IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Getty/iStock
International Day of Happiness: 9 experts on the secrets to true happiness
You hold the key to making yourself happy
* Sabrina Barr
* @fabsab5
* Monday 19 March 2018 20:01
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Happiness isn’t the enigma we’ve been led to assume it is.
Believe it or not, we are all capable of achieving happiness sooner
rather than later.
Tuesday marks the International Day of Happiness, a day on which people
all over the world will be taking an introspective look at their lives
and pondering over what makes them happy.
Read more
* On my 58th birthday, I'm questioning what it means to be happy
Whether it’s the little things like going for a regular morning jog or
the big things like telling someone that you love them, you hold the
key to attaining true prosperity in all areas of your life.
We spoke to the experts on the secrets to reaching a state of true
happiness, and what they had to say has the potential to transform your
life for the better.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Identify happiness
One of the first things that you have to consider when striving to
achieve happiness is figuring out what the concept of happiness means
to you.
Happiness doesn’t have to involve being chirpy and cheerful all the
time. It covers a whole range of emotions, both positive and negative,
that are equally important for your emotional wellbeing.
“Don’t focus on ‘happiness’. Most of us won’t ever feel constantly
‘happy’ in the way that we are traditionally sold the idea - rather,
chase ‘wholeness’,” says Laura Jane Williams, author of Ice Cream for
Breakfast.
Read more
* A new school in India will prioritise happiness instead of grades
“Wholeness is knowing that life is a million shades of grey -
contentedness, sadness, ecstasy, melancholy - and that they all count.
All of our emotions matter, not just the ‘good’ ones.”
Williams explained how one should picture happiness as a string of
fairy lights, as opposed to a torch with a single light bulb.
“If a torch, your one source of light, goes out, you can’t see,” she
says. “But if a fairy light goes out there are still many other fairy
lights twinkling.
“If you decide one thing and one thing only will make you happy, you’re
screwed if it doesn’t happen. Spread your joy out.”
(Getty Images)
Make connections
While knowing how to enjoy your own company is a valuable skill,
cherishing human connection is a vital component to a happy life.
“Connect. Loneliness is as potent to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a
day - humans are built for connection and community,” says Williams.
Dr Juliet Wakefield is a social psychologist working at Nottingham
Trent University whose research delves into the impact of social
groups.
“We are living in an era where we can connect to anyone in the world at
the click of a button, yet loneliness and social isolation are rife,”
Dr Wakefield says.
Read more
* This is how much you need to earn to be happy, according to new
study
“Health professionals tell us constantly about the importance of diet
and exercise for our wellbeing, but frequently neglect the key role
that social relationships play in allowing us to live happy, fulfilling
lives.”
Meik Wiking, CEO of The Happiness Research Institute in Denmark, has
devised a unique way of connecting with his neighbours.
“I have created a small mini library in my stairway - it holds about 20
books now since other neighbours have added to it,” he explains.
“It makes the stairway more homely, it is fun to watch which books get
picked up and it encourages interaction between the neighbours.”
Take a break
It can sometimes seem like your life is moving at a rapid pace that you
just can’t keep up with.
That’s why taking a moment to pause every once in a while can do you a
whole world of good.
“With constant distractions, blurred work and life boundaries and
endless to-do lists, it can be difficult to know how to maintain your
sanity when everything is in flux,” says Samantha Clarke, happiness
consultant and changemaker who is currently working with Drinkfinity to
encourage people to live more fluidly.
Watch more
* How to get white teeth: Four top tips to achieve a brighter smile
“Individuals that take the time to pause daily start to gain a real
understanding of the values that anchor them, become more attuned to
what makes them happy and can lean away from the things that zap their
energy.”
One thing that you can do while taking a moment to pause during your
busy day is to reassess your personal values and become more
self-aware.
“You might discover in your pause time that you really value
creativity, or making a difference, or freedom and flexibility and you
just aren’t getting enough of it,” Clarke says.
“Putting your values into action on a consistent basis is key to
happiness.”
(Getty Images)
Exercise
It should come as no surprise that exercising can do wonders for
elevating your mood.
However, many people don’t take advantage of this, focusing instead on
the physical impact of working out.
“People usually only want to exercise for the benefits of changing the
way they look and their physical health,” says nutritionist Farah
Fonseca, twice named England’s Strongest Woman.
“However, exercise can be fabulous for your mental health and happiness
as well.
Read more
* The plank is the one exercise most commonly done wrong
“Exercise builds more than muscle - it also boosts self-confidence,
mental agility and a ‘can-do’ attitude.”
You need to figure out what form of exercise personally suits you best,
whether you enjoy lifting weights or prefer spinning.
"Exercise really does make all the difference to how we feel,” Fonseca
says.
"If you're keen to increase your activeness for the first time, there
are some fantastic entry-level classes and events across the UK that
aim to make fitness fun, such as Project Awesome (an unashamedly
inclusive, loud, proud, high-energy free fitness initiative) or The
Color Run UK (known as 'the happiest 5K on the planet')," says Danny
Bent, founder of Project Awesome.
Focus on yourself
We all have a tendency to compare ourselves to others, which inevitably
fosters feelings of ineptitude and low self-esteem.
“Taking self-responsibility for your happiness is not about being
selfish or self-consumed - it’s about being self-focused,” says David
James Lees, ordained Taoist monk and co-founder of Wu Wei Wisdom.
Often people fall into the trap of constantly comparing, criticising or
being judgemental about themselves or other people, both in their
personal life and career.
Read more
* 5 simple ways to improve your self-esteem
“The Taoists teach that this ‘takes your eyes off your authentic path’
and will move you away from a state of ‘flow’, where you are your most
at ease, creative, productive, expansive and vibrant.
“When you stop blaming other people, situations or past events for your
unhappiness you immediately begin to retake control of your destiny.
“A mantra I teach my clients is: ‘What other people think of me is none
of my business’.
“Once you stop caring about what other people think about you this will
transform your life.”
(Getty Images)
Help others
Lending a helping hand to someone in need or simply acting in a more
thoughtful manner will create a positive atmosphere that all can
benefit from, whether you’re the giver or the receiver.
“Helping people is the easiest way to make yourself feel great,” says
Bent.
Doing things such as holding a door open for someone or buying someone
a cup of coffee can go a long way.
Read more
* Jameela Jamil launches campaign to help women stop focusing on
weight
“By doing something even small for someone you might just improve their
day, they hopefully will thank you and you never know, it might just
make them smile,” Bent says.
“With that thanks or that smile you can go away with a warmth in your
heart that you’ve achieved something a little lovely in your day.”
You never know how much of an impact a small act of kindness can do.
Giving up your seat for a stranger on the bus or offering to help
someone with directions could mean the world to the right person. Never
underestimate the power of kindness!
Find the silver lining
No matter what situation you find yourself in, no matter how dire it
may seem, a silver lining can always be found.
Missing out on your dream job could lead to another one coming up
that’s even more perfect for you, or being dumped could give you the
push you needed to finally travel the world.
Every experience is a lesson in disguise, and realising that is
extremely liberating.
Read more
* The best commuter towns for families who love the great outdoors
“Whatever is happening in your life or around you, you can always find
a tiny slither of positivity within it,” says Bent.
“We all have moments where we feel down in the grumps because of a
particular incident that’s happening.
“I’m going to challenge you to find the positivity within this
situation.”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Take a moment now to recall a moment
when you believed all was lost and then have a think about the good
that came out of it.
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Go outside
Enjoying the great outdoors has a number of proven benefits, including
improving your self-esteem.
However, it’s also a great way to reconnect with your body and mind as
well as other people.
“When we get outside we tend to be healthier and happier - we’re more
connected with ourselves, our world and with loved ones and friends,”
says Belinda Dixon, outdoors blogger and Ordnance Survey GetOutside
Champion.
“We’re often with people who matter to us. And because there are fewer
other distractions, we’re engaging with them more.
Read more
* Fitting a healthy lifestyle in with socialising and studying
“Being surrounded by sky or sea reminds us we’re alive.”
Venturing outside also encourages people to take on challenges that
they otherwise may never consider trying.
“Happiness can come from doing something a little scary,” explains
Dixon.
“I’m a keen but relatively inexperienced climber, wild camper and sea
swimmer and those things make me whoop and grin, even if only
afterwards!
“You see it in photos of people outdoors. They’re natural, not
overly-posed, there’s the joy of feeling alive in the moment, with
those people, in that space.”
Smile
One of the most obvious tips for finding happiness and also one of the
most effective is to smile.
Not only can smiling lower your stress levels and have a positive
effect overall health, but it’s also a powerful tool that you can use
to connect with others.
“Smiling is one of the very few gestures which means the same thing all
around the globe,” says Susannah Schaefer, CEO of international
children’s charity Smile Train.
“A smile suggests that you are approachable, personable, and
trustworthy. In fact, smiling connotes positivity in general.
Watch more
* Eight out of 10 start-ups rope in friends and relatives, study
finds
“People are more likely to engage socially with someone they perceive
to be friendly, and a smile is the perfect way to demonstrate this.”
Many people often refrain from smiling at others over fears that
they’ll be perceived as being strange or overly friendly.
However, you’d be surprised at the positive reception you could receive
from a slight change in expression.
As the cast of Annie would say, “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a
Smile."
More about International Day of Happiness International Day of
Happiness 2018 Happiness happy
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. 9 experts reveal the secrets to true happiness for
International
1/5
Getty/iStock
2/5
Getty Images
3/5
Getty Images
4/5
Getty Images
5/5
Getty Images/iStockphoto
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
According to a new study, taking public transport instead of driving to
work appears to make people happier and helps them to sleep better (
Getty )
Taking public transport instead of driving to work makes people happier,
study suggests
Walking to the bus stop or station and then relaxing while travelling
appears to help to make people feel better
* Ian Johnston
* @montaukian
* Monday 15 September 2014 00:07
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Taking public transport instead of driving to work appears to make
people happier and helps them to sleep better, according to a new
study.
Researchers reported that car commuters were 13 per cent more likely to
feel they were under constant strain or unable to concentrate.
It is thought that the exercise taken to walk to the bus stop or
station and then the relaxation while travelling helps to make people
feel better. A previous study found switching from a car to public
transport helped people lose weight and become healthier physically.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Academics from the University of East Anglia studied 18,000 workers in
the UK for the research, which was published in the journal, Preventive
Medicine.
Lead researcher Adam Martin told The Daily Telegraph: “One surprising
finding was that commuters reported feeling better when travelling by
public transport, compared to driving. You might think that things like
disruption to services or crowds of commuters might have been a cause
of considerable stress.
“But as buses and trains also give people time to relax, read,
socialise and there is usually an associated walk to the bus stop or
railway station, it appears to cheer people up.”
He added that improvements to public transport, including improving
cycling, could actually have “noticeable mental health benefits.”
The journal article said: “These results appear to suggest that
avoiding car driving may be beneficial to well-being.
“This view complements existing evidence of a negative association
between driving and physical health and is consistent with the
hypothesis that car driving, a non-passive travel mode that requires
constant concentration, can give rise to boredom, social isolation and
stress.
“However this view is also consistent with the hypothesis that
intrinsic enjoyment is gained from the exercise or relaxation
associated with active travel.”
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
In a fit of despair, Nicholas Lezard turned to the latest self- help manuals
to gee himself up. He tried to follow their advice. He's still depressed
* Nicholas Lezard
* @Nicklezard
* Sunday 23 August 1998 00:02
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
I WAS FEELING a bit down in the dumps, you know, a little blue, before
writing this piece, so I thought I'd take a little advice from Cheri
Huber in her The Little Book of Beating the Blues (Thorsons, pounds
5.99): "Get as comfortable as you can be, the idea being to stay awake,
and start with several long, deep breaths. As you take these breaths,
see if you can keep your attention focused on the breath as it
enters your body,
as it fills your body,
and as it leaves your body."
Neat, eh, the way she writes it as if it was poetry, or rather as if
she is right there in the therapy room with you, making whooshing and
puffing noises so that you get the idea?
Anyway, let's carry on.
"Taking another long, deep breath, shift your awareness to what you are
feeling, to your emotions ... being open, being available ...."
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
We are then asked to pause and see if we can be "open to any insights
your emotions might hold for you", and although all I am aware of at
the moment is a vague desire for a cup of tea, I take "another deep
breath.
"Just allow yourself to let go completely and absolutely .... Let
yourself feel what it is like when you let go completely.
"PAUSE ...
"What is this like for you? Is it like laughing, dancing, running?"
No - it isn't like laughing, dancing, or running. It feels like ... it
feels like making myself a cup of tea and rolling a fag. Ah well.
That's the English for you. (Melancholia has been called "the
Englishman's disease", incidentally.)
Still, it works (the tea-and-fag cure, that is), which is perhaps more
than can be said for the advice in The 10-Minute Miracle by Gloria
Rawson and David Callinan, a teeny-tiny book also published by Thorsons
for pounds 7.99. (Thorsons, it would appear, is the loopy New Age
imprint of HarperCollins.) This not only has various means for cheering
oneself up, recharging the spiritual batteries, as it were, but
suggests that if I am suffering from anaemia, I should "drink water
that has been charged with red vibration (a colour card placed
underneath a glass of water)".
But I am straying off my subject, which is happiness. (The only real
question raised by The 10-Minute Miracle is whether a prosecution for
fraud could be successfully brought against the authors and
publishers.) For this I turn to Happiness Now! by Robert Holden (Hodder
& Stoughton, pounds 8.99), founder of the Happiness Project, whose
"innovative work has been the subject of thousands of media features
worldwide" - and now, with this article, another one.
Happiness Now! comes with numerous encomia from authors of other self-
help books, such as Paul Wilson, who "wrote" The Little Book of Calm,
Jerry Jampolsky MD, author of Love Is Letting Go of Fear, and Stuart
Wilde, author of Life Was Never Meant to be a Struggle (it wasn't?
Duh!) Holden's book comes with lots of diagrams, parables, and
down-home wisdom. For example: "Most early-morning decisions are about
showers, make-up, clothes, children, food, time, and transport. They
are 'doing decisions', as opposed to 'being decisions'. What I am most
interested in is not your 'to do' list, but your 'to be' list. In other
words, did you make any conscious decisions about how you wanted 'to
be' today? To put it another way, what sort of a day did you decide to
have today?"
It would perhaps be churlish and negative to say that the way my day
was going to shape up was not entirely in my hands, in that reading
these books put me in a decidedly grumpy and mean-spirited mood all
day. The point, rather, is that there seem to be an awful lot of books
coming out which suggest that we are all a somewhat miserable bunch and
that what we need is to learn how to be happy.
The big gun in this series is The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for
Living, the record of dozens of conversations between Howard C Cutler,
a shrink, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama (to be published in October
by Hodder & Stoughton, again). This is not a foolish book, and in fact
looks like Plato's Republic when set against the others. But the fact
remains that what the book is is an extended advertisement for Buddhism
- rather in the way that Happiness Now! has a very
Evangelical-Christian tone. (This is not apparent from a quick glance
at Holden's book, whereas you couldn't accuse any book with the Dalai
Lama's name in huge letters on its cover of sneakily introducing
Buddhism where it has no business.)
If all these books have anything in common, it is their assertion that
we are less happy than we used to be; or that we are under greater
pressure to consider ourselves happy than we once were. Solon's remark,
over two and a half thousand years old, "Call no man happy until he
dies, he is at best but fortunate," seems to have been forgotten, both
as a piece of practical advice, and as a way of reminding us that
people weren't necessarily any happier in times gone by.
I am not mocking the existence of these self-help books, only their
prose, and some of the conclusions they reach. And their blurbs. And
Robert Holden's ghastly grinning mug on the cover of Happiness Now! And
the way that The Little Book of Bearing the Blues has not been typeset,
but handwritten and interspersed with irritating drawings; for example
of a locked and barred door opening up to reveal a sunny country road.
(One problem is that, as Montherlant said, happiness writes white; the
communication of happiness does not make for good reading. I remember
that Theodore Zeldin, normally a very good writer and historian, and an
expert on the French, wrote an astonishingly crazy novel called
Happiness, which should stand as a warning against those tempted to
write allegorical stories on this theme.)
Happiness is one of the biggest philosophical questions to have
bedevilled us. It is, perhaps, the Big Question - bigger, even, than
the existence of God. "Happiness," said Santayana, "is the only
sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and
lamentable experiment."
The pursuit of happiness is enshrined as a right in the Declaration of
Independence. Interestingly, many people, even Americans, think that it
is in the Constitution. They don't realize, either, that what Jefferson
was talking about was the right to own property; and that it is the
pursuit that is a right, not the achievement of it. These are revealing
historical and interpretative slips.
Aristotle worried at the question of Happiness at length in his Ethics.
Happiness is eudaemonia, well-being, and after lots of argument with
himself, he comes to these conclusions: "Happiness demands not only
complete goodness but a good life."
Bearing in mind Solon's remark, he arrives at the definition of the
happy man: "One who is active in accordance with complete virtue, and
who is adequately furnished with external goods, and that not for some
unspecified period but throughout a complete life." And, probably, we
should add, "destined both to live in this way and die accordingly". He
also adds that "goodness implies seriousness", and that it wouldn't
hurt to have happy and virtuous friends, too.
This is a tall order, and out of our control; but this definition seems
to hold true to this day. Except that nowadays the question of
happiness does not so much revolve around virtue and goodness, as about
"being compassionate towards yourself", "being what you want" - nuggets
picked up from Holden and Huber - and having a great big grin slapped
all over your stupid face.
More about Blues Buddhism Dalai Lama Drawing
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > Business > Business Comment > Hamish McRae
Hamish McRae: World happiness can tell us a great deal about governments
Economic Life: To increase its citizens' happiness, the main thing a
government should strive for is competence
* Friday 2 April 2010 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Happy in your work? Or relieved to have a long weekend off? This Easter
holiday will be the last moment of calm before the election campaign,
so it seems sensible to try to stand back from the unpleasantness of
our politics, not to mention the unpleasantness of our economics, and
focus on something more uplifting: what makes us happy.
This has been an area in which there has been huge interest, not least
among the politicians. The Government has appointed a "happiness tsar",
the economist and Labour peer Lord Layard, and I am sure we all wish
him more success than the Government's drugs tsar achieved. At the TED
conference in February David Cameron quoted Robert Kennedy's criticism
of gross national product as an inadequate way of measuring real wealth
in society. Naturally companies the world over struggle to make their
employees, if not happy, at least content in their work. That is not
necessarily through altruism, for high labour turnover adds to costs
and diminishes quality.
