This Working Life

Our image and expectation of a good leader is changing, and increasingly we’re needing them to use both their head and their heart in making decisions. Dr Kirstin Ferguson argues that the art of this type of leadership is knowing what is needed when. So what does this balancing act really look like? 

Saying "yes" too often can leave you feeling overwhelmed and perhaps a bit resentful. You might hear yourself saying "yes of course I can" when your inner voice is screaming "no!"

So here's how you can say "no" more often at work, without feeling rude. 

We've learned about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and how they can influence each other. But if we go deeper into the heart of motivation, we find its kernel: engagement. So how can we be truly engaged in our work?

Forget what you think you know about motivation. We’ve done the work for you and found some science-based motivation hacks, so you can get the job done and actually enjoy it. We bust some myths and find out what really motivates us - from incentives, to mindsets and increased empathy.

Resolutions don't work. Set goals the right way. For us to really commit to a goal and achieve it, we should ensure we’re making a ‘worthy’ goal. That’s according to author Michael Bungay Stanier who, in his new book How To Begin: Start Doing Something That Matters, gives us nine steps to help us find our worthy goal, commit to it and just begin.

We all know the impact of stress on our minds and bodies. But it turns out that it’s not the stress itself that’s impacting our health - it’s how we think about it.

We hear from people about their experiences of work-related stress and how it impacts them, and our expert panel tell us how to change our stress mindsets so we can harness its power to work and live better.

Mindfulness…being mindful,  meditating, you know it’s good for you, but it just never feels like there’s enough time.  Using meditation to create mindfulness is an ancient practice, and the science backing it has been piling in for years now. But how can we be motivated to make meditation part of our essential routine? How will it actually help our working lives? 

If we confront our regrets and use them as signals, they're a powerful force for working smarter and living better. That’s according to New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink. He’s collected the regrets of thousands of people around the world and discovered what connects us in our regrets, and how we can use them to live and work better. So let go of any shame around your regrets, and learn how to harness their power.

Many of us are enjoying the flexibility of working from home - being able to organise our work time to suit our circadian rhythms, family responsibilities and health. But with this flexibility and freedom, has there been an erosion of the concept of a “work day”?  What boundaries should there be - in law or in your employment agreement?

Feeling a bit brain fried? Fatigued from the year… over stimulated from all that screen time?Maybe you need to head outside...We look at how getting out into the natural world can help you function better in your day to day work life. What’s going on here with our brains, what’s the science behind it?