Maybe it’s snow on the horizon, road construction, a Facebook data breach, or the story of an abandoned dog, but when you hear bad news on your morning commute, you carry that dark cloud into the office. Not only is that negativity contagious, but it also has an effect on your per-formance.
Listen, we know the news as of late has been, well, less than pleasant. But that doesn’t mean that a certain someone’s latest tweet needs to define your day. It just means you need to find new ways to stay positive.
Since we live to inspire and motivate, here are five ways to stay positive when the news sucks:
Talk About It…
…but only for a few minutes. It is good to discuss current world occurrences and, let’s be honest, the world isn’t always unicorns and waffles. Sometimes you just need to talk about the shitty stuff in order to move on.
Although it’s good to talk about the news, make sure you limit discussions to only a few minutes to avoid negative energy seeping into the office.
Do Something Kind
Did you know it takes five positive comments to outweigh just one negative comment? When you do something kind for a coworker, it can help disperse the dark cloud.
Kind actions often help to improve your mood. So hold the door open, water your coworker’s succulent, or bring in a dozen donuts. (Seriously, is anyone watering the succulents? How long has it been?)
Speak with the Future in Mind
Don’t speak in negative past-tense. Change your verbiage to forward-thinking phrases. If you speak in the past, you’ll stay in the past, and then you become the bad news (to your co-workers, at least).
Circulate Positive News
Share positive events that are happening in your life with each other, or even just share Parks & Rec gifs, memes and video clips. If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, you’re a robot and have a terrible sense of humor.
Every Monday in our morning meeting, we share something fun we did over the weekend, what we are looking forward to and the core value we are going to embody. This keeps the mood positive in the office and keeps us from getting overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done that week.
Take Care of Yourself (and your coworkers!)
Recognize if you are struggling to keep a positive outlook while at work and reach out for help or change up your scenery. Keep an eye on your coworkers. Does someone seem overwhelmed? How can you help them out? Our team prides ourselves on our ability to provide help to others in order to keep a safe, welcoming, and supportive workplace. It is one of our (not-so-secret) keys to success.
Working to create a positive culture is very important to us, and we know how hard it can be to stay positive when the news isn’t. Adopt these five tips into your morning routine at work and get-ting ready to kick the week’s ass. Need more advice on how to create a great culture? Let’s grab a drink (or two) and chat.
