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Christie helps us learn how intrinsic and extrinsic rewards shape motivation at work, showing why inner purpose drives greater happiness and performance.Reading time: 5 minutes<figure id="figure-gnw3jvoeknlk2sem1i"><img id="gnw3jvoeknlk2sem1i" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11SlfPMAkaiDCGfLRW3QCvzuNeD7sq38aQzSgNOeYCKi8yeT4FcOsuwgJ1ebHWRT.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 1/1; object-position: undefined undefined;" data-corners="small" data-aspect="1:1" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/11SlfPMAkaiDCGfLRW3QCvzuNeD7sq38aQzSgNOeYCKi8yeT4FcOsuwgJ1ebHWRT.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 1/1; object-position: undefined undefined;"></figure>Motivation is an internal state that individuals experience, influenced by different external and internal parameters such as the social context and other people. According to Frederick Hertzberg, motivation is developing within each person and remaining unique to that person.Motivation has two main types. It can either be extrinsic (driven by a specific reward, usually money, points, credits), or intrinsic (driven by inner pleasure, values, inherent satisfaction), or both.There are a few different approaches and theories explaining how motivation, performance and customer satisfaction interact in the workplace. For many years, it has been generally believed that money was the primary reason leading people to show up at work. Nowadays, it is widely believed that work has a series of latent functions, such as giving individuals the opportunity for social interaction, acting as a source of creativity, identity and mastery, as explained by Marie Jahoda.&nbsp;Research into the field of motivation by Richard Ryan has shown that intrinsic rewards are a more powerful motivator than extrinsic ones. However, not all occupations display those latent functions to the same extent. For instance employees in non-profit organisations overall appear to have more internal motives than i.e. taxi drivers or ride-hailing app drivers .Living in London, and using Uber and other ride-hailing apps frequently, as a means of transportation, I have always been curious to understand what is it that makes drivers motivated to keep going, driving for extensive hours and continue to pick up and drop off passengers in a constant loop.&nbsp;In this article, I will be looking closely at the type of motivation that derives from work, using Uber drivers as an example. The main point I will be making is that work in general has a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards but individuals who focus on the intrinsic ones are overall happier and more motivated on a daily basis.&nbsp;At selfsquared, we have been working with young professionals who are lacking motivation at their work. We have been actively helping individuals identify their passions and skills and seek careers that provide them with a mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, focusing more on the internal ones, to maximise job satisfaction and happiness.A recent survey by Alex Rosenbalt has shown that at their majority, Uber drivers’ motivation highly depends on pay, with 56% among drivers reporting that they are financially reliant on Uber as their primary source of income, being primarily motivated by the monetary rewards associated with the job. But what about the intrinsic rewards of the job? Do they exist? Is there any satisfaction coming out of driving?Taking a deeper look into the Uber app’s design, there is a feature which is sending notifications to drivers i.e. “you nearly made it to earn £50”, forcing them to work more, drive longer hours, motivating them to gain more extrinsic rewards, i.e. money. Despite being an easy and effective motivator, economic rewards in the case of Uber are having effects of tiredness and fatigue on drivers, making them obsessed towards reaching their daily goal, without placing emphasis on the quality of their services.&nbsp;Testimonials from Uber customers: “The vast majority of drivers are not being nice to passengers.” as reported by Gloss, McGregor &amp; Brown reveal that the lack of Intrinsic rewards may lead to lower job motivation, satisfaction and performance.On another note, Uber drivers, make more money per hour than conventional taxi drivers and even more than their community’s median hourly wage, which seems to be a good financial incentive for an individual to join the Uber business. However, higher salary does not mean greater effort. A passenger reports: “I gave him 2 stars. I left a little note, and said that he didn't have a GPS and so I had to do it”. Complaints reveal that Uber drivers underestimate the customers’ demands, which could potentially spring from their primarily extrinsic motivation, which is less powerful than intrinsic, therefore showing less effort and poorer performance.Empirical support for the above argument also comes from Heyman &amp; Ariely’s laboratory study which showed that participants would make more effort performing a task in exchange for no money ‘social request’ or for rewards in the form of a candy/cookie ‘social rewards’ instead of payment in the form of money ‘monetary rewards’. Therefore, the conclusion from the above is that intrinsic rewards, such as accepting a social request, or being given a social reward such as candies are more powerful motivators than extrinsic rewards.The principles outlined by Heyman &amp; Ariely above, explain that employers should also stress the intrinsic rewards employees would gain through the job, such as (in the case of Uber drivers) having a good rating and self-image, rather than highlighting the importance of working more for more money.Despite Uber mainly promoting the job’s extrinsic rewards, it should be acknowledged that intrinsic rewards also exist in their driver’s day-to-day work life. Specifically, some drivers have reported being motivated by the social experience as much as the income, claiming that they only drove for Uber for social interaction with others. Those drivers’ testimonials, highlight that there are additional intrinsic rewards that they extract from working with Uber, such as being occupied, interested in client’s stories, being active and having the opportunity for social interaction. This type of work also gives drivers a social support network, skills of engaging with passengers and shaping their self-image, which are some of the latent functions of work.Furthermore, the existence of ratings between 1 and 5 stars, constitutes a factor that intrinsically motivates drivers to obtain a high rating and preserve a positive image which would in turn lead them to higher revenues. Overall, there seem to be both extrinsic as well as intrinsic rewards, associated with the job of being an Uber driver however, Uber primarily promotes the extrinsic ones.This observation can have wider implications to employees but also to employers. Since motivation plays a key role in employees' performance, personal drive and retention it can be concluded that a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards’ motivational system would be the most beneficial in the workplace.Intrinsic rewards are important for employees as they foster a sense of community, personal fulfilment and inner purpose. At the same time, extrinsic rewards are the main reason why traditionally people have been seeking employment. Therefore, keeping monetary rewards at competitive levels also appears to be crucial.What are your main motivators at your work? Are you focused on the intrinsic or extrinsic rewards? Or both?At selfsquared, we can help you identify what motivates you the most and work together towards finding the perfect balance between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in your career and beyond.- Christie

