relationships. High-quality connections are sources of energy for you at work, and are marked by a sense of trust and mutual respect.
Strategy 4: Focus More on Your Energy, Less on Your Time
Many of the busy women I work with completely leave themselves off their own to-do lists. As a result, they aren’t able to harness energy when they need it. According to Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, authors of “The Power of Full Engagement,” there are four sources of energy you need to build and maintain: mental, physical, spiritual and emotional. When you feel drained, make note of which area needs a boost.
Thriving employees bring a lot to the table – they help organizations flourish and enjoy many personal benefits. These four strategies will help your Mondays go from manic to marvelous in no time!
