Sixteen Tips for Feeling Happier at Work.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Sixteen tips for being happier at work.

Being happy at work is, of course, quite related to how much you like your job, but there are small steps you can take to boost your mood. Maintaining the comfort of your body, sprinkling a few small pleasures throughout your day, using your time wisely – a little thought can mean a lot more happiness at work.

As Samuel Johnson observed, “It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.”

Your work space:
1. Check for eyestrain: put your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your space is too bright. When I got my three monitors (an investment which makes me ecstatically happy, by the way), I had to turn down their brightness levels because the glare was terrible.

2. Get a good desk chair and take the time to adjust it properly.

3. Sit up straight — every time I do, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.

4. Indulge in a modest splurge, i.e., consider whether there are ways to spend money that would make a big difference. Could you invest in some desk accessories to help you stay organized? Could you replace an inconvenient lamp with something that works better?

5. Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, but it’s really much more comfortable. The phone headset is like the rolling suitcase: yes, you look a little silly, but it makes life a lot easier.

6. Don’t keep treats around. A handful of M&Ms each day might mean a weight gain of five pounds by year’s end. My husband used to work at an office that kept a kitchen fully stocked with treats. When he switched jobs, he dropped about ten pounds, which actually had me a little worried until we figured out the reason.

7. Periodically, take time to deep-clean the loose papers that have piled up. I never do this until I specifically schedule a time, but am always amazed at the wonderful calm it brings.

Your day:
8. Never say “yes” on the phone; instead, say, “I’ll get back to you.” When you’re actually speaking to someone, the desire to be accommodating is very strong, and can lead you to say “yes” without enough consideration.

9. Take care of difficult calls or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating just makes it harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.

10. When accepting a responsibility, imagine that it’s something that you’ll have to do next week. That way you don’t agree to a task just because it seems so far off that it doesn’t seem onerous.

11. Be honest about how you’re spending your time. You feel overwhelmed, but are you really working hard? How much time do you spend surfing the internet, chatting on the phone, looking for things you’ve misplaced, or doing tasks that are really someone else’s job?

12. Go outside at least once a day, and if possible, take a walk. The sunlight and activity is good for your focus, mood, and retention of information.

13. Even if you can’t go outside, take a ten-minute break each hour. Studies show that the break boosts your retention level.

14. Don’t let yourself get too hungry.

15. Try to make a lunch date with someone outside the office at least once a week.

16. Let yourself stay ignorant of things you don’t need to know.

* I’ve never heard of Manhattanhenge, and yesterday I missed this once-a-year sunset spectacle…next year. How will I remember to figure out on what date it will fall?

* I send out short monthly newsletters that highlight the best of the previous month’s posts to about 21,000 subscribers. If you’d like to sign up, click here or email me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. (sorry about that weird format – trying to to thwart spammers.) Just write “newsletter” in the subject line. It’s free.

Comments

[Positively Present]

Great post! I was having a terrible day at work yesterday and I managed to brighten up, but this is a great list to keep on hand when work feels like the less-than-ideal place to be. Thank you, as always, for your wonderful Wednesday tips!

[wdf]

Gretchen ... can you tell me more about your three monitor set-up? Windows or Mac? What kind of monitors? Are you using a lap-top, and if so, is one of the three your lap-top? I am at two monitors and have been thinking of going to three but the logistics is bogging me down.

[Ellen Halloran]

Gretchen,
You can still see Manhattanhenge this year -on Sunday, July 12 at 8:25 p.m. (full sun on the grid)or Saturday, July 11 at 8:25 p.m. (half sun on the grid). You can read more on the Hayden Planetarium page.
Ellen Halloran

[stephanie]

actually gretchen, you can catch manhattanhenge again in a few weeks! it happens again on july 11 & 12th. here's a link to an article from hayden planetarium: http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/resources/starstruck/manhattanhenge/

enjoy!

[marie]

I have a lot of trouble with #6 & 8.

For 6, although I bring a healthy lunch, and keep fruit and low fat yogurt for snacks in the fridge, I never seem to have the willpower to not grab whatever treat is the lunch room, which is almost everyday: bagels, donuts, pop, etc. The bagels are the worst..

For 8, I am terrible with telling people yes right away, and then realize that its not something I might be able to do in the deadline they were asking of me. I'm still very new at my job, and sometimes, I really think it'll be done, so I say yes. But learning to give a flexible deadline is an art.

[David]

Great post. I really like number three "sit up straight" which I did as soon as I read it and of course felt better :) Thanks for sharing!

[Emily]

WONDERFUL and timely post! We just got the state budget out, and throughout the process people have been very much less than happy. Some of these tips will do wonders for me.
I definitely endorse #4. My boss handed me a big, regular project a few weeks ago, and I invested in some supplies to help me organize it. Makes life so much easier.

[Janet]

great post...#12, 13 and 15 are things I need to do better....

[Christopher]

Oh god yes. I've started actually taking lunches recently (with other people even!) and it's done wonders for my concentration and happiness at work.

[Steve @ Freedom Education]

Hi Gretchen,

Love # 14. Don’t let yourself get too hungry.