But there is a problem. An article published yesterday in the Journal
of Occupational and Organizational Psychology examined what makes
people enjoy their jobs. Which way round does the relationship work:
are people happy in general because they enjoy their jobs, or do they
enjoy their jobs because they are generally happy people?
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Rather surprisingly, it seems it is that latter. The lead author of the
study, Professor Nathan Bowling of Wright State University in the US,
explained: "These results suggest that if people are, or are
predisposed to be, happy and satisfied in life generally, then they
will be likely to be happy and satisfied in their work ... However, the
flipside of this finding could be that those people who are
dissatisfied generally and who seek happiness through their work, may
not find job satisfaction. Nor might they increase their levels of
overall happiness by pursuing it."
So I suppose the message to employers would be that they should try to
hire happy people, rather than put their effort into making less happy
ones happier. It is perhaps a message that should carry further. The
first of Robert Louis Stevenson's "12 rules to live by" is: "Make up
your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things". But
this begs the question as to what does make people happy in the first
place.
Here economists, as usual, have carried out an abundance of research
and the difficulty is to pick one's way through it. The best starting
point that I have found is the work at the University of Leicester,
where Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist there, produced the
first ever global projection of international differences in subjective
wellbeing; the World Map of Happiness.
A couple of obvious points first. One is that, in general, people in
rich countries are happier – or at least feel they are happier, for
remember that this is subjective wellbeing – than people in poor ones.
But an even more striking one is that people in small countries are
happier than people in large ones.
The largest of the top 20, Canada, has only 33 million people and most
of the rest have fewer than ten million. Of the big countries, the US
does rather well at 23rd, Germany is 35th, the UK 41st and France 64th.
China is middle of the pack at 82nd and is happier than Japan at 90th,
while India and Russia languish at 125th and 167th. Finally there is a
little sad group at the bottom: the Democratic Republic of the Congo is
176th, Zimbabwe 177th and Burundi is 178th.
Most of the data is as one might expect but there are some other
intriguing results, and some puzzles. The Gulf region is as happy as
Western developed nations; so too is Venezuela. Japan is not as happy
as it ought to be, given its wealth and health. Why is Portugal less
happy than Spain? Pakistan is less happy than India but Bangladesh
scores higher than either. Malaysia is significantly happier than the
rest of south-east Asia. Argentina is happier than France.
Now, I should say that this study was published more than three years
ago and the data will be older still. So it may be that the economic
downturn has knocked the enthusiasm of two of the recession's biggest
casualties, Iceland and Ireland. But the fact that people in small
countries seem to thrive does raise political questions: for example,
might Scotland and Wales be happier if they were independent of
England?
What other policy implications are there? I suppose from a British
perspective one lesson that has been drawn is that were the UK to
become more like the Nordic nations we would be happier as a result. It
has been argued that were the government to tax more and try to iron
out inequalities, that would make for a happier society. But there are
two problems with that argument, even if it were a practicable policy.
One is that people seem to dislike government intervention; the other
that the US is happier than the UK by a significant margin.
Besides, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which have a smaller
government relative to GDP than the UK and which are closer culturally
than the US to the UK, seem to score higher in the league than we do.
The French have a big government and they don't seem to be particularly
happy with their lot.
So there are no simple rules that governments can follow to make voters
feel happier. It is not just that we are not Denmark or Switzerland, to
take the top two in the list. It is that Denmark and Switzerland are
very different societies from each other, organised in quite different
ways. To take just one measure of that difference, the government in
Switzerland spends 33 per cent of GDP, while in Denmark it spends 52
per cent.
No, it seems to me that insofar as it is within the capacity of
government to increase the happiness of its citizens, the main thing it
should strive for is competence. It matters less how big government is
but how good it is. In their different ways both Denmark and
Switzerland have competent governments. There is no point in
castigating successive British governments for their incompetence or
otherwise. There is a perception that we have not been doing very well,
a perception fostered by all political parties who are arguing that
there is waste to be trimmed. But insofar as one can make international
comparisons the UK seems to be about the middle of the pack: not
dreadful but not very good either.
But maybe that does give a new government the bones of an agenda that
might make citizens happier. If it transpires that the next government
proves measurably more competent than its predecessors – measured of
course independently – then maybe it would be on the path to pushing us
up the happiness league a few notches. Meanwhile, I suggest to
politicians about to enter the fray that, win or lose, they should heed
Robert Louis Stevenson's rule number 10: "Don't hold postmortems or
spend time brooding over your mistakes."
More about Argentina Economics Holiday Psychology
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
STUDENT > Magazines
Gossip: Which employer; Happiness not cash, Priceless gifts; Gender divide
* Friday 29 September 2006 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
"Competition for the best graduates remains intense, which is why
employers spend so much each year to build and maintain their profiles
on campus," says Chris Phillips, UK publishing director at Graduate
careers publisher GTI. But what makes a student choose one employer
over another?
The GTI Employer of choice survey 2006, records 20,000 students and
recent graduates' responses to employment in over 16 sectors.
Most said they were more interested in training and development
opportunities than starting salary, and were almost as keen to approve
of the environmental policies of the organisation.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
In finance and law, students were influenced by employers' reputations.
With 20 per cent of the total vote, the investment banking and
investment sector was the most popular sector of work.
Happiness Rather Than High Salaries
An astute new breed of 16-year-olds is emerging in the UK, challenging
the old notion that the youth of today lacks drive.
According to the second City & Guilds Youth Aspiration Index - an
annual monitor of the career goals of Britain's 11- to 18-year-olds -
16-year-olds have surfaced as the most savvy of the group, more likely
than any other age to choose hard work and happiness over high
salaries.
Despite common misconceptions of young people being lazy and
unmotivated, the Index reveals that today's school leavers are not
afraid of a little hard graft, with most 16-year-olds (81 per cent)
prepared to work long hours to reach their goals.
Inspired by role models such as Richard Branson, Sir Alan Sugar and
Jamie Oliver (above) - who they believe got to where they are through
hard work and determination - 23 per cent of 16-year-olds surveyed also
have visions of running their own business. This ambition grows
stronger as they get older, with 25 per cent of 17-year-olds and 38 per
cent of 18-year-olds hoping to set up shop.
At this time of year, 16-year-olds are considering whether to remain in
education or seek employment. The Index shows they put more thought
into their careers than any other age group, with a fifth (19 per cent)
thinking about getting a job more than anything else and a quarter (24
per cent) considering their future all the time.
Priceless Gifts
World Vision's Alternative Gift Catalogue offers you the chance to buy
a range of educational gifts, such as a school stationery kit, desk or
a contribution towards teacher training. The idea is that you buy these
gifts for family and friends in the UK, but the items are given to
children living in poverty in developing countries. The friend or
family member receives a personalised card plus gift certificate.
www.greatgifts.org
Dream Jobs And The Gender Divide
Britain's future workers also have clear ideas about the professions
they admire and want to work in, with gender stereotypes for girls and
boys set at a young age.
Twelve per cent of 11- to 14-year-old girls want to be hairdressers or
beauty therapists when they grow up, rising to 18 per cent when they
are 15 to18 years old.
And World Cup fever seems to have captured the imagination of the
younger 11- to 14-year-old boys: over a quarter want to be footballers.
While boys tend to prefer sports roles, girls look towards nurturing
positions, such as working with animals. However, as they get older,
perspectives change and horizons broaden, with the medical profession
becoming more appealing.
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Why Generation Y yuppies are all so unhappy
High expectations, social media and lack of real opportunities are all
combining to leave young people unhappy
* Tim Urban
* Thursday 12 November 2015 17:32
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Original content published on waitbutwhy.com
Say hi to Lucy.
Lucy is part of Generation Y, the generation born between the late
1970s and the mid 1990s. She’s also part of a yuppie culture that
makes up a large portion of Gen Y.
I have a term for yuppies in the Gen Y age group—I call them Gen Y
Protagonists & Special Yuppies, or GYPSYs. A GYPSY is a unique brand
of yuppie, one who thinks they are the main character of a very special
story.
Read more
* Read more The ticking bomb of Generation Y
So Lucy’s enjoying her GYPSY life, and she’s very pleased to be Lucy.
Only issue is this one thing:
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Lucy’s kind of unhappy.
To get to the bottom of why, we need to define what makes someone happy
or unhappy in the first place. It comes down to a simple formula:
Happiness = Reality - Expectations
It’s pretty straightforward—when the reality of someone’s life is
better than they had expected, they’re happy. When reality turns out
to be worse than the expectations, they’re unhappy.
To provide some context, let’s start by bringing Lucy’s parents into
the discussion:
Lucy’s parents were born in the 50s—they’re Baby Boomers. They were
raised by Lucy’s grandparents, members of the G.I. Generation, or “the
Greatest Generation,” who grew up during the Great Depression and
fought in World War II, and were most definitely not GYPSYs.
Lucy’s Depression Era grandparents were obsessed with economic security
and raised her parents to build practical, secure careers. They wanted
her parents’ careers to have greener grass than their own, and Lucy’s
parents were brought up to envision a prosperous and stable career for
themselves. Something like this:
They were taught that there was nothing stopping them from getting to
that lush, green lawn of a career, but that they’d need to put in years
of hard work to make it happen.
After graduating from being insufferable hippies, Lucy’s parents
embarked on their careers. As the 70s, 80s, and 90s rolled along, the
world entered a time of unprecedented economic prosperity. Lucy’s
parents did even better than they expected to. This left them feeling
gratified and optimistic.
With a smoother, more positive life experience than that of their own
parents, Lucy’s parents raised Lucy with a sense of optimism and
unbounded possibility. And they weren’t alone. Baby Boomers all
around the country and world told their Gen Y kids that they could be
whatever they wanted to be, instilling the special protagonist identity
deep within their psyches.
This left GYPSYs feeling tremendously hopeful about their careers, to
the point where their parents’ goals of a green lawn of secure
prosperity didn’t really do it for them. A GYPSY-worthy lawn has
flowers.
This leads to our first fact about GYPSYs:
The GYPSY needs a lot more from a career than a nice green lawn of
prosperity and security. The fact is, a green lawn isn’t
quite exceptional or unique enough for a GYPSY. Where the Baby Boomers
wanted to live The American Dream, GYPSYs want to live Their Own
Personal Dream.
Read more
* Editor-At-Large: Three cheers for our clever, funny Generation Y
* Generation Y children are 'harder to teach'
* Youth: Presenting: Generation Y TV
Cal Newport points out that “follow your passion” is a catchphrase that
has only gotten going in the last 20 years, according to Google’s Ngram
viewer, a tool that shows how prominently a given phrase appears in
English print over any period of time. The same Ngram viewer shows
that the phrase “a secure career” has gone out of style, just as the
phrase “a fulfilling career” has gotten hot.
To be clear, GYPSYs want economic prosperity just like their parents
did—they just also want to be fulfilled by their career in a way their
parents didn’t think about as much.
But something else is happening too. While the career goals of Gen Y
as a whole have become much more particular and ambitious, Lucy has
been given a second message throughout her childhood as well:
You're Special
This would probably be a good time to bring in our second fact
about GYPSYs:
GYPSYs Are Delusional
“Sure,” Lucy has been taught, “everyone will go and get themselves some
fulfilling career, but I am unusually wonderful and as such, my career
and life path will stand out amongst the crowd.” So on top of the
generation as a whole having the bold goal of a flowery career
lawn, each individual GYPSY thinks that he or she is destined for
something even better—
A shiny unicorn on top of the flowery lawn.
So why is this delusional? Because this is what all GYPSYs think,
which defies the definition of special:
spe-cial| ‘speSHel |
adjective
better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.
According to this definition, most people are not special—otherwise
“special” wouldn’t mean anything.
Even right now, the GYPSYs reading this are thinking, “Good point…but I
actually amone of the few special ones”—and this is the problem.
A second GYPSY delusion comes into play once the GYPSY enters the job
market. While Lucy’s parents’ expectation was that many years of hard
work would eventually lead to a great career, Lucy considers a great
career an obvious given for someone as exceptional as she, and for her
it’s just a matter of time and choosing which way to go. Her
pre-workforce expectations look something like this:
Unfortunately, the funny thing about the world is that it turns out to
not be that easy of a place, and the weird thing about careers is that
they’re actually quite hard. Great careers take years of blood, sweat
and tears to build—even the ones with no flowers or unicorns on
them—and even the most successful people are rarely doing anything that
great in their early or mid-20s.
But GYPSYs aren’t about to just accept that.
Paul Harvey, a University of New Hampshire professor
and GYPSY expert, has researched this, finding that Gen Y
has “unrealistic expectations and a strong resistance toward accepting
negative feedback,” and “an inflated view of oneself.” He says that “a
great source of frustration for people with a strong sense of
entitlement is unmet expectations. They often feel entitled to a level
of respect and rewards that aren’t in line with their actual ability
and effort levels, and so they might not get the level of respect and
rewards they are expecting.”
For those hiring members of Gen Y, Harvey suggests asking the interview
question, “Do you feel you are generally superior to your
coworkers/classmates/etc., and if so, why?” He says that “if the
candidate answers yes to the first part but struggles with the ‘why,’
there may be an entitlement issue. This is because entitlement
perceptions are often based on an unfounded sense of superiority and
deservingness. They’ve been led to believe, perhaps through overzealous
self-esteem building exercises in their youth, that they are somehow
special but often lack any real justification for this belief.”
And since the real world has the nerve to consider merit a factor, a
few years out of college Lucy finds herself here:
Lucy’s extreme ambition, coupled with the arrogance that comes along
with being a bit deluded about one’s own self-worth, has left her with
huge expectations for even the early years out of college. And her
reality pales in comparison to those expectations, leaving her “reality
– expectations” happy score coming out at a negative.
And it gets even worse. On top of all this, GYPSYs have an extra
problem that applies to their whole generation:
GYPSYs Are Taunted
Sure, some people from Lucy’s parents’ high school or college classes
ended up more successful than her parents did. And while they may have
heard about some of it from time to time through the grapevine, for the
most part they didn’t really know what was going on in too many other
peoples’ careers.
Lucy, on the other hand, finds herself constantly taunted by a modern
phenomenon: Facebook Image Crafting.
Social media creates a world for Lucy where A) what everyone else is
doing is very out in the open, B) most people present an inflated
version of their own existence, and C) the people who chime in the most
about their careers are usually those whose careers (or relationships)
are going the best, while struggling people tend not to broadcast their
situation. This leaves Lucy feeling, incorrectly, like everyone else
is doing really well, only adding to her misery:
So that’s why Lucy is unhappy, or at the least, feeling a bit
frustrated and inadequate. In fact, she’s probably started off her
career perfectly well, but to her, it feels very disappointing.
Here’s my advice for Lucy:
1) Stay wildly ambitious. The current world is bubbling with
opportunity for an ambitious person to find flowery, fulfilling
success. The specific direction may be unclear, but it’ll work itself
out—just dive in somewhere.
2) Stop thinking that you’re special. The fact is, right now, you’re
not special. You’re another completely inexperienced young person who
doesn’t have all that much to offer yet. You can become special by
working really hard for a long time.
3) Ignore everyone else. Other people’s grass seeming greener is no new
concept, but in today’s image crafting world, other people’s grass
looks like a glorious meadow. The truth is that everyone else is just
as indecisive, self-doubting, and frustrated as you are, and if you
just do your thing, you’ll never have any reason to envy others.
Wait But Why posts regularly. They send each post out by email to over
230,000 people—enter your email here and they’ll put you on the list
(they only send a few emails each month). If you like this, check out
How to pick your life partner, Why procrastinators procrastinate, and
11 Awkward things about email. You can also follow Wait But Why on
Facebook and Twitter.
More about Youth Culture babyboom
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Why Generation Y yuppies are all so unhappy
1/14
2/14
3/14
4/14
5/14
6/14
7/14
8/14
9/14
10/14
11/14
12/14
13/14
14/14
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > UK Politics
Millions can work flexible hours under new rules
Productivity and happiness will increase and put an end to 'presenteeism',
say ministers
* Jane Merrick @janemerrick23 ,
* Jessica Powell ,
* Lucy Anna Gray
* Sunday 29 June 2014 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy Politics
Work space: Employees could choose to stagger start times to avoid the
rush hour ( Getty )
Flexible working will become the norm in all offices, with Britain's
workforce happier as a result of the "end of presenteeism", the
minister in charge of new rules claims today.
A revolution in the way we go to work starts tomorrow, with 20 million
employees across the country entitled to ask for flexible hours,
including working from home. Employers will be obliged to consider
requests reasonably, and millions are expected to take advantage of the
changes.
Jo Swinson, the employment relations minister, told The Independent on
Sunday that the changes would boost the economy because productivity
would rise with a happier workforce.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
But business groups are cautious about the measure, warning that it
could be hard for employers to prioritise if they are inundated with
requests.
Until now, only parents and employees with other caring duties – about
10 million people – have had the right to request flexible working.
Under this measure, three out of five requests have been granted, with
a further one in four approved after negotiation.
In an interview with The IoS the Lib Dem minister says: "Sometimes,
because this has been a right to request that only parents have had,
that can create, in some workplaces, a bit of tension when parents get
special treatment."
She said the new rules could involve compressed hours, where
individuals do five days' work in four, staggered hours to avoid the
stresses of rush hour, or working from home.
"Employers often find that this leads to employees being much more
motivated, productive, less likely to leave. So that cuts down their
staff recruitment costs. It really can be a win-win," she said.
"You get staff that are happy and more productive and the employers
benefit from that as well. And lots of businesses are very positive
about this; in a British Chambers of Commerce survey, 70 per cent of
businesses reported an improvement in employee relations when they used
flexible working.
"We live in a globalised society, we have technology which enables us
to be doing work not just from physically being there at the workplace
but actually doing so at different times of the day and from different
places.
"And rather than it staying stuck in a 1950s mind-set that being at
work is about physically being somewhere and it's about long hours and
that 'presenteeism' culture, actually it's about achieving what you're
supposed to do in your job and doing that in the most effective way. So
flexibility isn't a special case; flexibility is just the way that
organisations work and they recognise that they can benefit from that."
