Let’s take a trip down memory lane: think of a time when you were at your happiest and most productive at work.

  • What were you doing?
  • What was surrounding you?
  • Who was with you?
  • What were you thinking and feeling?

Focusing on moments like this, and recording your thoughts, can be the first step in understanding what you want and need out of your job.

That, in turn, can shape your long-term career journey.

What’s stopping you from experiencing that same feeling again?

  • Challenges you’re facing in your current project?
  • Troubles at home?
  • Work/life balance?

Whatever those constraints, it’s good to bring them out into the open and address the problem together.

Dealing with setbacks and rough spots

When we go through challenging moments or conflicts at work, it can really dampen our spirits.

What’s important in these moments is to ensure that we don’t catastrophise.

Allow yourself time to breathe, and deal with the problem one step at a time.

Doing a quick assessment of what is within your control and what is outside your control can take the pressure off, too.

Equally sometimes, we may face boredom, which is a totally normal emotion, and shouldn’t be repressed.

When we have a prolonged sense of boredom, though, or even apathy, it can be helpful to know what needs to change at work to bring us out of that rut.

Often it is random moments shared with your peers that awaken the senses, bring you to the present, and remind you of why you chose to work there in the first place.

Making use of the support network which exists around you can truly bring you back to feeling joy and passion, along with the focus and reflection time you create for yourself.

What keeps our culture alive at SPARCK are these moments of serendipity, shared happiness, and success.

That’s reflected in our core values:

  • We leave ego out of our work.
  • We’re outcome focused.
  • We ask questions.
  • We care about people.

Let’s hear from some SPARCKies

I asked my colleagues a version of the question at the top of this blog post: when you were the happiest and most productive at work?

“One time that immediately springs to mind was during a project in Yorkshire,” says Charlotte Wainwright, a Product Designer based in Leeds. “I was so focused and so motivated. I think the recipe for why I was productive was, first, six weeks of fast-paced, intense discovery work which created a lot of energy in the team. We worked on site observing services in a healthcare setting, which felt worthwhile and rewarding. And it was straight after the COVID lockdowns were lifted so it was just exciting to be with other people.”

Emma Baker, who leads our Content Design Practice, says: “I'm most productive when I block out some time from meetings, some quiet timer, and get into the flow state.”

“Working from home allows me to set more boundaries around my ways of working,” says Stephanie Weise, another Content Designer. “I’m more productive when I’ve exercised and kept on top of my health. And having a dog encourages me to get outside in between work which always gives my brain a break.”

Leonie Collier, Head of Design Services in our US office, finds what she needs in collaboration: “It’s when all our thoughts and input produce the best results because the team is focused together on the same problem. Maybe that’s the extrovert in me needing the energy of others to be productive and happy! I also sometimes work best in the evening when the day’s business has finished.”

“I’ve been most productive when working in a team that’s based across several time zones,” says Miriam Vaswani, a Content Designer who also leads our international squad. “We collaborate when our working hours overlap and I find it much easier to focus outside of that time because the channels are quiet and no one is looking for me.”

For Anne Dhir, a Strategist and Service Designer, it’s about balance: “I work more productively if I alternate team tasks, and tasks I do on my own. That’s especially true when I'm paired up with people who have complementary skills and can pick up things when I start to struggle or slow down, and vice versa.”

Switching off is important, too

It’s all too easy for thoughts about work to linger on after hours, especially if where you work most of the time is also where you live.

That’s not always a bad thing – we must trust people to know what working patterns work for them.

But obsessively checking your emails or Slack or fretting about work when you should be focused on family time, is unhealthy.

With that in mind, we all need to learn which switches to flick to move out of work mode.

In a recent all-hands get together we talked about our hobbies and interests and asked what people do to switch off from work.

One recurring theme was the need for hobbies or interests that are absorbing enough to hold your focus.

Ella Welsby, for example, is weaving a mug coaster.

“When I'm following the tutorial I have to concentrate hard with zero distractions,” she says. “It’s the same with lino printing – you've got to concentrate on what you're doing or else you could mess up the design.”

And Leonie enjoys fresh-water swimming: “As I count my strokes, a bit obsessively, have to let thoughts of work go, and so I find myself getting absorbed in nature, in the moment.”

As Leonie says, it’s about silencing the chatter in your mind and surrendering to here and now.

Flow: the calm before, during and after the storm

In his book Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues that we can make sense of the above experiences by thinking about different sensations.

He talks about the importance of:

  • Merging action, awareness, and feedback.
  • Focusing our attention.
  • Losing our ego.

The first refers to the process of practicing or repeating an activity, such as playing scales on a guitar.

It’s boring and frustrating at first but, if you stick at it, eventually something magical happens. Your muscle memory takes over, your fingertips harden, and you become aware of your improvement.

The second is about concentrating hard on these tasks.

It’s an effort. We might be tempted to give into distraction. But the reward is better, and comes faster, if we make an effort to be truly present.

Finally, the third point is about how ego can derail us in learning new skills or pursuing hobbies.

Once the thought pops into our heads that, “Hey, I’m pretty good at this! Maybe I could compete, or make money from it...?” it loses a large part of its value.

On a related note, it’s SPARCK has as one of its values “We leave our ego out of our work”.

As researchers and designers, we need to stay focused on delivering for users and clients – doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, rather than because we want to win arguments, or make ourselves look good.

Fun times can be productive, productive times can be fun

When I took violin lessons it taught me how to focus, concentrate, and pay attention to my senses more than my thinking mind.

When I wasn’t distracted, I could play in harmony with my violin teacher and something amazing would happen. Not only did it create a resonance, but I would also be completely absorbed in the moment, lost in the feeling of immersion and ambience, completely unburdened by troubles.

This made the lessons rewarding for me, at least. But what about my violin teacher? It was my pastime, but her job. I wondered if she ever got burned out, doing 10 violin lessons a day. And so, I asked her about it.

How could she possibly manage this and still enjoy it?

Her response: “I just don’t see it as work.”

This revealed to me that often it is our attitude towards work which may reduce or increase the likelihood of burnout.

The same sentiment is again echoed by Mihaly, who writes about intrinsic motivation as a variable which improves the quality of flow experiences.

In plain English, it means doing something for its own sake, rather than to reap a particular reward. Such as playing tennis for the joy of feeling the ball bounce off your racket, rather than because you think you might one day win Wimbledon.

I think the answer is to stop the mental dialogue which sees work as a job and as something imposed upon you. Instead, reframe it as an opportunity to make a difference.

Then find the fun in the task and isolate yourself from distractions.

Do your best, forget the rest

I know, I know, that’s easier said than done.

When we have targets and incoming deadlines it can be easy to fall into panic and despair.

We may find ourselves becoming attached to the results we expected. When we find we aren’t matching those expectations, we can often stop in our tracks and get stuck in reflection and analysis. What went wrong?

But what if I told you it was possible to be outcome focused while also being detached from that outcome?

When things don’t go to plan, break down the overwhelming task into the parts that are within your control. Then commit yourself to tackling tasks that can be dealt with straight away.

Document the future tasks so they’re out of your head. That should help you focus on what you can do today. Then give today’s tasks your undivided attention, diligence, and focus.

When you get into this rhythm this adds to your confidence, giving you the mental space to tackle the bigger challenges ahead.

Embrace the flow

In all the various ways set out above, it is possible to actively seek a state of flow, and to embrace it when you find it.

Either individually, or as part of a team, it’s one way to make work feel joyful, and enjoy what you do.

Written by Azeem Butt - UX Researcher and Cyberpsychologist