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

4. GIVE YOURSELF A QUICK WIN
We feel good when we achieve a goal we’ve set for ourselves. Each time we tick
a box, our reward system glows with pleasure, which in turn boosts our
motivation to carry on. It can be a great virtuous circle: work, achieve, glow,
push on, work, achieve, glow, et cetera. That’s why some of us will
retrospectively add an achievement to our to-do list, just to experience the
momentary joy that comes from ceremonially crossing it off. And we can use
this insight to manufacture ourselves a quick buzz whenever our morale and
focus are flagging, by choosing a small achievable goal that we can nail with
satisfaction.
Some quick wins are better than others for lifting our spirits. We’re all
familiar with displacement activity, where we avoid something that’s pretty
important in favor of organizing our stationery. These activities give us a small
amount of gratification. But the best small goals are those that help us take baby
steps toward big goals that really mean something to us. That’s clear from the
findings of Harvard’s Teresa Amabile and Stephen Kramer, who conducted a
huge research project to explore the day-to-day experiences of more than two
hundred professionals working at seven companies.
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After diligently working
through twelve thousand days’ worth of data, they concluded: “Of all the things
that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the
single most important is making progress in meaningful work.” So the trick is to:
Pick something that really matters to you.
Ask yourself: “What would be the smallest first step I could take toward that
today?” Perhaps it’s making a phone call, or sending an email.

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Then do it—right now—and cross it off the list with contentment.
5. MAKE TIME FOR HUMAN CONNECTION
Hundreds of studies have compared the levels and causes of well-being reported
by people in different countries, and their findings are clear: money matters, but
not that much. On average, the UN’s 
World Happiness Report
found that income
explains just 2 percent of the differences in overall life satisfaction ratings
between countries, and none of our day-to-day level of happiness.
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What’s far
more important, researchers found, is the quality of people’s relationships. In
fact, using a huge cache of British data, London School of Economics professor
Nattavudh Powdthavee found that meaningful personal interactions with others
had as much impact on well-being as an extra $142,000 of income a year.
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And we don’t always need to chat with our nearest and dearest friends, family,
or co-workers to reap useful social benefits. Even the tiniest sense of connection
with a fellow human being can boost us. Research by Gillian Sandstrom and
Elizabeth Dunn (from the University of Cambridge and the University of British
Columbia, respectively) suggests the importance of what’s known as “weak ties”
with people they refer to as the “minor characters in our daily lives.” They found
that both extroverts 
and
introverts felt happier on days when they had more
interactions, and that interactions with acquaintances—in their experiments,
even something as minimal as a brief friendly exchange with a barista or a
fellow commuter—were almost as powerful a mental boost as interactions with
friends.
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What does that mean for us, practically? I’m not suggesting we should be
chatting with strangers nonstop. But it does help to sustain our energy if we can
make time for some moments of human connection during the day.
Catherine is the director of executive education for a top-flight university and
a self-proclaimed “deep introvert,” but she, too, swears by the importance of
having a little social time in her day. “I came to realize that although I’m not an
extrovert, it’s still a reliable boost for me to have a conversation with someone,”
she says. “So I try to make time to sit with people at lunch. It would be easier to
eat at my desk on my own, but I notice the difference in my energy on days
when I make time for those random, pleasant interactions. I’m much less likely
to have a ‘sense of humor malfunction,’ and the work feels easier.”

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To make sure you don’t run short of social sources of energy, try this each
day:
Take time to connect with someone important to you, even if you do it
remotely and briefly instead of face-to-face. If you’re planning to meet a
friend and you’re considering canceling because of workload, think twice.
Make it short, if you have to, but don’t throw away the opportunity for a
psychological boost that will ultimately make you more productive.
Turn transactions into interactions when dealing with strangers. Instead of
having your eyes glued to your phone as you wordlessly hand over your
money at the register, pause for a second. Smile. Make eye contact. Initiate a
brief exchange with a simple sympathetic comment such as “Looks like a
busy afternoon for you” or “You in for a long day?”
Seek out people who radiate good vibes. I’ve talked previously about how
emotions are contagious. If you’re hitting a low, consider deliberately seeking
out the most optimistic, upbeat person you know, and standing next to that
person for a while.