Does a Bad Mood Make for a Better Co-Worker?

how does your mood affect things at work a new study claims being in a bad mood may actually be good for productivity so some people if they’re in a bad mood they’re more easily able to focus they’re better managing their time and they prioritize better in this case this is study out of Canada at the University of Waterloo they looked at 95 participants but what was unique is that it was the extroverts who benefited from being in a bad mood the introverts if they were in a bad mood they were less productive well maybe if you’re extroverted you’re so busy going around and socializing and doing everything that you don’t actually sit down and but you have energy that you’re spending being a social butterfly or an extrovert or whatever then in a bad mood it tones that down a little bit and you actually spend less time being an extrovert and you’re more productive bad mood is I’d say right now bat for me bad mood does not increase my productivity but I’m also more of an introvert abilities line but I bad news that’s I can’t focus on work I can’t I just well that’s part of our training though as doctors or surgeons whatever that that we have to be able to function and still do our job professionally no matter what mood we’re in and and I think I just came with with having done it so long well and especially in a service industry so as a doctor you’re in a service industry when push comes to shove as there are so many other professions and so if you if you’re in a bad mood you have to leave it at the door because you go in and see your first patient of the day you cannot bring a bad mood into that room and so if you can for an extrovert who maybe is in a bad mood and wants to be more productive if they can channel that into the productivity without maybe letting the people they know they’re working with know they’re in a bad mood then I this is interesting I don’t know what you do if you’re an extrovert now do you read some depressing article before you go into work put you in a bad mood I don’t know how to use this I think I think to both of your points physicians are in a specific kind of situation where we have to compartmentalize all the time so you might come out of one patient’s room where you’ve just talked to them about a devastating serious diagnosis and you can’t carry that mentality into the next room because you’re just going to depress and take away the hope of the next patient you see so I think we become very professional and very skilled at separating that but I think if you’re an extrovert and you’re trying to maintain your productivity yeah keep it to yourself just just internalize that component to life and use it as your fuel to do what you do let’s just say you have a big assignment and we’ll use the example of it’s a writing assignment and you’re an extrovert and you know you need to focus but you’re in a great mood and you can’t focus you’ve obviously do something about it this is a little bit of a dangerous territory or a dangerous game because think about that if you’re an extrovert you can’t focus I actually have plenty of friends who are sometimes unable to focus and they are very extroverted and nowadays there’s always something to grab your attention whether it be social media or all the things that around us do you actually maybe there’s a book that you read that puts you in a mood I don’t know pretty much all you have to do these days is turn on the news because I am an introvert in some ways and I like to be in a good mood at work I don’t check the news until I’m done with work yeah and then you’re right I’m in a bad mood because almost always it’s negative even if something good happen that day we’re not gonna hear about it we’re gonna hear about all the bad stuff but but I do think this this is an opportunity for people to take stock of no matter what your work maybe think about how your mood may affect your productivity or how you’re performing at work I don’t think anyone should compromise a good mood because to me being in a good mood those are days to be treasured but if you find yourself as an extrovert and a good mood and unable to focus on your tasks maybe you’re just being aware of this study will help you in and of itself okay I’m in a great mood I need to tone it down we’re all one nice thing I’ve learned from this show is just how important it is to know yourself and just kind of understand rhythm and how you function and what environment you’re always gonna have stressors that that are gonna put you we’re gonna want to put you in a bad mood you’ve got to learn how to cope with that how to deal with that find a way to put you back and at least a better mode I know for you it may be that cup of coffee right well today after ordinance a cup of tea for you Mabel Earl Grey your screen saver of you and your kids and your dog you

Written by Raul Dinwiddie