How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond

by Caroline Webb

spot when our own brain is in defensive mode.

reward system constantly scans the environment for potential treats—including not only primal rewards

sends us chasing after it like a Labrador retriever after a tennis ball, by releasing neurochemicals (including dopamine and endorphins)

an anticipatory, exploratory mental state. This is what I call discovery mode.

handle them better.

Humor,

shared humor is powerful is that it tends to make us feel more connected to other people.

sense of autonomy and personal competence is profoundly motivating.

learn new and interesting things—

Things to know about the discover-defend axis:

THEME 3: THE MIND-BODY LOOP

investing in exercise and sleep, or even from taking a moment to breathe deeply, smile broadly, and stand a little taller.

mindfulness can be simply an attitude, one where you slow down and “notice new things” in whatever you’re doing throughout the day.

Things to remember about the mind-body loop:

Priorities Setting Intentional Direction for Your Day

our priorities and assumptions determine our perceptions

setting the right kind of goals not only reliably lifts our performance but also makes us feel good.

what we imagine in our mind’s eye can shape our real...

setting intentions,

if we’ve got a task that we’re consciously prioritizing, our automatic system will make sure we see anything directly relevant to that specific task, and it will tend to blank out anything that seems off topic.

SET YOUR INTENTIONS, SET YOUR FILTERS

we miss a big opportunity if we simply let the day happen to

tweak the way our working hours feel, by being more deliberate in setting our perceptual filters.

Aim:

Attitude:

Attention:

before the day gets under way, either in the morning or even the night before.

visual map of things that were important for me.

throughout the day, he makes a point of recalling his intentions, to help him stay on track.

Make Your Intentions Positive

articulate a more generous intention that speaks to the bigger picture. Ask

yourself what you really want to achieve.

CHECK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS

confirmation bias,

notice whenever we’re feeling strongly attached to some negative expectations about a situation or a person, and recognize that our attachment may cause us to filter out

any evidence to the contrary.

sign that you may be falling victim to confirmation bias is when you catch yourself using what I call absolute language: words like “never,” “always,” “completely,” “totally,” “absolutely,” or “definitely,” perhaps with a dash of “terrible” or “awful.”

assumptions

confirm

challenge

counterevidence

think ahead to the most demanding task of the next day.

get out of the habit of assuming ill intent.

CHOOSING YOUR FILTERS

Aim:

Attitude:

Assumptions:

Attention:

SET BEHAVIORAL GOALS TO SUPPORT YOUR INTENTIONS

Personally: What can I shift in my own behavior