There is no end to the advice you can find to improve your productivity. Yet, your mental health and happiness are just as important as having good skills and being efficient or productive. How can you be happier at work while focusing on your responsibilities and advancing professionally?
It is not the perks, benefits package or fluid hours that make you happy at work. Extensive studies show that experiences that engage your body and mind might be a key to true life satisfaction and happiness. This is good news because it means there are simple, tangible things you can do to be happy at work. You create your own sense of happiness through purpose, growth and a sense of control.
People seek happiness in all sorts of places. They go through a good part of their day expecting people close to them to make them happy or hoping it might be bought or found. They spend time lamenting that if they could only change their early-life circumstances or yesterday’s misfortune they would be happy. They daydream about where to live, what they can afford, a better career or relationship because in difference circumstances they would finally be happy. They assign the cause of their unhappiness to external factors.
When you engage in this type of psychological battle you put yourself on an emotional rollercoaster for something that is actually very harmful to your psyche, and a waste of time. The truth is none of those circumstantial things affects your human happiness as much as you think they will. A growing body of research into what factors determine your levels of happiness suggests startling news.
The science shows that you are happiest when your thoughts and action are aligned, even if they are aligned to do the simplest of tasks. This means it means you do not need to make huge changes and happiness is closer than you think. Start by embracing these two foundational principles:
Whether your job is one you feel passionate about or one that you simply know you can do well, you can increase your happiness at work through deciding to implement a few simple strategies.
We offer you twenty ideas. These are daily activities and some of these approaches are scientifically proven ways to be happier at work. They all make good sense. Better yet, these are strategies that you can control.
1. Enjoy the Career you ChooseDepending on your type of job, some strategies will be easy to implement. You may have to experiment or be creative to see what works best for you personally or for your particular work situation.
Start with some easy ones like numbers 10, 11, 18, or 20. Add another strategy the next week. Some strategies that you are not accustomed to may require time to build skills or habits.
Every job can have its frustrating or tedious moments. However, if your career is something that you enjoy, if you use skills that you are proud of, or if you are passionate about what you do, you are likely to feel fulfilled and happy at work. When the work culture or job is not a good fit and you feel unfulfilled, it may be wise to evaluate your employer, your job, yourself, and your skills to choose a career that is more aligned with your professional interests and personal values.
It is much easier to be happy at work if you can love the life you have outside the confines of an office. Even without passion in your work, your career path should include time for a lifestyle you value. That might mean taking your vacation time or having free evenings, three-day week-ends, or a predictable schedule that allows you to pursue hobbies, sports, education, or time with family. It might mean you do not have to bring your work home with you every night so that you feel like you never left the office. You may have to set boundaries between work and play so that you can really savor life outside work.
If you do nothing else, savor your first hour of the day and make sure it includes at least twenty minutes of fresh air. Rain or shine, be intent to get fresh air. Make it a point to do something when you get up that makes you feel good and pause to enjoy it: coffee, music, exercise, time with children. This is a critical part of starting the day on a good note, and it can be tough to do unless you are very intentional about it. In the beginning, you may have to set your alarm earlier to do so.
Sometimes our jobs can make us feel undervalued if we are disconnected from the core of what is happening in the workplace. Instead of waiting for the office grapevine to reach your desk, or worse yet receiving information that is misleading or never learning what is going on, you must seek out information that you need to do your job properly, contribute admirably, advance your career, or make important decisions. You may discover that your coworkers or management do not even realize there is a communication gap – the workplace culture may not even expand in that direction.
Take control of your career path. Set goals and develop a plan to achieve those objectives. When you feel in control of your career and can see yourself improving and growing, you are more likely to feel satisfied in your current position.
It is very easy to say I’ll register for this program next week, and then find excuses to procrastinate. If being intentional requires considerable effort, it is even more so in this strategy.
One of the most serious causes of work stress and unhappiness is failing to keep commitments. It is easy to make excuses or try to explain away why you did not fulfill an obligation, but neither reaction makes brings much satisfaction. If you already have an overwhelming schedule there is only so much energy you can muster and there are only so many hours in the day. The key to not being overwhelmed is not to commit to additional work if you do not have the time or energy to do the work.
Having a strong friendship at work will motivate you and make you feel happy. It does not have to be a friendship that carries over into life outside of work, but since you spend a lot of time at work, it is nice to enjoy the company of someone there. It is a positive experience to feel understood or valued by at least one coworker.
Positive and reaffirming feedback is energizing and makes you feel valued. From feedback, you can determine where your knowledge gaps might be or what key skills you need to acquire or enhance. If you aren't receiving regular feedback, request it. Especially, when you have completed major assignments, you need reinforcement. Talk to clients about projects you completed for them or the exceptional customer service you provided. Every time you make progress, you can also give yourself positive feedback. Acknowledge your accomplishments, in a journal. Identify the challenges of a project, what you did to get the job done, and how you feel about the experience. You can review your journal when you need affirmation. If you are the boss spread a little happiness around by making a point of acknowledging the progress made by your staff.
You can arrive at work happy and within minutes an unhealthy work relationship, pessimistic person or toxic environment can affect your psyche and leave you feeling down. To enjoy your job surround yourself with upbeat cooperative people, healthy conversation, and positive behaviours.
