How does gratitude show up for you at work?
Is it something you even think about?
You might feel grateful and express gratitude all the time while you’re working. But things are so busy; you probably don’t have time to really pause and reflect on that “I’m grateful for this person/opportunity/moment” feeling for long.
Now’s a great time to talk about gratitude, and not because of Thanksgiving. It’s because we’re in a really tense and stressful time of year right now. And the transition through the holidays and into next year is only going to bring more stress.
If you’re anxious and overwhelmed, you need to avail yourself of as many strategies as you can to manage that stress and make space for joy and peace. Just as we talked about the “what went well” exercise in a recent blog, cultivating gratitude can be another one of those stress-soothing strategies.
Strategies that help you manage stress are inherently good for time management and productivity.
You’re so much better equipped to excel at whatever you’re doing when you feel good. When things don’t go well, practicing gratitude can soften the blow and shift your perspective, if necessary. Stopping to do a quick gratitude exercise could help you return to the task in front of you with a renewed sense of motivation.
There’s research to back up the idea that gratitude can be good for productivity. Here’s one example: in a Wharton study, university fundraisers were broken into two groups. The director of their department gave a speech to just one of the groups, telling them she was grateful to them. That group made 50% more fundraising calls than the other group that week.
It’s an example of a pretty simple principle: feeling appreciated is strong motivation to do your best work.
And if you’re self-employed, and don’t have a boss to give you a gratitude pep talk?
Deliver your own pep talk. A beautiful thing about thankfulness is that it can be totally self-directed. Appreciation for yourself is always within reach, even when things aren’t going well. You don’t need anyone’s input or to justify the things you’re grateful for to anyone. Simply give yourself permission to practice gratitude whenever you want, in whatever way works for you.
3 Ideas For Practicing Gratitude (That Are Also Good For Time Management and Productivity)
1. Build Time For Expressing Gratitude Into Your Schedule
Sharing messages of thankfulness with your team, clients, mentors and other valued people in your network is a win-win. You get the feel-good boost from making someone else feel good. Whoever receives your message gets their own little boost of motivation. And it can take just minutes to send out a little “hey, thanks for XYZ” message to someone.
It’s the time management piece that’s the challenge, right? Things just get so busy that you don’t get a chance to think about sending those non-essential messages. So, the solution is building gratitude into your time management plans. It could be a 10-minute period you block out at the beginning of every Monday morning or the end of every Friday, to send out some emails to people thanking them for their help the week before. Or a designated “gratitude day” once a month. Just think about how you’d like to express thankfulness to the people around you, and hold some time in your calendar to do that.
2. Maintain a Visual, a Tangible Collection of Gratitude Expressions You’ve Received
Create folders to save emails, texts and voicemails with compliments or other nice messages that other people have shared with you over the years. Save notes, letters, photos and other mementos that make you feel appreciated and remind you of the things you’re thankful for. Keep them collected somewhere that you can easily flip through these items whenever you’re feeling down.
3. Track Your Gratitude
Some people maintain a gratitude journal, or a running gratitude list. You could jot things you’re grateful for on Post-Its and stick them all over your workspace. Of course, there are also plenty of gratitude apps these days. Whatever works for you. The goal is to be reminded of the things you’re grateful for without having to go digging through your memory. When you’re overwhelmed and struggling with productivity and motivation, you can take some deep breaths and run your eyes over a few dozen things that fill you with gratitude. Your pet. Your health. The freedoms that you enjoy from being self-employed, despite the challenges. Your comfortable chair and warm office. Anything you’re grateful for. Once you start listing them, you can’t help but notice how many things you have to be thankful for.
Need More Support With Time Management and Productivity?
In stressful times, you deserve all the support you can get to stay productive and grow your business, while maintaining your peace. Taking control of your time helps everything else feel easier. You’re able to prioritize and use your time on the most important things – both in your business and on the personal side. I can help; reach out anytime to talk about how.
Realtors, I’m offering a free training just for you! Join me on December 5th at noon ET for Year-End Time Management Strategies for Realtors. Create the structure you need now so you can move through the holiday season and into next year with minimal stress and maximum efficiency. Next year should be your most lucrative year yet—now’s the time to get strategies in place to make that happen. Click here to reserve your spot in this free training!
- Could Practicing Gratitude Improve Your Time Management and Productivity? - November 26, 2024
- Try This Exercise for Better Productivity, Less Anxiety and More Peace - November 15, 2024
- Anxious About Preparing for Year-End? Don’t Let Fear Derail Productivity - October 30, 2024
