Feeling Frazzled? 8 tips to get back into the flow

Mind full or mindful? Frazzled or “in the flow”? The demands of today’s hyper-connected and “always on” social and work environments certainly contribute to feeling frazzled. Too many interruptions, too much data, being over stimulated and an excessive number of demands all keep your mind racing backwards and forwards, feeling distracted, worried and increasingly stressed. And instead of having a clear focus and getting things done, you can’t seem to get started on your tasks and feel perpetually frazzled…

Now, cast your mind back to a time when you were so engaged in an activity that you lost all sense of time. When you were focused and fully concentrating, firing on al cylinders and forgetting where you were. That’s what’s known as being in the flow; a most productive and creative state of mind that is both exhilarating and satisfying.

Research on flow was pioneered by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of the leaders of the positive psychology movement, who set out to understand the roots of creativity and productivity. He found that we’re most likely to achieve flow when engaged in an activity with the right balance of challenge and skill. That’s when we’re at our best and delivering optimal performance. Being in the flow makes us also more aware; it opens our minds and makes it easier to remember different sorts of information. Making it easier to combine formerly unconnected elements to create something unique or have a “eureka” experience. Being in the flow feels good and makes us feel happy.

How can you get back in the flow and unleash your creativity? Here are 8 tips to help you on your way:

1. Set a goal, one that is clear enough to provide focus but sufficiently open to leave room for free-flowing creativity.
2. Ensure your skills match the challenge of the task. If the task is not challenging enough, you will get bored. If the challenge is too great you will get frustrated.
3. Surround yourself with interesting objects or select an inspiring location to spark your creative thinking.
4. Remove distractions and ensure you can fully concentrate on the task. Put mobile devices on mute and put a “do not disturb” sign on the door.
5. Use your senses, notice your environment, how things look, feel and smell. By letting your senses come alive your mind will open up to new experiences and ideas.
6. Flow feeds happiness and happiness feeds flow. Happiness expends creative thinking and allows you to see new perspectives and associations.
7. Visualize your goal, it will help sculpt your brain’s neural pathways and stimulate a “can do” mindset.
8. Embrace failure, as there is no creativity without failure and in the flow there is always a risk of failure. No guts no glory!

From feeling frazzled to getting back in the flow, looking forward to hearing what works for you!

Wellbeing@work – the human side of business

Wellbeing@work: The Power Of The Heart

How often have you felt or thought something before it happened? Or did you have this gut feeling that  something wasn’t right or that you simply had to do it. No logical explanation, just a powerful feeling. Did you ignore it, or did you trust it?

At work we are used to dealing with facts and figures. If you can’t count it, measure it or explain it logically it is not considered valid.  You think about actions, projects and challenges carefully and make your mind up how to proceed. It’s all very rational. Yet, the decisions you feel are right, are usually right. Whilst the decisions that you forcefully think , may be wrong.  Your mind is a master at finding the right reasons for the wrong actions. In fact, the best decisions are made when not thinking actively. Most “eureka” moments arise when taking a shower, during a walk in the park or riding your bike, moments when you are not thinking actively about the issue at hand. In fact there is also a lot of truth in the expression “let’s sleep on it”, when your mind is at rest you make the best decisions.

I recently watched a very moving documentary called The Power of the Heart , where an interesting experiment demonstrated that the heart can feel what the mind does not know yet. In tests, where volunteers were linked to a heart and brain monitor and shown images that evoke emotional reactions like happiness, fear, joy, sadness, the heart reacted 20 seconds before the images appeared with a 100% accuracy. Your heart knows what is coming, long before your mind does.

Why is this relevant in your work? If you follow your heart and focus on what is important to you personally and what you feel passionate about, it will expand your awareness and it opens up new opportunities. If you learn to listen to your heart and trust your feelings, you‘ll find you’ll be more successful both on a professional and personal level.

Here’s a simple exercise to help you listen to your heart. You need be honest with yourself and write down on a sheet of paper what you would love to do.  Then write down what you are doing today. If you’re doing things that you don’t really like, you will find they are making more demands on yourself than others are really asking. So if there is a big gap, start with small steps to get there.  For instance what can you change immediately to get closer to your ideal role, what behavior or activity could you already start doing now, who could you talk to help you on your journey.

When you put your heart into it, you’ll unlock your true potential.

Wellbeing at Work: The Human Side Of Business.

Happiness Challenge #2 – Think Positive Thoughts

Join the weekly Happiness Challenge and help spread a positive mood!

Happiness Challenge 1 – Give A Compliment

Join the weekly Happiness Challenge and help spread a positive mood!