Maximizing motivation at work

Joy helps us understand the science behind happiness &amp; psychology, including factors that contribute to it &amp; strategies for increasing satisfaction.Reading time: 5.71 minutes<figure id="figure-q466gkc804lk2vnvgy"><img id="q466gkc804lk2vnvgy" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2RIqseMsPxMGr65ZqblPiOqIRNBFHtU1YwsG1Toi1qxWu5HoAJaW1WQLiSg9Tv7s.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: undefined undefined;" data-corners="large" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2RIqseMsPxMGr65ZqblPiOqIRNBFHtU1YwsG1Toi1qxWu5HoAJaW1WQLiSg9Tv7s.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: undefined undefined;"></figure>Over the years there has been a plethora of self-help advice given and books written on the importance of happiness to overall well-being. From academics to psychologists, to everyday folk, everyone seems to agree that the pursuit of happiness is a worthy goal, but it's not always easy to pinpoint what it is that will truly bring us joy.&nbsp;Why is it that according to one 2022 survey,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oracle.com/uk/news/announcement/oracle-cx-happiness-research-study-2022-06-15/" data-mce-href="https://www.oracle.com/uk/news/announcement/oracle-cx-happiness-research-study-2022-06-15/">45% of people</a>&nbsp;globally claim they haven’t felt true happiness for more than two years, even though 88% of people are actively looking for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canvas8.com/library/behaviour/experience-hunters" data-mce-href="https://www.canvas8.com/library/behaviour/experience-hunters">new experiences</a>&nbsp;that make them smile and laugh? Why is it that certain locations around the world seem to rank higher in terms of overall happiness versus others (a prime example of this being Finland, which has once again been ranked as the happiest country in the world)?One of the answers, which I have personally found to be the most effective and all-encompassing, lies in the need to focus on finding the right balance between pleasure and purpose in our lives and identifying ways of optimising experiences, rather than physical things, for well-being.One of our approaches within selfsquared is centred around Positive Psychology; which is about achieving the optimal level of functioning by building upon your strengths across all aspects of your life. It focuses on increasing our experiences of positive states, such as happiness, joy, contentment, life satisfaction, creativity, gratitude, optimism, wisdom, courage, and love among others.<h2>Balancing pleasure and purpose:</h2>Have you ever wondered “How much happier could I physically be”? Interestingly, Positive Psychology research suggests that our capacity for happiness is set by 50% based on our genetics (biology and heredity), 10% based on our circumstances (sex, ethnicity, income, education or geography) and 40% based on intentional activity (behavioural choices or thinking patterns). Knowing these statistics and percentages, it’s a no-brainer that we absolutely, undeniably, should be more intentional with our activity! Am I right?So how can we do that? How can we become happier? Jay Shetty, a former monk and current podcaster, author and life coach believes that balancing pleasure and purpose is the answer. Imagine a calculation in which your purpose consists of your skillset, plus what you love, plus what serves the world; pleasure in this equation emerges under the ‘what you love’ element. Following this logic, doing what you love is incredibly important to have a fulfilling purpose. To dive into this a bit deeper, consider the purpose matrix which goes as follows:<table width="100%" data-mce-style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: #ecf0f1; border-color: #000000; border-style: solid;" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgb(236, 240, 241); border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid;" class="mce-item-table"><tbody><tr><td width="50%">1. skill + no passion</td><td width="50%">2. skill + passion</td></tr><tr><td width="50%">3. no skill + no passion</td><td width="50%">4. no skill but passion</td></tr></tbody></table> Think of all aspects and areas of your life as falling under these four quadrants:<ol><li>The first one includes “skill + no passion”. This includes things that you're good at but don’t necessarily love. Unfortunately, for most people, this usually includes our profession.</li><li>The second quadrant includes “skill + passion”. Ideally, we want to have more aspects of our lives falling into this segment. These can include extracurricular activities, such as cooking, baking, or painting; they’re stuff that we’re really good at and love doing.</li><li>The third quadrant includes “no skill + no passion”. Ideally, we want to eliminate aspects of our lives that fall into this segment as much as possible. These can include part-time jobs done purely for money-saving purposes, that you're not skilled or passionate about, or specific aspects within our routines, that we’re not skilled at and are not passionate about, such as cleaning the house. It is important to acknowledge that we cannot completely eliminate these aspects altogether from our lives, so our goal would be to minimize or assign them to others where possible.