How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job

Опубликовал Admin
12-06-2017, 23:40
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It's easy to get stuck in a rut with your job and with life in general, and when that happens, you might find that everything seems infinitely less enjoyable than it once did. The concept of enjoying your life and your job might seem foreign to you right now, but oftentimes, it can be accomplished if you learn to balance work and play, make your current job a little more tolerable, and commit yourself to a more positive attitude overall.

Maintain a Work-Life Balance

  1. Evaluate your priorities. Ask yourself what aspects of life you devote most of your time and energy to. Then, ask yourself if these aspects are what you truly value or if they have any significance in the grander scheme of things.
    • Rearrange your life accordingly. Keep the things that you need to do—working, grocery shopping, and so on—in your schedule, along with anything you love doing even if it does not have an immediate tangible benefit. Assign less time to the things that are neither necessary nor desirable.
  2. Track your hours. Figure out how much time you spend on various activities throughout your day and throughout your work. This includes everything you do: sleeping, eating, working, watching television, and so on. Calculate a daily or weekly average for each activity.
    • Once you figure out how much time you spend on each activity, you can map out your time more effectively so that you have room in your life for both work and play.
  3. Schedule downtime. If your life is crazy busy, you might find it easy to postpone any downtime until later. Gradually, you'll keep postponing it until you reach a breaking point. Rather than reaching that point, plan on taking a few hours of downtime by specifically scheduling them in advance.
    • It's even more beneficial if you can plan a certain event for your downtime. Schedule a date night with your spouse, a day out with your closest friends, or weekend trip to the park with your family. By scheduling a specific activity, you will have something to actively look forward to. Planning something specific also makes you less likely to back out at the last minute.
  4. Drop wasteful activities. Everyone needs time to “veg out” on occasion, but if that's all you ever do when you have a chance to relax, you might end up feeling unfulfilled. Wasteful activities that offer no benefit and do not bring you any enjoyment should be reduced as much as possible.
    • Common pitfalls include time spent on social media and surfing the Internet. These activities only take up a few minutes of your time, but when done frequently throughout your day, those minutes can add up quicker than you might expect.
  5. Reorganize your errands. Most errands are unavoidable, but if you have the resources, consider outsourcing errands you hate to other people who might be happier to do them. For instance, consider paying a kid in your neighborhood to mow your lawn or shovel your sidewalk instead of doing it yourself.
    • Similarly, you could trade errands or services. If you enjoy cooking, for instance, you can offer to prepare and freeze a week's worth of meals for a neighbor who hates to cook but loves to garden. In exchange, your garden-loving neighbor can tend to your garden over the weekend.
  6. Be active. You might think that squeezing exercise into an already packed schedule would be impossible, but a few minutes of exercise each day or each week can go a long way. Physical activity reduces the buildup of stress in your body, leaving you feeling more balanced and energized.
    • Try to get 30 minutes of exercise in two to four times a week. Any sort of cardiovascular exercise can work, even if it's just a walk or bicycle ride through the park.
  7. Find a passion project. If your paid job is not especially satisfying, look for a volunteer project or hobby that you can involve yourself with that might provide you with the sort of satisfaction you're missing from your job.
  8. Start small. Keep your expectations reasonable, particularly when you first start planning out your work-life balance. Giving yourself a long to-do list of supposedly enjoyable activities can actually backfire and make you feel more stressed as you rush around to get those tasks done. Start small and work your way up as needed.
    • If you have a really hard time fitting relaxation time into your schedule, commit to as little as 15 minutes a day. You might not be able to do anything exciting during that time, but in those 15 minutes, you can indulge in something quick and enjoyable to reinvigorate yourself.

