Workplace
Ruminations
|
August,
2008 |
 Have
you ever changed offices and discovered that your
trash can is now on "the other" side
of your chair? How many times did you go to throw
something away and catch yourself – or actually
throw it into the non-existent trash can –
before you made a change? Isn’t it interesting
that you have two options here – move the
trash can to the side that you are used to having
it on or change your habit? Chances are, you can’t
move the trash can because there isn’t room
on that side, so it needs to stay where it is.
Therefore, you will adjust your behavior.
Depending on what expert you listen to, it takes
anywhere from 21 to 30 days to create a new habit.
Now, with the trash can scenario, there are two
factors to consider, our habit and our environment.
"Although people like to think they are in
control of what they do, almost half of human
behavior takes place in the same location pretty
much every day and comes to be cued by that environment",
said Wendy Wood, psychology and neuroscience professor
at James B. Duke University.
"Many of our repeated behaviors are cued
by everyday environments, even though people think
they’re making choices all the time,"
she says. Woods goes on to say, "The implication
for people trying to stop bad habits or develop
new ones is that they should pay attention to
their environment in order to sustain a new behavior
over time".
We are very capable of developing new routines
or habits. Whether it’s eating right, exercising
or creating a productive work environment, we
can do it. A key to your success is to have your
environment support your habits. Do you have the
right cues in your office?
Click
here for more information on the Wendy Wood,
Duke University study.
| Productivity
Pointer
Even Mother Nature
clears things out from time to time. That’s
what a forest fire does, clears out the
old making room for the new. The same can
happen in your work eco-system. Take a morning,
an afternoon, or even a full day and clean
out! Turn it into an office-wide event,
make it fun. Information is meant to flow.
When information stops flowing, it builds
up. When it builds up, it blocks. When it
blocks, it’s hard for us to make progress
and frustration sets in. So, clean out,
discard, unblock, and enjoy the flow of
information once again.
|
 Learning
Opportunities
Isn’t
it interesting that even as adults, thoughts of
learning accompany the arrival of September? It
must be that back-to-school feeling. So satisfy
that urge to learn and join us for our Paths
to Productivity Workshop.
Looking for the right cues to enhance your work
environment and support your habits? You’ll
find them at the Path to Productivity Workshop!
We
make the world we live in and shape our
own environment.
~Orison Sweet Marden
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