In This Episode

Wisdom Labs’ CEO Cory Smith and Christine Carter, PhD sociologist and happiness expert, take a deep dive into happiness at work. Christine shares how being busy doesn’t equate to productivity, or importance, and that your brain needs periods of rest to function at its highest level—it turns out that being able to “strategically slack off” is the secret sauce for workplace excellence. Other topics include; the stress that comes with handheld technology, learning to find balance in life with small shifts, seeing obstacles as necessary challenges, cultivating meaningful relationships at work, and the need to stop “shoulding yourself” — according to Christine, you are already enough.

Christine Carter, Ph.D., is the author of best-selling books The Sweet Spot: How to Achieve More by Doing Less (2017) and Raising Happiness (2011). A sought-after keynote speaker and coach, Dr. Carter writes an award-winning blog, Brave Over Perfect. She is a sociologist and Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, where she draws on scientific research to help people lead their most meaningful, joyful, and authentic lives.

Links:

• Christine’s website: Brave Over Perfect

Show Notes

• 1:13 – Being Busy Doesn’t Give You Productivity
• 2:09 – The Downside of Always Being “On”
• 3:22 – Your Brain on Busy Vs Your Brain on Rest
• 6:14 – The Outdated Cultural Paradigm of Busyness
• 7:24 – What Creates Value in Your Work?
• 8:05 – Fulfill Your Potential By Strategically Slacking Off
• 8:44 – The Urgency and Stress That Comes with Handheld Technology
• 9:27- The Overwhelm of Busyness and How It Limits Your Ability to Relate
• 9:52 – Finding Balance in Life Through Small Shifts
• 11:17 – Taking Tiny Steps to Create Lasting and Positive Change
• 13:35 – Letting Go of the Fantasy of Perfection with Family and Work Balance
• 14:41 – Stop “Shoulding” Yourself
• 15:33 – Finding the Minimum Effective Dose for All Activities of Your Life
• 19:14 – Resilience and Becoming Aware of Chronic Stress
• 21:10 – Meeting Life Where It Actually Is and Moving Forward from There
• 23:30 – The Freedom of Acceptance
• 24:33 – Grit is Persistence Plus Passion
• 25:11 – Seeing Life’s Inevitable Obstacles As Necessary Challenges
• 26:00 – Your Happiness Is Best Predicted By Your Positive Connections with Other People
• 27:29 – Things to Do While You Are Waiting In Line
• 28:26 – Cultivating Meaningful Relationships At Work to Increase Your Wellbeing
• 30:06 – You Are Already Enough