As humans, we can’t assist but be goal-oriented. We love to move forward. We love to feel a knowlege of momentum. And, more than anything, we love to tick things off a list or outside a list.
The complexion is a happy-making hit of dopamine that we get whenever we recognize a task as complete. And because we are hard-wired to crave completion, there are few things that keep us more engaged at work—and in life—than feeling a sense of progress.
In a fascinating study, Harvard researcher Teresa Amabile tracked emotions, motivations and perceptions of 238 knowledge workers over the course of 4 months, ultimately collecting over 12,000 diary entries. The results were unequivocal.
Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.
Making progress in meaningful work is the key to staying engaged.
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As the notes, progress doesn’t necessarily mean great, bounding leaps forward–in fact, it usually doesn’t. A palpable sense of progress typically emerges from studiously tracking our “small wins.”
When we think about progress, we often imagine how good it feels to achieve a long-term goal or experience a major breakthrough. These big wins are great—but they are relatively rare. The good news is that even small wins can boost inner work life tremendously. Many of the progress events our research participants reported represented only minor steps forward. Yet they often evoked outsize positive reactions. Consider this diary entry from a programmer in a high-tech company, which was accompanied by very positive self-ratings of her emotions, motivations, and perceptions that day: “I figured out why something was not working correctly. I felt relieved and happy because this was a minor milestone for me.”
However, if you want to feel progress, you have to track it. Most of us make advances small and large every single day, but we fail to notice them because we lack a method for acknowledging our progress. This is a huge loss.
A pervasive sense of overwhelm is common these days. We feel like we have too many things to do, and not enough time to do them. We work tirelessly but rarely feel like we’re accomplishing anything of import. What’s wrong?
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