Happiness is a choice – 7 habits to practice more positivity

According to experts, happiness is a choice and not something that is entirely influenced by external circumstances. By simply decidingto be happy, we can adopt and live a more positive life. It takes just seconds to go from feeling down to feeling good – if you pick the right approach.

Here are some simple, effective ways to achieve instant happiness:

1. Let go and step outside. In the office or at home, problems or dark thoughts can sometimes creep up on you. You can simply step away from them by going outside. Take some deep breaths, enjoy the fresh air and go for a walk to loosen up those tense muscles. Look around with fresh eyes, take in the beauty of the landscape, notice the details and let yourself get inspired by nature. This will increase your levels of serotonin and elevate your mood. As a bonus you may find the answer to the problem that was nagging you!
2. Unplug and enjoy some “me” time. Unplug and switch off regularly from the daily tsunami of information. Reward yourself with a daily dose of “me”–time to meditate, write down your thoughts or listen to some music. Try 30 minutes a day and if you are too busy then you should definitely make it one hour! Meditation helps to promote a positive mindset and as a bonus it lowers your blood pressure.
3. Connect with someone you care about. In today’s hyperconnected world we often work and socialize in virtual communities. Face to face contact, sharing a coffee, or going out for lunch together will lift your mood, as will a shoulder rub or a pat on the back to support a friend or colleague. Or simply stroke a pet, yours or someone else’s. Research has shown that it will stimulate your touch receptors, automatically releasing the feel-good brain chemical oxytocin and at the same time decreasing the stress hormones in your body. For best results, try the power of a good hug.
4. Be thankful and show appreciation. Gratitude can help you focus on the positive aspects of your life. Remind yourself daily of three things to be thankful for – your family, a sunny day or supportive friends. Send a thank you note to someone you care about or get involved in a good cause. Even small acts of kindness such as getting a coffee for your colleague or helping your elderly neighbour can make all the difference. You’ll feel much happier for it.
5. Sing your heart out. Singing and dancing can be an instant, positive mood booster. Singing out loud to your favorite tune in the car, or dancing to music on a night out, naturally lifts our spirits.
6. Dress to impress. Research has shown that casual wear may be comfortable, but to feel good fast you need to make special effort. Choose your favourite outfit for an instant perk-up. Pay attention to the colour you select – red makes you stand out and radiates passion whilst yellow lets you shine and spread a little warmth. Remember, when you look good, you feel great.
7. Smile and laugh out loud. Laughter is the best medicine – it relieves tension and stress and is the best mood booster around. Laughter makes you feel happy and is also very contagious! Nothing to smile about? Try a fake smile. Our brains are hardwired to associate the activation of the face’s “smile muscles” with actual happiness. So when you turn up the corners of your mouth your brain physiology will change and you’ll automatically feel happier.

Choose to be happy, and the great thing is you can start today!

The Economics of Wellbeing at Work

Does employee wellbeing have a direct impact on your organization’s bottom line? Have you ever considered “wellbeing” and “happiness” as important for your business?

Think about it – when employees are ill, don’t show up or don’t perform their best, it lowers productivity and costs money. On the other hand, employees who are fit and engaged are more productive, generate ideas, drive innovation and greatly benefit your organization. Isn’t it time you started to take wellbeing at work seriously?

Happiness drives success

When we launched a company-wide wellbeing@work initiative at Atos around five years ago, many felt cynical about the impact it might have on our business. Most commercial organizations manage through financial performance, where the human aspects of the business are merely a side dish to the overloaded business plate. Employee wellbeing is often viewed as the sole responsibility of the HR department, which makes it easy for everyone to point the finger when staff morale is low and absenteeism figures are on the rise.

Time for a wake up call. Wellbeing and happiness at work are the responsibility of the entire organization. From board members to managers and the employees themselves, everyone has a role to play in turning the workplace into a happy and inspiring environment where everyone can perform their best and enjoy what they do!

If you need convincing that a happy workforce benefits both your top and bottom line, here are a few indicators about happy employees that should cheer you up:

• Increased productivity – they achieve better results
• Higher quality – they care about the quality
• Lower absenteeism – they look forward to going to work
• Less stress and burnout – they cope better with everyday pressures
• Attract the best talent – they like working in a happy environment
• Higher satisfaction – they provide better customer service
• Higher sales – they sell more as their happiness is infectious
• Increased creativity and innovation – they are more creative and enjoy working in diverse teams.

