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Read my brand new book: Happy Hour is 9 to 5 Learn How To Love Your Job, Love Your Life and Kick Butt at Work By Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf
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Read my brand new book: Happy Hour is 9 to 5 Learn How To Love Your Job, Love Your Life and Kick Butt at Work By Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf
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Make a happy planApathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: First, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. —Arnold J. Toynbee Happiness at work is just that: An ideal that takes the imagination by storm. In the last two chapters we imagined workplaces that are thriving, vibrant, dynamic, efficient and fun; where people come in excited and leave proud; where they grow and learn; where they do great work for themselves, the company and the customers; where new ideas are constantly hatched, implemented and celebrated. Imagine the mood. Imagine the buzz! The other thing we need to create some sustained enthusiasm, aside from a vision, is a plan, but let’s not fall into the usual trap and:
Does that process sound familiar? I suggest you do this instead:
In short, aim to shift some rocks, not entire mountains. Get some quick, easy wins—then move on from there. Look at the table below and fill it out. You’ll notice that it only has place for five action items, and that’s all you’re allowed to plan. Just five actions, each of which must be:
And, of course, it must be something that will make you and/or others a little happier at work. 5 fast, fun, easy things I will do to create more happiness at work:
Then, put one more action on the plan that you feel is more challenging. Say, a difficult conversation you need to have, a decision you want to make, or even switching to a new job, if that is what you will do. One slightly more challenging thing I will do to create more happiness at work: 1. The following are some tips for choosing good items for your happy plan. Look to what makes you and others happyWe saw which actions makes most people happy at work in Chapter 2.
Which of these do you already do in your present job? Which could you do more? How could you do each of these more to make yourself and others a little happier? Involve othersIt’s possible to go it alone, but it’s much easier and much more fun to do spread happiness together with others. Invite your co-workers to be a part of the project, and be sure to invite people who are sympathetic to the idea of happiness at work, particularly people who are naturally happy, fun to be around and have energy to spare. Get together, kick some ideas around, and then try the easiest and most fun ones. This is what the nurses at the H4 childrens ward did, and look how well it worked for them. We saw their story in Chapter 8. Go for contagiousIt’s even better if you can come up with an idea that is self-reproducing, i.e., one that spreads itself throughout the workplace. You could make a list of “Reasons why our department, team or workgroup rocks”. Write the first reason at the top, then pass the list to a co-worker who must do the same. When everybody has contributed, hang the paper somewhere highly visible. Or, you could make some small “Thank you” cards to thank people for a job well done, which they can then pass on to others. Go for something where your initial effort is very small but involves a lot of people, each of whom get to contribute. Give to getIt seems to be a universal principle that when there’s something you want, it pays to give it to others. Would you like to receive more praise? Start praising others and they will start praising you more. Want to be surrounded by happy people? Be happy yourself. Want to be greeted with a cheerful “Good morning” every day? Start doing this yourself. If there’s anything you would like to have more of for yourself, see if you can find a way to give that to others. Give to get. Make it fun and playfulFun is at the core of the way I like to do business and it has been the key to everything I’ve done from the outset. More than any other element, fun is the secret of Virgin’s success. —Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin The more fun and play you can inject into this process, the better. Imagine the opposite: A book that tells you that the road to happiness at work should be long, difficult and unpleasant—you’d drop the book straight away! Try it!You can spend days and weeks trying to come up with the perfect plan—or you can just come up with some stuff that might be fun to do, then try it. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t, try something else. Trust your instincts. If part of you really wants to try something, try it! Make others happyMore than anything, the best way to make yourself happy at work is to make others happy. When you can spread some happiness to others, you become happy yourself, because:
Don’t sacrifice your own happiness at work to make others happy—find ways to make other people happy that also make you happy. Make time for happinessIf you want to get happier at work, you need to make time for it. This can be a tough proposition in today’s busy work environment. You may feel that you don’t have the time to spare, but the truth is exactly the opposite: You don’t have the time not to do it. Chatting with a co-worker, helping someone out, learning a new skill or contributing outside the company may take time, but it’s time well spent, because when you make yourself and others happier, everyone becomes more efficient. Say you spend 10% of your workweek making yourself and others happier, and through this become 20% more efficient. Frankly, you’d be silly not to make the time. Follow up without pressureOnce a week, say every Monday morning, take a look at your happiness plan. When you’ve done one or two of the things on your list, add one or two new ones so that you always have five fast, easy, fun things and one challenging thing you want to do towards your happiness at work. When you follow up, make sure that you:
Take all the pressure out of it—you can’t pressure yourself into being happy. Celebrate
Celebrating victories energizes and motivates people in a way that bonuses and rewards often fail to achieve. Share what you doIf you’ve come up with something that works, don’t keep it a secret. Share the great ideas, tips, tools and whatever else you come up with. Share it inside the company, or even better, share it on my blog where you can tell the whole world and other readers of this book what you’ve done to make yourself and others happy: |
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Like what you've read so far? Why
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When
you reach your goal and become happy at work, or create a happy
workplace, you need to celebrate it. There are many ways to do
it, but it’s vitally important to mark the occasion and
celebrate your victory. You could: