Reclaim your happiness at work on the International Day of Happiness
   The average Brit spends 100,000 hours at work and if we were happier at
   work, we'd be happier in our whole lives
   • Find out how happy you are at work compared to the national average
   and more focused on their work. Photograph: Alex Freund/Getty Images
   Today is the UN's International Day of Happiness – a day set aside to
   raise global awareness that happiness is a fundamental human goal.
   why has it decided that the seemingly frivolous idea of happiness is
   that this would be progress. When understood like this, happiness
   economic growth that promotes ... the happiness and well-being of all
   Conference on Happiness at which the International Day of Happiness was
   instigated, happiness is now featuring on national agendas. The UK
   All too often, the concept of happiness is hijacked by advertisers and
   and glamour. In reality, the important things for our happiness are
   relationships and whether what we do in our home and working lives
   The London-based campaign group Action for Happiness is co-ordinating
   happiness". Falling on a Thursday, this year's International Day of
   Happiness is a workday for most of us. Let's ask ourselves the
   question: how would the world be if we were all happier at work?
   It is quite a radical question. For many, work has come to signify the
   exact opposite of happiness. It's where we go to earn the money to buy
   work; we expect to endure it until we clock out or log off and return
   to our real lives – a life outside of work.
   But hang on a minute. The average Brit spends 100,000 hours at work
   during their lifetime – that's more than 11 and a half years. Work is
   part of our real life and if we were happier at work we would be
   better people. So happiness at work is good for us, as individuals.
   business if its employees are happier at work?
   more innovative and more focused on their work. Every day they make
   more progress with their work than their unhappy colleagues. They also
   When we do the maths, the costs of ignoring happiness at work are
   a really happy, engaged workforce, then staff turnover would typically
   by about 20%. The cost of ignoring happiness in an average UK company,
   paying average wages, works out to be in excess of £1m every year.
   Happiness at work is not a threat to business; it's an opportunity.
   Creating happy profitable businesses may work for the few but surely
   This is where the happiness perspective gets really interesting. Most
   of us feel happier when we work for an organisation that is seeking to
   salaries to work for organisations and on issues that are aligned with
   proud to work there. There is a win-win-win here for individuals,
   So today, let's reclaim our happiness – at work as well as at home.
   Let's follow the example of the UN and put happiness at the core of
   everything we do and we can work together to a make a better world for
   Nic Marks is director of Happiness Works and on the board of Action for
   Happiness
     * Work for us