{"id":21168,"date":"2020-03-09T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T14:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/?p=21168"},"modified":"2020-03-08T22:19:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T03:19:14","slug":"how-authentic-appreciation-can-make-you-less-busy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/how-authentic-appreciation-can-make-you-less-busy\/","title":{"rendered":"How Authentic Appreciation Can Make You Less Busy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eliminate<\/a><\/p>\n

Busyness, especially unnecessary and unproductive busyness, is like the unhealthy rapid growth that can happen in living organisms like plants. Busyness eats up resources (time, energy, money) for activity that may not be healthy for the organization or its members.<\/p>\n

As a psychologist, I\u2019m supposed to know something about behavior change, and how to help people change patterns of behavior and habits. One of the factors that we know improves the likelihood of changing behavior is if the new behavior is closely related to an existing behavior. So, for example, if you want to start an exercise program, you are more likely to be successful if you start doing an exercise that either you have done previously (e.g. jogging) or the new behavior (walking) is close to the previous habit. Therefore, if you were a jogger in the past, you will probably struggle more in trying to start swimming laps.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in the area of appreciation, our goal from the beginning has not been necessarily to create totally new ways of relating to your colleagues, but rather to slightly change what you are already doing in a way that will make it more effective. That is the power of the 5 languages of appreciation. We are able to help supervisors and colleagues identify that actions that actually truly communicate appreciation to each individual colleague instead of trying a shotgun approach where you do one action for everyone.<\/p>\n

Not everyone likes verbal praise. Not everyone wants to spend time with you. Not everyone wants help on tasks. Not everyone wants a gift. And clearly, not everyone wants physical touch in the workplace.<\/p>\n

But employees exist who desire each of the different languages. And when we help individuals who work together find out not only the language of appreciation their co-workers prefer but also the specific actions that make them feel valued, then we can everyone more easily hit the mark. This is better than wasting a lot of time and energy doing all kinds of activities that don\u2019t have any impact on most people.<\/p>\n

As a leader trying to implement change, if you don\u2019t address the issue of busyness up front, you will continually battle resistance from others along the way. But if your audience knows you are aware of the issue, and are trying to help them in ways that will not<\/u> increase their level of busyness, but also potentially decrease<\/u> how busy they are, they will listen to you.<\/p>\n

Our goal is to help supervisors and coworkers distinguish:<\/p>\n