13 Jul Job Crafting Part IV – work and meaning
Can you change how you perceive the impact of your job?
This week 
The Self-Coaching Minute continues with the Job Crafting series and explores the meaning of our work and how we can change the way we perceive its impact, also known as cognitive crafting.
If you missed the previous posts in the Job Crafting series, you can find them here:
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Job crafting is what we do to redesign our own jobs in ways that foster engagement at work, job satisfaction, resilience and thriving (Berg et al., 2010).
Recap: there are 4 main types of job crafting activities:
- Task crafting, which involves altering the type of tasks & responsibilities of our job;
- Cognitive crafting, to modify the perception of our job and what it involves, change our mindset;
- Relationship crafting, to reshape the type and nature of our interactions at work;
- Environment crafting, to make change to our physical work environment.
Cognitive crafting can be defined as changing the way we perceive the impact of our job.
Changing perspectives is a way to create more meaning and meaning contributes to the significance we attribute to our work and therefore to our motivation, fulfilment and happiness.
Meaning stems from the connection between our work and something bigger, between the self and the ‘needs of the world’.
It is not the job in itself that is meaningful, but how we experience the work.
Moulding your work to your personality, vision of the world, values and what you enjoy doing is key to create meaning in your job – and it is the essence of job crafting.
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Self-coaching questions
❧ What are the ways in which your work positively impacts on your life?
❧ What are the ways in which your work positively impacts on the life of others/your organisation? Who? Where? How?
❧ What are the ways in which your work positively impacts on the world and society? What? Where? How?
❧ What are the ways in which your work positively impacts on the future of the planet? Who? What? How?
❧ What do you want to contribute to or be part of in the world?
❧ What aspects of your work seem absurd? Why?
❧ How do you honour your values and what is important to you in your work and the way you work?
❧ What difference would that make to you if you could honour this even more?
❧ What behaviours would you like to embody in your work to be aligned with what is important to you?
❧ What are the things you care about outside of work that you could bring into your professional life? How could you do this?
❧ What changes could you make in your job now to increase meaning in your work?
Walk Gently!
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The Self-Coaching Minute proposes questions and prompts to help you explore what is happening within you and in your life. Practice the Self-Coaching Minute to become more aware, to identify your thought and behaviour patterns, to understand what you need and what needs to change and to take action. Perfect for journaling or for your weekly reflective practice!