Lean Back: Why Doing Less Could Lead Us to Achieve More

To propel our careers forward, we ’re told we must ‘lean in’, enduring short-term pain for long-term gain, but what if we’ve got it backwards? What if the pursuit of happiness – and that elusive word ‘balance’ – is vital to career success, rather than the other way around?“It’s a misconception that success means sacrifice; new research suggests we work more effectively, creatively and collaboratively when we’re happy at work,” says Jill Donahue, President of EngageRx and Founder ofpatient-centricity group the Aurora Project. “Investing in our personal happiness can be the ultimate productivity booster that can see us forge ahead at work with dramatic benefits for employers, employees and the bottom line.”In a recent study,happiness led to a 12% spike in productivity, while unhappy workers were 10% less productive. “We find that human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity,” said theresearch team led by Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at Warwick Business School. “Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings.”It ’s not just about productivity, says Gretchen Rubin, author ofThe Happiness Project. “Happy people work more hours each week – and they work more in their free time, too. They tend to be more co-operative, less self-centered, and more willing to help other people – say, by sharing information or pitching in to help a colleague – and then, because they’ve helped others, oth ers tend t...
Source: EyeForPharma - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news