5 tips to create more happiness at work and for yourself
You know those little things that make your day shine and are not really connected to you in any way? A colleague’s attitude, the way your workspace is organised or random surprises that your colleagues treat you to can make every day at work more enjoyable.
But there are also things you can do at work to make your own happiness - here, Sarah Metcalfe, founder of Happy Coffee Consulting is sharing her 5 top tips to create more happiness at work and for yourself.
What is happiness? Sarah said; “Happiness is something that has been worked on being defined for millennia. From roman philosophers to scientists today. One of my favourite definitions is by Sonja Lyubomirsky in her book The How of Happiness she defines happiness as: “The experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” Happiness is really what we want for ourselves, our friends and families and our children. If you ask people what they want for those they love. They want them to be happy.”
Why does happiness in our careers/ work and the workplace matter? “We spend more time at work (or doing work) then we do with our spouses, our children and on our hobbies combined. If we spend 1/3 of our life at work, we should not be spending that time being unhappy.”
Here are some top tips to create more happiness at work and for yourself:
Think about your own happiness at work. Be aware of your own happiness at work. Check in to notice – how do you feel at work? What brings you that sense of contentment, meaning and connection? Are you doing enough of that?
Gratitude – Gratitude helps us notice and appreciate the good things that have happened. Each day write down three specific things you were grateful for at work. This helps you train your brain to focus on the positive.
Work less – Productivity is a buzzword in business these days, we have been asked to “do more with less” for so long, that we have stopped being productive, and harmed our resilience. When we slow down, we make more space to do the work that matters, and working less hours is proven to increase productivity. (Check out the 4 Day Work Week movement)
Focus on connection – In our busy world, and high workload, high-stress work environments we rarely take the time to connect with our work colleagues. Our sense of team connection and relationships at work has suffered. However, enhanced and positive team relationships are how work gets done. High social support is the key to managing a high workload. A high workload and low social support is the prescription for burnout at work. Take time to focus on relationships and connecting with your colleagues personally.
Celebrate progress – In this ever-increasing busy world, we will always have more to do. If we didn’t have a “to-do” list, then we wouldn’t have a job to do! Instead of thinking of all the things that we have yet to do, take a moment and create a Ta-Dah list. Stop noticing all the work you have done on any given day/week, and celebrate making meaningful progress in your work.
To find out more and connect with Sarah please visit: happycoffeeconsulting.co.uk