No job is perfect but if you know that you're in the right career, find your work rewarding, but still feel unhappy at work, these tips could help give you the lift you need.
1. Reward yourself for a job well done. This could be a doughnut, a cup of your favourite coffee or five minutes reading a good magazine. Too often we focus only on our failings without acknowledging when we do something well. At the very least, learn to give yourself a mental pat on the back.
2. Fake it. Studies have found that smiling, even when you don’t feel like it, can improve your mood. Take the opportunity to smile when you can – at staff or colleagues or the cashier in the corner shop. Smiling is also contagious, so you could help other people to feel more cheerful, which will improve the general atmosphere around you.
3. Create a pleasant space around you. Keep useful or beautiful things in your work space and get rid of clutter and mess. Arriving to a sea of papers and moulding coffee cups has never improved anyone’s temper.
4. You are not a machine. If you have a desk job, make sure you take regular breaks and walk around. Try to get out of the office at lunch time; even a 15-minute stroll can work wonders for your mood.
5. Don’t over-promise and under-deliver. Far better to be pragmatic about what you can achieve in your working day, and over-achieve on your goals, rather than let down colleagues, staff or clients.
6. Try to learn something new each day. If we’re learning new things, we feel as though we are progressing in life. You don’t have to learn the complete works of Shakespeare – just learning a joke that you can tell your friends, or finding a new short-cut to work can help keep your happiness levels high.
7. Turn the other cheek. If people are moody or unpleasant during your working day, don’t take it personally. Remember that it’s impossible to know everything that’s going on in other people’s lives, the factors affecting their treatment of you. Learn to shrug off any snide remarks or sharp retorts. It’s probably less about you and more about their own problems.
8. If something is out of your control, don’t obsess about it. If you are powerless to change something, accept it. This will not only make you happier at work, it will free your mind to take action on issues that you do have the power to improve.
9. Remember that you are in charge of your happiness. No one else can make you happy - you have to do that yourself. Don’t lose your temper with others for failing to pick you up when you’re feeling down and take responsibility for your own moods.