Research conducted for the Science of Happiness by the iOpener Institute in Oxford, UK found amongst 41,000 respondents that a happy worker is a high-performing one. Their research shows that happy employees are “on task” 80% of the time, leaving 20% for chat, connecting with colleagues, coffee moments, disruptive calls and technology or tool breakdowns (down time). However, employees who are unhappy at work spend only 40% of their time on task, which is equivalent to just two days a week. This represents an enormous cost to businesses, particularly when you consider it amounts to a staggering 100 working days a year!

In my next post I will look at key areas that form the foundation of wellbeing at work and sustainable, successful business – encouraging a positive mindset and creating an inspiring work environment based on new styles of leadership, recognition and trust.

“Nicenosity” – it’s cool to be kind in 2015!

Are you a nice person? Would your friends, family and colleagues describe you as “nice”? Moreover, would you like to be considered a nice person and will it bring you any benefits?

There is a lot to be said for being nice. It implies you are amiable, pleasant, refined in manners and language, tactful and caring. Nice certainly isn’t “mediocre”, although amongst the superlatives used in today’s vocabulary – you’re great, the best, amazing – it doesn’t stand out. In fact, it appears rather modest, which happens to be one of the key traits of “nicenosity”.

Nicenosity (nice-nos-ity) – noun: The quality of being nice and kind.

Being nice goes hand in hand with practicing kindness, and that has a multitude of benefits. When we help others and do something nice for someone, it not only has a positive impact on the receiver(s), it also gives your brain a serotonin boost that makes you feel happy and lifts your mood. In fact, us humans are wired for kindness! Research by Emory University neuroscientists James Rilling and Gregory Berns demonstrated through measuring brain activity that helping others brings the same pleasure we get from the gratification of personal desire. When we perform acts of kindness, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust, thereby creating a “warm glow” effect. It also reduces your heart rate and stress levels, and is generally good for your health and wellbeing.

The “halo effect” of nicenosity

But there is more. People that exude “nicenosity” are generally more liked by others and, as such, have a wider and stronger social network. In business this comes in very handy when looking for new opportunities or progressing your career.

Nicenosity has a “halo effect”: when people perceive you as being nice, it also positively colors their perception of the quality of your work. Psychologist Edward Thorndike, who concluded that your impression of someone influences your view of his or her abilities, first coined the term “halo effect” in 1920. Of course, the quality of your work still matters, that goes without saying. But its main benefit is that people view your work more positively and enjoy working with you, making it easier to complete a project or task successfully especially within a team.

Going viral

That brings me nicely to the next key benefit of “nicenosity”: it promotes cooperation and social connection. Nicenosity reciprocates – the more you give, the more you are likely to get back. Sometimes from the person you helped and sometimes further down the line from someone who received consequential benefit. Providing support and help promotes trust and strengthens your ties to others. A study by James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, shows that when one person behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, towards different people. In fact, the researchers found that altruism could spread by three degrees – from person to person to person to person. As a result each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, many of whom he or she does not know and has not met. And the same applies to online networks where nicenosity often goes viral!

How to improve your nicenosity

Whilst you can start being nice on any day of the year, doing so at the beginning of the New Year will likely give you the extra resolution you need to be mindful of your good intentions and consciously improve your nicenosity.

1. Perform acts of kindness – Whether large or small, from providing support to an elderly relative to helping a colleague with a difficult task, the effects of kind acts can be profound both on you and the recipient. Researchers believe performing acts of kindness increases your happiness because it makes you think better of yourself and you become more aware of positive social interactions. It is important to be mindful of your activities as being (too) busy can often be a barrier to kindness. Pick a day during the week to consciously make the effort to perform 5 different acts of kindness and write them down in your journal.
2. Think kind thoughts – Our minds like to wander and we are often quick to judge. Do you see things clearly as they really are or is what you perceive heavily filtered by your own thoughts and preconceptions? Be mindful of your thoughts, clean your “lens” and free yourself from ingrained, automatic patterns. You may not be able to change your situation, but you can change the way you view and act upon it. Think kindly of your colleagues and friends to put yourself in a positive frame of mind and enable your “halo”.
3. Speak kind words – It’s easy to speak kind words and, sometimes, it can be as simple as saying “hello”. We are often quick to criticize and like to voice our opinion without listening to others first. Take time to listen and consider others’ opinions. Saying “thank you” or giving praise takes very little effort and can have a much greater positive effect than you imagine. If your responses are carefully considered and you monitor their impact, you’ll notice that kind words spread positivity quickly.

Every day we have opportunities to practice our nicenosity. The more we practice the better we become. Any kind thought, word or act that is intentionally about doing something nice is important, whether it impacts our family, friends, colleagues, our community or the world at large.

