To combat languishing, identify activities that provide a sense of mindfulness (complete immersion), mastery (feeling of progress), and mattering (feeling you make a difference to others), and then schedule them into your daily calendar.
Instead of treating play, joy, and fun as rewards for finishing tasks, schedule them directly onto your to-do list, recognizing they act as fuel, prevent languishing, and are productive.
Employ contemplative tools and positive psychology principles, such as practicing gratitude, savoring joy, and cultivating compassion, to address acute mental pain, train the mind, and prevent languishing from escalating into more serious challenges.
Reduce the frequency of task switching and checking emails throughout the day to sustain attention on a single task, which is crucial for achieving flow states and improving performance.
When engaged in creative tasks like writing, focus solely on generating content with an open, nonjudgmental mindset, and postpone critical editing and refinement to a separate, later stage to facilitate flow and creativity.
To quickly engage in work and reduce mental static, either make a list of home worries and commit to addressing them later, or list work priorities and verbally give yourself permission to focus on them for the workday.
To drive change for more freedom and flexibility at work, frame the issue as a collective problem (e.g., languishing, burnout, great resignation) and ask your manager for advice on how to address it, making them an advocate rather than an adversary.
Challenge the societal norm of work defining identity and prioritize designing work to fit into your life priorities, rather than fitting life around the demands of work.
Actively seek out experiences of “collective effervescence”—moments of shared energy and purpose with a group, even through casual interactions—as these can lead to group flow, mindfulness, and a sense of mattering, serving as an antidote to languishing.
Recognize that all individuals, including introverts, are energized by social interaction, and actively seek out ways to connect with others to avoid self-isolation and loneliness, even if you are more easily overstimulated.
Shift your perception of rest from passive lounging to active engagement, such as reading, playing cognitively demanding games, or working out, as these activities can be energizing and prevent languishing.
Leaders should advocate for a flexible approach to virtual meeting cameras, using them strategically based on the meeting’s nature and participants, allowing for camera-off periods to reduce fatigue and encourage walking, while still maintaining presence when beneficial.
Turn off your camera during virtual meetings, especially if you are a woman or newcomer, to reduce emotional exhaustion, alleviate pressure about appearance, and improve concentration and engagement.
For small group or pair collaborations, consider using audio-only communication, as it can lead to higher collective intelligence and more balanced conversations by encouraging turn-taking and reducing visual distractions.
When trying to understand others’ emotions, focus primarily on their tone of voice, as visual cues like facial expressions and body language can be misleading and distracting, potentially making audio-only interactions more accurate.
For productive and creative teamwork, schedule dedicated periods for deep, independent work, followed by intense, focused “blitzes” of collaboration, rather than constant, low-frequency interaction.
For effective virtual teamwork and to combat languishing, managers should ensure clear goals (what the team is trying to achieve) and clear roles (how individual contributions align with the collective mission).
Recognize that the desire for flexibility extends beyond just where you work; actively seek greater autonomy over when you work, how much you work, who you work with, and what you work on to improve job satisfaction.
Encourage or seek out workplaces that experiment with alternative schedules like four-day workweeks or six-hour workdays, as these can increase productivity and improve quality of life.
If you struggle to commit to a personal habit (like meditation) that only benefits you, find a context where your experience can benefit others or serve a broader purpose, as this external motivation can increase follow-through.
When trying new practices like meditation or therapy, assess their value based on their usefulness and ability to achieve desired outcomes, rather than whether you intrinsically “like” the activity.
Engage in activities with others where you can achieve “collective flow,” creating shared experiences that provide a sense of mattering and meaningful memories.
Before turning on the TV, decide exactly what you want to watch to avoid wasting time channel surfing and to make the activity something to be excited about.
When playing cognitively demanding games like online Scrabble, set a time boundary (e.g., 10-15 minutes) to prevent endless play and subsequent exhaustion.
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