This productivity technique requires no special tools

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

In the spirit of Thanksgiving (and I know, I know, the reality of the history of Thanksgiving is nothing like the meaning we ascribe to it… but that’s a whole other post on a much more serious topic), I was thinking about gratitude.

We know that gratitude increases happiness, and since we know that happy people are more productive, I had a hunch that regularly practicing gratitude might increase productivity,

I started doing a bit of research and it turns out I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about this. Real live researchers have. And, I was right! Gratitude can increase productivity.

Do you want to be happier and more productive, both at work and at home?

Here are a few quick, low effort strategies to get you started practicing gratitude on a regular basis:

• Start a gratitude journal (or list, or doc)

  Each day write down just one thing you are grateful for. Not into “journaling”? Just keep a running note in your phone. This takes as little as 30 seconds per day.

• Practice “three good things”

  By yourself, or with your partner, or your kids, at the end of the day list 3 good things that happened to you, or that you did, today. No matter how small. Sometimes it’s as simple as the fact that you had a tasty sandwich for lunch.

• When you start working each day, think of one reason why you are grateful for your job

  Maybe it’s the people you work with, the interesting projects you get work on, the fact that you still get to work from home or maybe it’s just simply the paycheck it provides. Whatever your reason, work often takes up the lion’s share of our waking hours. So we might as well cultivate some good feelings around it.

I’ll start:

I’m grateful that I get to share my thoughts on how to live a more productive, less stressful life with you! And I’m grateful that my job allows me the opportunity to help people change their relationship with time. Every day.