Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

The Interplay Between Job Satisfaction, Focus, and Excellence: Exploring the Impact of Disengagement

 If you are one of those people who are unable to do work without being easily distracted by any little thing including social media, amazon, your phone, outside noise, walks to the kitchen and with an urge also to do something else, or be somewhere else, then you may want to continue reading.

Job satisfaction and passion for what you do play a crucial role in determining an individual's ability to focus and excel in their professional endeavors. There is an intricate relationship between job satisfaction, cognitive focus, and excellence. If you are feeling mediocre or in a place that you feel you have surpassed, it's a sign that you are not displaying your full potential. Some people do not ask themselves why they are where they are. They simply operate and don't feel a desire to leave their comfort zone- because for them, they are okay where/ how they are and their is no dissatisfaction felt or at least not to a level that would push them to move. For those who do wish to continue to grow, a multidisciplinary approach encompassing psychology, cognitive science, and organizational behavior, can help understand why disengagement from a job one dislikes can hinder focus and undermine the attainment of excellence that we strive for. Understanding this is a first step and it takes times.

So, based on the above, job satisfaction is a subjective and complex amalgamation of intrinsic motivation, organizational fit, and personal fulfillment. Your heart is intelligent, and if you are not doing what you really want to do or as well as you could possibly do it, you will experience reduced cognitive focus, and compromised performance excellence in the work that you do. This will lead you to feel that you are not putting all the potential effort in the things you do. 

Cognitive Load and Disengagement:

Cognitive Resources: Engagement in tasks that align with one's interests and values enhances the allocation of cognitive resources. A job that lacks such alignment often necessitates increased cognitive effort, resulting in reduced cognitive bandwidth for focus and creativity.

Disrupted Attention: Job dissatisfaction contributes to cognitive distractions and task-switching, as individuals' minds wander away from the tasks at hand due to a lack of intrinsic motivation and engagement. These people will have serious difficulties focusing for more than brief periods of time, thus accomplishing very little of what they are capable of. 

Motivation and Intrinsic Drive:

The Role of Intrinsic Motivation: Job satisfaction provides a sense of purpose and intrinsic motivation, driving individuals to invest time and effort in their tasks willingly. Conversely, dissatisfaction leads to extrinsically driven performance, which can result in suboptimal outcomes.

Flow State and Excellence: In tasks that align with personal interests and skills, individuals are more likely to experience a "flow" state—an optimal level of challenge and skill that fosters concentration, creativity, and exceptional performance.

Psychological Detriment and Stress:

Emotional  and social Toll: A job one dislikes may result in negative emotional states, including frustration, anxiety, and stress. These emotional burdens not divert cognitive resources away from focus and problem-solving but tend to have a direct effect in the person's environment (being unhappy, dissatisfied, complaining).

Cortisol Impact: Prolonged stress triggered by job dissatisfaction can elevate cortisol levels, impairing cognitive function and decision-making abilities.

Organizational Fit and Goal Alignment:

Values and Beliefs: A lack of alignment between personal values and organizational culture erodes motivation and commitment, preventing individuals from investing wholeheartedly in their roles.

Goal Dissonance: When individual career goals do not align with job responsibilities, individuals may experience a sense of disillusionment, leading to a decreased desire to excel.


Implications for Creativity and Problem-Solving:

Creativity and Innovation: A positive work environment encourages idea generation, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking. Conversely, a job one dislikes stifles creative potential and limits the pursuit of excellence.


Organizational Perspective:

Impact on Employee Performance: Organizations with a disengaged workforce witness decreased productivity, higher turnover rates, and diminished overall performance.

Strategies for Improvement: Employers can foster a culture that values employee well-being, encourages open communication, and promotes job autonomy to enhance job satisfaction and thereby increase focus and excellence.


Conclusion:

The intricate interplay between passion /  job satisfaction, cognitive focus, and excellence underscores the profound impact that job dissatisfaction can have on an individual's performance. Recognizing the significance of job alignment, intrinsic motivation, and psychological well-being can guide individuals and organizations toward fostering an environment that facilitates focus, creativity, and the pursuit of excellence.


Sunday, April 21, 2013

Anything you want



"Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something. Unless you've lived so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case you failed by default.

 J.K. Rowling - Harvard Speech 2008

Monday, March 5, 2012

Acceptance

































How many times do we expect from another person to be something that they’re not? How often are we dissatisfied because of things that we have not been able to get or achieve? How often does life pass us by, while we are upset because we’d like for things to be different?

It’s not about losing hope or settling for less than our dreams. Comfort and gratitude are good states unless they prevent you from reaching your full potential. It’s about acceptance. It’s about understanding that we don’t have control over everything; we can’t live our lives trying to change things or people into what we want them to be. Accepting is understanding that for now, this is the way things are. At least for now. At this moment in time.

Sometimes, the best you can do is do everything that you can and then simply wait. To accept does not mean that you have to change your plans, it means that sometimes when you stop being so controlling and just let things flow, there is a bigger chance of things flowing in the direction that you want. 

To accept is to live in accordance with your own being. It’s about having the courage of living your own life, and not subordinating yourself to someone else’s plans. Often, the fear of being “excluded” can lead to adapting our wishes, expectations or decisions to those expectations from who we want a (false) acceptance.

To accept is a commitment to ourselves; to be honest about the way WE feel and think.

The theory of acceptance invites us to live our lives now, without travelling to the past or the future, so that we don’t lose focus. To accept is to be in touch with reality, with the present time, with what is happening here and now.

It’s liberating to think that once we stop being a fighting force and let things flow more naturally with what we have, we will breathe new airs, without leaving everything to the whims of uncertain times. After the rain, the sun always shines. If it’s raining today, try walking in the rain.



Extract from an article I read yesterday.
Source: LNR
This article is written by Jose Antonio García Higuera, a psychologist from Spain.
Translation: Michelle Cameron
Photo courtesy: Vogue UK

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Thirty Something



















You know that song "Paradise" by Coldplay? there is a part that says: "life goes on, it gets so heavy..."

After thirty, people start to have issues. Not that we don't have them before but when we're twenty, for example, who cares if we screw up? I mean isn't that what young people do? At thirty, however, it's a different story and we become more demanding of ourselves. We expect something more from our lives.

Deep conversations with people in their thirties, friends mostly, have led me to realise the diversity of needs and wishes that people have:

- Some are looking for a partner.

- Some people want to quit their jobs and get a ticket to go see the world.

- Some are looking for a job (or a better job)

- Some are looking for a new apartment or house.

- Some want a husband who is more connected to the family.

- Some people want to make more money.

- Others want a divorce.

- Some people want kids.

- Some people want to fall in love with their partner all over again.

- Some men want their wives to work or study or just do something different than spend all day with the kids.

- Some want to have sex with their wives again.

- Some people don't know what they want.


Those are just some examples, but the important thing, I think, is to not feel alone in whatever your "search" is. Just remember that there are many people in their thirties with issues just like you. Remember also, that there is a direct link between how we see the world, the actions we take and the results we get.

Once we understand this, we are free to make the change or changes that will bring us closer to our truest wishes and needs.