</li><li>Lastly, the fourth quadrant includes “no skill, but passion”. These are aspects of our lives in which we may lack expertise but are really passionate about. They might include a new hobby, such as painting,&nbsp;dancing, sports, DJing, or playing instruments. This segment is important for growth and we want to keep it, while slowly moving aspects of it more towards the second segment.</li></ol>Use this matrix to think about your life. Where do different aspects of it fall? Have you got enough activities falling into the second quadrant? What is it that brings your passion and purpose together? How can you align these more?<h2>Optimising experiences:</h2>When evaluating the above in my own life, I concluded that the key to those questions revolved around the optimisation of experiences. It seems that I’m not the only one that thinks that way; in fact, <a href="https://www.vicemediagroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/VMG_MAKE-CONTACT_EXPERIENTIAL-WHITE-PAPER_2021.pdf" data-mce-href="https://www.vicemediagroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/VMG_MAKE-CONTACT_EXPERIENTIAL-WHITE-PAPER_2021.pdf">81%</a> of Gen Zers say that an experience is ‘fun’ because you can share moments with others. Optimising experiences in psychology involves leveraging various strategies and techniques to enhance well-being, satisfaction, and overall quality of life. Regardless of the activity, the experience of fun most often comes from a combination of feeling engaged and liberated at the same time. There are a number of practices which I’ve personally found effective in optimising my experiences which I’m hoping might resonate with you too and help in boosting your sense of happiness and well-being. <ul><li>Mindfulness:Mindfulness is an originally Buddhist practice which focuses on the art of being truly in the present moment. This is often done by observing and anchoring the effects of the breath, practiced through daily meditative sittings, mindful eating, mindful walking, visualizations, body scans and yoga.</li><li>Exercise:&nbsp;Exercise has played an important part in my feeling of well-being, especially during the last few months. It includes a natural way in which our brains release endorphins (which are also known as “the happy hormones”), associated with feelings of enchantment.</li><li>Journaling:&nbsp;Engaging in journaling is a powerful method for developing self-awareness regarding unhelpful thoughts, emotions, and actions. It serves as a means of self-expression, allowing us to monitor our behaviours and pinpoint areas where transformation is necessary. It manifests in various forms such as diaries, logs, thought records, and activities aimed at activating positive behaviour.</li><li>Healthy eating &amp; sleep:Incorporating the right nutrients and vitamins into our dietary habits has been proven to boost motivation, increase energy levels, and support optimal brain function. Adopting a healthy eating pattern, coupled with obtaining 8-10 hours of quality sleep each night, profoundly influences our overall well-being. Whenever I get close to 8 hours of sleep at night, I notice that I wake up with a lot more energy, feeling much more refreshed and ready to take on the day.</li></ul>Thinking about the ways that you personally optimise experiences in your life are there any others that you’d add to the list? Have you identified any of the ones mentioned above that you incorporate more of in the future? Over the next few months I’ll be posting more deep-dive blogs into each and every one of the topics mentioned above; so stay tuned. <h2>Toxic positivity:</h2>Having established the above, it is important to acknowledge that while positivity and optimism have a place, negative emotions are also a natural part of life and need to be recognised, addressed and processed as part of staying mentally healthy. According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tired-of-being-told-cheer-up-the-problem-of-toxic-positivity-11635858001" data-mce-href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tired-of-being-told-cheer-up-the-problem-of-toxic-positivity-11635858001">Dr David Kessler</a>, a grief expert, “Toxic positivity is positivity given in the wrong way, in the wrong dose, at the wrong time. Emotions are data. They are not good or bad. They are signposts to things we care about.” It is therefore important to acknowledge that while we want to maximize feelings of happiness, there is comfort in acknowledging and communicating about negative feelings and the bad times. These honest conversations about mental health and difficult moments create spaces in which we can connect and bond with others over shared experiences. At selfsquared one of our primary goals is to provide the space for these conversations to take place as well as an opportunity to experience these negative emotions in a constructive way. - Joy

