Leadership Blog

The pace of work often feels like an endless flood of tasks and interactions, with no time to pause to acknowledge completion of a thing, other than checking off an item on your to-do list as you move on to the next task. In fact, you probably go through most days without stopping to acknowledge achievement, whether by you or others.

These unacknowledged accomplishments in your busy day are actually opportunities to improve your mood and make better decisions.

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that positive moods can increase our ability to understand the big picture.

“A positive mood enhances efforts to attain future well-being, encourages broader and flexible thinking, and increases openness to information,” write the study’s authors Aparna A. Labroo (University of Chicago) and Vanessa M. Patrick (University of Georgia).

The researchers investigated the scientific basis for the simple practice of surrounding oneself with positive things. The first study presented identical statements to study participants. The statements in each set were preceded by either a smiley face or a frowny face.

“The results revealed that simply associating a smiley with a statement resulted in the statement being construed at a higher, more abstract level.”

In follow-up studies, the authors induced positive and negative moods by asking participants to describe either the happiest or unhappiest days in their lives. They then filled out three different questionnaires to determine the level of abstract versus concrete thinking. All three questionnaires showed that people in a good mood thought more abstractly.

The authors explain that being in a good mood allows people to step back emotionally. “The research demonstrates that by signaling that a situation is benign, a positive mood allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the situation,” the authors write.

“Those in a positive mood not only adopt higher-order future goals and work harder toward attaining them, but also reduce their efforts when goals are proximal or concrete,” they conclude.

How does this apply to our workday? When you finish a task, take 5-10 seconds to positively acknowledge completion (”Hooray! Good Work! Another order complete) – reach around and pat yourself on the back. If you’re a manager, seek out opportunities to acknowledge good work by your team members.

And take a moment at the end of the day to highlight three good things you accomplished during the day. Acknowledging your wins is one way you manage your mood into a more positive space.