5 ways to be happier in your work place

Everyone has a hard day at work, often times we feel as though there is nothing we can do to remedy an unsatisfying workplace. Many career experts contest this and have worked together with employees and career driven individuals to create better workplace environments in order to find happiness at work. This has resulted in many interesting approaches to finding happiness at and in work.

So here are some approved methods to get the most out of your day and to be happier in the work place that professionals and career experts alike agree work.

1: Plan your day

Work can be very stressful this is known, however planning can be a major tool for any talented professional when trying to overcome the stresses of work. Being disorganised and stressed at work is a direct result of a lack of planning, it’s a situation every professional encounters and hates. This is arguably what teaches people to be better planners, that close encounter with disaster brought on by a lack of planning.

So in order to master planning, there’s no better way to do so then just getting into it. Using your phone or a notebook if you can. Start out by listing your activities and duties you need to do that day, it’s actually that simple! I know it may seem understated, but practising your day planning in and outside of work will help familiarise you organisation skills that every professional needs.

Remember that a planner and a to-do list are different. A to-do list creates too much of  sense of urgency and is too imposing, planning out your day creates a sense of control and intent that makes the activities within a planner feel like less of a chore. This is how professionals seem to love their job so much, planning gives them the control that a to-do list feels like it doesn’t.

2: Take breaks

One thing many professionals and career experts remark on is the significance of ample rest periods and using your breaks effectively. This will largely depend on the industry your in and your preferred ways to relax. Although it’s worth noting that you should use your breaks to wind down, if your job is one that has you sitting down for hours at a time, take a break to stretch, adjust your eyes to natural light if you spend time under altered light. Use your break for a small walk or stretches if you can.

Ultimately you want to use your breaks as down time where you’re not doing anything work related, as this helps to build up recognition of work life balance and how to implement it. Humans need clear defined boundaries of working time and not working to be happy at work and doing their best.

Going out for lunch can be another way to make use of a break, especially during summer when the weather is a it’s best, but by taking your lunch break and using it to get excercise and something different for lunch, it can create a better working day as you diversify your actions. Filling out the day with more non work related activities help to bring happiness to an otherwise regular work day.

3: Drinking water and healthy beverages

You’ve definitely heard the significance of staying hydrated over the years, however there is importance in simple drinking water that can’t be understated by repetition. But in order to be happy we have to have a good foundation to build on. Such as staying hydrated and well nourished are the foundation that people need to start with to make their best work, we’ve written an article before all about eating healthy in the workplace before but here we’ll go in to the significance of water over the types of beverages available.

For starters, water is the easiest liquid for the body to break down and use, it’s readily available and requires no extra metabolic rate like soft drinks and beverages do. This makes water an ample go to when dehydrated. Health drinks are something that have come into focus in recent years, there’s been a lot of study around nutritional drinks. These have been argued for and against and essentially have become a case of personal preference. There are some good waters available that are nutrient enriched and have been proven to be healthy alongside nutritional, allowing you to gain more from drinking regular water.

4: Bringing structure to your work

When you’ve started planning your days and have gotten comfortable with it. You may want to consider other ways you can make your work more fun, this is where you’ll start experimenting with the activities  in your work day and how you tackle them, in terms of when and for how long.

Take a month for example. You’ll have various activities you need to complete, some more tedious then other and some quite enjoyable. You’ll want to space these activities over your month in work, to make your job fun you’ll want to balance the activities between fun and tedious, never leaning too much in to one or the other if you can, if unable to, try completing the tedious activities earlier in the month so your left with tasks that are more light toward the end of the month, doing the same with work duties you do and don’t find tedious. This will make an immense impact on your overall work enjoyment, many people find balancing their tasks this way helpful in distributing the months tasks as a means of avoiding being overwhelmed.

5: Suggest themed days

Many work places invest in their employees, this is mainly a way to build up team recognition among colleagues and as a way of allowing employees to enjoy something different, workplaces have shifted toward the more modern approach with themed evenings and the like, involving things like meals at restaurants, drinking at bars, or other discussed events between a team.

Usually these events are discussed as a team, so use your planning skills to research something you and your colleagues would enjoy that is feasible for your business. This if nothing else will show your commitment to your workplace and wanting an investment in time together.

We’ve found that the best workplaces that hire quickly are ones that have a variety of employee benefits that show a care for their employees. Essentially, the business wants to give back and knows how to do it, this can matter so much to certain professionals and is why it’s worth getting it right.

If you are unsatisfied with your job and are unsure as to why, perhaps read our post about the 7 reasons why people might leave a job. Take a look at the points presented in that article and see if any of these areas can be addressed by your boss. If you’re unhappy and looking for a career move, our team of Recruiters can help you in finding a new career.

HtE Recruitment News & Insights

This news and insights page has been written by Josh our Recruitment & Marketing Coordinator.  HtE Recruitment take no responsibility for this post.