This article is written by Rell DeShaw, manager working for the Government of Canada

During Covid-19, it seems that everyone is going through their own specific struggle. And with so much adversity, it can be hard to focus on the good things.

Nevertheless, science tells us that being able to feel gratitude is not only good for our overall mood, it also has health benefits, improves resilience and strengthens relationships.

But I also know many people may find it difficult to express or feel gratitude at work. Some people may feel that connecting to emotions like gratitude is too personal in a professional setting. That said, I have found that some personal and shared practices can give me a real lift, even on more difficult days.

“I get to do this”

For starters, I have a few key phrases that I lean on — and you will no doubt find your own.

For an instant perspective shift when I feel frustrated or worn down at work, this phrase helps jolt me back to reality: "I get to do this".

If you are lucky enough to work in a job that you once coveted, I think that we owe it to ourselves to occasionally remind ourselves that, at one point, what we have now was once a faraway goal that we strove towards.

Saying “I get to do this”, helps me travel back in time to when I was holding a seemingly useless degree from a first rate university but couldn’t land a job of any kind. It helps me pivot from that uncertain time back to the present.

If you are sceptical of the benefits of all this, it is more than legitimate. On the other hand, what do you stand to lose by trying it out?

Not only do I have the privilege of serving Canadians in our federal public service in a department with an inspiring mandate, I also have smart, funny and hard-working colleagues.

In a job and career that have encouraged me to keep my foot on the gas, I also try to remind myself to slow down and appreciate the grace and beauty of moments small and large, including praise from a colleague, a product finished before a deadline or landing a new hire.

I also regularly invoke a phrase from Kurt Vonnegut — "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is".

Find your own gratitude practices

Adopting your own gratitude practices is personal, but some things that have worked for me and the people I work with include:

Writing thank-you notes or emails: you get the pleasure of writing the note and the joy of the exchange. For many years I have enjoyed variations of these post-its that are cheap and easily shared around the office.

Taking the time to appreciate what is working well: I would encourage you to experiment with a daily practice to help you express gratitude. For some, this is as simple as taking time to note one thing per day you are grateful for. One of my colleagues put each note on a scrap of paper and put them in a jar to review later for a boost. Others seek out particular guided meditations that focus on gratitude.

I would encourage you to start by experimenting with one exercise in gratitude and see the difference it can make for yourself

In addition, you can incorporate specific tools into your work that build on the positive. A feedback model I have borrowed from coaching training starts with “what worked well” before moving to “even better if”.

If you are a manager, you can bring these principles to bear in your interactions with those who report to you, for instance through using the management model “appreciative inquiry”. You might start with best practices or business lines that are performing well and then seek to build on those for greater success.

Meditation and mindfulness practices: Attention to these practices is becoming more and more common as a workplace tool to help us navigate difficult situations with more equanimity. A number of apps may be helpful — here are my favourites:

  • Buddify: at the basic level, it is a modestly priced one-time purchase (less than $10 USD) with a small but solid selection of short meditations arranged by various helpful themes
  • Headspace: a wide selection of meditations on various themes (for a monthly or annual fee)
  • 10% happier: a wide selection of mediations, including various teachers and themes (for an annual price).

If you are sceptical of the benefits of all this, it is more than legitimate. On the other hand, what do you stand to lose by trying it out? I would encourage you to start by experimenting with one exercise in gratitude and see the difference it can make for yourself. — Rell DeShaw

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