14 tips to make being at work better

According to an oft-quoted Gallup survey, only 30 percent of American employees report being "engaged" at work. While the elements of the construction and definitions of this poll vary, virtually all of us know someone who is chronically dissatisfied in their job. In fact, you may be seeing this person in the mirror lately.

There are many factors in how we feel about work — financial compensation, workplace conditions, peer and supervisory relationships, and our sense of fulfillment, to name a few. However what comes up as a significant component for most of the people I work with is a sense of being "swept along." We daydream about a greater experience of satisfaction "someday."

See if this sounds familiar — you commute into work in the morning with a mental "sticky note" of the three to five absolutely essential things that you want to accomplish. Heading back home, not only have you been unable to check off those crucial items, there's been more items added to the list. This often leads to feelings of inadequacy, resentment, or resignation.

So what are some options? I'll list a few of my favorite tips, tools and techniques:

• What you do is not who you are — remember, your career is one part of your whole life, not the core component.

• Accept that fact that you'll never get it "all done" — this is a myth we hold on to.

• You'll break without taking breaks — neurological research shows that we can only maintain peak concentration for about 90 minutes.

• Results require people who collaborate — sometimes, we have to focus on improving business relationships to get better outcomes.

• Service mode always beats ego mode — if you're not in service to people and principles, it's more difficult (and it shows).

• Practice the art of "healthy detachment" — this doesn't mean you're not fully engaged, it just means you're less likely to make or take it personally.

• Remember — "multi-tasking is doing twice as much as you should half as well as you could." Take one thing at a time.

• It's so hard to see ourselves clearly — ask others whom you trust to help you see what's in your blind spots around your communication and interactions.

• Watch the fault and blame — look at your contribution instead of making others the "bad ones."

• Conflict avoidance is almost universal — get the tools and coaching you need to have the conversations you need to have.

• Technology can serve to connect, or as a barrier to connection — make sure you know where your consciousness is around it.

• Appropriate vulnerability is a strength (especially for leaders and managers) — "not knowing" in the right times and places can increase dialogue and connections.

• Put your mistakes on the compost pile — that way, they'll fertilize the next season of your growth.

• Are you growing yourself out of the organization? If the culture doesn't fit, it may be time to begin the exciting and scary process of finding a workplace where your considerable talents might be a better match.

Even those of us who love what we do (and I count myself in that fortunate group) still have to be mindful of how we can get caught up, wound down, or turned around by the demands and disciplines of the workday.

Changing our "viewing and doing" of being at work is something that, thankfully, is still available to anyone. Having a reasonably good experience each day, more often than not, is something that no one but ourselves is responsible for. It's also beats the alternative of perpetual crabbiness.

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Flip Brown is the founder of Business Culture Consultants in Burlington, and the author of "Balanced Effectiveness At Work."