Ms Swinson acknowledged that there would be some sectors, such as
retail, where flexible working would not be practical.
But she added: "A large amount of evidence that shows flexible working
is beneficial for the economy.
Neil Carberry, the CBI director for employment and skills, said
business welcomed the new rules but added: "It's important to remember
that the work still needs to be done, so businesses will have to manage
conflicting requests effectively and they retain the right to say no
where the company just can't make it work."
John Allan, the national chairman of the Federation of Small
Businesses, said: "Many small businesses already offer flexible working
and recognise the benefits of doing so … without the need for a 'right
to request'. However, because of the nature of these businesses, there
may be occasions where employers have to turn down a request,
potentially leaving the staff member unhappy."
Adam Marshall, the director of policy at the British Chambers of
Commerce, said: "The new rules make it harder for employers to
prioritise requests. They cannot prioritise one employee over another,
whereas before you could prioritise those who had childcare
responsibilities or carer responsibilities."
However Rachel Jones, the owner of Fit 'N' Fun Kids in Falmouth,
Cornwall, said flexible working was "the sole reason for the success of
my company.
"Flexible working hours means that we can manage the working hours of
our staff to reduce the chance of them leaving, to reduce their stress
levels and keep them working for us for as long as possible.
"Managing your workforce is crucial to growth. Yes there's a cost, yes
there's a time impact, but in the long run it's going to support the
growth of the business."
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > UK Politics
Jeremy Corbyn says he will discuss reducing working day down to just six
hours
The Labour leader's suggestion follows experiments in Sweden which
found a six hour working day increases employee happiness, productivity
and profit
* Siobhan Fenton Health and Social Affairs correspondent
@siobhanfenton
* Sunday 7 August 2016 16:15
*
* {{^moreThanTen}} {{total}} comments {{/moreThanTen}}
Click to follow
Indy Politics
The judgement is widely expected to benefit Mr Corbyn's campaign to
remain Labour leader ( Getty )
Jeremy Corbyn has said he will discuss proposals to reduce the working
day to just six hours.
While it might sound like wishful thinking, the significantly shorter
working day is championed by psychologists and academics who say it is
better for workers’ productivity and satisfaction than a traditional
9-to-5 routine.
Some European countries have begun trialling the change and preliminary
reports suggest workers say they are feeling more focused, more
productive and company profits have increased.
Read more
* Jeremy Corbyn says it's not 'inevitable' he would stand down as
leader if Labour loses next general election
* Universal Basic Income: Jeremy Corbyn considering backing radical
reforms
* Sweden introduces six-hour work day
* Six-hour days make workers happier and more productive, study finds
While taking part in a Q&A with readers of the Daily Mirror, the Mr
Corbyn was asked what his position is on introducing a similar policy
in the UK.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
He replied: “I don’t know if I could quite get my job done in only six
hours a day but it’s something we will be discussing in our recently
launched Workplace 2020, the biggest conversation the UK has ever had
on the workplace and workers’ rights.”
Created with Sketch. The 10 happiest countries in Europe
Show all 10
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. The 10 happiest countries in Europe
1/10 Denmark
Coulourful houses and boats seen in the Nyhavn district in Copenhagen
2/10 Switzerland
3/10 Iceland
Iceland, Northern Lights
4/10 Norway
Wheel deal: cycling in Norway
Visit Norway
5/10 Finland
Getty
6/10 The Netherlands
7/10 Sweden
AFP
8/10 Austria
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
9/10 Germany
Getty Images
10/10 Belgium
The city hall on Brussels' Grand Place is illuminated during a light
show, December 30, 2015
Reuters
1/10 Denmark
Coulourful houses and boats seen in the Nyhavn district in Copenhagen
2/10 Switzerland
3/10 Iceland
Iceland, Northern Lights
4/10 Norway
Wheel deal: cycling in Norway
Visit Norway
5/10 Finland
Getty
6/10 The Netherlands
7/10 Sweden
AFP
8/10 Austria
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
9/10 Germany
Getty Images
10/10 Belgium
The city hall on Brussels' Grand Place is illuminated during a light
show, December 30, 2015
Reuters
Workplace 2020 is an initiative by Labour aimed at increasing workers’
rights and encouraging trade union membership. Mr Corbyn announced the
scheme while addressing the May Day rally in London, saying it was
necessary as the UK “is one of the most unequal of modern economies.”
Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith clash at Labour's leadership hustings
In an experiment last year, staff at a nursing home in Gothenberg in
Sweden switched to working a six-hour day, with no decrease in pay.
Although some dismissed the scheme as naive, a subsequent audit
analysing the impact on the company found productivity had increased,
partly due to employees taking fewer sick days.
Following the news, other companies in Sweden began to follow suit in a
bid to replicate the results.
In the UK, the average working week is 43.6 hours, or 8 hours and 40
minutes per day.
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
More about Work Business Health economy
Reuse content
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
____________________ Enter your email address (BUTTON) Continue
(BUTTON) Continue Please enter an email address Email address is
invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email cannot be
used. Try another
Register with your social account or click here to log in
receiveIndyHeadlines [ ] I would like to receive morning headlines
Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email
Update newsletter preferences
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > Business > Business News
What happened when Sweden tried six-hour working days
Participants felt healthier, happier, had more energy and were more
productive - so why has the trial stopped with no plans to revive it?
* Ben Chapman @b_c_chapman
* Friday 10 February 2017 18:45
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Stockholm, capital of Sweden. The country is the best place for an
expat family to raise children, a new survey has shown ( Ola
Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se )
A six-hour working day with full-time wages sounds like a dream for
most people, but for a group of 70 Swedish nurses it has been a reality
for the past two years.
They were part of a trial aimed at testing the benefits of less work,
which gained a huge amount of attention around the world.
But is the nine-to-five really going to be a thing of the past?
The results of the trial released so far are encouraging.
Nurses working shorter hours took less sick days, felt healthier and
were more productive.
They also said they were 20 per cent happier on average and had more
energy at work and in their spare time. This allowed them to arrange 85
per cent more physical activities with elderly residents, the study
found.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Assistant nurse Emilie Telander, who has now gone back to eight-hour
shifts, told the BBC: “I feel that I am more tired than I was before.”
Read more
* Sweden’s six-hour working day is ‘too expensive’ and could be
scrapped
“During the trial all the staff had more energy. I could see that
everybody was happy.”
Despite the positive results there was one big problem: the cost. The
city of Gothenburg spent £12m kronor (£1.1m) on the trial, largely
because, despite productivity gains, it had to hire 17 extra nurses to
cover the lost hours.
Even in Sweden, famed for its generous welfare state, this is
apparently too much to bear.
“Could we do this for the entire municipality? The answer is no, it
will be too expensive,” Daniel Bernmar, a Left Party councillor who has
backed the Gothenburg pilot scheme said.
However, Bernmar says the trial has “put the shortening of the work day
on the agenda both for Sweden and for Europe, which is fascinating."
Read more
* Sweden scraps six hours work day despite improved staff wellbeing
* Sweden’s six-hour working day is ‘too expensive’ and could be
scrapped
* Six-hour days 'make workers happier and more productive'
* Six-hour working day 'boosts productivity and makes people happier'
While the idea may not be viable in face-to-face work such as nursing,
where lost hours still have to be covered anyway, in more flexible
working environments such as Sweden's booming tech start-ups, some
companies have reported more success.
Linus Feldt, chief executive of app developer Filimundus told The
Independent that sick leave dropped by a quarter when it shortened
working hours. Meanwhile, employees produced the same amount in six
hours as they previously had in eight.
"The biggest effect was that people were happy when coming to work and
leaving work. There was not that fatigued feeling after a long workday.
The employees felt more happy overall," Feldt said, adding that there
are now less conflicts at the workplace and better focus.
Employees simply cut out distractions such as "social media and the
little things we tend to do when we are bored or fatigued and instead
focus for 6 hours," Feldt said.
While it may have captured many headlines, as well as the attention of
overworked people around the globe, the idea of a six-hour working day
has struggled to gain widespread political support in Sweden.
The Left Party is the only party in the country that backs shorter
working hours and won just six per cent of the vote in the last general
election.
Attempts to prove the economic efficiency of reduced hours have
produced inconclusive results so far.
A handful of trials in the 1990s and 2000s were scrapped due to a lack
of definitive data.
Another recent Swedish trial at a retirement home in the town of Umeå
found that sick leave actually rose, from 8 per cent to 9.3 per cent.
One success has come at Toyota’s Swedish service centre where shifts
were cut in 2003, sparking an immediate boost to productivity and
increased profits.
The company has kept the shorter hours ever since.
If a six-hour day isn’t catching on in Sweden, with its famously
generous welfare system and emphasis on work-life balance, there seems
little hope for workers in “Anglo Saxon” economies like the UK.
But some companies have taken up the idea. Liverpool-based Agent
Marketing first trialled shorter days for two months in early 2016.
Created with Sketch. Business news: in pictures
Show all 8
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Business news: in pictures
1/8
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new
venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
2/8
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September
2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's
biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
3/8
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and
company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he
was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a
tumble in the following weeks
Getty
4/8
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that
a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than
$100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into
crucial talks.
AFP/Getty
5/8
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock
Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but
rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
6/8
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after
Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De
La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British
passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La
Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen
only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also
admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
7/8
Phillip Rasmussen, finance chief of technology company IQE, was killed
in an accident while on holiday over the weekend. The company confirmed
the 47 year old man had died while cycling in Menorca. A 25-year-old
American man was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, after failing
a roadside breath test.
8/8
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight
cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget
airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three
months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
1/8
Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new
venture for the global soft drinks giant
PA
2/8
A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September
2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's
biggest, went into administration on August 30
PA
3/8
Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and
company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he
was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a
tumble in the following weeks
Getty
4/8
Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that
a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than
$100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into
crucial talks.
AFP/Getty
5/8
Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock
Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but
rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold
AFP/Getty
6/8
The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after
Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De
La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British
passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La
Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen
only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also
admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process.
7/8
Phillip Rasmussen, finance chief of technology company IQE, was killed
in an accident while on holiday over the weekend. The company confirmed
the 47 year old man had died while cycling in Menorca. A 25-year-old
American man was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, after failing
a roadside breath test.
8/8
The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight
cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget
airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three
months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.
Speaking to The Independent, Agent’s managing director Paul Corcoran
said: “There were loads of really great benefits. People were refreshed
and more creative. It was good for effectiveness and efficiency.”
Clients also noticed the happiness of the employees which helped win
business, Corcoran said.
Agent stuck rigidly to the six hour format at first which led to some
impressive changes.
Corcoran said one hour meetings have been cut to fifteen minutes
because of the imperative to save time.
But he added: “There were challenges surrounding it. Surprisingly it
sometimes actually brought about more stress, because people feel
they’ve got to get their work done more quickly in order to go
earlier,” Corcoran said.
Eventually, the company settled for a compromise - every Friday is a
six hours and employees can each choose another shorter day each week.
The other three are normal business hours. But the benefits have
remained, with happier, more productive employees, Corcoran said.
The company also provides meditation, pilates and a monthly massage to
all staff.
But even this seemingly perfect workplace can’t avoid commercial
realities.
“In the end, the most important thing is getting the work done for our
clients otherwise we’ll be doing zero hour working days because we
would have no clients,” Corcoran said.
More about Sweden working day hours
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Women in Leadership
The money vs happiness debate: how much are you worth?
Institutionalised sexism has a lot to answer for, but we could also be
held back by the belief that nothing good comes from chasing a fat pay
cheque
Lauren Bravo
Mon 21 Dec 2015 07.25 GMT Last modified on Tue 8 Aug 2017 19.53 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Maybe the real question isn’t “money or happiness?” but when do the
rewards of work no longer make up for the effort of earning them?
[ ] The question isn’t “money or happiness” but when do the rewards of
work no longer make up for the effort of earning them? Photograph:
Chris Radburn/PA
Money. It can’t buy you happiness, you know. Or love. It’s one of the
earliest lessons we learn in life: that noble pauperdom beats evil
wealth every time, and boo hiss to anyone who disagrees. But beyond
song lyrics and storybooks is the issue so simple?
Since leaving my job to go freelance last year, I’ve discovered the
almighty thrill of saying no. “Sorry, all booked up until after
Christmas!” I’ve lied this month when jobs I didn’t fancy came my way.
It’s a rare luxury to be able to turn down paid work when I’d rather be
watching Netflix in the bath and mining all the green triangles from
the Quality Street tin, and I cherish it. I might be furious with
myself in January, when even the orange crèmes are gone and I’m living
on baked beans to make the rent, but there it is. Happiness: 1, money:
0.
While this attitude means I probably won’t buy a flat until about 2063,
self-employment has also forced me to become proactive about finance. I
spend hours every week chasing invoices, which doesn’t come easily to
someone who was brought up to believe that contentment trumps cash
every time. But slowly I’m learning not to feel like Oliver Twist for
wanting some more. There’s a special power in deciding what you’re
worth and which jobs are worth it; one that many women discover too
late, or not at all.
Earlier this year a study by Oxford University Careers Service found
that women are 9% less likely than their male peers to have secured a
graduate-level salary within six months of leaving university. Talking
to friends who work across different industries, the reluctance to ask
for pay rises is depressingly common. When (famous millionaire) Kate
Winslet announced last month that discussing the gender pay gap was
“vulgar”, it was incredibly frustrating but not shocking.
Institutionalised sexism has an awful lot to answer for, but could we
also be held back by the belief, deep down, that nothing good comes
from chasing a fat pay cheque?
It is time, not houses or handbags, that proves to be our most
valuable commodity.
“With a high wage comes accountability and responsibilities, and
inevitably you sell your life to an employer,” warns Sarah, 49, a
senior civil servant who admits she hates her job. “I do incredibly
long hours all over the country, and that makes achieving a work-life
balance really hard.” Money wasn’t part of the appeal initially, but
after 33 years it’s become a big factor in her reluctance to quit.
“Separated and single by my mid-forties, now with my independence and a
mortgage, it makes it hard to walk away,” she says.
Even science struggles to pick a side. Five years ago researchers at
Princeton University found that happiness does increase along with our
salaries, but only up to an income of just below £49,000 a year.
Numerous studies suggest that the way we spend money, not the money
itself, holds the key to true happiness, while Swiss economists Alois
Stutzer and Bruno Frey calculated that we need a 40% pay rise to
balance out the stress of a one-hour commute to work. The common theme
seems to be that it’s time, not houses or handbags, that proves to be
our most valuable commodity.
For my generation finding a balance is harder than ever because the
goalposts keep moving. They’re acres from where they were in my
parents’ day and yards from where they were even last year. We feel the
shift every time someone at a party tells us the average London
mortgage requires a six-figure salary, or each time I say “It’s fine,
babies can just sleep in an empty drawer for the first year can’t
they?” and laugh too loudly to be convincing.
How to speak the language of finance
Read more
Of course, if we have a career in the first place then we’re probably
not talking about true poverty. Not the perpetual cruel, aching fear
over how you’ll heat your home or feed your children – just pangs of
panic every time the council tax is due, or friends want to split a
restaurant bill. But even for those of us privileged enough to be in a
job (and a job that we like) it’s still hard to romanticise an echoing
overdraft.
Emily, 31, left her job as a teaching assistant for a better-paid role
in a private school last year. “It matters to me so much more than I
thought it would, mainly because I’m not stressed all the time about
having no money,” she says. “Status anxiety is very real. I just don’t
believe it’s possible to earn nothing and be super-happy, unless you
have savings or a rich partner.”
One example of job satisfaction with this kind of financial safety net
is Marie, 27, a radio plugger for a music PR company who earns half the
amount her closest friends do. “I was lucky enough to receive some
inheritance to buy a flat,” she explains. “I’d never be able to stay in
this job otherwise. But I’ve been here six years, and not once have I
woken up and not wanted to go to work. For that I’m extremely
thankful.”
Maybe the real question isn’t “money or happiness” but when do the
rewards of work no longer make up for the effort of earning them? High
wages can be a motivator or a dictator, both the carrot and the stick.
But for some people, excellent colleagues, a short commute or great
perks can tip the balance just far enough.
As long as we face Monday morning feeling like we’re getting out more
than we put in, then I think we’re probably golden.
Topics
* Women in Leadership
* Work/life
* Work & careers
* Women
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Women+in+Leadership%2CWork%2F
life%2CWork+%26+careers%2CWomen]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* World
* UK
* Science
* Cities
* Global development
* Football
* Tech
* Business
* Environment
* Obituaries
(BUTTON) More
The Observer
Technology
Interview
Google’s Mo Gawdat: ‘Happiness is like keeping fit. You have to work out’
Ian Tucker
When the tech guru’s son unexpectedly died, he turned to an equation
they had devised together to get through the grief
Sun 30 Apr 2017 10.00 BST Last modified on Thu 11 Oct 2018 15.49 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Mo Gawdat
[ ] Mo Gawdat: ‘You don’t have to obey your thoughts. I can accept
them, I can reject them, I can ask the brain to go and get a better
one.’ Photograph: Christopher Lane/The Times/News Syndication
Mo Gawdat is the chief business officer at Google X – the “moonshot
factory” responsible for some of the company’s more audacious projects,
such as self-driving cars and a balloon-powered global internet. Before
he joined Google, while working as stock trader and tech executive in
Dubai and in response to a period of depression, he used his engineer’s
mindset to create an “equation for happiness”. The equation says that
happiness is greater than, or equal to, your perception of the events
in your life minus your expectation of how life should be.
When his 21-year-old son Ali died during a routine operation, Gawdat
turned to the equation, which they had worked on together, in an
attempt to come to terms with his tragic loss. Gawdat’s book, Solve for
Happy, explains the theories underpinning the equation and how it
helped him sustain his life after Ali’s death.
To an outsider you were a successful, wealthy individual with a loving
family; not an obvious candidate for someone who felt the need to
devote themselves to developing a theory of happiness. You say the more
money you had, the less happy you became.
That is correct and it’s not uncommon among many of my successful and
wealthy friends. The scientific research will tell you that the more
income you get the more happy you will become, but once you get to
average income your happiness plateaus. Moreover, I found that when you
go even higher, wealth starts to work against you – people start to
treat you differently; you start to feel a constant disappointment.
You mention that while you were on the “hedonistic treadmill” you
bought two Rolls-Royces online on a whim.
