The Covid 19 pandemic has created an unprecedented mental health crisis, the prolonged uncertainty resulting in periods of ongoing psychological distress. This, coupled with the normal stressors of a job, is resulting in higher rates of burnout and absenteeism within the Australian workforce. While it is normal for people to feel stressed from time to time, people whose exhaustion has reached the point of burnout lose their passion, drive and motivation for their work. Job crafting is a technique that allows you to renew your focus and maintain your passion and wellbeing at work.
Have you found yourself thinking “Thank god it’s Friday” more often? Do you dread the sound of your alarm every morning? Working just to live is not an appealing concept. Being able to create more meaning and fulfilment through work can help increase your wellbeing and decrease psychological distress. But how do we go about it? In her article, What is Job Crafting, Psychologist Catherine Moore explains the theory behind job crafting, and how it can be implemented to increase happiness and wellbeing at work.
Job Crafting
Job crafting is a method of taking proactive steps in order to rethink or redesign our relationship with work, particularly our tasks and perceptions of our job, in order to receive more meaning from our work. The idea is to ‘craft’ yourself a job that you love whilst remaining in the same role. There are three types of job crafting that you can implement in order to tailor your job to your strengths, motives and passion.
Task Crafting
Task crafting is perhaps the most visible of the three types, as it includes actively shaping one’s roles to fit one’s strengths. Task crafting can include changing aspects of how we perform our duties, including adding, removing, or redesigning tasks. Task crafting may also include changing the nature of different responsibilities or dedicating different amounts of time to your tasks. For example, you may allocate yourself half an hour every morning to respond to emails, or set a goal of responding completely and concisely within three sentences in order to free up time for other, more enjoyable tasks. Moore gives the example of a bus driver choosing to provide interesting sight-seeing information and advice in order to enhance tourist’s experiences on their route.
Relationship Crafting
Relationship crafting involves rethinking how you interact with others. It could involve adjusting the type and kinds of engagements you have with people, like actively choosing to work with someone you usually wouldn’t work with on a task, or setting a goal of learning one new fact about a different team member each day. A cashier might try different greetings with the aim of receiving a smile from each customer. Relationship crafting can enrich your interactions with your colleagues and your clients, building connections and engagement within the workplace.
Cognitive Crafting
Cognitive crafting involves reframing how you think about your work, including its purpose and value, or the meaning and fulfillment it can bring to you personally. It’s about changing your mindset about your work in order to enhance the enjoyment you receive from your work. Moore gives the example of a cleaner changing their perception of changing the bed linen in a hotel from a mundane cleaning task to ensuring travellers comfort and enjoyment on their journeys. A retail assistant could shift their focus from paying the bills to the enjoyment they experience from helping a customer find the perfect gift for a loved one.
By taking a proactive stance with your work and implementing a mixture of the above techniques, you can create more meaning and fulfillment in your work, enhancing your psychological wellbeing.
