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When you feel happy at work, everything changes for the better. You are more productive, you’re more efficient, you want to push yourself further and you’ll be much more ambitious. When you dislike (or even hate) your job, it’s much easier to stay in the background, only do the bare minimum, and never try to achieve anything more.
Although this might not sound too bad – after all, not everyone wants to rise through the ranks in their workplace – disliking your job can have additional negative impacts on your life. Your homelife might be affected, for example. If you don’t like going to work and you get frustrated because it’s unpleasant and you have to get ready each evening to go the next day, your family and anyone you live with will often feel the brunt of this frustration. You’ll be short-tempered, snap at them for no reason, and be miserable during the times you’re together because you’re always thinking of the next time you have to go to a job you hate.
Not only that, but you’ll start to withdraw from doing things you do like. Hobbies can become sidelined because you can only focus on your work (and not in a positive way that benefits you or others), and the same is true with exercising and keeping fit. You might eat poorly because you are looking for comfort in food or, conversely, because you just can’t be bothered to eat after a long day in a job you dislike.
It’s clear, then, that you need to enjoy your work, and it’s important to find a job that fulfills that part of your life. You must be happy and productive, and in that way, the rest of your life will be much more positive too. While you are looking for that new job, there are things you can do to make you feel happier at work. Once you put these into practice, you may even find that the job you thought you hated isn’t so bad after all, but even if this doesn’t happen, at least you’ll feel a little better as you search for a career that suits you more. Read on to find out how to do it.
Set Your Intention
Setting your intention at the start of each day truly can make you feel happier at work. You can do this at any time before your next workday, including in bed just before you fall asleep, or when you wake up. You can do it in the shower as you’re getting ready for work, or you can do it on your commute. It doesn’t matter when you set your intention for the day ahead; the important point is that you do it in the first place.
In order to set your intention, you need to ask yourself one question; what is your aim for the upcoming workday? Knowing what you want or need to accomplish will help you to focus your mind and will help to prevent you from becoming too distracted by other things – things that might normally cause you to become frustrated or even angry. When you can accomplish more at work because you have a set goal in mind, you will feel happier and be proud of your achievements. You will also have a clearer mind and less to worry about.
Have A Peak
By creating a ‘peak’ in your day, you will always have something to look forward to. Every day will have a peak, even if you have to create it yourself. Sometimes you need to look hard for it. Whatever it is, whether it’s going out to lunch with your friends, enjoying the next chapter of the book you’re reading, getting home and watching your favorite TV show, waiting for a package to be delivered, or anything else, this is the thing to keep in mind.
Working towards the peak means you have something to look forward to, something to keep you focused and working until it happens. Afterward, you’ll be able to look back and see the positive in any day, even one in which you had trouble at work or one that was particularly frustrating. In this way, you are better able to keep a positive mindset, and sometimes that’s all it takes to make the biggest difference.
Be Your Best You
If you hate your job, it’s easy to become less than the best version of yourself while carrying out your tasks. You might not bother to dress smartly anymore, for example, feeling that there is no point. Or maybe you don’t iron your clothes, or you only ever order takeout for lunch.
This is not good for you, and it could be making you dislike your job even more. By stepping up and being the best version of yourself that you can, by wearing smart, tidy clothes, by having a shower before work, by packing a healthy lunch, by always being ready to help or do what it takes to be better in your job, your entire attitude will change and you might find that even though you thought you disliked your job, when you look at it from another angle with a different perspective, it’s not as bad as you initially thought. On top of that, your employers and colleagues will see that you are serious about your work and that you want to do well. This will change their attitude towards you too, and that can make a huge difference in your work and the way you are treated.
Even if you wear a uniform, you can still practice this change. Make sure you wear your uniform proudly, that it is clean, ironed, and work in the right way. If you need to provide your own uniform, don’t buy something of low quality as it will only cost you more in the longer term, and it will tell people you don’t care about your work. If you need scrubs, buy high-quality Cherokee scrubs from Uniform Advantage. If you need safety gear, make sure whatever you purchase is up to standard and will protect you. It’s a small thing to think of, but it could be a big step forward.
Have Some Thinking Time
Did you know that your job might not be as problematic as you think? It might just be the way you’re going about it. If you plunge straight in and then keep working until you’re done without taking a good amount of breaks, it’s likely that your day will be a boring and mundane one. You will go to work, carry out your tasks from start to finish, and then go home again, only to repeat everything the next day, ad infinitum.
If you take some time at the start of the day to stay calm and plan out everything that needs to be done, including the breaks that it is so important you take, you will find that the day runs much more smoothly. You’ll still be able to get everything done, despite taking time out for breaks and for planning, and your work will be much less tedious. It is often the boring, repetitive nature of work that makes people so unhappy, and when you take breaks, especially if you can get away from your workspace for a short while, this tedium can be made less impactful.
Staring at the same four walls of your office or cubicle will certainly add to your frustrations about your place of work and the job you have to do. This is why it is vital to go outside if you possibly can when you are taking your breaks. Breathing in the fresh air will make you feel more awake, more productive, and generally happier, and if you can include some exercise in your foray outside then that’s even better. By the time you get back to your desk, you’ll feel great.
Find A Friend
You don’t have to get on with everyone who works with you, and the larger the business you work for, the less likely it is that you’ll be able to be friends (or want to be friends) with everyone who works there with you.
Yet making at least one good friend at work can change a boring, unpleasant working environment into somewhere much more enjoyable to be. The work might still be dull, the commute might still be long, the prospects might still be small, but if you have a friend you can be with every day then everything will be so much better.
Having friends is good for our mental health, encouraging happiness and giving us something to look forward to (your friend might even the be peak that we mentioned earlier). It can take some time for true, organic friendships to grow in a new environment, so allow for this and be open to talking to colleagues. Cutting yourself off from others because you automatically assume that no one is going to be of interest or because you think no one will like you can be a big mistake, and make work much more difficult than it needs to be.