That truly was a turning point. This was again the attempt to fill that
gap in my soul. When they arrived I was completely disappointed, they
were pretty, I sat in them for 20 minutes but then I went back to my
unhappy thoughts, and once you go back to the things that make you
unhappy it doesn’t matter what’s parked in the garage. That was a
turning point, that nothing material will solve this stuff.
Do you still have them?
I’ve been trying to sell them, I’ve tried giving them to charity. They
are in showrooms waiting to be sold. I rent cars now.
You weren’t able to find joy in your life. Is finding joy a skill that
should be taught?
Absolutely. Happiness is very much like staying fit. You start with the
decision that you are going to get fit, you find out how – but knowing
that is not enough, you have to go to the gym to work out and eat
healthily. To me the whole topic of happiness is exactly the same.
First you understand that happiness is a choice, that you can actually
achieve it and that there is a method to make it happen. Happiness is
not a coincidence, it is not given to you by life, it’s entirely our
responsibility.
When your son died, did you feel like jettisoning your theories? Are
you surprised that your equation held up in such tragic circumstances?
You know how there are five stages of grief? We started with
acceptance. My wife at the time made an insightful comment when they
asked to do an autopsy on Ali’s body: “Will it bring Ali back?” The
realisation that nothing we could do, including crying in our rooms for
the next 17 years, would ever bring him back… we started from there.
I then went through a rollercoaster. But I would sometimes imagine
talking to Ali and if you knew him, his first reaction would be: “Papa
I’ve already died, there’s nothing you can do about it, so what are you
going to make out of it?” When I started going through this dialogue it
made me realise that this can be for a reason, for good can come out of
it.
Do you ever wonder how you would have responded to your son’s death if
you hadn’t developed your happiness equation?
I would have definitely left life, I wouldn’t have killed myself, but I
would have found a corner somewhere and shut the door and sat there
until they came. Ali was not just my son, he was my mentor, best
friend, confidante, my teacher, he truly was “it”, basically. I can’t
imagine I would have handled it at all without the model we built
together.
You talk about how happiness is a human’s default state. Where’s your
evidence for this?
That was one of the eye-openers for me. The first observation was I was
a very happy young man until around 25, and then something went wrong,
and I became very unhappy. To me, an engineer, that means you have a
highly optimised machine that began to misbehave. So I started to go
back to all the points where I was happy. If you go back to childhood,
you observe that if a child’s basic needs are met their default state
is happy – they don’t need an iPhone, they can play with their toes and
be happy.
You say that the voice inside your head isn’t you. If we aren’t the
voices inside our heads, what are we?
We have a set of illusions. One of them is that we associate so
strongly with the voice in our head when the reality is that it is just
a biological function; it is exactly like your heart pumping blood
around your body. It’s your brain’s way of delivering survival
functions to you – its job is to scan the world around it using sensory
input and then coordinate your muscle responses and take action so that
you survive.
Thoughts have truly propelled our civilisation, and we think of the
voice inside our heads as us. But that isn’t remotely true once you
realise that you don’t have to obey your thoughts – I can accept them,
I can reject them, I can ask the brain to go and get me a better one.
You can do what people do in meetings: you ask me a question, I give
you an answer, but you can say to me: “Mo, can you get me a better
answer?”, and I go back to my brain and I say, give me a better answer.
Treat your brain as a biological function and understand he is not the
boss – you are the boss.
Can you explain what you mean by the illusion of time?
We deal with time every day, yet no one really knows what time is,
including the master of the science of time Albert Einstein. He’ll tell
you that past, present and future is nothing more than a stubborn
persistent illusion. We have created machines that measure mechanical
movement in such a way, yet we have no idea what it is that we are
measuring and we are very happy to torture ourselves with it.
Google's research sibling X shuts down drones project
Read more
If you ask a Buddhist what time it is, their answer will be “the time
is now”. Like a Buddhist, the only time you have ever lived is a moment
of now. You’ve never lived in the past, you will never live in the
future; when the future comes it will be a moment of now. Yet we never
give ourselves the luxury of living in now; instead, we are constantly
living inside our heads looking in the past and the future, and as you
do that you constantly suffer.
Could you turn your equation into an app?
Absolutely. I believe that the book is just the start of a very big
initiative. I am trying to create a movement that doesn’t depend on me
or the book. I’ve set myself a target of 10 million people happy, and
I’m hoping that everyone will set themselves a target of 25 people or
25 million happy, depending on their reach. I’m not about selling
books, I believe I’ve been paid by life already.
In what sense was your quest to develop an equation for happiness
informed by Google X’s moonshot philosophy, to set audacious rather
than incremental goals?
Absolutely, our CEO Larry Page teaches us to set an audacious target
but while you may miss it, what you achieve is greater than if you set
a low target.
You are on a sabbatical from X?
I have a tremendous respect for a company that does things that make
the world a better place. Although public opinion sometimes attacks
Google, imagine a life without search. I am one of the top execs in
Google and I can tell you it is truly not a place about the money, this
is a place that is truly about changing the world.
When you go back to X what will you be working on?
I can tell you but then I’d have to flash you like the Men in Black.
• Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat is published by Bluebird (£14.99). To
order a copy for £12.74 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333
6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of
£1.99
Topics
* Technology
* The Observer
* Mental health
* Google
* Health
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* World
* UK
* Science
* Cities
* Global development
* Football
* Tech
* Business
* Environment
* Obituaries
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Technology%2CMental+health%2C
Google%2CHealth%2CSociety]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Shortcuts
Work & careers
Why coasting at work is the best thing for your career, health and happiness
A study has found that a third of us say we are ‘coasting’ in our jobs.
Maybe they’ve worked out the key to a good life
André Spicer
Tue 13 Nov 2018 17.59 GMT Last modified on Tue 13 Nov 2018 18.01 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Most people are not as busy as they say they are.
[ ] Most people are not as busy as they say they are. Photograph: Dreet
Production/Getty Images/MITO images
When I met a friend recently, I asked him how work was. “Oh, just
coasting,” he said. He’s not alone. According to a recent poll,
one-third of the 3,000 people surveyed said they were “coasting” at
work. This may come as a surprise in an age when so many people spend
so much time complaining about how busy they are. But most of this talk
about busyness is balderdash. According to a study by researchers at
Oxford University, we do not, in fact, spend more time working than we
have in the past. On some measures, the amount we work has gone down.
Instead, many people just have jobs filled with tasks that don’t really
need to be done.
The way we look at coasting has radically changed. In the past, being
relaxed and not burdened with too much work was a sign of status. Now,
being extremely busy shows you are important. If you are not insanely
overburdened, then you are seen as a slacker.
This does not make sense. Most people are not as busy as they say they
are. In fact, most pressing tasks at work are often unrelated to
productivity. Many busy people are actually overburdened with telling
others how busy they are. Being obsessed with your job may make you
feel important, but it’s likely to alienate friends, co-workers and
your family. What’s more, being super-busy all the time is not good for
you. Another study found that people who are overburdened with work
tend to have a worse sense of wellbeing than those who are more
relaxed. The researchers also found that being super-busy is bad for
your career. Those who reported working very intensely were associated
with poorer career outcomes.
So, perhaps coasters are not a drag on productivity. Maybe they have
worked out that the secret to a productive and healthy life is not
being too busy, and certainly not going on about how busy you are. We
should remember Bertrand Russell’s adage: “One of the symptoms of an
approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly
important.”
Topics
* Work & careers
* Shortcuts
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Work+%26+careers%2CGuardian+C
areers%2CMoney]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Work blog
Work & careers
Happiness at work is …
… a good computer, a nice desk and quality coffee, according to a
survey. What do you think?
Graham Snowdon
@gsnowdon
Email
Fri 25 Nov 2011 13.00 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
A stapler on an office desk
[ ] A stapler is a staple for good office morale, apparently, so don't
let it out of your sight. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
Remember David Cameron's plans to find out how happy we all are? The
first set of experimental results on "subjective wellbeing measures" –
otherwise known as the national happiness index – for the UK population
is about to be released by the Office for National Statistics.
The thinking is that by gauging people's sense of wellbeing, the
government can provide an alternative view of our progress as a nation
beyond traditional economic measures – which, let's face it, are hardly
giving anyone much cause for cheer right now.
Not surprisingly, several organisations connected with the world of
work have been doing some deep thinking of their own around this topic,
and the news for the prime minister is apparently better than expected.
According to research commissioned by office developers Goodman, the
things that keep us most happy and motivated at work are both
conceptually simple and reasonably cost-effective: namely, up to date
computers, a desk for keeping personal things on, and access to decent
coffee.
For those of us who spend much of our lives stuck behind a desk staring
at a computer, the satisfaction of having a workspace on which to stash
all your gonks will probably not come as a blinding shock (check out
our gallery of readers' workspaces from earlier this year for an
eclectic selection).
New, properly functioning technology was considered most important,
with 83% of respondents citing it as the main factor influencing their
wellbeing at work. About 40% of workers said a decent cup of coffee
made all the difference which, for me, is a no-brainer. Here at the
Guardian we can choose between a machine that regurgitates advanced
coffee substitute (free), or a staff canteen that serves the real stuff
(reasonably priced).
Personally I can't abide the free stuff, though my more financially
minded colleagues seem to quite enjoy it – perhaps that's why they get
to dish out the spending advice and I don't.
Another interesting titbit from the Goodman survey concerns the vital
importance of staplers on office morale. This is apparently
particularly true in London, where one in 10 workers complain there are
not enough to go around. In Scotland, curiously, there appears to
something of a stapler surplus, with one in five saying they have too
many of the things. Have the Scots been quietly stealing them all?
Needless to say I will make sure these vital findings are passed on to
the government at the wellbeing index launch. What are the things that
make you happy at work? Or if your employer could make more effort in
that department, what would do the trick?
Topics
* Work & careers
* Work blog
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Work+%26+careers%2CMoney]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
(BUTTON) More
Values-led business
Guardian sustainable business
Guardian readers reveal what makes them happy in work
A survey of 500 readers highlights what makes a happy workplace: being
part of a micro-business, feeling influential in decision making and
benefiting others
Nic Marks
Wed 11 Jun 2014 12.37 BST First published on Wed 11 Jun 2014 12.37 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
USA, California, Fairfax, Rear view of happy mature couple dancing on
beach
[ ] Guardian readers find workplace happiness in small business,
autonomy and doing good. Photograph: Alamy
On 20 March 2014, the International Day of Happiness, Pharrell Williams
joined the UN Foundation to encourage the world to send in their
versions of his song, Happy. During the 24 hours of Happiness campaign,
more than a thousand video tributes flooded in.
I joined in by asking GSB readers to take part in a happiness-at-work
survey, and over 500 responded. With the results in, I can reveal what
happiness at work means to you.
The Happiness at Work Survey was designed to give instant feedback on
an individual's happiness at work and a picture of a whole group's
happiness. With this survey, the unique factor was that each person
taking the survey was a Guardian reader.
Some interesting patterns emerged – especially on comparing what I've
called "the Guardian 500" with the rest of the UK's working population.
It's not all a happy song. Only 38% of you are happy at work, which is
slightly less than the UK average of 40%. In fact it's male Guardian
readers who seem to be bringing down the scores with only 30% happy at
work.
Age also played its part, with a typical decline in happiness for
people at the mid-life marker. These patterns can also be seen across
the UK's working population. However, workers under 25 are on the whole
much less happy than their Guardian-reading counterparts.
For me, the most interesting finding from the survey was a reminder of
the British economist E F Schumacher's famous insight: small is
beautiful. Not only that: small is happy.
People working in micro-businesses with fewer than 10 people are the
happiest. Among the Guardian 500, 64% of people working in
micro-businesses are happy at work, compared with an average across all
sizes of businesses of just 38%. So Guardian readers working in
micro-business are nearly twice as likely to be happy at work than the
national average. While the same result is also reflected in the whole
UK population, it's not quite as pronounced.
But what else matters when it comes to happiness at work? Doing good
feels good.
People generally feel happier at work when they can see that their work
is benefiting others. People who felt their jobs really benefited
society (42%) were much more likely to be happy at work (59%, compared
with the average of 38%).
Autonomy is also great for happiness. Being yourself at work, being
able to influence decisions and shape your work are crucial to your
happiness. In fact the most autonomous were nearly always happy at work
(81%). While this is a well-known driver of happiness at work, it is an
even stronger influence among the Guardian 500.
Perhaps Pharrell could put the results to music: happiness, at least in
a work context, is about keeping it small, being autonomous and doing
good.
The challenge is to build human and humane organisations that create a
powerful sense of smallness whatever their size, and empower their
employees to feel, and indeed be, influential.
That's a tune we could all enjoy dancing to, even at work.
Nic Marks, founder of Happiness Works.
The values-led business hub is funded by SC Johnson. All content is
editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement
feature. Find out more here.
Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become
a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox
Topics
* Guardian sustainable business
* Values-led business
* Happiness indices
* Health & wellbeing
* Sustainable development
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
%2CBusiness%2CHappiness+indices%2CHealth+%26+wellbeing%2CSustainable+de
velopment%2CEnvironment]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Values-led business
Guardian sustainable business
How happy are you at work compared to the national average? - survey
Mark the International Day of Happiness with the Happiness at Work
Survey for an analysis of your happiness at work
Thu 20 Mar 2014 12.38 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Ballroom Bunnies calendar - Aug 2011
[ ] The Happiness at Work Survey - are you more, or less happy at work
than the national average? Photograph: www.maverickartsclub.com/Rex F
The average Brit spends 100,000 hours at work – that's more than 11 and
a half years.
Nic Marks, director of Happiness Works, writes that if we were happier
at work we would inevitably be happier in our whole lives: we'd be
better partners, better parents, and better people. He believes the
important things for our happiness are rarely even physical things, but
instead the quality of our relationships and feeling of purpose we get
from our home and working lives.
The Happiness at Work Survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and
is benchmarked against national data on wellbeing in the workplace.
IFRAME: //app.happinessatworksurvey.com/trial-intro?v=1
Topics
* Guardian sustainable business
* Values-led business
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Guardian sustainable business
The dark side of workplace happiness
Companies are increasingly tracking employee satisfaction. But will the
trend have depressing consequences?
• This is the third story in our series on workplace culture. Read the
first, on mindfulness, here, and the second, on worker happiness, here
Amy Westervelt
@amywestervelt
Tue 1 Jul 2014 12.45 BST Last modified on Fri 3 Apr 2015 19.25 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Willy Wonka and some Oompa Loompas
[ ] Happy workers are productive workers. But does the quest for worker
happiness come with a dark downside? Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex
Feature
Workplace happiness has become big business. At companies ranging from
arty startups like Etsy to corporate behemoths like Bank of America,
bosses are using a host of tools, services and consultants to help
improve their employees’ workplace satisfaction. On the surface, the
trend is all upside: as businesses strive to reduce occupational stress
and generally to make work more enjoyable, they are reaping rewards in
terms of increased productivity, improved recruitment and retention
rates, and lower healthcare costs.
What could possibly go wrong?
Plenty, as it turns out. As civil rights groups like the American Civil
Liberties Union and the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier
Foundation, and worker rights groups like the National Workrights
Institute have noted for years, the emphasis on workplace happiness
could lead to privacy concerns. After all, is it really management’s
business whether their employees are happy? For that matter, if
happiness is a metric for workplace effectiveness, what happens to
workers who have a bad month or two? Could they be fired for being a
downer at work?
These arguments have done little to dim corporate enthusiasm about the
various surveys and devices that help bosses measure employee
happiness. And, according to Ben Waber, CEO of Sociometric Solutions,
these sorts of scenarios are unlikely to play out in the real world.
Waber’s company provides sensor-equipped badges that track various
indicators of employee happiness, such as face-to-face interactions and
how often employees raise their voices. He claims that specific
employee data, gathered either by surveys or by devices like his
company’s “smart” employee badges, is kept confidential. Managers have
access to aggregate data, which they can then use to design policies
and programs that boost employee engagement.
Still, Waber acknowledges the potential for misconduct, and is
advocating for tighter regulation of the emergent industry. “A lot of
companies, even those that aren’t looking at employee satisfaction, do
use digital data to identify individuals,” Waber says. “They’ll see
features about an individual, and could technically look at an
individual’s email.”
In some ways, Waber notes, the workplace happiness issue speaks to the
larger concern of workplace privacy — and the need for legislation to
protect employees. “Right now it’s a Wild West,” he says. “If there
isn’t any regulation, eventually someone will screw up and do the wrong
thing and at that point all the good that’s being done would go away.
People doing this actually need to push for it to be regulated.”
A growing market for happiness
“We’ve been hearing much more from businesses and this is something we
haven’t seen in the past,” says Peggy Kern, a researcher at the
University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center. “All of a
sudden this idea that people who are happy tend to not take as many
sick days, tend to be more productive, and so forth has more
organizations beginning to pay attention.”
Kern says she has also been hearing more and more about app developers
working on workplace-focused products that incorporate positive
psychology research. For years, Gallup had a monopoly on the workplace
happiness game, which they preferred to call “employee engagement.”
Companies paid Gallup tens of thousands of dollars to use its Employee
Engagement Survey and related consulting services.
As workplace happiness measurement has gained traction, more companies
have entered the market. Now, apps such as Hppy promise to help
companies measure and track employee happiness for a fraction of
Gallup’s price. Even Gallup itself has rolled out a lower-cost version
of its offering: to administer the 12-question, five-minute, Gallup Q12
Survey, the company charges roughly $15 per employee.
Balancing popularity and professionalism
One potential concern for the workplace happiness movement is
professionalism. Kim Cameron, associate dean at the University of
Michigan’s Ross School of Business and co-founder of the university’s
Center for Positive Organizations, says that, while the recent interest
in his field is welcome, there is some concern that new and untrained
consultants or apps could tarnish its reputation before it gets a real
shot at transforming the way we work.
“I see scads of people who are now trumpeting themselves as an expert
on this,” Cameron says. “That’s one of the scariest things for me about
this becoming a trend. We hold several lecture series here and half the
people there are consultants or practitioners trying to get the latest
thing they can use to sell.”
That’s a double-edged sword for Cameron. While he wants to see more
businesses embracing positive business strategies, he is concerned
about what might happen if they integrate only a superficial
understanding of the field. Having spent the last decade studying the
correlation between positive business practices and quantifiable
returns in industries ranging from healthcare to financial services to
air travel, he is convinced that positive business is the way of the
future – and he doesn’t want to see that future cut short by
popularity.
