Day Twenty Seven - Wildcard
It’s estimated that we will spend 92,000 hours at work during our working career.
As we live longer our working careers will elongate as a response. Considering the increase in life expectancy a current fifty-year-old should plan on working at least to sixty-eight to seventy-two years of age1. Ouch! You are probably thinking this is not good news but there is evidence that working extends healthy living, so in other words work is good for you2.
So how might we enjoy ‘work’ more? Researchers have found that when we actively “Job Craft” by customizing our tasks in ways allows us to use our strengths, purpose and passions we feel more in control and satisfied in our work3. Also if you find yourself in a role that you don’t enjoy then “Job Crafting” could re-energize us and make us feel more satisfied.
We can “Job Craft” in three different ways:
Task Crafting - shift the boundaries of work (amount, scope or delivery method) so you can invest more time and energy into tasks that align with our strengths and values.
Relational Crafting – alter the interaction with others to strengthen relationships. This includes those who support and bring out our best but also those who challenge us to think differently.
Cognitive Crafting - change how we think about our work impacts on others which could be narrow (those immediately affected) or broadly (wider society benefit)
So what would you do in your job right now to become a job crafter?
References
1. The New Long Life: a framework for flourishing in a changing world. Scott & Gratton. 2020. p69
2. Association of retirement age with mortality a population based longitudinal study amongst older adults in the USA journal of epidemiology and community health 2016. C.Wu et all
3. Managing Yourself - turn the job you have into the job you want. HBR. A.Wrzesniewski. 2010
Further information
Read – Could job crafting power your career? www.duncanyoung.com/blog
Watch – Turn the Job you have into the job you love. Amy Wrzesniewski.
Listen - Podcast www.michellemcquaid.com
** Disclaimer – Part of the Build Your Ideal Day Program – 30 Day challenge by Duncan Young. All content and media on the Build Your Ideal Day Website is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.