The psychology of happiness

Christie helps us learn how iPhone use impacts focus, anxiety and well-being, showing why mindful breaks from screens can boost presence and mental health.Reading time: 4.73 minutes<figure id="figure-6grdldq5hflk2s1r1p"><img id="6grdldq5hflk2s1r1p" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2cJFjZs6qWcmo5hDt3dlm56kELIP1DPdLaVANWFgpIw3jepJuBey3SoSrQJcQyjU.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: undefined undefined;" data-corners="no-rounded" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2cJFjZs6qWcmo5hDt3dlm56kELIP1DPdLaVANWFgpIw3jepJuBey3SoSrQJcQyjU.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: undefined undefined;"></figure>Technology, social media and the iPhone; three of the most commonly used words of our century. The iPhone has undeniably contributed to a series of significant enhancements, including the ease and length of our lives. The question that arises is: has it also improved our life’s quality, our happiness and most importantly our mental health?Part of our vision at selfsquared is to increase mindfulness in our daily activites to be more focused and present in the moment while minimising stressors and anxieties. 
 
In this short article, I’ll share some of my thoughts on the effect that iPhone usage has on our daily anxiety levels. 
 
I’m fairly certain that we’ve all experienced the scenario of sitting at a dinner table feeling quite annoyed at the one person who is constantly focusing on their phone (aggressively checking for new notifications every 35 seconds). The best case scenario is that you are sitting on the large aforementioned table and simply ignoring them. The worst-case scenario… - this happens on a date! Well… truly no one wants to have dinner with that person. 
 
Recent studies exploring adults’ behaviours have shown that on average we check our phone screens about 450 times per day; which means that we spend more than a full hour per day just staring at our lock screen. 
 
