Why the Small Stuff Matters in the Great Reshuffle

Back in early 2021,?research by Microsoft WorkLab found something remarkable:?a whopping 41 percent of the global workforce said they were considering leaving their current employer within the next year. It sounded extreme at the time, but it’s broadly how things have turned out.?The US?has seen record-breaking monthly rates of resignations throughout the spring and summer. Vacancies?in the UK?are at an all-time high.?Workplace upheaval looks different across the globe - in some places it's more about unemployment than resignations. But it's clear that a Great Reshuffle of jobs is happening everywhere.

So wherever you live, there’s a good chance that the past year has seen you rethinking your work in some way. At the very least, you may be wondering “what next?” Time to learn new skills? Find a new project? Look for a new job? A better employer? Or even a new career??

Don't forget to sweat the small stuff

As you consider big changes in your working life, I’d argue there are two reasons it’s a perfect time to also examine the small stuff – by which I mean your everyday habits in how you organize and energize yourself.

First, as mindfulness master Jon Kabat-Zinn put it, “wherever you go, there you are.” Whatever you do next career-wise, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll simply take your current habits with you - unless you decide otherwise. If you’ve failed to set boundaries for yourself in the past, say, you may let yourself be overworked again in future. If you’ve not tended to challenge difficult colleagues in the past, you might repeat the pattern elsewhere. Changing jobs might unlock something amazing for you - but to make the most of it you might also need to make sure you're not smuggling the old you into the new world.

Second, research suggests a point of inflection in your career may be just the right time to review your personal practices.?Research by psychologist Katy Milkman?and colleagues found that we’re more likely to make new habits stick whenever we have the sense of a “fresh start.”?When you show up for the first time in a new role or with a new team, the feeling of a blank slate makes it easier to tell yourself "this is how I work now" - whether it's a new way of speaking up in a meeting, a new way of making time to recharge during the day, or a new way of closing off each workday. I've seen this play out beautifully with professionals I coach, as they use the power of starting something new to adopt a new habit.?

A fresh start for more great days

So if you’re setting out on a different path, or even just pondering the possibility, seize the chance to reinvent yourself and lay down some new ground rules. What priorities do you want to set for your attention and your time? What can you do to manage your workload better? How can you more effectively raise concerns with colleagues as needed? How might you stay calmer when something annoys you? How do you manage your energy to make the whole thing feel like less of a grind?

No job is free of constraints, of course. But if you set some conscious goals for yourself, you’re far more likely to achieve the daily routine you really want.

Postscript: A helping hand

If you like the idea of getting your daily habits tuned up so that you’re better equipped to handle whatever you take on next, you may be interested in my new LinkedIn Learning course:?How To Have A Great Day At Work with Caroline Webb, based on my two decades of work using evidence-based techniques to help professionals thrive. I’ll walk you through a system of science-based tips to help you bring the greatness out of every single day, with a proven toolkit for topping up your performance and wellbeing at work.

Among other things, I’ll explain: how to take ownership of where your attention goes; which kinds of goals are most likely to boost your productivity; some go-to techniques for skillfully managing difficult and delicate interactions; how to see a way forward when you're facing a complex problem; how to stay energized and focused throughout a long day; how to convey confidence when you most need it; and how best to end the day on a high. These and the other techniques I'll cover take only seconds to put into practice, yet small tweaks like these can add up to big effects in how we feel about ourselves and our work.

So take a moment to take stock of how you’re managing yourself from day to day, wherever you're at in the Great Reshuffle. If you're staying in your current job, reinvigorating your daily routine will help you make the most of the role you're in. If you’re trying to decide what you do next, you’ll make better choices if you've first done some work to get yourself to a more centered state of mind. And if you decide to make the leap into a big new career adventure, you'll be taking the opportunity to set forth the very best version of yourself. Whichever your path, here's to you having many more great days ahead.

How To Have A Great Day At Work with Caroline Webb can be found on LinkedIn Learning at:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/learning/how-to-have-a-great-day-at-work-with-caroline-webb