How to find Joy in work - at Home!

Joy in work is the feeling of great pleasure and happiness evoked by wellbeing and success at work.

Wellbeing includes both our physical and psychological health. Let’s start with the basics.

Do you roll your eyes when you hear the word ergonomics – in the work environment – “its common sense” right – but is it?

With most of us now working from home, (aka the kitchen table) – and looking like that’s going to be the norm for a while, let’s face it – some of our work setups at home, hastily put together for a short stint, are suboptimal at best – for the longer term.

There is a lot of information available about ergonomics for a physical set-up (Ref: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/officewise-guide-health-and-safety-office-handbook). However, aside from the general ergonomic postural set up, work hardware positioning, and environmental set up, to find joy in work, we also need to give consideration to our psychological well-being.

Of equal importance is managing:

Fatigue – ensure that you take regular postural breaks (grab a coffee, take time out to pat your pet etc.. to ensure optimal endurance at home. It is so easy to get immersed in work that we forget about the need to take a breather, a physical and psychological break that replenishes you for your next work period.
Workload demands – schedule activities in your day. Setting specific time aside for work that requires concentration during which time you cannot (or prefer not to) be interrupted is important. Working from home does not mean that you have to be accessible to others every minute of the day. There is a risk of stretching yourself too thin and suffering unnecessary symptoms of fatigue.
Ensure you are clear on your key deliverables – not knowing what level of work is expected of you can leave you second guessing the key performance expectations which will only leave you with a level of stress and anxiety that will impact negatively on your overall productivity.

Here’s what you can do: Take a minute to set up your environment in a way that brings you joy and happiness. Think about:

Make your workstation fun and individualised — bright colours, cover your monitor risers with decorative paper, Plants. Make your work space a happy space!
Playing your favourite music in the background when working – low level off course (and when the mood strikes, take a break, turn up the volume and practice a few moves)
Set up activities that you can do in your break times to get you away from your desk.
Go for a walk, run, start a jigsaw puzzle.
Explore what brings you joy in work and try and draw that into your daily work routine.
Make time for meeting with your colleagues to avoid social isolation. We might be working in different places but there is no necessity to go it alone. You can seek out contact via different methods – phone, videoconferencing, instant messaging – whatever works for you.
Set up a videoconference at one of your designated break times with colleagues to enjoy a coffee / tea or favourite tipple (after hours of course) together.
Avoid working in a silo – apart from the lack of learning and growth opportunities in his environment, this level of isolation leads to low mood and lowered happiness at work.

Ideally your work area should be separate to your living space. Where this cannot be arranged, a clear delineation of work time and play/home time is important. Invest in work/life balance. Don’t allow work life to bleed into your personal life.

It is important to keep in mind that a healthy work focus is that we work to live, we don’t live to work.

At Thriving People we are setting out to capture our ‘joy in work’ stories and broadcast them so we can learn from each other – turning theory into reality. Check this out on our website www.thrivingpeople.net.au. If you’d like to know more please connect with us at Thriving People.

Carol Young, Co-Director of Thriving People has 25 + years practical experience holding various qualification as an Occupational Therapist, Health and Safety Practitioner, Nationally Accredited Mediator and Conflict Management Coach (amongst other things).