When you wake up in the morning for work, do you feel excited about it, or do you have to drag yourself out of the house? Many employees are not happy or satisfied with their jobs. They lack the enthusiasm to get their work done. But how do you find joy at work when you’ve been doing a routine for many years or if you’re new and you feel like you’re in the wrong place?
7 Ways To Find Joy at Work
#1 Find your purpose
People with no sense of purpose lose their enthusiasm easily. They don’t see the point of what they do or what they’re working for. If you’re an educator, you’re obviously raising the future. Your purpose must be to help form the minds of the future leaders, future healers, and future economists.
If you work in a restaurant, you’re helping feed people. Customers come to your place because they’re hungry or craving for something. Help satisfy their needs and longing. Make them happy by serving them with a smile.
If you work as a janitor or maintenance guy, the cleanliness and orderliness of the place lies in your hand.
When you realize that your purpose is more than just doing paper work, closing deals, or maintaining the place, that it’s helping change lives even in the smallest of ways, then you find joy at work.
#2 See the extraordinary in the ordinary
It may feel boring doing the same thing every day for five years straight or more. Find joy at work by seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. The people you work with maybe ordinary people you take for granted because of over-familiarity. See the ordinary in them. They are modern-day heroes like you, working for their family or making a difference in their own humble way.
Admire the new decor in the office. Gaze out of the window and marvel at the beauty of nature, the marvelous cloud formations, or the astonishing skyscrapers. Find the extraordinary in the ordinary and find joy at work.
#3 Pre-work conditioning
Before you even start on a task, condition your mind to be happy. Happy people are more likely to finish the job than those who are not. They also make a better job as they go beyond what is expected of them. Challenges at work may be inevitable, but staying optimistic is a choice. Complaining will not solve a problem. It’s all in the mind.
#4 Build rapport
You will be stuck with the people you work with every day. Build genuine friendships and avoid the drama. It would be a miserable life if there is conflict at work. Remember, 8 or more of your waking hours as an adult are spent at the workplace. Make it a happier time by building bridges instead of burning them. Avoid the toxic people but try to work harmoniously with your colleagues.
#5 Join the fun
Most companies offer activities and events for employees to break the monotony of work. Join the fun. Be open to new ideas and remember to take things lightly from time to time. Don’t be a spoil sport. Don’t be the Grinch of Christmas.
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and—snap!—the job’s a game!” – Mary Poppins
#6 Grab opportunities
There may be internal job openings or a chance to get promoted. Grab opportunities as these are doors that lead to growth and learning. New roles mean new challenges, more room for improvement, and greener pastures. Look for opportunities in which you can either showcase your skills, or improve your personality. Don’t get stuck to where you are at the moment to avoid getting burnt out.
#7 Say it
If you need more time to finish a task, say so. If you find something difficult, don’t be afraid to ask for help. If something is bothering you, speak up. Most problems start from an issue that grows through time because it’s not discussed in the open. There is nothing that can’t be solved as long as there is a clear communication of what needs to be solved in the first place. Be bold but tactful of sharing your thoughts and be open to suggestions as well.
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Doing repetitive tasks can make you bored, or worse, unenthused with your job. Most employers leave their job not because of the pay but because it makes them feel empty and like they are living a pointless life. You can turn things around by simply changing the way you look at your work. Find joy at work and find self-fulfillment in your life.
I’m participating in the Write Tribe Festival of Words – June 2018
Great pointers. I believe in finding extraordinary in the ordinary. That makes things exciting. Grabbing new opportunities and saying it aloud are my mantras to follow at work.
Agree to all the points. Many employees change jobs if they are not appreciated and rewarded enough for their work. Work satisfaction and happiness are important as we spend 40hrs per week in our work life which is 70% of our time in a day.
Those are wonderful tips to stay happy and be at your productive best. Being vocal about your dissatisfaction or ambitions does help but many shy away from it
Great ideas. Most people have to spend a lot of time at work, so it makes sense to try to make it as positive as possible.
This will be a go-to post when I need to vitalise myself.Thank you
The first point is so important. Often I have seen people thinking that they are stuck in dead end job, but infact their work is impacting thousands of people. Once you change the perspective and look at the job as a service to society, the whole energy changes
Finding the right balance is essential too, so as not to get exhausted. These are wonderful points to be followed in a workplace.
I absolutely loved the infographic. I am going to send this to my husband, he needs these kinds of motivation.
While I have never ‘worked’ I know that one of the things that make you happy to go to work each day is to know that your work is valued and that you as a person are appreciated. All else pales compared to this major validation from one’s peers and employers.
Did you write this for me? I so need this every day going to work when I feel that nobody cares about the amount of hard work I put in.
Thank you for this!
If one learns to be happy at work, most of the life is taken care of. You tips are definitely useful in this respect.
Great points. Liked all the points and the infographic. 🙂 Liking the job takes effort and this much we need to do for ourselves…
Good one, I liked the last point of saying NO. Many a times it happens that we work under immense pressure and try to achieve unrealistic goals. Hesitate asking for help. It would be easier to speak up and share the problems, seek help to make a conducive work environment.
Good tips. Finding your purpose is definitely an important one. Feeling valued is also important. Employer-Employee relationship is a two way street.
Completely agree with you. I have often changed jobs for the fact that I stopped enjoying what I was doing. Eventually I have realized that I get my happiness from writing and probably that’s why it never feels like work. There’s so much fun in what I do that every morning I wake up thinking what can I do to come up with some better!
Goot tips to enjoy what you do. I often use music when doing the regular household chores.
Loved the infographic, Corinne, more so as I suck at it! Find the purpose so very true and so very difficult!
Loved each of the 7 pointers, Corinne! And what a great infographic!! My short story for today’s prompt begins with your Pointer #6. 🙂
Finding your purpose and resetting the mind can be amazing for making work fun.
Oh wow! I love the pointers. This will be my go to gyan post for days to come, now 🙂 And I also love, how you say – Happy people are more likely to finish the job than those who are not. I do believe that is true.
I love the fact that you also made these points into an image. If you don’t mind my asking, which app/ site do you use for this?
Loved all the points. If only we learn to ask for help and involve other, the workplaces would be lot better.
Every work has a level of stress now a days. I am happy that finally I am following my passion.
I have worked at the place which was worse and at a place which had great work atmosphere and also at a place which was somewhere midway between the former 2. Working at a worse place is not easy. It seems like everyone around is keen on sucking out the last bit of blood from each other. It is challenging to find the joy of work at such a place. What kept me going there for a year was the good quality food, I realize today 🙂 I liked the infographic. This post makes me feel grateful for blogging – to laugh myself and to make other people smile. This has been most satisfying.
Some days I’m quite glad I work from home. I’ve had to put up with some terrible colleagues. And in some places the work was lousy but the happy workplace made it worthwhile. I do miss the ‘joining in the fun’ bit. We had some great times.
Excellent advice. All of it makes perfect sense. I’m very impressed with the infographic.
The infographic is perfect, Corinne. The points you’ve given are all practical and helpful. Without a sense of joy any kind of work has no meaning.
I remember my father advising me before venturing into corporate world with a saying, “Find the job you love or else love the job you do”.
Looking back at the my corporate stint, I feel, I can associate instances when “Say It” and “Build Rapport” had helped me find joy in the job which at times turned not so interesting.