How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life pdfdrive com

Write in longhand.
Take a notebook and pen, and start writing down your
thoughts about the issue. Most of us do this so rarely that it’s a quick way of
getting into a different state of mind and allowing novel connections to form.
Set a timer and write for ten minutes. If you run out of steam, it’s okay—just
ask yourself what else you have to say about the topic, and wait till something
else comes to mind. It always does.
Explain your issue to someone else.
If you’ve spent a while wrestling with
an idea, try explaining what you’re doing to someone else. In software
engineering, this process is sometimes called “rubber ducking” because even
explaining your work to an inanimate object (such as a rubber duck) is a
reliable way of reaching new insight. It works because articulating your
thoughts in conversation activates different neural networks than solo
thinking does. Explaining what you’re doing to someone who’s not an expert
in your field can also require you to use metaphors or examples, which in turn

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can encourage new thoughts.
Map it out.
Create a physical map of the key aspects of the project or
problem you’re working on. Here’s how:
1. On a sticky note, write your central issue in a few words, preferably as a
question (e.g. “How can we launch our new product on time?”).
2. Brainstorm the big factors that affect your issue (e.g. “software bugs,”
“product manufacturing,” “beta test feedback,” “having enough good
programmers”). Write each on a sticky note and paste them around your
central question.
3. Group together any factors that are closely related (e.g. you might create
different clusters for hardware, software, and marketing issues).
4. Then enrich your map. Try these ideas:
a. Look for causal linkages between your ideas, and draw arrows to show
these linkages (e.g. maybe “software bugs” feeds into “customer focus
group feedback”; “having enough good programmers” might affect
“software bugs”).
b. Try some color coding. For example, put a green dot on things that are
currently helping you, and a red one on the factors that are holding you
back.
c. Move anything that seems to be in the wrong place. Fill any obvious
gaps.
5. Step back and look at your map, and notice what’s striking in the patterns
you see. What now seems the most important or interesting thing for you to
address? (In the example I’ve described, I would bet that incentivizing the
best programmers quickly becomes a more obvious priority than it was
before the exercise began.)
Tip:
You can do all of this on a flipchart, or even on a large piece of
regular paper, but you may shift your thinking more if you give yourself
real space to move your notes around, by using a blank wall or a large
whiteboard as a backdrop.