It goes without saying that a good sleep is your ally when it comes to being happier at work. Quality sleep restores energy and puts you in a good frame of mind to start your day. Equally important is that you make time for both rest and relaxation, not one or the other. Take time out during the day to step away from your responsibilities for a minute or five minutes of "me time" including a little fun. This is not coffee break, this is not goofing off; this is a time for being distracted from the daily grind, time to recharge, refresh and be a kid for a few minutes. You might choose to play with puzzles, mold clay, play a musical instrument, go for a walk in nature, or simply dance or spin in circles like kid. There is no need to go overboard; you just need “me time” to clear your head and boost your creative juices. If you are the boss, think about implementing "me time" or “play time” into the daily routine at work.
Laughter is liberating and puts people at ease. It is therapeutic because it releases tension. Use laughter as an ally to put you in the mood to be productive.
Do not be afraid of conflict. Be a courageous professional. You do not have to like everyone, but in a professional and productive work environment, it is vital to respect differences. Not all conflict is scary, harmful or hurtful. No workplace is free of conflict. When bright diverse, highly skilled individuals with different personalities, backgrounds, and work styles collaborate in complex demanding work environments they are bound to have differences.
Meaningful conflict provides opportunities for growth and helps you accomplish your goals.
Learn more about Meaningful Conflict and Professional Courage
You should always have at least one professional goal to keep you motivated and one personal goal to keep you eager. If you have three or four, even better. Maybe you have not examined your goals in awhile. Think about past projects and achievements that made you proud and enthusiastic. Whenever you achieve a goal, acknowledge it.
Helping others promotes self-satisfaction, which is a healthy mental reward that makes you feel happier. By helping someone for just ten minutes you feel lasting effects for several days. Helping someone at work makes you happier at work. The point is to be purposeful and generate five acts of kindness per week. It must be intentional, but it does not need to be a heroic effort. You might get them their favourite beverage, help on a project or carry things. The intentional part is tough for two reasons:
1. The act of kindness should not be something you are expected to do.
2. You have to make helping someone a thing you do every day.
You face hundreds of choices everyday – from what to eat for lunch to more complicated decisions that involve your emotional, financial and physical well-being. Every business or personal decision – small, low-stake, and high-stake – can zap your mental energy, add to your stress, and affects your level of happiness.
Learning to manage your decision-making can help you conserve your mental energy. Not every decision has priority, or is a determinant of the path of your life. Take a look at all the big and small decisions you make every day and think about how you can reduce the number of decisions you make. Don’t make decisions that you don’t have to. At work, let co-workers make some decisions. At home, divvy up decisions with your partner. Your kids can also make some decisions such as what to eat for dinner or what new show to start binge watching as a family, what activities they want to do next weekend.
Before weighing in on a decision at work, ask yourself:
1) Is it of high impact?
2) Do I have a strong opinion about it?
Yes, we’ve just said you should minimize your decisions. So why switch up a routine? First of all, switching up your routine requires planning, so it does fit with #15 above. More importantly, sometimes, people need a fresh perspective or change of pace so they do not feel they are stuck in a rut. If you have options, give yourself a boost by switching up your routine and engage with your work in new ways.
Days blend together. Months fly by, and before you know it, another year has passed. In that time, you have done thousands upon thousands of things, many of them without being mindful of how you spend your time. It is hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world. Being mindful means remembering.
Though you cannot boil it down into specific numbers, just think about the number of times you googled something and for what reason. Think about how many meals you consumed, and not savored the taste or acknowledged the effort that went into obtaining the ingredients and the skill to cook it? Think about the number of people you have talked to – c olleagues, clients, strangers – in your work week. Think about the number of times you were distracted and had only fleeting thoughts. Were you mindful of every experience? Probably not! You actually may have been more mechanical.
You have to be intentional – and this is the tough part – to try to take the time to experience your environment with all of your senses — touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat your bag lunch, take the time to smell, taste and truly enjoy it. Simple mindfulness exercises can be practiced anywhere, anytime. Though research indicates that engaging your senses outdoors is especially beneficial, do not ignore being mindful in your workplace, because when you feel more alive and present you are happier, and you can still be productive – actually more productive.
Train your brain through mindfulness exercises to optimizes how your brain functions. Mindfulness exercises can be as short as you like. Practice mindfulness and soon it will be effortless.
Look at your workspace. Does it need TLC? If you work in a cubicle, energize the space to make it personal. Get creative. If you share space with others, turn redecorating into a bonding experience.
Fresh experiences invigorate you as a person and they are good for your brain too. You can find a tantalizing new challenge at work, but you want to add novelty to your non-working life as well. Think about when it was that you last did something exhilarating.
How many of us realize that our brains are better at remembering the bad than the good? How many of us understand that negative setbacks at work are three times more powerful than the positive impact of making progress or achievements? The power of the negative on your brain makes it very difficult to be happy.
There is good news. You can fight this natural negative bias. Here’s the tough part. You have to train your brains to be better at remembering the good and positive things. One of the best ways to do that is to think about it and write it down. At the end of every work session or every work day think about something positive that happened.
