As 2015 and the Holiday season are just about over this signifies a time for change within the upcoming New Year. Regardless of whether or not you plan on making changes in your overall life, there is always room to enjoy our jobs a little more. This is especially true due not feeling too excited about getting back into work after the holidays, and not having any breaks to look forward to you within the next couple months. Often times we will get stuck in this routine that causes us to feel like we’re just dragging along through our work day and not feeling excited. And these feelings can happen regardless of whether not you really enjoy where you job in general or if you are just kind of are doing the job to get through life.
Below I have listed some strategies to help you transform your workday so you are able to get the most out of work and your life.
1. Bring just a bit of fun to your workplace.
Whether it’s bringing coffee, telling a great joke, or making copies of this awesome article that you saw for your coworkers, bringing something enjoyable into your workplace is going to make your day a little bit better. Create a routine that you will look forward to each day, and in turn allow you to start your day off on a good note, every single day.
2. Make someone else’s day.
This doesn’t need to be big, complicated, or expensive. It’s about putting a smile on someone’s face through doing something nice. It could be telling them about something that really reminded you of them or bringing them their favorite snack. Do this often—people will actually start to be nicer to each other and they may begin to emulate your behavior.
3. Hate your current task? Stop and do something fun.
If you hate your current task, you have got to stop and do something fun. Yes we still have an agenda for the day, but you probably need a break to reestablish your motivation. If you begin to notice the task is a really big struggle for you to get through, stop and a set amount of time, maybe 5 minutes, to go listen to a song, walk around the work floor, check a text message, or whatever it is give yourself that break. This will give you a little bit more motivation again and allow you to refocus on your task at hand.
4. Decorate you workspace.
Whether its family or friend pictures, decorations for the holidays coming up, such as Valentine’s Day, you ultimatley just want something that makes your work area not as dull. You don’t want to walk into a place that is just white walls that you’re staring at you. You want to create a warm environment.
5. Find inspiration from others.
Find a new book at the store focused on self-help or enjoying your workplace. You can even talk with other coworkers and see what helps them feel excited about being at work. Accept the fact that you cannot change your boss or the tasks of your work right now. You may really dislike them and even look toward the day when you can make a change. But for right now, you have to be in the “now” right where you are. You have to be able to get up every day and look forward to going to work—that’s what attitude is all about.
If you can find things that will make your workplace more fun, you may be surprised that the tasks you hated actually “change” for you. As the Wayne Dyer quote says above, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.” If you keep looking in a negative way, it’s going to keep ending a negative way; however if you start looking at them in a more positive way, your outlook is going to change and things will start to get a little bit better.
If you’re struggling with enjoying your job or even just enjoying different aspects of your life, the counselors at Life Skills Resource Group are able to help. Please visit us at Life Skills Resource Group Orlando or call us at 407.355.7378 to schedule a free phone consultation with our Orlando Licensed Mental Health Counselors. Even if it’s for your child, our Orlando Child Counselors, Orlando Adolescent Therapists, and Orlando Teen Counselors are here to help you and your child figure out what’s going wrong and what you can do to make it a little bit better.
Have a safe and happy New Year! Sabina & the LSRG Team