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Bring Joy Back to Your Job: Five Simple Ways to Lift Your Mood at Work

Even those of us who are working in this economy are unhappy with our jobs. According to a new report by the Conference Board, only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their work, the lowest level recorded by the research group in two decades. The reasons are various: an imploded economy, incomes lagging behind inflation, relentlessly rising cost of health care and--this is harder to quantify--fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.

What can be done about the latter? Here is an often overlooked fact of life: We are able to act out our thoughts and make them a reality. It really is an amazing gift that we take for granted. We get to put our thoughts into action to help ourselves and others with problems. And the best part is we can always quit our jobs and find something better. By appreciating all our options we can optimize our work happiness. Here are five simple ways to bring back the joy in your job:

Remember an old job that you hated.
The only way to bring the joy back is to start with the root problem: your negative thoughts. When you can't stop hating on your job, you'll never be able to bring back the joy. Instead try to think of a job that you used to hate with a deep passion.

Hold that crappy job in your thoughts. What was so bad about it? Then think about how this present job offers you more quality interactions. By reminding yourself of how an old job used to torture you, you will be more open to the positives at your present job. If you can't think of a worse job than you have now then get out and find a new job.

Build your friendships at work
Most people leave because their manager is a nincompoop. The other reason people leave their job is because they don't have a best friend at work. You need to take the time to build better relationships at work. So let's brush off those interpersonal skills and interact with the people you work with. The best way to do this is talk to the people about their lives. Ask them questions about their families, their hobbies and whatever else gets them talking.

The only rule is: Don't interrupt them. Just let them talk and talk, and they'll love you.

Practice a five minute relaxation every hour
Many of us don't take enough time to sit back and reflect at work. We are too busy trying to get our work done. By slowing down and taking one minute to just breathe and be in the now, you'll let go of a ton of stress and bring emotional balance into your life.

Keep a gratitude journal
We all need to take time to appreciate what we have. By keeping a gratitude journal you'll retrain your brain's synapses to focus on the positive. Try writing three positive things that happened to you before you leave work. After 30 days you'll notice a big difference in your attitude.

Laugh at the situation you are in (aka: stop taking it all so seriously)
Work can be serious, but it also needs to be fun. Without laughter and joy all we have is boring drudgery. People learn best when they are having fun. Studies have proven that people are more creative and work harder when they are having fun with their co-workers and the work that they do.

Your Turn
What do you do to encourage people to extract more joy from work? When you help people increase their happiness, you'll increase yours as well. It's a win-win for everyone.

 (Adapted from Karl Staib, Forbes.com, February 10, 2010)