Nate’s Notes 194: Professor Theresa Glomb | Work Hard, Have Fun, Choose Kind, Be Present

What a great framework Theresa shared for how to make work, and life, good.

To help us work hard, Theresa suggests we “park downhill.” Each day, as we finish work, we can queue up the thing we need to work on first the next day, which can help us hit the ground running.

To help us have fun, we can reflect, each night, on the good things we did at work. The negative tends to be stronger than the positive, but by creating an “I did list” each night, we can improve our mood and even our health.

Third, when we choose kind, and strive to help other people, we boost their mood and our own mood.

And fourth, by being present throughout the day, for example, while walking to a meeting, we not only improve our attention quotient, but also can improve our relationships with others.

Though work can often feel like we’re digging a hole in water, Theresa provides great tools to reframe and restructure our days.

In summary, work hard, have fun, choose kind, be present. All simple ideas. Please take them seriously.

Theresa Glomb Bio:

Theresa Glomb is a business professor at the University of Minnesota. She researches the role of mood at work, and has identified several simple, micro-interventions that can improve our working lives.

Theresa has published her research in top management and psychology journals and been covered in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Huffington Post.

Theresa received a PhD in social, organizational, and individual differences psychology from the University of Illinois and a BA in psychology from DePaul University.

I hope you enjoy learning from Theresa Glomb today.