5 Ways to Get Happier in Your Job!

Careers matter. Everyday we wake up, get dressed and take ourselves off to our workplaces where we spend more than 2000 minutes a week on our workplace activities.

For some people those minutes fly by doing work they find meaningful and enjoyable. For others time drags, tolerated in exchange for a weekly pay-cheque.

Strategies to Be Happier in the Workplace

Everyone deserves to enjoy his or her career-life. The following are some simple strategies to improve your career-life happiness

Identify your motivating strengths. People who have jobs that use their motivating strengths daily feel happier and more satisfied in their roles. Think about the things you are good at and are energised by when you do them. Seek roles, tasks or projects that draw on these skills and talk with your boss about ways to use these strengths more to the benefit of the business.

Find your ideal work landscape. Where and how you work are key contributors to work enjoyment. Do you prefer to work in a team or autonomously?  Are you more comfortable in a role that changes rapidly or where you can be certain of the tasks you will be doing each day? Do you like to work in an office or outside? Look for roles or tasks that will suit your natural work landscape preferences

Bring purpose and meaning into your career. All too often when considering if a role is suitable we spend a lot of time focused on the remuneration package and yet research shows that salary is actually not the be-all-end–all to career happiness. What we do know is that emotional rewards are more likely to impact our career happiness than financial rewards. Work aligned with our values and that we find meaningful is more likely to make us happy. Take time out to ask yourself the big picture questions that matter – “what kind of work do I find meaningful and how can I do more of it”.

Spend time on Workplace Relationships. Workplace relationships have the ability to make or break our happiness in the workplace. People more often leave bad managers, teams or work cultures than the job itself. Invest time in looking for ways to strengthen your relationships in the business and boost workplace positivity.  These will enhance your workplace happiness.

Balance: Today our work lives and personal lives are becoming more and more blended and it’s easy to become burnt out. Research shows that excessive overtime reduces productivity. Find ways to increase your happiness through better balance within your career-life. Schedule regular breaks, plan and use your leave well, be disciplined about protecting your personal time whenever possible by turning phones off and shutting down your emails. If appropriate you may wish to consider exchanging a small amount of your salary in exchange for your own wellbeing.

It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where we had the ability to just pick our fantasy-careers but whilst this isn’t a reality for most people, we do usually have more control over our careers than we realise if we just decide to take time to reflect, plan and take action.  You don’t need to throw in your job or make demands of your boss, just take time to consider what small steps you can take today to move towards career happiness and satisfaction.

How will you spend your 2000 minutes this week?