It’s nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice. So let’s make 2015 our year of “Nicenosity”!

Wellbeing at work – beyond measurement?

How can we measure wellbeing and happiness at work? Whilst we can all agree that a happy and healthy workforce is invariably more productive, most companies still feel uncomfortable tackling intangible ‘body and mind’ issues, preferring to focus only on tangible facts and performance figures instead.

In my last blog Introducing the Kindness Performance Indicator (KiPI), I questioned whether organizations are measuring the right indicators for business success, as the human side of company operations is often overshadowed by financial and productivity metrics.

From factory thinking to conscious business

Having the right skills and expertise is vital to perform a job well and, for most managers, makes task and man management a straightforward process. If a person has the right skills for the job, the task to be performed can be started immediately and productivity can be translated directly into financial value. Should skill requirements change or evolve, timely training ensures ongoing employability and profitable productivity. In the services business, the term ‘utilization rate’ (billing efficiency of an employee, based on the % of billable hours devided by the hours being recorded) has a strong ‘industrial age’ ring to it and is an indication of how we view and measure employees as production units with pre-determined outputs.

Recent technological advances, resulting in the rise of a mobile workforce and an increasingly connected society, have heralded radical changes in how we work, live and, in many cases, determine ‘success’.  The book Conscious Business by Fred Kofman, provides some very interesting insights and should be a ‘must read’ for all business leaders. According to Kofman: “A conscious business seeks to promote the intelligent pursuit of happiness in all its stakeholders. It produces sustainable, exceptional performance through the solidarity of its community and the dignity of each member. A conscious business fosters personal fulfillment in the individuals, mutual respect in the community and success in the organization. It means finding your passion and expressing your essential values through your work”.  Now that certainly rings true for us all – doesn’t it?

The human side of business

As we enter this new era of always-on, hyper connectivity, it’s time to let go of industrial age thinking, processes and measurements and instead, start to embrace the conscious, human side of business.  This will require focusing on happiness and wellbeing (both mental and physical) to ensure everyone can deliver his or her best and feel engaged. It will need emphatic leaders who can coach their teams to greatness. It will demand diverse teams (gender, age, skills, culture) to collaborate, think outside the box and spark innovation. It will require workspaces to meet, socialize and become inspired. And it will require all of us to behave as responsible corporate citizens, sharing our knowledge and expertise for the greater good.

With an increasingly mobile and remote workforce, trust, empathy and empowerment are a few of the key ingredients that will be instrumental to ensuring future success. An organization’s responsibility to provide the right environment, tools and support for us all to deliver our best will expand to include guidance and support for both our physical and mental wellbeing.

Yearly company survey or real-time self-monitoring?

While organizations may continue to use annual satisfaction surveys as a “thermometer”, regular self-monitoring (e.g. quarterly) and real-time daily “mood” indications that are shared amongst teams are far more effective methods to measure wellbeing and happiness in the workplace. An excellent self-monitoring tool is the free “happiness@work” assessment from Delivering Happiness.  In addition there are handy desktop apps using widgets (e.g. Niko Niko) that check how you are feeling on a daily basis, with the option to share it anonymously with your team or “named”, including a comment, with your manager. Such tools are becoming increasingly popular to ensure good morale among team members and thereby boost innovation and productivity.

Whatever measurement, monitoring or assessment tool you choose, the discipline of follow up, identification of issues and making things right determine the success of these measurements.

What are your views on self-monitoring and regular happiness measurements to help improve your wellbeing at work?

The Human Side of Business

We are very good at working with numbers; they form the universal language that translates into business failure or success. In fact, everything of value, whether tangible or intangible, is translated into figures to enable us to gauge our business performance. It’s a straightforward method of measuring, monitoring and improving our business operations and, as we all know, what get’s measured gets done – a mantra that most leaders recognize and deploy on a daily basis.

But are we measuring the right things? Do our increasingly connected and collaborative business networks require new ways to measure success? As knowledge and data rapidly become a powerful new business currency and social connectivity becomes the latest engagement model, it’s time for us all to focus on our most important asset – our people.

Corporate performance measurement has barely changed since the industrial revolution, when the ‘organization as a machine’ metaphor played a major role in driving improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. The result was an organizational management model based on mechanistic, command-and-control thinking, that was driven by individual assessments, financial indicators and performance-driven remuneration arrangements. Performance management improved greatly in the 1960’s with the introduction of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) – originated by McKinsey – to identify and measure those aspects of a business that determine its success. Choosing the right KPIs relies on what is important to each organization and, to date, most companies continue to focus almost exclusively on their financial KPIs.