This is probably my no.1 priority, even before sleep! I always eat a few snacks throughout the day so that I'm well kept and ready to go ;)

[Gretchen Rubin]

Ok, I've marked my calendar for Manhattanhenge. Thanks!!!

for my three monitors -- I use them for my desk top. I have a PC. A friend set them up for me, so I don't know much about the mechanics of how to do it, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE having three monitors.

It has actually made me work at home much more. I love writing in coffee shops, libraries, etc, but now it's hard to leave my three monitors.

great ideas for more happiness at work, too!

[Katie]

These are great. I'm definitely working on bringing low-fat yogurt for a mid-afternoon snack instead of a sweet. And short walks help so much!

[Marie]

I really appreciate how practical your suggestions are! Thanks for sharing!

- Marie (Coming Out of the Trees)
http://mmaaggnnaa.wordpress.com/

[Meream]

These are amazing tips. The first one is very important to me. Whenever I got a new monitor at my old office, I always check the brightness first.

[Liz]

I have a list, but it's at work and I'm at home now. The main one is that it doesn't matter at all that someone I don't report to is hard to get on with. I'm not a patient person and it's important for me to let go of the frustration I sometimes feel with other people. Whenever I wonder why I'm stuck in an office when I don't want to be I look at my list. Whenever I wonder why I'm a wage slave at all I look at a photo of my son.

The one about sitting up straight rang a bell. I know I shouldn't, but I raise my chair to its highest (I'm only 5'6") which allows me to swing my legs and drop my shoulders. The first time I did it the pain I'd had for years in my right shoulder just melted away.

[Doug]

Gretchen - Besides some of the obvious things we have learned in studies from the leaders in positive psychology like working within your strengths, being curious, and examining your role as it relates to the larger purpose of the organization, I think committing yourself to a good organization strategy is incredibly important for happiness at work. It usually takes a lot of discipline to implement something like David Allen's Getting Things Done system but there are so many free tools out there like www.rememberthemilk.com and www.evernote.com that make it much easier to do.

[Sky]

Obviously you have to find out if you're permitted to do this, but I had three things I put on my desk that always made me happier at work: A large, nicely framed picture of my son; a piece of construction paper taped to an overhead cabinet that I would add "dreams" to (dreams were pictures of clothing I wanted, places I wanted to go, houses I loved, etc); and a very large sturdy vase with colorful stones in the bottom, a pretty fake underwater plant, and a betta living in it.

All of these things were calming, relaxing, lovely things that made me smile, especially the fish. So pretty, so easy to care for, and if I were feeling especially stressed, I could stop what I was doing for five minutes and just watch it swim, the fluorescent lights of the cubicle making it's colorful scales even more brilliant.

(Just remember that bettas as NOT plant-eating fish, so those vases with the live plants that say they can survive on the plant are lying and you starve the fish. Get it betta food, clean the vase or bowl out once a week and make sure you have some kind of plastic cover of some sort with holes in it for airflow over the top of the vase or bowl, because they're jumpers.)

[Alexa Freeman]

I'm also intrigued by the 3 monitor suggestion. How do you use them? I would worry that it would contribute to multi-tasking in a negative way, that is, being constantly distracted and unable to complete any one task--a problem I already have. On the other hand, anything to increase efficiency sounds good to me!

[Alissa Maddren]

I work for a small arts non-profit, so the small luxuries like a more comfortable chair, better lighting or appropriate desk accessories are next to impossible to have. I just work to keep my attitude from sinking by enjoying the people I work with, doing my job the best I can and reveling in the occasional success. But some days, happiness at work is just a dream or something other people experience...

[Noreen Blanluet]

I like #9 (Take care of difficult calls or emails as quickly as possible. Procrastinating just makes it harder; getting them done gives a big boost of relieved energy.) - although I would add that if an email winds you up try not to dash off an answer in anger or frustration; even if you try and word it as best you can your emotions may still show through. Leave things to settle, get some perspective on it, and answer maybe 24hrs later when you're feeling better...

[Preyas Chokshi]

All tips are very useful and I will implemented it from today itself!!

[Fuzzy]

I agree about getting outside, even if it's only walking across the single-car-width parking lot and back to the door. I often have to work thru lunch and have very hectic days many days so when I remember to take this little break it reminds me my 4 walls are not all that there is. I also always walk when we get breaks at meetings, preferably outside if feasible, but at least up and down the hall.

I agree with the comment about being careful not to reply too soon to emails that are annoying, irritating, or frustrating. Remember something like 85% of communication is nonverbal, yet that is all we have with email. I like to leave that email, get on with my day, think about answers, then take my time and get the phrasing the best I can given no one can see my face, my body language, or hear my tone of voice. Sometimes the emails I get that seem a little harsh, inconsiderate, or even sometimes a little bit rude are probably the result of someone being in a hurry to get some critical info out and not realizing how they "sound" on paper.

[jordan 6 ring]

I often have to work thru lunch and have very hectic days many days so when I remember to take this little break it reminds me my 4 walls are not all that there is.