Great Days at Work: How Positive Psychology Can Transform Your Working Life

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Great Days at Work will enable you to become more enthusiastic at work, feel more positive and work more effectively with others. Drawing on the latest insights from positive psychology, and based on hard business results, it outlines the practical day-to-day changes you can make immediately for instant benefit, as well as helping you develop a longer term strategy that means you'll get more out of work. This easily applicable book reveals how to develop an effective perspective on time, embed productive new habits, gain a clear sense of self and build better working relationships. As a result you will make a bigger contribution to your organization, as well as feel more engaged, satisfied and in control of your own work and career. Discover how to have a great day at work, every day!

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. ix)
• Acknowledgments (p. xii)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• 1 The great days framework (p. 11)
• The great days framework - at a glance (p. 12)
• Overview (p. 13)
• Part 1 Take Control of Now (p. 23)
• 2 Change - adapt to thrive (p. 25)
• Brains change (p. 26)
• Is your brain wired for growth? (p. 26)
• Typical stages of change (p. 40)
• Summary (p. 46)
• 3 Personal responsibility and choice - cutting your own path (p. 47)
• Circle of control (p. 47)
• Mustering determination (p. 53)
• Being in control (p. 54)
• Choice (p. 55)
• Summary (p. 65)
• Part 2 Create a Better Future (p. 67)
• 4 Vision - the first step in bringing your desired future into reality (p. 69)
• Why set long-range goals when who knows what's round the corner? (p. 71)
• Summary (p. 96)
• Part 3 Power Tools for a Better Work Life (p. 99)
• 5 Time travel - time perspectives to increase your well-being (p. 101)
• Overview of time perspectives (p. 104)
• Which perspective do you use and which is best? (p. 107)
• Making changes to your time perspective (p. 108)
• Present (p. 108)
• Past (p. 116)
• Past negative (p. 117)
• Past positive (p. 122)
• Future (p. 127)
• Summary (p. 135)
• 6 Emotions at work - focusing on useful emotions (p. 137)
• A range of emotions (p. 139)
• Not all emotions are authentic (p. 139)
• Increasing positive authentic emotions (p. 142)
• Summary (p. 150)
• 7 Goals - the engine room powering success (p. 151)
• Goal setting (p. 152)
• SMART goals (p. 154)
• Summary (p. 159)
• 8 Working habits - creating habits that support you (p. 161)
• Automate these things (p. 162)
• What does the research say? (p. 164)
• Paying attention or focus (p. 165)
• Decision making (p. 169)
• Summary (p. 171)
• 9 Self-mastery - maximizing your well-being and overcoming obstacles (p. 173)
• Physiology (p. 174)
• Dealing with obstacles (p. 182)
• A sense of perspective (p. 190)
• Summary (p. 192)
• Part 4 The Art and Science of Communications (p. 193)
• 10 Working with others (p. 195)
• What do relationships give you? (p. 197)
• Developing supportive relationships (p. 198)
• Assertive communications (p. 203)
• Summary (p. 217)
• 11 High-performing teams (p. 219)
• Stages of a team (p. 221)
• What does the research say? (p. 223)
• How can you apply the research to your team? (p. 226)
• What's stopping you? (p. 227)
• Summary (p. 228)
• 12 Negotiation (p. 229)
• Practical tools (p. 230)
• What does the research say? (p. 237)
• Summary (p. 238)
• References (p. 239)
• Index (p. 247)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Hazelton (a coaching and training consultant) presents strategies to assist workers in improving their effectiveness and satisfaction on the job, based on many of the findings from positive psychology. She also draws on psychological research from the 1980s through the present to show what people can learn from varied schools of thought, such as transactional analysis, consumer economics, and behavioral psychology. She includes the work of contemporary researchers like Dan Ariely and Daniel Pink in her presentation. The book is organized in four parts: "Take Control of Now," "Create a Better Future," "Power Tools for a Better Work Life," and "The Art and Science of Communications." Although Hazelton focuses on techniques for individual growth and development, she also explores the implications of positive psychology on improved teamwork. For example, her survey of research on high-performance teams showed that those teams also rated high on the ratio of positive comments members made to one another. Many of her solutions for individuals call for changing job settings, exploring new activities, and developing more positive communications techniques. The book's strength is in its breadth and practicality. It offers useful information and insights for general audiences, students, and teachers. Summing Up: Recommended. Public, academic, practitioner, and career collections. E. G. Ferris Goodwin College