Having a clear view of your company’s financial performance is vital, as good financial health is critical to ensuring sustainable business growth. However, a radical rethink will be required to remain successful in the future and thrive in the emerging “everything is connected” era. As disruptive technology profoundly changes the way we work and do business, the current metrics will no longer be adequate. Social business networks, remote working, mobile devices all enable us to work anytime, anywhere from any device. Gone are the days when productivity was measured by the number of hours spent in the office under direct supervision of a manager.

Introducing the Kindness Performance Indicator (KiPI). Ever since the start of the industrial revolution, employees have been viewed as production units. The terms FTE, headcount and human resources, all reflect that ‘mechanical’, and still very industrial view. Productive workforces are essential for any organization to be successful and, historically, a lot of effort was put into ‘time and motion’ studies in order to become more efficient, cost effective and competitive. In modern business we can look to today’s Lean and Six Sigma programs to optimize processes and activities. Are they bringing us the results we are looking for? Not entirely.

Now let’s consider adding the human element, perhaps better referred to as the ‘social’ aspect. We can all acknowledge that a happy employee is generally more productive and engaged. If this sounds simple, you’re right, it is. Empathy, kindness, attention, appreciation and valuing an employee’s contribution are all ‘free’ management tools that make the difference between a bad employer and a great place to work where every employee’s wellbeing is important. We know these qualities and management principles instinctively and yet we rarely think to apply them. “I’ve no time, I’m too busy, and… it’s not on my bonus scorecard”. It seems we’ve come full circle. To incorporate these principles we need to redesign the way we measure performance and success using the established KPI model.

So let’s look at introducing a Kindness Performance Indicator (KiPI) – a method of measuring and improving the wellbeing and happiness of employees within an enterprise. Consider it as a way of placing the human side of our businesses at the forefront of our business operations. After all, it is not success that drives happiness, but happiness that drives success!

In my next blog I will explain how kindness can improve happiness and wellbeing at work, resulting in a connected workforce that is more engaged and productive.

What do you think the metrics should be for the KiPI?

Wellbeing@work – the human side of business.

The Power Of Positivity

“The Mind is everything. What you think you become” – Buddha

Positivity always has a payoff. How? A positive attitude not only brings you health benefits, it opens your mind to new opportunities, broadens your network and, ultimately, makes you more successful.

Whilst we sense that being positive is good for us, the science of positive psychology and happiness proves that we benefit greatly by viewing the glass as half full. According to psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, a leading researcher in this field, positive emotions are more than just fleeting, frivolous sensations; instead, they can profoundly change our minds and bodies, provide new perspectives and making us more resilient to setbacks.

Being positive makes you more successful

A positive attitude opens your mind and broadens your awareness. When we experience positive emotions, we are able to see the bigger picture as it increases our peripheral vision and helps us to become more aware of different possibilities. This widening of awareness is directly linked to greater creativity. It helps us find solutions faster, develop new ideas and think outside the box.

Furthermore, positive thinking improves your performance. Studies show that if you’re feeling happy at work, others will judge your work to be more innovative and your supervisor will rate the quality of your work more highly. It was also found that managers who cultivate happiness and connection find that team members are more productive, creative, engaged and have better health profiles.

It is no surprise then that positive people are great to be around, particularly in the work place. They are perceived as more trustworthy and intelligent as well as less selfish. As a result they’re likely to have a wider network within the company than their colleagues and, as team players, they can always count on their support and cooperation. Tasks are performed faster, projects completed more quickly and creative solutions are discovered with ease making them more successful as a result.

Think positive and positive things happen

Positive thinking doesn’t mean ignoring unpleasant or difficult situations. It simply means approaching them in a more positive and productive way. Happiness is a choice. You may not be able to change your current situation but you can change the way you view and respond to it.

Can you turn a negative attitude into positive thinking? Yes, anyone can do it but it does take time and practice. A good start is to surround yourself with positive people who provide you with support and encouragement. Wear a smile and you’ll soon find that it’s contagious! Last but not least, be kind to yourself. Remind yourself of your good qualities: your strengths, interests, skills and activities. Want to know more about the power of positive thinking? Why not take a look at the following recently published article from the Mayo Clinic or the publications from the Greater Good Science Center.

Let’s get positive. 

Positivity at work pays dividends. Here is a simple exercise that’s really worth trying: if you are facing a difficult task, try recalling a positive memory just before you engage with it. This broadens your awareness and will make the task easier.