Some shallow-end approaches, like bringing in a consultant for a
one-day workshop or rolling out an app that measures and tracks
employee happiness but doesn’t result in any sort of meaningful change
from management, are fundamentally flawed, Cameron argues. When these
approaches fail, as he anticipates they will, he worries that they may
erode the credibility of the industry.
Another issue is a growing sentiment amongst employees that all of
these initiatives aimed at improving their happiness amount to so much
mind manipulation. “Some people feel like, ‘you’re trying to increase
my happiness...because you want more out of me. It’s just a
manipulation technique,’” says Cameron.
He notes that there is a continuum among companies adopting positive
practices. “Some organizations are more virtuous and positive in their
approach, others are less so,” he explains. Overall, however, he says,
there is a clear connection between positivity and financial rewards.
“When we measure financial return and positivity, across industries, we
find a correlation of 0.86, which is almost perfect.”
In other words, Cameron explains, “Money follows positive, virtuous
practices.”
Amy Westervelt is an Oakland, California-based freelance reporter who
covers the environment, business and health.
The social impact hub is funded by AngloAmerican. All content is
editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement
feature. Find out more here
Topics
* Guardian sustainable business
* Behaviour
* Business case
* Engaging employees
* Corporate social responsibility
* Health and wellbeing
* Ethical business
* analysis
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
%2CBehaviour%2CBusiness+case%2CEngaging+employees%2CBusiness%2CCorporat
e+social+responsibility%2CHealth+and+wellbeing%2CEthical+business]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Business case
Happy employees are healthier (and cheaper)
As a growing body of research shows the economic benefits of a happy,
healthy workforce, companies are exploring creative ways to encourage
employee wellbeing
• This is the second story in our series on workplace culture. Read the
first, on mindfulness, here
Amy Westervelt
Wed 18 Jun 2014 12.45 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
guy in suit doing yoga
[ ] Studies show that a happy workforce is a healthy - and productive -
workforce. Photograph: Catalin Petolea/Alamy
Employees who are happy at work not only perform better, but also cost
less. That's the conclusion of a six-year study conducted by health
insurance company Humana and the University of Michigan's Ross School
of Business. The insurer studied not only its 42,000 employees, but
also their impact on patients at its more than 320 medical centers and
270 worksite medical facilities. The results of that research informed
the design of the Humana Integrated Total Wellbeing platform, a new
product that the company is currently rolling out to employers.
It's good timing for such a product, as businesses are becoming more
interested in employee wellbeing as a way to boost everything from
retention rates to productivity. Perhaps more importantly, the US
Affordable Care Act is putting a major focus on prevention, a first for
the US healthcare system. In most cases, it will become costlier for
employers to provide employees with health services and access to
healthcare – which means that there will be financial incentives for
them to keep their employees happy.
For Humana, the economic value of employee happiness starts with a
simple equation: happy nurses keep patients healthier. In a study of
its 33 nursing teams, the company found that patients working with its
happiest (or in Humana parlance "most engaged") nurses have 40% less
paid in claims, 70% fewer visits to the ER, and 91% fewer visits to
urgent care clinics. In turn, Humana pays 24% less per patient.
But the impact of employee happiness isn't limited to Humana's nursing
staff; the company credits its "engagement strategy" with improving
everything from sales to internal talent retention. It has deployed its
proprietary Wellbeing Index, which assesses wellbeing at an
organizational level, across all departments, even those with no
service component. In the process, it has gained numerous useful
insights, including the realization that the degree to which employees
feel that their work has purpose accounts for almost half of their
productivity.
Internal policies become external products
Tim State, vice president of human capital strategy and performance at
Humana, points out that, like any large company, the insurer is
interested in the health, wellbeing and productivity as its workers.
"But especially as a company with our mission, it goes one step
further,” he says. “As a health and wellbeing company, we wanted to
build the capability to give to our customers what we aspire to for
ourselves. We can incubate and nurture a lot of ideas and approaches
inside our own population and take those learnings out to consumers."
Humana's Integrated Total Well-being platform is a good example of how
the company's predictive research can have an impact on healthcare
costs. Using an employee happiness survey developed by the University
of Michigan, Humana is able to predict health metrics like blood
pressure and cholesterol levels with 99% accuracy. In so doing, it can
reduce the frequency of employee physicals, which cost an average of
$150 per employee. For a company of 50,000 employees, that adds up to
meaningful savings.
According to Kim Cameron, the University of Michigan researcher who
developed the survey, an increase of one point on the survey equates to
a savings of $2,552 in medical costs per year per employee. With those
kinds of savings, even a company with 100 employees might find such a
strategy worth deploying.
Encouraging healthy employee choices
Humana's not the only company making the connection between health and
happiness. Whole Foods Market, for example, recently launched a B2B
company wellness program called Full Spoon, which helps employees in
participating companies develop practical, sustainable habits through
educational seminars, easy online and mobile tracking, and healthy
eating incentives like employee contests and discounts on healthy
foods.
Employees at companies that participate in the program get a virtual
discount card that they can use at Whole Foods Market. They can also
enroll in various contests, and are given access to the Count It
platform, which tracks diet and exercise. Each month, participants earn
points for being physically active and shopping for and eating healthy
foods. By “swiping” their virtual discount cards when buying groceries,
participants earn points, along with a 20% discount on groceries marked
as "healthy" by the Full Spoon program.
Full Spoon is only being offered through Whole Foods' San Francisco and
Reno stores today, but the company has plans to expand to other stores
slowly throughout the year.
"That incentive has really worked to shift the composition of people's
baskets, and that's a metric we can show the companies we work with,"
explains Caesare Assad, Full Spoon program director. Assad and Full
Spoon program designer Sarah Ahern were Whole Foods team members when
they came up with the idea for Full Spoon.
"We looked at the wellness industry and saw huge demand and not a lot
of engagement with existing programs,” Assad says. “[Ahern and I] had
personal experiences with the positive health impact of real food and
saw this as place where we could really make a difference, so we put
our heads together, came up with a plan and pitched the idea to Whole
Foods."
The metrics of wellbeing
With the support of Whole Foods behind them, the two began working with
social network LinkedIn and electric car company Tesla Motors to test
their program and figure out what worked best, both in terms of health
results and employee engagement. So far, they have an engagement rate
of 27%-38%, which Assad claims is well above the industry average.
"When we started out, we had this vision of on-site education, and we
wanted to do hands-on cooking and have folks come to 30- to 45-minute
classes, do lunch, and learn," Ahern says. "But in working with Tesla
and LinkedIn, we saw that really we needed to give sound bytes and
tidbits in 5-minute, 10-minute, and 15-minute chunks. That got us to
re-work our thinking and develop programs that could be impactful and
engaging in a short amount of time."
Assad adds that employees at both companies were very interested in
connecting with farmers, so Full Spoon built out a network of farmers
they could incorporate into the program as well. "Now we're connecting
farmers directly with people, which both sides love," she says. "We've
really seen it build into this ecosystem around healthy eating, which
we hadn't anticipated happening."
Ultimately, employers that really want to get serious about employee
wellbeing will need to avail themselves of multiple tools and take a
top-down approach.
"Anything you measure and focus people on tends to get better when
complemented by a leader example," John Schriber, director of associate
engagement at Humana, says. "We are lucky to have a CEO who firmly
believes in this and is really walking the talk. I can't tell you how
much the culture has changed since starting to focus on wellbeing."
Amy Westervelt is an Oakland, California-based freelance reporter who
covers the environment, business and health
The social impact hub is funded by AngloAmerican. All content is
editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement
feature. Find out more here.
Topics
* Business case
* Engaging employees
* Health and wellbeing
* Corporate social responsibility
* Ethical business
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Business+case%2CEngaging+empl
oyees%2CGuardian+sustainable+business%2CHealth+and+wellbeing%2CBusiness
%2CCorporate+social+responsibility%2CEthical+business]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Values-led business
Guardian sustainable business
Is a chief happiness officer really the best way to increase workplace
happiness?
While the trend of chief happiness officers might not have spread like
wildfire, companies are increasingly finding ways to make workplace
happiness a priority
Leah Messinger
Wed 26 Aug 2015 15.55 BST Last modified on Thu 27 Aug 2015 17.33 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
happy face on desk with office supplies
[ ] Chief happiness officers, or CHOs, are important, the thinking
goes, because happy workers do more and stay longer at a company.
Photograph: Alberto Incrocci/Getty Images
Happiness in the workplace has become such a hot button conversation
topic, some companies have created a job specifically dedicated to it.
The remit of a chief happiness officer (CHO) is simple: to ensure
workers are kept happy.
But for a trend supposedly sweeping the workplace, the list of people
who have assumed the position of CHO is rather short.
There’s Jenn Lim (Delivering Happiness, an offshoot of Zappos),
Chade-Meng Tan (Google, actual title: Jolly Good Fellow), Alexander
Kjerulf (WooHoo, a Denmark-based consulting company) and Christine
Jutard (Kiabi, a French clothing company). There’s also Ronald
McDonald, who became perhaps the first CHO in the United States in
2003.
If you're happy and you know it ... become a chief happiness officer
Read more
The premise of a CHO seems to be that happy workers do more and stay
longer at a company, so it serves the company well to better serve its
employees. The work of a chief happiness officer can range from a focus
on employees’ day-to-day feelings to providing company perks, such as
game nights or group outings.
Virgin, Southwest Airlines, the Container Store and other companies
have a strong emphasis on employee happiness – or at least on
discussing their emphasis on employee happiness – but the ranks of
chief happiness officers themselves are thin.
“Is there a huge groundswell? Eh, not yet,” says Alexander Kjerulf, one
of the few existing CHOs. In addition to holding that position at
WooHoo, Kjerulf is its founder. WooHoo consults on workplace happiness
with clients such as Hilton, IBM, Ikea and Shell.
Kjerulf says although the title of CHO may be oversold and underused,
many managers and human resource heads are actively seeking to make
work a happier place. And it’s not just for show. “There really is a
‘there’ there,” says Sigal Barsade, a professor of business at Wharton
who studies emotions in organizations.
Barsade and many others who study employee productivity say the results
of focusing on employee wellbeing can be easily and consistently
quantified in terms of decreased turnover (pdf), burnout and
absenteeism.
By building what Barsade calls a positive “emotional culture”, a
company can expect to see improvements in team behavior, group
financial performance and job satisfaction, while also increasing the
frequency with which workers help their colleagues and improving how
well they accomplish discrete tasks.
“It’s not only are you staying with the organization, but literally,
you do work better. And not just customer service, but also technical
work,” Barsade says. She adds that a growing number of human resource
managers have contacted her in recent years for advice on how to
redefine their company cultures.
Stewart Thornhill, who teaches entrepreneurship at the University of
Michigan’s Ross School of Business, says he’s observed an increased
interest in a positive work environment from his students. When asked
to identify their top reasons for starting a company, Thornhill says
his students point to positive change or creating value for customers
and clients within the workplace first.
“It’s always fascinating to me how long it takes them to get to
profit,” Thornhill says. He attributes this change to millennials
possessing a higher level of social awareness. “Whether that will
change as they evolve and move on to their 20s and 30s and deal with
mortgages and student loans, that’s another question,” he says.
Laurence Vanhee was chief happiness officer of Belgium’s social
security ministry from 2009 to 2013, or at least that’s what was
printed on her business card and in her email signatures. Her official
title was more cumbersome: general manager for support service,
personnel and organization of the federal public services of the social
security ministry.
Vanhee says emphasizing employee happiness by allowing telecommuting
and creating group workspaces, for example, made more sense to her than
activity-based costing or six sigma, productivity measurement tools
popular in the 80s and 90s that treated workers as commodities to be
quantified. In such a system, “there is no place for humans”, Vanhee
says.
Assigning companywide happiness to a bureaucrat is antithetical to
the concept of workplace happiness.
Consideration of workers’ wellbeing may become increasingly important
as the global financial recovery forces employers to create more
competitive work environments. Kjerulf says he believes the financial
crisis “gave companies the freedom to treat their employees like crap”.
Market forces may require them to rethink that approach.
Kjerulf says he tried to bring more happiness to an Ikea store in
Denmark in 2010, starting with the smallest of gestures. The goal was
to make customers happier and that, he says, had to start with the
employees. Kjerulf instructed managers to praise employees more freely
and make sure to say “good morning” when they arrived each day. The
head of the bedding department also organized a pillow fight with
employees and customers. The manager of the closet department would
occasionally hide inside one awaiting an unsuspecting customer, then
pop out and say: “Can I help you?”
“I realize this sounds really silly,” he admits. “But it’s one of the
things that create a better relationship in the workplace, that we
actually acknowledge each other’s existence.”
Barsade says the research backs this up. A manager can shape the office
environment with something as simple as the expression she wears when
she walks into work. “We literally catch emotions like viruses in
groups,” Barsade says.
What if work was awesome?
Read more
For Richard Sheridan, CEO and chief storyteller at Menlo Innovations, a
55-person software development company, a focus on happiness has meant
the removal of hierarchy with employees working in pairs that rotate
every five days. He says he has tried to eliminate all barriers to
human communication, both mental and physical. There are, he says, “no
walls, office, cubes or doors”. In fact, the communication at Menlo
appears to be so open that Sheridan had to call a reporter from a
hallway because the din of in the office was too loud.
Sheridan says he sees no reason to appoint an individual to be in
charge of the company’s culture. “If anything, we want a chief
happiness officer mentality in the company, rather than a chief
happiness officer person in the company,” he says.
Charles D Kearns, a professor of behavioral science at Pepperdine
University’s business school, says assigning companywide happiness to a
bureaucrat is antithetical to the concept of workplace happiness.
“The top management team and all of the managers and supervisors, and
for that matter all of the organization’s employees, should have built
into their job description to increase happier high performance,
starting with themselves,” Kearns says. “How can you legislate that
with a chief happiness officer?”
Topics
* Guardian sustainable business
* Values-led business
* Ethical business
* Work-life balance
* Work & careers
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
%2CBusiness%2CEthical+business%2CWork-life+balance%2CWork+%26+careers]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Health and wellbeing
International happiness day: why it's a serious global issue
The UN's International Happiness Day is an opportunity to reflect on
what a good human life looks like and why political, social and
economic harmony are so vital
Get involved: tell us a quote that makes you happy
Nic Marks
Wed 20 Mar 2013 09.32 GMT First published on Wed 20 Mar 2013 09.32 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
a circle of smiling teenagers
[ ] Happiness is important for building sustainable and healthy
communities, businesses and governance. Photograph: Alamy
The idea that the UN has declared today to be an International Day of
Happiness may come as news to many people. Indeed it would be fair to
say that many people will think the idea of a special day for global
happiness is ridiculous and that the UN has far more important things
to concentrate on such as the hostilities in North Korea and Syria.
I'm not going to argue that it should stop doing all its urgent
political and humanitarian work but it is also worth remembering that
we are all human and that human life is not just about surviving but
also about thriving. Indeed, I would argue that human happiness is a
serious issue.
It is an important personal issue for us all – who doesn't want to be
happy? Who doesn't want their children to lead happy lives?
It is a serious issue for our communities – unhappiness is a breeding
ground for social discontent with a resultant vicious cycle of crime,
conflict and insecurity.
And it is a serious issue for businesses – unhappy workplaces are less
productive, have higher levels of sickness absence, are less innovative
as well as less fun. Ultimately they are at risk of not being able to
adapt in a fast changing world.
But happiness is also a serious 21st century global issue: how on earth
are we going to create political, economic and social systems that
support nine billion people to live in harmony with each other and the
one planet we all share?
If we don't globally reflect on what a good human life is, then we are
in serious trouble. Surely a good human life does not have to be an
intensive and materialistic life? That pathway – which is our current
one – can only lead to a hellishly hot future, probably with massive
structural inequalities (as the powerful control the increasingly
limited environmental resources such as water and sources of energy)
and not much human happiness.
So we need to talk about happiness. We need to talk about happiness in
our families, our schools, our communities, our organisations and
indeed politically.
It is these conversations that I have tried to start with most of my
work over the last 20 years – though to be honest, I didn't come to
that realisation until much more recently. I thought I was trying to
create measurement tools. I still do, but I have come to see that the
purpose of these tools is not to be right to three decimal places, but
instead to act as a catalyst to starting conversations.
For example, the Happy Planet Index (HPI) is on the surface a global
measure of sustainable wellbeing, but it is as much designed to
naturally start conversations about how to create the world we all want
– a happy healthy and sustainable future.
I am now working actively on how to encourage conversations about
happiness in businesses. People spend a lot of time at work and I don't
believe anyone wants to be unhappy in the workplace even if they don't
naturally think of it as our primary source of happiness.
Any vision of a good future includes business and businesses as a
central essential element of positive change. So there has to be a
conscious effort to align the business needs with both personal needs
and societal ones. To help seed these conversations we have created a
happiness at work survey that seeks to align positive experiences at
work with the performance of the organisation and the social value it
generates.
Clearly measurement is not the only way to start conversations and a
"day of happiness" campaign has been launched to this end. If today
could become a date in the annual diary where these conversations do
take place across the world then I genuinely think the UN will have
done us all a service – by starting to take human happiness seriously.
Nic Marks is founder of the centre for wellbeing at the London-based
thinktank New Economics Foundation. He has recently started a new
business called Happiness Works to globally promote these ideas in
organisations
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB
member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox
Topics
* Health and wellbeing
* Behaviour
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Health+and+wellbeing%2CGuardi
an+sustainable+business%2CBehaviour]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Top Employers UK
Happiness begins at work
Some companies just have the knack of creating a vibe everyone wants to
be a part of. How do they do it?
Supported by
TOP EMPLOYERS RESEARCH LP About this content
Suzanne Bearne
Thu 1 Feb 2018 17.00 GMT Last modified on Fri 2 Feb 2018 10.29 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Dinosaurs hugging
[ ] 57% of workers said that having a best friend in the office made
work more enjoyable. Source: wearewildgoose.com Photograph: Juj
Winn/Getty Images
Step inside G Adventures’ office in Clerkenwell, London, and you may
never want to leave. A welcome sign illuminates visitors’ names as they
enter the office, and the décor is far from bland – Beatles- and
royals-themed meeting rooms await. The travel company’s staff get one
complementary family trip per year, and every Friday employees from all
sides of the business are encouraged to hang out and drink beers in its
downstairs meeting room.