Have a Fulfilling Work Life

  1. Evaluate your current job. If your current job makes you unhappy, ask yourself why that is. A problem with the work itself will be difficult to remedy without a career change, but a problem with the conditions of your job is usually a bit easier to solve.
  2. Change your job description. Talk to your boss about altering your responsibilities and tasks. Ask if the work you do can be tailored more toward your passions and skills, and discuss ways to ultimately improve your productivity.
    • If you feel overworked or overwhelmed, your boss might be able to rearrange your responsibilities in a way that will allow you to produce higher quality work in a more comfortable environment. Similarly, if you feel unchallenged at work, most bosses will be happy to assign you more challenging tasks.
  3. Transfer within the company. If you can no longer stand to do the work required of you within the department you currently work in, find out if there is another department within the company that you can work in, instead. In doing so, you can essentially get a completely different job without dramatically jeopardizing your job security.
    • Research the prospect before you bring it to your boss's attention. Find out if there are any other areas of the company you are qualified to work in, and pay close attention to departments and teams in need of new help that you could offer.
  4. Work with different people. Some of the biggest problems people face on the job are related to co-workers. There are some people you will always have to work with, but discuss the matter with your boss and ask to spend more time working away from those people and more time working with people you can stand.
    • Working with new co-workers can be a good idea from time to time even if you get along with the ones you currently work with. Doing so can make you view your work from a different perspective.
    • When you do find people you can work with remarkably well, collaborate with them as often as possible.
  5. Confide in a trustworthy co-worker. Workplace friendships can be risky, but they can also be very rewarding. Keep an eye out for a co-worker you can get along with and talk to easily. Build your friendship with that individual and serve as confidants with him or her. Someone who works within your company is more likely to understand the woes and challenges you deal with on the job.
    • Workplace friendships should be about much more than complaining, though. Take an interest in your co-worker on a personal level. Ask about his or her plans for the weekend. Offer to pick up an extra cup of coffee for him or her on your way into the office. Meaningful interactions are more fulfilling for both parties than empty ones.
  6. Shift your hours. If you don't like the hours you work because of the people you work with during those hours, or if you would prefer a different set of hours so that your current time slot can be freed up for an outside activity, ask your boss if it would be possible to change your shift.
    • If you are unable to change your shift completely, talk to your boss about altering your schedule slightly to relieve some stress. For instance, if you need a few extra minutes in the morning to drop your kids off at school, ask your boss if you can come into work 30 minutes later in exchange for working 30 minutes later into the evening.
  7. Personalize your working space. If you sit at a desk and stare at the same bare, white office walls every day, it's easy to feel trapped in your surroundings. Personalizing your space with a few pictures or meaningful mementos can make the environment more aesthetically pleasing and more comfortable to work in.
    • Think of ways to make yourself physically more comfortable, as well. Bring a cushion for your chair or keep a sweater handy if your office gets chilly.
  8. Clear out the clutter. Use any downtime you have at work to clear away old emails, documents, and folders from your computer and your desk. Clutter can make you feel claustrophobic and overwhelmed. Reducing the amount of clutter in your work life can help you feel calmer.
  9. Multitask less often. Even if you can take on three or four tasks at once and manage to get them done, don't do it. Research suggests that the mind is at its peak performance when it focuses completely on a single objective. Doing too much at the same time can make you feel worn down and unhappy.
  10. Think ahead. Your current job does not have to be the job you have for the rest of your life. If you really think that a career change is in order, plan for one while you're still safe and secure in the job you have now.

Enjoy the Rest of Your Life to the Fullest

  1. Think in additive terms. When you make a mistake, don't stop at simply pointing out the mistake to yourself. You should also tell yourself what you should have done instead. Doing so allows you to learn from your mistakes and allows you to feel as though you are gradually making progress in your life.
    • For instance, instead of telling yourself, "If only I hadn't messed up when cooking dinner," tell yourself, "If only I had paid more attention to the time instead of getting distracted by the Internet when the roast was in the oven."
  2. Stop comparing yourself to others. You are your own person with your own set of circumstances. That being the case, there is no reason to compare your accomplishments with the accomplishments of others. Don't put yourself down because of others, and don't look down on others because of your own successes, either.
  3. Rephrase restrictive self-talk. Instead of saying “I can't,” tell yourself, “I won't.” The difference might be subtle, but it's important. Telling yourself that you cannot do something takes away the element of choice and makes you feel powerless. Telling yourself that you will not do something empowers you by turning that action into a conscious decision.
    • For example, don't say, "I can't go to the movies on Friday." Instead, tell yourself, "I won't go because I have a greater priority to attend to," or, "I don't want to go because there is something else in my life that is more important right now."
  4. Nurture positive relationships. Spend more time with people who support you and less time with people who continually drag you down. Along with benefiting from their goodwill toward you, you should also extend goodwill back to them.
  5. Make time for yourself. Your loved ones might be a big part of your life, but that doesn't mean that every spare minute you have should be devoted to them. When planning out your free time, make sure that you schedule some time to be alone with your thoughts, doing what you want to do.
  6. Try new things. The quickest way to find your passion is to search everywhere for it. Aside from that, as the saying goes, “variety is the spice of life.” Trying new things can make your life seem more exciting.
    • Study a new subject, visit a foreign location, or take up a new hobby. Take little steps outside of your routine and outside of your comfort zone from time to time. You do not need to embark on a completely different life path, but be open to the possibility that new passions and interests may arise that could lead your life in a different direction.
  7. Focus on experiences over possessions. There's no harm in buying things you really want, but “stuff” will not make you feel emotionally fulfilled. Enrich your life with experiences—whether those experiences are novel or familiar—and collect memories instead of knickknacks.
  8. Accept yourself. You have strengths and you have weaknesses, just like anyone else. Only in learning to love and accept your entire person can you come to enjoy life.
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