I’m sure we’ve all been in this position before: it’s the end of a long day, you’ve had a couple of crises you had to deal with on top of your normal workload, and you’re tired. Perhaps it was the obtrusive family. Maybe it was the system that, once again, let someone down. You mentally start replaying what went wrong, which by now feels almost automatic. This is normal, as our brains are hardwired to do this. Research has shown that negative events have a greater impact, form stereotypes and impressions more quickly, and are more resistant to disconfirmation than positive events across a broad range of psychological phenomena.¹ This is referred to as negativity bias, and is an evolutionary tendency designed to increase our chance of survival by learning from negative experiences. Whilst this was helpful in keeping our ancestors alive, today, in the context of an already stretched rural and remote health workforce, it can quietly erode the very resilience we need most.
What if, along with all the very real challenges we face, we paused, just briefly, to notice or made space to notice what is working? Not as a way of minimising difficulties, but as a deliberate, evidence-based practice that supports us to keep showing up, sustainably, and with our sense of purpose intact. There is no value in minimising or pretending the challenges aren’t real, as, over time, these pressures contribute to compassion fatigue, moral distress and burnout.
There is a grounded and robust evidence base for deliberately attending to what went well, or what worked, with results showing that it helps broaden our awareness, reduce depression, increase wellbeing, and build psychological resources that last long after a positive moment has passed.2,3 At the neurobiological level, negative experiences are encoded rapidly and automatically, whilst positive ones require deliberate attention to move from short-term memory into long-term, lasting neural change.⁴ This is why building an intentional practice of noticing what is already working is not a luxury, but a professional sustainability strategy.
The good news is that mindfulness-based noticing practices help widen our lens of attention so that more of our actual experience becomes visible, ensuring that challenges and difficulties are not the only things we see. Some practical strategies you can use to notice what’s already working include:
Three good things. At the end of each shift, take a couple of minutes to write down three positive things or interactions, no matter how small they may seem. It could be something you did that resulted in a child’s smile. Perhaps it’s seeing a butterfly. Maybe it was a colleague who helped. This practice trains the brain to scan for evidence of connection and competence, rather than defaulting to the negative.
Micro-moments of meaning. When something works well, for example, a referral works seamlessly, pause for thirty seconds and consciously notice it and take it in. When you hold that positive experience for those thirty seconds, it begins to shift into long-term memory.⁴
Weekly “already working” reflection. Once a week, take a few minutes to ask yourself questions such as, “What strengths did I draw on this week?” “Who did I help, even in a small way?” and, “What went better than I expected?” You can speak the answer out loud, hold it in quiet reflection, or journal it. This practice helps you focus on your competence rather than any deficiencies your brain automatically wants to dwell on. Most of us already know where we could improve. This practice simply brings some balance.
Collective noticing. If it feels safe to do so, this practice can include your whole team. For example, you could open a meeting with one “what worked this week” question and have everyone share their thoughts. This can take less than five minutes and meaningfully shift a team’s culture from one that only sees problems to one that recognises its strengths. Teams can inadvertently (and understandably) develop a shared language of complaint when they are under sustained stressors. This activity can help build cohesion and remind everyone that progress, even if it’s bumpy, is still happening.
Noticing what’s already working is not denial, but balance and, like most skills, it takes practice. This week, choose one strategy from above and try it for five days. Notice what shifts. You are allowed to notice your own good work. Not because everything is fine, but because you are doing something genuinely challenging and you’re showing up with care and commitment.
Be kind,
Dr Nicole Jeffery-Dawes (she/her)
Senior Psychologist, Mental Health & Wellbeing
- Baumeister, R., Bratslavsky, E, Finkenauer, C. and Vohs, K. (2001). Bad Is Stronger than Good. Review of General Psychology. 5. 10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323. Accessed 28 April 2026 at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46608952_Bad_Is_Stronger_than_Good
- Seligman, Martin & Steen, Tracy & Park, Nansook & Peterson, Christopher. (2005). Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions. American Psychologist. 60. 410-421. 10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410. Accessed 28 April 2026 at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7701091_Positive_Psychology_Progress_Empirical_Validation_of_Interventions/citation/download
- Fredrickson BL. The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Am Psychol. 2001 Mar;56(3):218-26. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.56.3.218. PMID: 11315248; PMCID: PMC3122271. Accessed 28 April 2026 at https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3122271/
- Overcoming Negativity Bias. Dr Rick Hanson interview with Psychwire. Accessed 28 April 2026 at https://psychwire.com/free-resources/q-and-a/1lxm4bd/overcoming-negativity-bias
