#ThinkfullyHabit: Bring your whole thinking to work
The moment we get to work we may be tempted to leave behind our non-work experiences. But there’s considerable value in your wider life experiences that could prove insightful when looking for a fresh response to a work challenge.
What if next time you’re faced with a complex issue, you pause and ask yourself: “What could I learn from my own leisure interests to help inspire new ideas?”
“Creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control, but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance-related outcomes.”
WHY?
A 2014 study by Eschleman and colleagues found that creative hobbies may boost work performance.* Many work-related breakthroughs have also come about from people taking ideas and inspirations from one area of life and applying them into their work life – just like the avid bird watcher who took inspiration from the Kingfisher bird to re-design the bullet train to make it quieter, faster and more efficient (find out more with our previous #ThinkfullyHabit – Ask yourself: “Where else have I seen this?”)
And what’s more it doesn’t even need to be an interest or hobby area that’s related to your area of work. In fact, the greater the difference, perhaps the better! Researchers have found that spending time on leisure activities that are totally different from your work activities can particularly boost confidence in job performance. **