“The light airy space, bright colours and happy vibe make the office a
fun and vibrant place to come to work,” says Casey Mead, global PR lead
at G Adventures. “Knowing we have the freedom to chill out with others
in our communal area, or take some space in one of the London phone
booths or egg chairs, makes the office a great place to be.”
A strong company culture can be important in helping productivity and
creating a happy workforce. With a table football and ping-pong room to
hang out in, Alphabet’s office in Farnborough, Hampshire, has two of
the staple ingredients seen in trendy offices the world over. But it’s
not just the fun stuff that draws people in. The mobility and
fleet-leasing company has recently introduced an intrapreneur lab, in
which staff can turn their business ideas into a reality, with the help
of company resources. Since its launch in October, it has seen 110
applications from staff and produced 74 new ideas.
“We put a lot of time and energy into meeting the personal and
professional requirements of our 400-plus UK employees,” says Adam
Lupton, HR director at Alphabet. “Highly engaged employees are more
effective, more dedicated and more passionate – exactly the sorts of
people our customers want to deal with. Our ultimate goal is to have
happy, healthy and motivated employees – it’s a win for the business
and a win for staff.”
Lydia Fairman, an HR and resourcing specialist, says today’s workers
are looking for opportunity, recognition and inclusivity from an
employer. “Family-friendly policies are vital if employers want to have
a diverse and engaged workforce, and they should also make the most of
technology to enable people to work remotely.”
At Aisle Eight’s office in east London, they’ve gone to great lengths
to create a workplace that feels homely. The owners’ two dachshunds and
French bulldog visit several times a week, and every Friday at 5pm a
different employee of the PR agency gets to show off their
bottle-juggling skills and whip up cocktails for their colleagues.
Colourful office
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Jobs for the buoyed: G Adventures’ office in Clerkenwell, London.
Photograph: areasq.co.uk
And it doesn’t end in the office, either – the company splashes out on
annual summer and Christmas away days, exploring cities such as
Barcelona and Amsterdam. “We wanted to create a culture where our team
would look forward to coming to work, and that meant working hard to
build the right team who all shared the same vision and had the same
work ethics,” says Aisle Eight co-founder Lauren Stevenson.
Beyond a good salary and job satisfaction, today’s jobseekers look for
a good company culture, where employee happiness is just as important
as increasing profits.
In practice, this means flexitime and employee wellbeing are a given,
and strong parental-leave policies, where new mums and dads are
supported to take the necessary time off, are an essential part of the
company.
At feedback platform TruRating, management focus on creating a culture
of openness and equality. “I don’t think there is anyone who would be
afraid to speak up if they thought something could be done better,”
says product manager David Atkinson. “We all have share options too,
which creates a very real sense of ownership.”
Creating a strong company culture takes time and effort, but it’s worth
the effort. Happy staff have been found to be 12% more productive than
unhappy employees, so there’s incentive to create an enviable company
culture – with or without the ping-pong table.
Ten popular policies at work
* Offering staff flexibility over the hours they work.
* Working from home – increasingly possibility across many
professions, thanks to advances in cloud computing and
browser-based software ... and if it’s workable, companies should
be offering it.
* Giving staff access to social media at work. Restricting access
implies a lack of trust.
* A strong anti-harassment policy – so employees feel safe and happy
when they come to work.
* Providing staff with a level of autonomy in their work.
* Encouraging and supporting employees’ development and training
requirements.
* Unlimited holiday, or a minimum of 28 days off per year.
* Recognising work-life balance – that means discouraging everyone
from emailing outside work hours.
* Free gym membership or lunchtime exercise classes – to help keep
staff healthy and happy.
* Feeding them. Whether it’s as low-key as a bowl of fresh fruit on a
Monday, or as indulgent as breakfast everyday, complementary food
is always a winner.
Topics
* Top Employers UK
* Professional supplements
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Top+Employers+UK%2CGuardian+C
areers%2CProfessional+supplements]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
With robots, is a life without work one we'd want to live?
Fourth industrial revolution
With robots, is a life without work one we'd want to live?
Is this the future of work for Australia? Illustration: Sarah Gleeson
for the Guardian
Being gainfully employed is about more than money. We need to consider
what will give our lives purpose and connection in the age of
automation
* Tell us how Australia can prepare for the fourth industrial
revolution – open thread
by Matthew Beard
Main image: Is this the future of work for Australia? Illustration:
Sarah Gleeson for the Guardian
Mon 26 Sep 2016 08.21 BST Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 21.12 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
When Aristotle described “the complete happiness of man”, he thought it
would include, among other things, “self-sufficiency, leisureliness and
unweariedness”. Unfortunately the philosopher concluded that “such a
life would be too high for man” – it was suitable only for the gods.
All the same, he encouraged humanity to keep striving to get as close
to “complete happiness” as possible.
I reckon he’d be proud of where we’ve got. Today, the fourth industrial
revolution – which ranges from artificial intelligence to genetic
engineering and automation – promises almost total freedom from
weariness and uninterrupted leisure time as demands of work are taken
away from us by better, cheaper and more efficient artificial
technology.
The robots are coming and apparently they’re here to work.
But will all the free time we’re being promised actually make our lives
any better? Is a life without work one we’d actually want to live?
I’ve often debated the merits of continuing to work after winning the
lotto with friends and family – I maintain that I wouldn’t but I always
find myself in the minority. Apparently this isn’t unique to my social
circle – a 2013 Gallup poll found 68% of people would keep working
after winning lotto. I’m assuming they’re not thinking they’ll still
need the money, so what is it about the daily grind that’s more
appealing than putting your feet up on a beach?
People view a robot during the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot
Show in Taipei, Taiwan, in August
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
People view a robot during the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot
Show in Taipei, Taiwan, in August. Photograph: Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA
The obvious answer is that we don’t only work for income, we do it
because it adds meaning to our lives and gives a sense of purpose. Even
though I insist I wouldn’t work if I struck it rich, what I mean is
that I’d choose the type of work I would do and how often I’d do it.
For instance, I would still write and give talks on subjects I’m
passionate about.
It’s not necessarily because “if you do what you love, you’ll never
work a day in your life”. Writing, preparing talks and doing research
are all work but it’s work I think is worth doing and the financial
wealth would mean I could balance it with everything else I value in
life. To put it simply, I’d do it because it would bring me closer to
Aristotle’s “complete happiness”.
There’s new research to back up this popular mode of thinking. The
economist Paul Dolan’s recent book Happiness by Design shows the
happiest people are those who experience feelings of both purpose and
pleasure over time. All work and no play might make Jack a dull boy but
all play and no work isn’t going to make him happy either.
The Guardian view on artificial intelligence: look out, it’s ahead of you |
Editorial
Read more
Of course not all work is going to provide us with a profound sense of
purpose. Some of it is both pointless and unpleasant – a total
happiness suck. Someone in a role they hate, working for a company
whose values don’t match their own or not earning enough money to live
off isn’t going to be nourished by their work. Assuming their financial
needs could be met, they’d seem to be much better off quitting and
leaving the work to a robot.
Here’s where the challenges for automation start to arise. It’s easy to
say there are certain individuals who would be happier if they left
their jobs to a robot but automation isn’t going to replace individual
roles – it’s going to replace entire industries. Experts say 47% of
jobs in America are likely to be replaced by robots and other automated
processes and researchers reckon the situation is likely to be similar
in Australia.
There are almost undoubtedly people who find purpose or pleasure in the
work they do and will not be happier having their jobs replaced. But
automation looks likely to capture the satisfied and dissatisfied alike
across a range of industries – cabbies, surgeons, accountants, artists
– the list goes on.
Arendt predicted that the rise of automation would mean humanity
would be 'liberated from its oldest burden'
It’s worth noting automation isn’t just about making businesses more
efficient or profitable. In some cases, it might also be the right
thing to do for society. If robots prove more capable surgeons or
artificial accountants are less willing to facilitate tax evasion than
the occasional dodgy human version, there would be a solid ethical
argument for making humans redundant from those professions.
This is great news for those who hate their jobs – not only are they
freed of meaningless work and therefore happier, they’re doing the
right thing. But what about those who like their jobs? Would the
ethical argument appear anything more than rationalisation for their
newly found unhappiness?
That depends on whether losing a job you loved due to automation would
actually have a negative impact on your happiness. If automation meant
you were able to use the time you’d previously spent working doing
things that felt more pleasurable or meaningful, you might still be
better off.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 46% of employed
people (about 5.3m) work 35 to 44 hours a week. Each hour spent at work
– however meaningful – is an hour that can’t be spent on some other
potentially fun or purposeful activity. I find my job both pleasurable
and purposeful but, were it to be stolen by a robot and I were able to
spend more time with my wife and son, I’d probably experience a
happiness bump for the simple reason that not all activities are
equally pleasurable or meaningful. Unless work was the single most
important thing in your life, there’s still the chance a robot taking
your job would make you happier.
This means a robot workforce might actually provide people with more
meaningful lives even while simultaneously taking them away from
meaningful work. Plus it will provide those whose jobs are making them
unhappy with the opportunity to do something different.
This paints a compelling picture: CS Lewis once described friendship,
philosophy and art as being meaningful precisely because they were
unnecessary and had no survival value. They were, instead, “things
which give value to survival”. If the fourth industrial revolution is
able to help people focus on those things that give our lives value,
robotic workers almost present as a moral imperative.
In the Residenza Sanitaria Assistenziale San Lorenzo in Florence,
Italy, a robot acts as a caregiver or butler for the 20 elderly guests
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
In the Residenza Sanitaria Assistenziale San Lorenzo in Florence,
Italy, a robot acts as a caregiver or butler for the 20 elderly guests.
Photograph: Laura Lezza/Getty Images
Of course there are enormous logistical questions as to whether those
who are going to be displaced by robots will actually be provided with
the means necessary to pursue other meaningful ways of living. We
simply don’t know yet whether the taxi driver who enjoyed the chance to
have conversations with different people every day will have other
opportunities to find a sense of sociability or whether he’ll be forced
into less meaningful work.
More significantly, we don’t know if people will be able to see their
lives as meaningful without work. Even if automation provides people
with the opportunity to find purpose elsewhere, it’s not clear whether
we’ll be ready or able to conceive of a life of meaning which is
totally disconnected from work.
This concern was raised by Hannah Arendt in her influential work The
Human Condition. Decades ago, Arendt predicted that the rise of
automation would mean humanity would be “liberated from its oldest and
most natural burden, the burden of labouring”. For her, this wasn’t
something to celebrate. She feared that a variety of economic forces
had effectively changed the way people saw themselves so that it was
their labour that defined them.
Given the central role work plays in psychological wellbeing –
unemployed people report feeling less satisfied with their lives than
those who have jobs – it seems Arendt might have been on to something.
Think about the last time you introduced yourself to somebody – how
long was it before you told them what you do for work? Was it the first
thing you told them after your name? When you met someone, how long was
it before you asked “what do you do?” Maybe our jobs do define us more
than we give credit.
Given the strong connection people make between their work, identity
and sense of meaning, Arendt was concerned about the implications of
automation on their lives. She believed “nothing could be worse” than
being told meaning could only be found in a certain thing – like work –
and then having that source of meaning taken away.
The future of work: 'Computers are good at the jobs we find hard, and bad at
the jobs we find easy'
Read more
Arendt’s point is that the benefits of automation are only going to be
enjoyed if they are recognised – that is, if workers are able to see
themselves as having meaning outside of their job. The father who
defined himself primarily as a lawyer might not be able to find the
same sense of purpose or meaning from a life of domesticity. Even
though he could theoretically find meaning in his family, he would need
to change his perspective first. For some, this change won’t come
easily. For others, it might be impossible.
Paul Dolan makes a similar argument. He suggests there’s no such thing
as an objectively pleasurable or meaningful activity; rather, each
individual defines what purpose and pleasure mean for themselves. Which
means if people have decided or been conditioned to believe the only
thing that can provide meaning in their lives is work, then it doesn’t
matter how much opportunity we create for them to do other things –
they’re not going to see it as a viable replacement.
This won’t apply to everyone. Although there are careerists and
workaholics among us, many people do find joy, meaning and identity
outside of their professional identity. However, automation poses
threats to these people as well because robots aren’t only likely to
replace paying jobs; artificial intelligence will enable robots to
replace us in a range of personal and domestic roles as well. Care for
the elderly, parenting, volunteer work and other forms of support for
the vulnerable may soon be dominated by robots.
The philosopher Thomas Wells sees an automated care industry as a real
possibility. As robots become more intelligent, they will be able to
provide the illusion of care –providing practical support,
conversation, even intimacy.
The dignity and rights of workers needs to continue to be a
centrepiece of our conversations about the future of work
In many ways, this is a good thing – like wheelchairs, hearing aids and
other technologies, robots can provide those who are dependent on
support with autonomy. If I have a robot to cook my meals, I’m no
longer forced to rely on my family to bring me food; if a robot can
carry me in and out of the shower, I’m freed from the indignity of
being naked and vulnerable in front of a care worker. Robotic care
might actually be a way to give some dignity to those in need of help.
Wells makes the point that what these robots provide isn’t care in the
true sense of the word. They can provide support – both physical and
psychological – but they’ll never actually care. He’s right but, even
if robots were capable of genuine empathy, the crucial question
remains: once we start outsourcing care and relationships to robots,
what’s left for us? And even if there is something left, will we want
to do it?
Maybe your grandmother might be more dignified and better supported by
a robot than by members of her family who took turns coming over to
help out. Maybe she’d still receive a sense of love and community from
more meaningful social calls when you’re able to be genuinely present
instead of busy with chores. But there’s a risk you can’t have one
without the other. It’s partly through the moments of help, care and
support your relationship is sustained and deepened.
Solidarity and love can only be fostered through genuine personal
encounters, so if we outsource the caring to robots I’m not sure there
will be enough to sustain the relationship; enough to motivate us to
stop by for a chat or call on her birthday.
A cow is milked by a milking robot at a farm in Vritz, near Nantes,
western France.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
A cow is milked by a milking robot at a farm in Vritz, near Nantes,
western France. Photograph: Jean-Sebastien Evrard/AFP/Getty Images
The same is true for other aspects of our lives. If we leave the most
difficult, boring or frustrating work to robots, this might change our
ability and appetite for more stimulating or meaningful work. Humans
are creatures of habit – the first time we do something it’s difficult
but it gets easier over time. A recent anti-smoking ad tells us that
“every time you quit, you get a little bit better at it”. The same is
true for everything else in human behaviour: every time you work at
something difficult you get a little more perseverant, every time you
give yourself to someone else you get a little more charitable and so
on.
The question is whether automation will shoot itself in the foot by
freeing up our time to do things that matter but at the same time
deprive us of the skills we need to use our time meaningfully. Although
fictional, the marshmallow caricatures in Pixar’s WALL-E resonated with
many viewers because they recognised the possibility of such laziness
in themselves and in the technologies they use. They had all the time
and resources they needed to live happy lives but, as robots took over
the heavy lifting, people were robbed of opportunities to improve
themselves and lacked the initiative to find new ones.
Automation might not make us all lazy and apathetic – as I’ve already
said, there are other meaningful and purposeful activities that can
fill the void of work. But the general shift away from human labour and
toward a robotic equivalent might have consequences for those humans
still engaged in work. While we’re all workers, it’s easy to remember
the importance of work to be dignified, safe and fairly compensated –
our shared experience of work creates a solidarity between one another.
If robots are the future of work, where do humans fit in? | Zoe Williams
Read more
Once work is performed by robots – to whom we don’t (and shouldn’t)
assign the same moral rights as we do humans – the associations we have
between work and dignity are less easily recognised. Our bond of
solidarity to fellow workers is broken. For this reason and many others
– like the rise of the gig economy – the dignity and rights of workers
needs to continue to be a centrepiece of our conversations about the
future of work. While, for many, work might become redundant, its value
and the virtues it can cultivate are evergreen.
Soon enough, the majority of an entire generation won’t know what it
means to have a job but they will need to know how to work. Work isn’t
exclusive to the labour market – relationships, parenting, creativity,
sport and exercise are all kinds of work. But if robots are taking care
of household chores in a decade, I’ll need some other way to teach my
son that there’s more to life than pleasure, that sometimes you need to
stick at something to get results and that in a community, everyone has
a role to play so everyone can flourish. For my parents, chores and
household jobs were a way of teaching me that message.
None of this is reason to fear the coming of robots or to put a
moratorium on their development. In fact, given the advantages they
might bring to humanity, it might be unethical to stop. However, if the
huge leaps we’ve seen in technology over the past decades has taught us
anything, it’s that by the time new technology has arrived, it’s too
late to start thinking about the social and moral consequences. Those
conversations have to begin now.
How we approach automation, the lines we draw and the principles we use
to govern our decision-making need to be shaped by a clear sense of
purpose – the same is true for the entire fourth industrial revolution.
If all we seek is a state of decreased labour, increased innovation or
more progressive ways of living, all we have to do is wait. But there’s
no guarantee we’ll like what we get.
Topics
* Fourth industrial revolution
* Consciousness
* Psychology
* Computing
* Business (Australia)
* Artificial intelligence (AI)
* Work & careers
* sponsored features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
%2CConsciousness%2CPsychology%2CComputing%2CBusiness+%28Australia%29%2C
Australia+news%2CArtificial+intelligence+%28AI%29%2CWork+%26+careers%2C
Technology%2CEthics%2CPhilosophy%2CMoney]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Journalism
* Digital
* Business
* Creative writing
* Wellbeing & Culture
* Bespoke training
* Calendar
(BUTTON) More
Guardian Masterclasses
Love it or leave it – your guide to finding true work happiness
Are you happy in your job? Craft your ideal career by drilling deep
into your passions and motivations and learn how to make it happen
Date: Saturday 26 January 2019
Times: Morning course, 10am-1pm
Thu 26 Oct 2017 14.56 BST Last modified on Fri 19 Oct 2018 12.39 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Samantha Clarke
[ ] Samantha Clarke Photograph: Chiron Cole
* This is one of two career workshops taking place on the same day.
How to get hired focuses on marketing yourself as a candidate. You
can book this event here or buy a ticket for the whole day – and
save 20%!
