3 Reasons Why We’re All Loafing At Work–And What To Do About It

Fast Company:

To hear Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant tell it, at-work freeloading is a heady cocktail: a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, of internal motivation and social obligation–or a lack thereof.

The best ways to cure loafing, then, active those languid, latent energies.

But we must make one caveat: that loafing or slacking can be easily conflated with what we’ve taken to calling negative space, that is, the not-doing that is crucial to doing your best work. How so?

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Folks slack off when they don’t think their work matters–a lack of intrinsic motivation that is also a symptom of burnout, the ultimate bugbear of productivity and at-work wellness. But when they see that their work is important, they work harder and smarter, Grant says.

Read the whole story: Fast Company