Yahoo column: Four ways to make a bad job good
The best way to be happier at work is to take personal responsibility for your workplace well-being. Once you do that, any job can be better than it is right now.
Here are four ways you can improve your job yourself instead of relying on your boss or your company to change:
1. Make a friend at work
People with one friend at work are much more likely to find their work interesting. And people with three friends at work are virtually guaranteed to be very satisfied with their life, according to extensive research from Gallup published in the book Vital Friends by Tom Rath. These findings are independent of what a person’s job entails, and what their home life is like.
On one level, this isn’t surprising. We’re better equipped to deal with hardship if we have friends near us, and we have more fun when we’re with friends. So a friend allows us to deal with the ups and downs of work much more easily.
We often think of work and life as separate, and consequently fortify our home life with friends. But we need different friends for different contexts. Having someone you can count on at work to care about you and understand you feeds your soul in a way that used to apply only at home.
Of course, once you have this information, you have to figure out the most effective ways to make friends at work. Because friends don’t just materialize in your cubicle — you need to cultivate them.
Read the rest at Yahoo Finance
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2 Comments »
>> Decrease your commute time by moving closer to work.
Very Important point there. “Life itself is journey lets not waste it in traveling (Wow, that makes a good quote)”.
There are two things that make a job bad
1) Internal Conflicts - Your profile Vs Job profile
2) External Conflicts
- You can choose companies, grass always greener on other side
- Company environment etc
See what is making a job bad, then try to rectify it else find another job hoping it is a rectified one.
Do go through this http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/97 ( Dan Gilbert: Why are we happy? Why aren’t we happy?) and http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/93 (Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice)
Enjoy,
Aji
Posted by AjiNIMC - wrote about "Questions for your employer (Hiring Manager)" | April 19, 2007
Friends at work have always been paramount for me, and the friends I’ve made seem to have fallen into three categories: Life friends - people I’ll know until one of us dead: I know their families, birthdays,backyards,etc.. Networking friends - these are folks I was tight with at work and whom I see for lunch a couple of times a year, at which time we really enjoy each other’s company, and after which we may or may not do some work together - but we’re always there for each other for advice,job tips, leads, etc. Ad hoc friends are those you bond with at the moment. It’s all about the work - the stupid boss, the joint project - but the relationship dies out once you don’t have work-stuff in common. All three types are important. I don’t know how anyone can survive at work without friends.
As to the point you raised in the Yahoo article about not looking for meaning at work. I disagree. I think it’s important to find meaning in all aspects of your life, and if working is a big part of it, it goes a lot better if there’s meaning attached. Admittedly, I’m a professional product marketer working in technology-related businesses, which may seem devoid of meaning, but I’ve always been able to derive purpose from my work. Sometimes it was “just” being a good co-worker (friend at work), mentoring younger workers. Sometimes the meaning is “what we’re doing may not be all that important or noble in the long view, but our company is making technology that helps others do their jobs better, plus we’re providing employment that lets people provide for their families and thus giving their lives meaning…” Circular reasoning, maybe, but it’s gotten me through some “What am I doing here?” moments.
Posted by Maureen Rogers | April 19, 2007
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