Are you stuck in a job you hate? Thinking about a career change, but
are yet to take the leap? Worried you might be throwing away your years
of experience or training?
Various factors, such as money and culture, influence our career
choices. As a result we can end up climbing a career ladder that is not
aligned with our true ambitions, motivations and values.
This inspirational workshop will once and for all help you nail down
what your work happiness should look like and how to make it happen,
with a clear roadmap for each step to take.
Lecturer and happiness consultant Samantha Clarke will help you decide
whether you want to:
* “Love it” – find ways to fall in love with your current role and
cultivate your work happiness inside your existing company.
or
* “Leave it” – know how to parcel up your skills and move on to the
next job.
You will leave the day with an action plan to implement your work
happiness, clarity on your next steps and knowledge of available
resources.
Content
* How did you end up here? What’s getting in the way of your true
work happiness – co-workers, your industry or the job itself?
* Creating your “love it” or “leave it” roadmap
* How to fall in love with your current role and get on with your
co-workers
* How to parcel up your transferable skills. Should you keep your
role and move sectors or transition out completely?
* Building your career transition toolkit: identify your passions,
skills, strengths and dreams to make the right switch
* Maintaining momentum and support
* Addressing the barriers to work happiness and how to overcome them
Tutor profile
Samantha Clarke has developed a portfolio career as a lecturer,
changemaker and happiness consultant. She’s also the owner of Samantha
&, a happiness and change consultancy and Growth & Happiness online
school. Samantha specialises in inspiring individuals to realise their
potential and helping companies develop innovative ways to shape
culture, relationships and work processes. She tweets @samanthaand_.
Details
* This is one of two career workshops taking place on the same day.
How to get hired focuses on marketing yourself as a candidate. You
can book this event here or buy a ticket for the whole day – and
save 20%!
Date: Saturday 26 January 2018
Times: Morning course, 10am-1pm
Location: The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU
Price: £49 plus £2.83 booking fee
Event capacity: 100
Complimentary lunch and refreshments included.
You may also be interested in...
* Writing for business: How to create copy that has a real impact
* How to use Instagram to build your brand
More from this tutor…
* How to build a portfolio career: An evening class with Samantha
Clarke
* Leadership skills: How to be an effective and authentic leader
Sign up to our newsletter and you’ll be among the first to find out
about our latest classes and special offers. You can also follow us on
Twitter, and read our latest articles and interviews on our blog.
Information on Guardian Masterclasses
To contact us, click here. Terms and conditions can be found here.
All Guardian Masterclasses are fully accessible - but please contact us
if you have any queries or concerns.
Returns policy
Once a purchase is complete we will not be able to refund you where you
do not attend or if you cancel your event booking. Please see our terms
and conditions for more information on our refund policy.
Topics
* Guardian Masterclasses
* Culture and lifestyle
* Business masterclasses
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
Most popular
* Journalism
* Digital
* Business
* Creative writing
* Wellbeing & Culture
* Bespoke training
* Calendar
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+Masterclasses%2CCult
ure+and+lifestyle%2CBusiness+masterclasses]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
career inspiration
Guardian Careers
Familiarity breeds content: embracing routine can make you happier at work
Stable, physical work which offers a good work-life balance and
friendships with colleagues may be the secret to career happiness
Emma Featherstone
@emfeatherstone
Mon 9 May 2016 07.00 BST Last modified on Mon 9 May 2016 07.24 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day was cursed to live the same
day over and over, but predictability can lead to greater job
satisfaction.
[ ] Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day was cursed to live the
same day over and over, but predictability can lead to greater job
satisfaction. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock
Last year, absenteeism (days of work lost due to stress, illness,
anxiety or depression) grew by 25%, according to figures from the
Labour Force Survey, that’s 17 billion working days. While we are being
given more options to fit work around our outside responsibilities –
since June 2014 all workers have had the right, by law, to request
flexible working after 26 weeks, there is a suggestion that stability
could be preferable.
A small US survey found unpredictability to be the biggest factor
contributing to workplace stress. So could a role that is more
predictable, and which allows for a better work-life balance, offer
greater job satisfaction?
Take Ricky Rusby: Monday to Friday, his alarm goes off at 4am. Shortly
afterwards he cycles to Westminster, London. By 6am he’s joined his two
teammates on a refuse collection truck, clearing the city streets of
the bags and bins that have piled up over the previous day.
Fifty-year-old Rusby’s routine has changed fairly little during his 30
years as a refuse collector for Westminster council and, more recently,
Veolia, a waste, water and energy management company. He enjoys the
sense of routine.
Dr Gail Kinman, professor of occupational health psychology at the
University of Bedfordshire, says: “Work-life conflict is one of the
main causes of upset and stress, of lack of time with family, and of a
failure to enjoy your social life.” She adds that a more predictable
job where you have go into work at set times, take breaks (rather than
eating lunch while working) and have time to interact with your
workmates could make you happier.
Claire Oliver, who is a team leader for Bright and Beautiful domestic
cleaning services near Margate in Kent, enjoys the sense of camaraderie
among her colleagues – they also work to a strict schedule.
The 44-year-old single mum took on the job part-time to fund her MA in
English. She says of her teammates: “We are all women, most of us are
single parents, or at least have had children. So there’s quite a deep
understanding of how life can be as a working mother.”
Dr Luke Sullivan, a clinical psychologist and an ambassador for the
Minds at Work campaign, agrees strong ties with colleagues can add
value to your job. “Those relationships are very much what sustain
people within the workplace. The number one benefit of working is that
we have contact with other people.”
Meanwhile, Kinman says work that is physically demanding, but less
emotionally or mentally draining, could also be beneficial for
relationships outside of work. This is true for Rusby who enjoys time
off with his wife – the couple have been together for 30 years and take
regular holidays including to the US, Australia, Singapore and South
America. They also designate a weekend, at least a couple of times a
month, to enjoy London, whether it’s visiting an exhibition or trying
out a new restaurant.
Kurt Neumann, 32, has also been in the same industry for a significant
time – he is now in his sixth year as a waiter. He enjoys providing
good customer service. “If people go away and they’re happy, and say
‘I’ve had a good time, a great meal and great service’, that lifts my
day.”
While customers can have a positive influence on Neumann’s job, they
are occasionally the worst part. “Sometimes you get people that come
along, order six beers and get completely hammered. I have to go over
to them and be like, ‘Come on guys, it’s 6pm. You don’t need to swear,
calm down’. Some are great about it and others give you lip and then
your job gets really awkward”
However, Neumann and his colleagues back one another up in such
situations. The variety of people he meets at work is a positive. “In
hospitality there’s a high staff turnover, so you meet a lot of people
that you’d never meet anywhere else, except maybe in school – working
in a team is my favourite part of the job.”
How to deal with stress at work
Read more
Focusing on the upsides can be a good approach to being happy at work.
Kinman says: “If you hate your job and you’re seen to hate it you’ll
give the impression you think you’re too good. Your co-workers are not
going to like you, so you’re not going to get their support.”
Kinman adds that while in the long-term no one can survive working 40
hours a week in a job they hate, making small changes can alter your
perception of a job you don’t enjoy. If it is becoming too routine for
your liking she suggests talking to your manager and discussing ways to
make the job your own – playing to your strengths and interests.
For Oliver, job satisfaction comes, in part, from creating time and
space for customers in stressful situations. “We’ve got an old couple
we clean for and the guy is really poorly. Everytime that I go in [to
clean] they are very kind to us, very sweet, very grateful. There’s
that human touch I think, that feeling you’re doing something to help
people.”
Kinman suggests a couple of other tactics if you’ve lost motivation at
work – or are feeling overwhelmed. You could try setting yourself
short-term goals. For every unfavourable task you complete, or tough
project you round up, give yourself a small reward. And short-term
goals can work alongside long-term ambitions. If your job is not
something you see as part of your long-term career plans, but will help
you in terms of experience or building up savings, consider how it
could benefit you in the future – perhaps build up an itinerary for an
exciting year or two in the future.
Lastly, Kinman says: “Try to find somebody you can use as a bit of a
coach. Somebody that understands your long-term goals – a friend you
can let off steam to.”
Looking for a job? Browse Guardian Jobs or sign up to Guardian Careers
for the latest job vacancies and career advice
Topics
* Guardian Careers
* career inspiration
* Work & careers
* Job hunting
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+Careers%2CWork+%26+c
areers%2CJob+hunting]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
(BUTTON) More
The Observer
Life and style
Life gets better after 50: why age tends to work in favour of happiness
Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve, was relieved to find an
explanation for his gloom – academics say adulthood happiness is
U-shaped
Lucy Rock
Lucy Rock
Sat 5 May 2018 11.00 BST Last modified on Sat 5 May 2018 12.06 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
‘Those most likely to notice the arrow of time are the people without a
lot of other change or difficulty in their life.’
[ ] ‘Those most likely to notice the arrow of time are the people
without a lot of other change or difficulty in their life.’ Photograph:
Alamy Stock Photo
When Jonathan Rauch fell into the doldrums in his 40s, he had no idea
why. Life was good: he had a successful career, a solid relationship,
good health and sound finances. Then he learnt about the happiness
curve and it all became clear.
Academics have found increasing evidence that happiness through
adulthood is U-shaped – life satisfaction falls in our 20s and 30s,
then hits a trough in our late 40s before increasing until our 80s.
Forget the saying that life begins at 40 – it’s 50 we should be looking
toward.
Rauch, a senior fellow at the US thinktank the Brookings Institution,
was so relieved to have found an explanation for the gloom that hit him
and, he believed, many others in middle age that he became evangelical
about spreading the word. He has written a book, The Happiness Curve:
Why Life Gets Better After 50 (out in the US 1 May and UK 14 June),
which includes personal stories, the latest data and illuminating
interviews with economists, psychologists and neuroscientists.
“The most surprising thing is that age tends to work in favour of
happiness, other things being equal,” he tells the Guardian. “The most
strange thing is that midlife slump is often about nothing.”
Hold off on splashing out on that flashy sports car or embarking on an
affair though. It is not the same as a midlife crisis, which according
to the stereotype demands an urgent, rash response. The slump isn’t
caused by anything, according to Rauch. It is a natural transition,
simply due to the passing of time.
“It’s a self-eating spiral of discontent,” he says. “It’s not because
there’s something wrong with your life, or your marriage, or your mind,
or your mental health.”
Not everyone will experience a sunnier outlook in their 50s and beyond,
Rauch acknowledges, because factors such as divorce, unemployment or
illness can counter this. But, other things being equal, the U-curve
holds.
Rauch, an author and journalist, adds: “Those most likely to notice the
arrow of time are the people without a lot of other change or
difficulty in their life. Things seem to be going well for them,
they’re achieving their goals, and nothing much has changed. They
think, ‘Why do I feel less satisfied than I expected to? Why is this
going on year after year? Why does it seem to be getting worse and not
better? There must be something wrong with my life.’
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with your life, you’re just feeling the
effects of time which others who may have more turbulent lives may not
notice as much.”
Rauch details a raft of research in his book to back up his claims. A
2008 study by economists David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald found the
U-curve – with the nadir, on average, at age 46 – in 55 of 80
countries, and they cited more than 20 other papers finding the U. It
tends to show up in wealthier countries where people live longer,
healthier lives. Life satisfaction statistics for the UK in 2014-15
show happiness declining from youth through middle age, hitting a low
at 50 and rising to a peak at 70.
Not all economists and psychologists agree. Economists Paul Frijters
and Tony Beatton factored in the possibility that those who become
happier in the studies are the same people who are more content when
they start out. This can help them achieve greater career or
relationship success, which leads to more happiness. Correcting for
this effect, the U-shape disappears.
Rauch, however, believes he is a textbook example of the U-curve.
His mother suffered from depression and his parents broke up when he
was 12, leaving his father to bring up three children on his own. Two
years later, his father, a stressed and overworked lawyer in his
mid-40s, lost his biggest client.
Rauch remembers himself at 20, keen to accomplish something worthwhile
by middle age and believing that when he did, he’d appreciate it.
By his 40s, he had surpassed his dreams. He had published books; he was
winning journalism prizes; he was in a relationship with Michael, the
man he would later marry; he lived in an area of north Virginia with a
strong sense of community. Yet he was preoccupied with what he had not
achieved.
He explains: “I was someone who was fortunate. I had good health and
after my 20s, which were difficult because I came out as gay, I met one
goal after another with more success than I’d ever expected.
“Yet around the time I turned 40 I noticed this strange feeling of
restlessness and discontent. This continued to grow as I got into my
40s to the point where I was 45 and I won the most prestigious award in
magazine journalism [a National Magazine award] and that gave me a
great feeling of satisfaction with my life for approximately 10 days.
“All these feelings of discontent and restlessness – and even sometimes
worthlessness and this feeling I’d almost wasted my life – kept coming
back.
“None of this made any rational sense. I began to think there must be
something wrong with me. I began to think my personality had begun to
turn dark in some way and that of course compounded the problem.”
Around 50, the fog began to lift, despite the death of both his
parents, the loss of his magazine job and the failure of a startup
venture.
Rauch, 58, says: “In my 50s, first the volume of the demons’ voices
went down, and now I rarely hear their voices at all.”
While researching his book, Rauch spoke to many people who’d
experienced similar feelings.
Karla, 54, is on the upswing of the curve. She says she is savouring
her friendships more, feeling more organised and efficient, and doing
more volunteering work. “Now I feel grateful for the now,” she tells
Rauch. “On a day-to-day basis I probably do the same things, but I feel
different.”
Rauch tells the Guardian: “That’s a very profound insight because what
we’re talking about here is not that the conditions of your life change
in some huge way, but how you feel about your life changes.”
Rauch puts forward various explanations for why we feel happier in our
50s and beyond.
Research shows that older people feel less stress and regret, dwell
less on negative information and are better able to regulate their
emotions. Nor is status competition as important.
Rauch says: “We seem to be wired to seek maximum status when we are
young – the ambition to be on top of the world, to have the big job, to
have the extraordinary marriage to the wonderful person or lots of
money. Or some form of greatness, which is what I dreamed of in my 20s,
to write some book that would outdo Shakespeare.”
We are over-optimistic in youth about how much satisfaction we will get
out of our future successes, he believes.
“As we get into our 30s and 40s, we’ve achieved most of those things,
but we’re not wired to sit back and enjoy our status.
“The same ambition that made us status hungry makes us hungry for more
status. We’re on the hedonic treadmill. We don’t feel the satisfaction
we expected, so we think there’s something wrong with our lives.”
As we get older, our values change. “You hear people say, ‘I don’t feel
the need to check those boxes any more’, or ‘I don’t care that much
what other people think’.”
Older people feel relieved of a burden that makes it easier to savour
other simpler pursuits such as spending time with grandchildren, a
hobby or volunteer work.
Rauch would like to see more help for people to relaunch themselves
after this midlife transition, including greater opportunities for
adult learning and companies creating more part-time positions or
allowing gap years.
“There’s a huge amount of untapped wisdom and potential to be unlocked.
Because of the happiness curve, they’re often in a position where they
want to give back. They want to be mentors, they want to be volunteers
and they want to work at not so difficult jobs which allow them to use
their skills.”
Rauch has a few tips for relieving midlife malaise, such as talking to
friends about it and understanding it’s normal. It is also helpful to
stop comparing yourself to others, he says.
But if all that makes no difference, give it time. As Rauch approaches
60, he feels ever more grateful for his life. He wishes he’d known this
when he was in the trough of the curve because, as he says: “It’s worth
the wait.”
Topics
* Life and style
* The Observer
* Ageing
* Relationships
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Life+and+style%2CAgeing%2CRel
ationships%2CScience]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Psychology
Why is home more stressful than work? Because we're too lax about relaxing
Research finds that stress levels rise when we try to enjoy ourselves,
and hints at our self-defeating sense of 'leisure'
Oliver Burkeman
@oliverburkeman
Wed 4 Jun 2014 17.13 BST Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 21.23 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Couple watching TV
[ ] If these people are as happy as they look, maybe it's because
they're stock photograph models who enjoy their work. Actually vegging
out in front of the TV, research suggests, is not all that fun.
Photograph: Jamie Grill/Getty Images
Work (as you may have heard) sucks. Everyone’s too busy, burnout stalks
the land, open-plan offices are making us miserable, and all that
sitting down is killing us. No wonder we dream of escaping the nine to
five, perhaps even achieving a four-hour workweek, or running a
business from the beach, sand between your laptop keys be damned.
So, uh … how come a newly published study concludes that most people
are significantly less stressed at work than they are at home?
In her Wall Street Journal column this week, Elizabeth Bernstein
summarizes the research, which involved asking 122 adults in “a midsize
north-eastern US city” to swab their cheeks six times a day to monitor
levels of cortisol, a hormonal marker of stress levels. (They used
handheld timers to stay on schedule.) The result: a majority of people
– men and women, parents and non-parents alike – had higher cortisol
levels at home than at work.
The research did reveal some gender differences: as well as being less
stressed at work, women, but not men, were also more likely to report
feeling happier there. That’s presumably because women are still so
much more likely than men to return home to a long list of housework
and parenting tasks, postponing the point at which they can settle down
to truly nourishing, restorative activities, such as spending 45
minutes indecisively browsing Netflix before deciding not to bother.
But the headline finding is the really striking part: huge numbers of
us, it suggests, find work less stressful than being at home. Bernstein
runs through some of the likely reasons: we get paid at work; paid work
is more socially esteemed than housework, parenting, or caring for
relatives; it’s usually easier to achieve a satisfying sense of
progress in our careers than in our relationships. Moreover, the
emotional boundaries of office life mean you rarely have to deal with
your colleagues’ troubles or tempers in the way you’re obliged to deal
with those of your children or spouse.
Yet the biggest culprit, I'd be willing to bet, is that we tend to
think about our free time in a completely self-defeating way.
Work dominates our culture so completely that we can't help but think
of "leisure" as a negative idea, defined against work – the part of the
day or week when you're finally freed from obligations, when you can
relax and kick back and, should you desire it, do nothing at all. But
as Winifred Gallagher explains in her 2010 book, Rapt, the apparently
delicious strucurelessness of modern leisure is really the enemy of
happiness.
