The first step you can take now to have better days at work

Standing on the tube platform the other day I looked at the billboard poster directly across the tracks from me. The poster stated that we spend over 80,000 hours at work. 

80,000 hours. That’s a lot of time. And for many of us, we’re not just working longer than ever before, we’re working harder. The new ways of working are throwing up their own particular set of conundrums. Open-plan offices can lead to a lack of focus and an inability to do deep work. Some organisational cultures encourage you to be always-connected, even when you’re meant to be relaxing at home. If you’re in an organisation that encourages hot-desking, a lack of a permanent desk can be unsettling. And how do you actually work from home if you’ve never done it before? It’s not always easy to transition from a busy work environment to a corner of a desk in your bedroom.

Happier = increased productivity

So we’re working harder, longer and with new stresses thrown into the mix. All most of us really want is to have a productive and satisfying day at work. And it’ll come as no surprise that when we have better days at work, we’re more productive. One study into happiness and productivity found that workers are 13% more productive when happy. When we’re happier at work, we do better work. It’s win-win all round.

So how do we actually get happier at work? How can we give ourselves and our teams more of those coveted good days? There are some simple strategies that can boost people’s sense of well-being.

Take three ingredients 

The first step to achieving this is to work out what a good day looks like. What are the ingredients you and your team members need? Everyone’s going to have different requirements, but it should be possible to factor in one or two things that can lead to better days for all.

Start with you. What are three of the ingredients that you need to have a good day? The results of a quick poll I did recently might give you a few ideas. For example, Simone is a senior marketing leader in a big organisation. Her ingredients for a good day at work are: 1. a good walk to work; 2. interaction with people, either face-to-face or on the phone; 3. fun. 

Nick is global head of talent at Ørsted in Copenhagen. His three things: 1. delivering a key outcome where something has gone well and there’s a sense of progress and momentum. 2. a human moment where you’ve connected with a colleague in a way that makes you both feel better; 3. having an ‘insight moment’ where the penny drops on a problem you’ve been wrestling with for a while and you have the clarity to figure out the way forward.

Often the quality of the day depends on external situations. For Kat, a freelance visual merchandiser, the first of her ingredients is to have had a good nights’ sleep. And then at work she needs interaction with people and to be involved in an interesting, mind-stretching project. 

As a product marketing manager at Microsoft, Simon needs a blend of exercise; doing deep work first thing; kicking off a new project or event, and leaving on time.

Small changes

Some of the elements in your working day you may have little control over. You probably won’t get the chance to kick-off a new project every day. And of course, if your work culture revolves around presenteeism, then the option to go offsite and have a session in the Starbucks on the corner is unlikely. But there will be tangible things where you do have control. Doing some exercise, leaving on time and having a chat with a colleague can all be achieved during the 9 to 5.

Pass it on

And when you head-up a team, ask your colleagues: what do they need to bring small but beneficial changes into their working day? What are the step changes in habits and behaviours most likely to lead to increased productivity, boosted creativity and more joy in carrying out their roles? Perhaps it’s encouraging them to step away from their desks. Or could they liberate time in their calendars for deep work? Or they could think about how they can build more meaningful relationships with colleagues, such as through sharing their stories. The changes can be subtle and flexible. The key is to start the conversation about what small steps can be made. And then get experimenting with how they can redesign their work lives so they work for them.

Let me know how you get on.

[pic above: me leading a walk and talk along the Thames, January 2020]