Being happy at work is something everyone aspires to, but many people find it a difficult goal to achieve.
Firstly, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your feelings towards your job, with some workers so accustomed to their day-to-day routines they lose perspective on exactly how they feel about work.
Are you unhappy at work?
One of the most effective ways to evaluate your happiness at work is by asking some fundamental questions about how you feel and the way you behave on the average day.
Here are some of the tell-tale signs you are not gaining as much fulfilment from the 9-to-5 as you could be:
• You spend a lot of time watching the clock and wondering why time seems to be going so slowly.
• You go home stressed, anxious and worried about going into work the following day.
• You can’t stop thinking about the concerns and demands of your job, even when you’re at home.
• You dread Monday mornings (more than the average person).
• You feel professionally unfulfilled and frustrated.
• You feel negative about your relationships with senior managers, colleagues or employees.
If some of these descriptions apply to you, it might be time to give some serious thought to your levels of happiness at work, and what you might be able to do to improve them.
How to be happier at work
Fortunately, there are always things you can do to address these issues and make yourself feel a lot better about your employment situation.
Here are a few strategies that could deliver results:
• Be clear about what is important to you – With a clear idea of the things that really matter at work – whether it’s your work/life balance or professional development goals – you can improve your chances of feeling happy and fulfilled in the workplace.
• Have conversations – Bottling things up and shying away from conversations at work is rarely conducive to a sense of happiness or satisfaction. If you feel there are issues you need to talk about, try to be forthcoming and enter into a discussion with somebody. It could mark the start of a new, positive workplace relationship that helps you feel a lot better about your job.
• Stay away from negative people – One of the most common causes of unhappiness in the workplace is being surrounded by people who are constantly negative. Rather than listening to gossips and incessant complainers, think about how the problems people constantly gripe about could be solved.
• Focus on the positives – When you have been in the same role for a long time, it’s easy to take the good parts of the job for granted. When you start to feel negative and unhappy about work, remind yourself of the things you enjoy and wouldn’t change.
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