Hospital cleaners doing identical work reported vastly different satisfaction levels based on how they framed their jobs. Those who saw themselves as helping patients felt more fulfilled than those who focused on tasks and pay. Psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski calls this "job crafting," and research shows you can reshape your work experience by changing the story you tell about it.
How can you make your current job your dream job? Psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski at the University of Pennsylvania was interested in how people who cleaned hospitals saw their work. On paper, they all had the same job: empty the trash, mop the floors, restock supplies. But when she listened to how they described their work, it was like they were working different jobs. One group described what they did in the language of a job description: tasks, hours, pay. Another group described something else entirely. They talked about which patients seemed lonely and needed someone to chat with. They talked about helping the family of an ill patient navigate the maze of hospital corridors. They talked about rearranging the artwork in the hope that a change in the patient's environment could help their healing. Amy calls this job crafting. It's the practice of reshaping the boundaries of your job to make it more meaningful, even when your official duties do not change. The cleaners who saw their work as a calling reported far higher satisfaction, even though their paychecks and their tasks were largely the same as those of their coworkers. Now, you probably can't quit your job tomorrow. You can't redesign it from top to bottom. But Amy's research suggests that you can do something more subtle. You can change the story you tell about what you're actually doing, and this can transform the job itself. For more insights about the science of the mind, tune into Hidden Brain on Apple, Spotify, or hiddenbrain.org.
