Recently, I read an article on moods and how they potentially effect our daily results at Knowledge@Wharton. You might need a free subscription to the site to access the article: “Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Desk: The Effect of Mood on Work Performance.”
The research is interesting, as they investigate how our moods, before we set foot at work, could effect our productivity in the office. The conclusion of the research is as follows:
“Start-of-day positive mood spills over and affects positive employee mood during the day,” … “likewise, start-of-day negative mood spills over and affects negative employee mood during the day,…” “… Last, we show that daily mood at work can influence important work outcomes.”
Though Isaac Newton suggested that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, an action from your environment doesn’t have to result in a specific mood. Yes, maybe the traffic was really horrendous that day. But, don’t we have the choice on how to react? The article reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit featuring “Stuart Smalley” – “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!”
Granted, I do believe everyone deserves to have a ‘bad mood’ day, if they choose to. But, as the article highlights, it would be worthwhile to ask yourself “if today is a good day to have the bad mood”, before you step onto that path.
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