WEBVTT - If you're disengaged, clean the office fridge

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that if you are feeling disengaged or stuck

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<v Speaker 1>at work, clean out the office fridge. This may seem random,

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<v Speaker 1>but there are some reasons that doing something at least

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<v Speaker 1>semi productive might help. Today's tip comes from a recent

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<v Speaker 1>Harvard Business Review idea cast, podcast and article about what

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<v Speaker 1>to do when you are feeling unmotivated at work. Harvard

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<v Speaker 1>Business School professor Boris Grousberg and research associate Robin Abrahamson

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<v Speaker 1>laid out a four step plan for when you are

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<v Speaker 1>feeling particularly unmotivated. One of their ideas was to clean

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<v Speaker 1>out your office fridge. There were a few reasons they

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<v Speaker 1>suggested this random idea. For one thing, if you clean

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<v Speaker 1>out the fridge, you stop ruminating about how stuck you

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<v Speaker 1>are feeling. You are taking a break from the work

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<v Speaker 1>that had you feeling disengaged or stressed, and you are

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<v Speaker 1>doing something completely different that in and of itself can

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<v Speaker 1>boost your mood. By cleaning out the office fridge, you

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<v Speaker 1>are also doing something to help your coworkers you feel useful.

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<v Speaker 1>Grousberg and Abrahamson note that doing something that makes you

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<v Speaker 1>feel useful can help you get unstuck, so you see

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<v Speaker 1>your own capabilities. Some colleagues may even notice. One might

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<v Speaker 1>hope and say thanks, which will feel good and foster

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<v Speaker 1>connection too. If the fridge was previously rather gross, the

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<v Speaker 1>benefit is that you may be eliminating something you experienced

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<v Speaker 1>as a daily frustration. Instead of an overstuffed and dirty

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<v Speaker 1>fridge annoying you every time you go to get cream

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<v Speaker 1>for your coffee, the clean fridge will contribute to a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of calm. I like this recommendation to clean out

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<v Speaker 1>the office fridge because it is so concrete, kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like the advice to count to ten if you're feeling angry.

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<v Speaker 1>It gives you something specific to do when you are

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<v Speaker 1>not at your best. Of course, I should note that

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<v Speaker 1>Greuzburg and Abrahamson are not recommending a day of proclastic cleaning.

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<v Speaker 1>Anytime you feel a little bored or stumped at work.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't spend all your time at work cleaning out

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<v Speaker 1>the fridge. Also, it's sometimes worth sitting with a hard

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<v Speaker 1>problem and denying yourself the easy win of doing something else.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes an easy win is just procrastination, but if it's

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be possible to just sit with the

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<v Speaker 1>hard problem, then maybe a break to clean the fridge

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<v Speaker 1>will allow you to accomplish something quickly and then get

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<v Speaker 1>back to work with renewed energy and positivity. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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