The reason for this high frequency of checking is that everything we possibly need is nowadays found in our phones. Namely, we use our screens to find the best route to get to work, book flight or train tickets, look at photo memories and maintain social connections. Most importantly our phone is the primary medium to hear about good or bad news. Therefore, the habit of checking our screens is linked to our primitive survival instinct. If we lose our phone while being away from home we may not be able to make a payment, get to work, do our work, meet with others or find our way back home. It’s truly stressful to just think about how much of our lives depend on this one little device. 
 
By constantly being on our phones we lose the sense of the here and now. We either end up focusing on the future by anticipating a response, a text message, a call, a like or a tweet, or we focus on the past: scrolling through our photo albums, reading old texts or goofing through others’ social media profiles. But, what about the present? How can we focus on this moment? As you’re reading through this article (probably through your phone) have you been noticing what’s happening around you? Have you noticed whether it’s cold or hot or bright or dark? So much of the present goes unnoticed. 
 
I recently attended a weekend-long gathering where there was a no-phone rule (no phones were allowed). I truly cannot explain how different people’s behaviours, moods and social skills were. Without noticing it, everyone participated in a social experiment of being forced to be present at the moment, without caring about filming a pointless 5-minute-long video, of their favourite song (which they would never re-watch) or without thinking about which ootd photo they would post on social media (which no one would have probably cared about, anyway). The focus of the weekend, was rather on having interesting conversations, living in the moment and making real memories that were vividly encoded in our brains. 
 
On a more personal note, for a few months now, I’ve purposely been forcing myself to take “device breaks” (meaning that I’d try to spend a few hours a day without a laptop or phone or TV, or any kind of screen). I’m not saying that I manage to do this religiously every single day, but on the days that I do, I’ve already noticed a huge difference in my ability to focus, productivity (knowing that I can focus on myself without any distractions) and well-being. 
 
Some points for reflection… 
 
Who has not experienced anxiety, when their partner, friend or family member has not responded to their text message within five minutes? Who has not been stressed when someone’s location becomes unavailable on Find My Friends? Who has not been annoyed when they’ve been trying to reconfirm a meeting’s time and place for the 10th time within the same hour? What’s the point of this overcommunication? Didn’t it all use to be more stress-free in the past? Unfortunately, our generation (and the generations after ours) will never know how that was. I did, however, ask my dad last week and he confirmed that everything worked out just fine for him in the 70s, without an iPhone. In fact, his stress levels, sense of direction and quick maths skills are 10x better than mine, most likely because he used to practice those skills. 
 
Another aspect of the iPhone’s constant usage is the habit of multitasking. People nowadays have been looking at their maps apps, changing their Spotify playlists and sending voice notes on WhatsApp while driving - all the time. Research actually suggests that multitasking decreases productivity by 40% compared to single-tasking and significantly reduces our ability to focus on important tasks. This leads to counter productivity both for personal and professional tasks. The human brain is by nature designed to single task, so when we attempt to use our phones while performing physical everyday tasks, our attention keeps switching from task to task almost every split second. This constant brain multitasking activity is exhausting and has been proven to be ineffective and psychologically draining. 
 
On the other hand, smartphones have made the impossible, possible. So, let’s not be too critical. Travelling to the other side of the world with zero planning ahead, connecting with our loved ones internationally and getting real-time access to news globally, would have never been possible without our smartphones. Outside of that, hundreds of professionals now work through their phones and are able to make a living because of them. 
 
The bottom line is: unless you absolutely and undeniably need to be checking your phone for work-related purposes, my advice would be to give the above article some thought and think about what amount of your daily phone checking is actually and truly needed. It may also be helpful to assess the effect that extended screen usage might have on you personally. As a next step, try to take a few hour-long device breaks over the next couple of days and take note of any changes or improvements you may experience in your anxiety and stress levels over time.At selfsquared we aim to identify any negative behaviours that are causing anxiety or that are increasing our stress levels, while being fully commited to work with you towards transforming those habits to more positive ones.&nbsp;- Christie&nbsp;

selfsquared

blog posts backend

Maximizing motivation at work

The psychology of happiness

Mental health and the iPhone