55 – 80% of people see work as something to be endured, not enjoyed. For most, work is about sustenance while the rest of life is where we derive enjoyment and meaning of life.
But Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas explains that research reveals the steps one can take toward greater well-being at work
According to her, evidence supports finding happiness at work is not only possible but unambiguously good.
What does happiness at work mean?
Happiness is not feeling pleasant and joyful all the time. It is, rather, a quality of life that is rich in all kinds of emotions, including anger , sadness and stress besides joy, amusement and pleasure.
Being happy is to have an easy time feeling good and recovering from adverse effects; having supportive social connections; and believing that they matter to the world.
How to work toward happiness at work?
Research identified four key pillars of happiness at work: Purpose, Engagement, Resilience, and Kindness
Below, is summary of how to boost each pillar:
Purpose
Morten Hansen, in his book Great at work, defines purpose as follows:” Purpose is having the sense that you make valuable contributions to others, either individuals, organizations, or society which is personally meaningful and that harmless”
When our job is able to reflect our core values, we get the sense of purpose.
As individuals, connecting what we do to what we believe in and care about brings purpose and passion to work—rather than passively executing the job demands.
Managers and leaders can promote purpose by making core values explicit at the workplace and implementing policies that align Staff’s day-to-day experiences with core values.
Engagement
Are you bursting with energy at your work? Are you enthusiastic about your job? How often do you feel deeply immersed losing track of time while working?
According to recent reports engagement at work is troublingly low worldwide.
There are 3 ways to improve engagement.
First, introduce some fun, levity, and creativity to work.
Second, give staff more ownership over their schedule and daily tasks, and build in opportunities to learn and grow professionally.
Finally, adopt a less strict, busy schedule and make space for the immersive, lose-track-of-time experience of flow at work. Off-work downtime is encouraged.
Barring work-related emails after-hours help people relax and recover, and leave them refreshed for another day at work.
Resilience
Resilient people can handle, adapt and learn from setbacks in a productive way.
Learning and recovering from failures and disappointments is critical to happiness and wellbeing at work.
Being resilient means being able to manage challenges at work with authenticity and grace.
To strengthen your own resilience at work, perhaps the most promising technique is to get better at real-time, in-the-moment awareness, or mindfulness.
Adobe incorporated mindfulness in its overall work environment and called it Project Breathe.
Another way to boost resilience at work is to be authentic at work.
Being true to ourselves at work eliminates the stress of surface acting or pretending to feel emotions we don’t feel.
Resilience at work is much facilitated by successfully detaching from work. That means finding time for non-work-related wellness, social, creative, and other away-from-work activities, both on a daily basis and during vacations.
Kindness
Wellbeing Arena 