Making sure we enjoy our job/work

Our job usually occupies around forty hours of our week. When I was a late teenager and I was considering possible career options, my father used to say to me, ‘You probably spend more hours in work than you do outside of work. (And maths was supposed to be his strong point!!) I think that the most important thing about your job should be that you enjoy it.’ Ten years later I told my Father how much I enjoyed my work to which he responded ‘well to be honest most people probably don’t particularly enjoy their job’. He didn’t mention that when I was trying to decide on a career! The point remains that much of our waking life is occupied by our job. It makes sense to try to:-

1) Find a job we enjoy.
2) Learn how to make our job as enjoyable as possible, even if it's not the most exciting job in the world.

Money is Necessary In Order for Us to Achieve Most of Our Live Goals

It is also important to remember how integral money is for most things that we do. If someone has no work (sometimes depressed individuals no longer have a job) or very sporadic work, this will ultimately jeopardise their income gaining potential and will undermine their potential to achieve almost all of their goals that they really need to be focusing on if they are going to recover. Obviously having depression is a highly complex predicament and getting a job is easier said than done. But not being able to hold down a job will contribute to the depression as much as it is a symptom of it. From my perspective our job and having a stable income form an integral part of our stability structure. This is a complex subject and I have only fleetingly mentioned it here.

Making Work as Enjoyable as Possible

I also think that it is important to prioritise the concern of making work as enjoyable as possible. Consider the following questions:-

Do I have adequate breaks at work?
Do I get adequate sleep so that I feel refreshed for my day’s work?
Do I make sure I leave ample time to get to work so that I am not stressed during my journey and before I even begin work?
Am I dressed with nice clothes and looking well presented for work so that I feel attractive and comfortable?
Do I have some nice edible treat for when I get to brake time to put me in a good mood (preferably fruit!)?
Do I get on with my work colleagues?
Do I get on with my boss?
Do I try to adopt the most positive attitude towards my job, focussing on the pluses as oppose to the negatives?
Do I have enjoyable rest and recuperating time when I get home after work?
Do I enjoy my weekends and feel replenished when I return to work?

One's personality type can effect how easy one finds it to make positive changes at work in order to improve counterproductive situations. Some individuals struggle with confrontation and change. These kinds of individuals may have great trouble making changes necessary to improve unproductive situations, particularly if a situation involves people that she is struggling to get on with. The opposite may be the case for more impulsive individuals. Such individuals may be quick to leave their job if they are unhappy and therefore may actually struggle to hold down a job.

I will comment on one of the above listed points at random: in the section of the website titled ‘Social Mastery’ we will look at such concerns as how we dress, but suffice it to say at this point, if we are dressed well, and look good, this can do wonders to our personal sense of value and life satisfaction.

Work and Income Effects Almost All Other Aspects of Our Lives

Often we can end up viewing work as simply a necessity, and a tiresome one at that. However, bearing in mind how much of our week is usually occupied with work, I suggest that in order to be happy in life, it is worth trying to make our work experience as enjoyable as possible. I have posed the aforementioned questions concerning work, (without spending much time presenting answers to these questions) in order to highlight the fact that there is often much we can do to improve our sense of satisfaction at work. I will summarise with the following point. All other concerns in life will probably be affected by this overarching life concern. Even our relationship with our spouse necessitates the need to earn money, perhaps to pay the mortgage or to put food on the table. We could have a job without a spouse; however having a spouse without a job may prove far more troublesome. The overarching effect that monetary needs have on our lives, being necessary for almost all other areas of personal concern, coupled with the amount of time our job occupies in our lives, results in work and our level of income affecting all areas of our lives. Neglecting this primary concern means neglecting one of the most influencing factors in our lives. Such neglect will have consequent effect on our sense of personal life satisfaction. So I suggest it must be given highest priority in terms of how much we focus on making work an enjoyable and central life pursuit.

Changing Our Job and Re-Training

Since work constitutes such a large portion of many of our lives, if we really don't enjoy our job, it may be worth considering changing our job. This can take much planning and effort. However, with such effort, it is possible to maximise our potential for obtaining a new job. Many people, however, become stuck in a rut and have resigned themselves to maintaining their current situation. Sometimes obtaining a more preferable job may mean re-training. This may take years of work. If one is not good at such self-discipline, this may seem an impossible task, and logistics, for example family commitments may make re-training difficult or impossible. However, much of the information on this website is focused on teaching ourselves to be more focused and self-controlled. Perhaps after working through many of the issues raised on this website you may find that you have renewed self-discipline with which to focus on re-training.

If you are interested in re-training through furthering your education then I have included a page concerning further education including home learning for those who would like to consider learning in the comfort of their own homes. Please click here if you would like to be taken to this page.