Finding Meaning in Work
Finding meaning at work can significantly reduce workplace stress by enhancing motivation, engagement, and overall job satisfaction. This requires intentional effort to connect your daily work tasks to a greater purpose that speaks to you.
Here are some strategies for Cultivating Meaning at Work
- Start of by unearthing and defining all the reasons for why you do what you do.
- Reflect on how your work benefits others be it your clients, colleagues, or the society in general.
- Reflect on past instances at work that felt fulfilling to you. Identify the work that makes you content.
- Identify your strengths and skills that you are naturally adept at.
- Write down the principles that guide your decision, e.g. integrity, creativity, fairness etc.
- Write a mission statement based on all these principles that may provide you direction.
- Use this statement to guide your decisions and career progression. Reflect on this statement timely.
- Work-life balance challenges
Focusing on What you Can Control
In order to reduce work place stress and foster greater resilience it is imperative for us to learn to focus our energy on what we can influence rather than on what we can't. The concept of The Circle of Influence, from Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Download Now, is a powerful mechanism for gaining control at work and reducing stress. According to Covey, there are three circles with in which we operate:
Control – Examples
Circle of Concern
Circle of Concern
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Circle of Influence
Circle of Influence
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Circle of Control
Circle of Control
Circle of Control
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Shifting focus from Concern to Influence
Rather than focusing on aspects of work that cannot be directly controlled by you, the effort needs to shift to items that can be directly and indirectly influenced by you. Focus should hence be shifted to the circles of influence and control. Instead of stressing about company-wide changes, office politics and other facets of work life that you cannot change, focus improving within your role, building strong work networks and improving your communication skills.
Practicing Gratitude
Gratitude refers to the act of recognising and appreciating what is meaningful to you even in difficult times. It offers you a way of acknowledging the positive facets of your life, including your achievements, your health, your relationships and the many smaller things that we often take for granted. Research tells us that at work people often tend to focus on the obstacles holding them back instead of the resources enabling them to succeed. Practicing gratitude plays an important role in decreasing workplace stress as it shifts focus from challenges to strengths. Here are strategies by way of which you can practice gratitude in your life:
Maintain a Gratitude Journal
Write down 3 to 5 things or people that you are grateful for every day. This includes the bigger aspects (such as securing a job assignment) and the smaller stuff as well (starting the day with a cup of coffee). This shifts our focus to the positive experiences on offer.
Express Gratitude to Others Write a thoughtful message or note of
appreciation to people that matter to you. This strengthens relationships and encourages others to express appreciation as well thereby cultivating a culture of gratitude.
Reframe Challenges with Gratitude Instead of focusing on what went wrong,
focus on what you can learn from the disconcerting experience. Ask questions such as "what did I learn? How did this challenge allow me to grow?"
Gratitude Prompts
If you struggle to find things to be grateful for in your present circumstances, use simple gratitude prompts.
We have Examples:
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