Gallagher quotes research showing that “on the job, [people are] much
likelier to focus on activities that demand their attention, challenge
their abilities, have a clear objective and elicit timely feedback” –
conditions conducive to the state of worry-free absorption known as
"flow". By contrast, television has that effect only about 13% of the
time, according to the leading researcher of flow, Mihalyi
Cziksentmihalyi.
We'd almost certainly feel better, then, if we treated leisure as time
that needs planning and structuring, no matter how strange that might
feel at first. Spontaneity is overrated: if you hold off deciding how
to relax until it's time to relax, you're probably going to make the
laziest choice, not the most happiness-inducing one.
The great English journalist Arnold Bennett had this all figured out
more than a century ago, when he wrote his little book How To Live On
24 Hours A Day. Addressing the burgeoning ranks of suburb-dwelling
London commuters, he bemoaned the way the office worker's habits:
[The office worker] persists in looking upon those hours from 10 to 6
as ‘the day’, to which the 10 hours preceding them and the six hours
following them are nothing but a prologue and epilogue. Such an
attitude, unconscious though it be, of course kills his interest in the
odd 16 hours, with the result that, even if he does not waste them, he
does not count them; he regards them simply as margin."
It's fashionable, these days, to talk about the importance of
"downtime", and nobody could disagree – but let's not ignore the
somewhat sinister implications of that phrase. It risks defining every
minute we're not working, producing value for our employers and their
shareholders, as time that exists solely for the purposes of recovering
or relaxing or just hanging around until work – "uptime" – begins
again. If we gave it the respect it deserved, if we treated it as a
different kind of uptime – we'd plan and structure it as carefully as
our work lives.
Or, you know, alternatively, feel free to keep scrolling through that
Suspenseful Canadian Foreign-Language Documentaries Featuring Horses
category on Netflix, if you prefer.
Topics
* Psychology
* Work & careers
* Health & wellbeing
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Psychology%2CWork+%26+careers
%2CHealth+%26+wellbeing]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Work & careers
Plants in offices increase happiness and productivity
Study suggests that minimalist offices produce miserable employees
because 'sometimes less is just less'
Shiv Malik
@shivmalik
Mon 1 Sep 2014 00.00 BST First published on Mon 1 Sep 2014 00.00 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Cactus in pot
[ ] People in 'lean' offices are as miserable as ants in an empty jam
jar, researchers say. Photograph: Ocean/Corbis
Offices devoid of pictures, souvenirs or any other distractions are
"the most toxic space" you can put a human into, say psychologists in a
paper published on Monday, which says workers perform better when
household plants are added to workplaces.
Dr Chris Knight from Exeter University and his fellow psychologists,
who have been studying the issue for 10 years, concluded that employees
were 15% more productive when "lean" workplaces are filled with just a
few houseplants, as employees who actively engage with their
surroundings are better workers.
Collaborating with academics from four universities in Australia, the
UK and the Netherlands, Knight said he had wondered for years why the
fashion for spartan offices has been so dominant in the business world.
"If you put an ant into a 'lean' jam jar, or a gorilla in a zoo into a
'lean' cage – they're miserable beasties," he said. People in "lean"
offices are no different, he added.
In the last year and a half, his colleagues have visited workplaces
including a call centre in the Netherlands and a large City auditor in
London to show how a splash of greenery could rapidly improve
performance.
The City auditors, which Knight declined to name, had spent "a lot of
money" on their office, he said. "They had very expensive desks …
banners that were just to do with the company … it was a beautifully
sparse environment."
The call centre was similarly stripped bare. Knight said some companies
he knew of had even taken to fixing computer keyboards to desks and
taping down staplers to ensure tidy lines of sight.
Yet when plants were brought into the offices – one plant per square
metre – employee performance on memory retention and other basic tests
improved substantially.
"What was important was that everybody could see a plant from their
desk. If you are working in an environment where there's something to
get you psychologically engaged you are happier and you work better,"
Knight said.
While plants were chosen in the study, photographs, changes in light or
even smell could be used to achieve a similar effect, Knight said.
He hopes the 18-month project – the first of its kind carried out in
functioning offices – will bury the lean office practice for which he
said there was no scientific support.
Prof Alex Haslam, from the University of Queensland's School of
Psychology, who co-authored the study, added: "The 'lean' philosophy
has been influential across a wide range of organisational domains. Our
research questions this widespread conviction that less is more.
Sometimes less is just less."
Topics
* Work & careers
* Plants
* Biology
* Happiness indices
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
more on this story
*
Surprise! Mathematical model reveals unexpected findings on happiness
According to a new study, experiencing joy when you least expect it
is the greatest boost to wellbeing
Published: 16 Aug 2014
Surprise! Mathematical model reveals unexpected findings on
happiness
*
Who are Europe’s happiest people – progressives or conservatives?
Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown: We may assume social democracies produce higher
levels of wellbeing, but poll data suggests the reverse may be true
Published: 12 Sep 2014
Published: 12 Sep 2014
Who are Europe’s happiest people – progressives or conservatives?
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Work+%26+careers%2CPlants%2CU
K+news%2CBiology%2CHappiness+indices]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Health and wellbeing
How Zappos profits from the happiness business
By focusing on the happiness and wellbeing of workers, companies can
create a positive workplace culture that's good for growth and profits,
says Jim Witkin
Jim Witkin for the Guardian Professional Network
Thu 14 Jun 2012 15.09 BST First published on Thu 14 Jun 2012 15.09 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Tony Hsieh
[ ] Tony Hsieh, chief executive of Zappos. Photograph: Zappos
Zappos, America's largest online shoe retailer, has achieved success by
nearly every conventional measure. Founded in 1999, the company reached
$1bn in annual sales in less than 10 years and was acquired by Amazon
in 2009 in a deal worth $1.2bn. Yet, it's the company's unconventional
culture and a business model based on happiness that Zappos's chief
executive, Tony Hsieh, wants to share with the rest of the world.
Hsieh recently brought his message to the UK parliament, where he spoke
on a panel discussion entitled Happy Workers = Business Growth? hosted
by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics.
By focusing on company culture, he told the parliamentary group,
everything else such as building a brand with sustained revenue growth
and passionate employees, fell into place. Zappos's culture is guided
by a set of core values which aims to empower employees, create a sense
of community in the workplace, and serve a higher purpose beyond
bottom-line metrics.
Employees should have a sense of control and progress in their careers,
says Hsieh. Zappos developed a set of skills for their call centre
reps, rather than a one-size-fits-all job description. Employees
directly control their salary increases as they acquire the skills that
interest them at their own pace, rather than waiting for fixed review
periods or annual raises.
Zappos encourages employees to "create fun and a little weirdness" in
the workplace and build personal connections with co-workers. To
protect this feeling of community, Zappos carefully vets each new
applicant for a cultural match. The company even offers new employees
$4,000 to quit after their first week of training to weed out people
who are there just for the paycheck.
"Is this someone I would want to have a beer with?" is one of the
simple questions Hsieh asks himself when interviewing applicants. For
companies examining their own values, he advises: "Ask yourself what
are the values that the company is willing to make hiring and firing
decisions on apart from job performance."
Even measuring call centre performance takes an unconventional twist at
Zappos. The amount of time the rep spends on the phone with a customer
is the traditional measure of call centre efficiency, with an emphasis
on reducing that time. Instead, Zappos has developed their own
scorecard, tracking the personal and emotional connections made with
customers, measured by the number of thank you cards and cookies the
call centre reps send.
Profits are key to any enterprise, admits Hsieh, but he ultimately
realised that a great company culture should serve a higher purpose. At
Zappos, this means delivering happiness and "wowing" customers with
exceptional service. By concentrating on the happiness of those around
you, Hsieh believes, you dramatically increase your own.
All this focus on employee happiness seems to be paying off, as Zappos
consistently ranks as one of the best places to work in annual
workplace surveys from industry watchers like Fortune magazine.
Hsieh described his adventures on the entrepreneurial trail in the 2010
book, Delivering Happiness, which has been translated into 20
languages. He is now involved in a new venture, Delivering Happiness at
Work (or DH@work), offering coaching and workshops for other companies
hoping to get their culture right. DH@work has teamed up with Nic
Marks, a social economist from the UK-based New Economics Foundation
and founder of the UK's Centre for Wellbeing.
Trying to impose the Zappos culture and values on other companies is
not the point of DH@work, according to James Key Lim, chief executive
of the new venture. "It's about taking the DNA of what worked at Zappos
– things like purpose, happiness, culture, and profits – which anyone
can use as a framework to make happiness as their business model," he
says.
Jim Witkin is a journalist and regularly contributes to the New York
Times
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB
member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox
Topics
* Health and wellbeing
* Engaging employees
* Strategy
* blogposts
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Health+and+wellbeing%2CGuardi
an+sustainable+business%2CEngaging+employees%2CStrategy]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
career inspiration
Guardian Careers
If you're happy and you know it ... become a chief happiness officer
Companies are employing people to create happier workforces, so if you
like to organise celebrations, training and events this may be the job
for you
Vikki Knowles
Mon 13 Jul 2015 07.00 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
If you get a kick out of making other people happy at work, then a job
as a CHO could be for you.
[ ] If you get a kick out of making other people happy at work, then a
job as a CHO could be for you. Photograph: Moviestore/REX
A wave is rolling over corporate America, across HR departments from
Google to Zappos. The emergence of the chief happiness officer (CHO),
once met with stifled sniggers and confused expressions, reflects the
increasing importance placed on cultivating a contented workforce to
attract and retain the most sparkling talent.
Now the CHO is cropping up around the UK and Europe, with the role
varying from championing customer service to a more traditional HR
function.
“The CHO’s job is to spearhead different initiatives to make people
happier, like celebrations, training, events and similar activities in
the workplace that help people do great work and see the purpose of
what they do,” says consultant Alexander Kjerulf, co-founder at WooHoo
inc in Denmark. Kjerulf conducts speeches and workshops worldwide to
help companies such as Lego and Ikea create happier workplaces.
Fiona Duffy, CHO of the London and Brighton-based Happy Startup School,
meanwhile, sees her duties falling under the marketing umbrella. “I
dedicate my time to build and retain relationships with people
passionate about the Happy Startup School and our mission to change the
stereotype of business, to make it less about chasing profits,” she
says.
The fundamentals of happiness have their roots in basic human
psychology, Kjerulf says, but different workplaces face different
challenges, so the message has to be tailored. “Maybe staff are really
busy and need to know how to stay happy in the face of time pressure.
Maybe the company is in trouble and needs to know how to deal with a
crisis. Or maybe they’ve just grown complacent and sated and need a
wake-up call,” he says.
To take on this job, it comes as no surprise that being a happy person
yourself is at the top of the list. A CHO “should be someone who can
inspire happiness in others by their nature, and someone who is fun,
likeable and has a lot of energy”, says Kjerulf. “It should also be a
person who genuinely cares about the wellbeing of people in the
workplace.”
Duffy agrees. “CHOs all have one thing in common: an innate ability to
bring out the best in the people around them. They need to understand
problems and offer up solutions that optimise for happiness, whether
that’s through customer support or striving for happiness within
teams.” Her job title alone has prompted plenty of compliments. “It
always strikes up curiosity and conversation. It’s almost become my
identity,” she says.
What's the secret of career happiness?
Read more
Personal attributes are more critical than specific qualifications, it
seems. Prior to his Woohoo adventures, Kjerulf spent a decade as a
consultant and entrepreneur in IT. It was only when he sold his IT
consultancy, Enterprise Systems, that he decided to pursue happiness at
work. Duffy, meanwhile, dived in to her current role straight after
graduation as an alternative to the corporate, top-down management
career path she says graduates often think is their only option. “I’ve
sort of struck gold with my job at the very first hurdle leaving
university,” she says.
But, like in any job, there have got to be gripes, right? Duffy
struggles to think of any. “Perhaps the fear of failure? Organising any
large crazy event can have its challenges but we learn to embrace
failure as a learning curve in our environment,” she says. Working with
the (fortunately few) clients who are reluctant to create a happier
workplace is Kjerulf’s grievance. “If you don’t do something, nothing
is going to change.”
Duffy reels off advice for budding CHOs: attend as many events as you
can, escape the boardroom to cultivate those great ideas, and leave
your ego at the door. “You can build a much stronger connection with
people asking them about their family and interests before questioning
them about what they do for a living,” she says. But be warned. “People
are going to think you’re weird,” says Kjerulf, “especially in the UK,
where there is a real mistrust of happiness. So you have to be OK with
being a little ‘out there’ and have to believe in yourself and your
message.”
Looking for a job? Browse Guardian Jobs or sign up to Guardian Careers
for the latest job vacancies and career advice
Topics
* Guardian Careers
* career inspiration
* Work & careers
* Job hunting
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+Careers%2CWork+%26+c
areers%2CJob+hunting%2CLife+and+style%2CMoney%2CSociety]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
(BUTTON) More
Datablog
Commuting
How does commuting affect wellbeing?
A study into commuting and personal wellbeing has found that each
minute added to a commute affects anxiety, happiness and general
wellbeing. What is the worst way to travel to work? And would we be
happier if we just worked from home?
Ami Sedghi and George Arnett
Wed 12 Feb 2014 12.12 GMT Last modified on Wed 12 Feb 2014 15.13 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Those who travel to work by tube were found to only be negatively
affected by journeys over 30 minutes. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty
Images
[ ] Those who travel to work by tube were found to only be negatively
affected by journeys taking over 30 minutes. Photograph: Dan
Kitwood/Getty Images
Commuters are more likely to be anxious, dissatisfied and have the
sense that their daily activities lack meaning than those who don’t
have to travel to work even if they are paid more. Those were the
findings of a study by the Office for National Statistics looking at
commuting and personal wellbeing.
The study analysed personal wellbeing using four measures:
life-satisfaction, to what extent the respondent felt the things they
did in life were worthwhile, whether the commuters were happy and
whether they were anxious. A drop in the first three and a rise in
anxiety indicates a negative effect on the person’s wellbeing.
It found that each additional minute of commuting time made you feel
slightly worse up to a certain point. However, strangely, once a
commute hit three hours then the negative effects dropped off.
IFRAME: https://charts.datawrapper.de/pVBVJ/
The effect was relatively small in the scheme of overall wellbeing but
was judged by the ONS to be statistically significant.
Does the travel mode make a difference to your personal wellbeing?
The analysis compares people whose main travel to work mode is a
private vehicle such as a car, minibus or works van with those whose
main travel to work mode is an alternative such as train, bus, walking
or cycling. The results show that those travelling to work by bus or
coach had lower levels of life satisfaction and a lower sense that
their daily activities were worthwhile on average than those using a
private vehicle to commute to work.
It may not come as a surprise to anyone who’s experienced squeezing
into a packed train on their way to work that people who take the train
to work recorded higher anxiety levels on average than those who
travelled in a private vehicle.
The analysis also found that people who walk to work had lower life
satisfaction and a lower sense that their activities were worthwhile on
average than those who commute to work using a private vehicle.
IFRAME: https://charts.datawrapper.de/VIc88/
But as the ONS rightly state: “the daily commute to work is likely to
be experienced as a total package”, so what happens when you combine
travel time and mode? The ONS broke travel time (one way) into two
categories; 16 to 30 minutes and longer than 30 minutes. For the
analysis, the ONS included each mode of transport in combination with
each of the two time categories. In each case, the comparison is with
people who commute between one and fifteen minutes to work (one way)
via any travel method. The key findings are:
* Those travelling to work in a private vehicle had lower levels of
happiness and higher anxiety levels on average for all journey
times (that is, both 16-30 minutes and over 30 minutes)
* People spending between 16 and 30 minutes cycling to work had lower
happiness levels and higher anxiety on average
* Those making long bus journeys to work of more than 30 minutes had
lower life satisfaction, a lower sense that daily activities are
worthwhile, lower happiness levels and higher anxiety
* People commuting more than 30 minutes by train had higher anxiety
levels on average
* Those walking between 16 and 30 minutes to work had lower life
satisfaction, a lower sense that daily activities are worthwhile
and lower happiness levels on average. People walking more than 30
minutes to work had higher anxiety levels on average.
IFRAME: https://charts.datawrapper.de/AfB5B/
But, the ONS are keen to highlight, there were several forms of
commuting that were no worse for personal wellbeing on average than a
short commute of up to 15 minutes, holding all else equal. These
included:
* Riding a motorbike, moped or scooter for up to 30 minutes (though
beyond this point happiness was negatively affected)
* Cycling for more than 30 minutes (cycling less than 30 minutes was
associated with lower happiness and higher anxiety)
* Travelling by taxi (regardless of journey time)
* Taking the train, underground, light railway or tram for up to 30
minutes (beyond this, the sensethat activities are worthwhile was
significantly lower and anxiety significantly higher).
Does higher pay make up for the frustration?
This is all well and good but given how people, especially in London,
tend to increase their commute as they progress in their career then
perhaps the higher salary makes up for it?
Not so, according to the report, which says the following:
Given the loss of personal wellbeing generally associated with
commuting, the results suggest that other factors such as higher income
or better housing may not fully compensate the individual commuter for
the negative effects associated with travelling to work and that people
may be making sub-optimal choices. This result is consistent with the
findings of previous studies such as Stutzer and Frey (2008). This is
potentially important information both for those who commute,
particularly for an hour or more, and for their employers.
However, it does add that those financial benefits being passed onto
other members of the commuters’ household might make for a happier
home. So commuters really could be sacrificing themselves for other
people’s happiness.
Download the data
* ONS data: download the tables
More open data
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
Can you do more with this data?
* Contact us at data@theguardian.com
* Follow us on Twitter
* Like us on Facebook
Topics
* Commuting
* Datablog
* Rail transport
* Motoring
* Happiness indices
* Health & wellbeing
* Office for National Statistics
* London Underground
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
more on this story
*
Cities in motion: transport is as key to urban character as buildings or
accents
Kicking off a new series on how people move through cities, we look
at why trains and traffic can reveal how a place sees itself
Published: 17 Feb 2014
Cities in motion: transport is as key to urban character as
buildings or accents
*
We bought a house in Oxford. Just one problem: it's 60 miles from my desk
Graeme Wearden
Graeme Wearden: Commuting between Oxford and London can be a drag,
but I see Oxfordshire before me and it all feels just about
worthwhile
Published: 4 Jul 2014
Published: 4 Jul 2014
We bought a house in Oxford. Just one problem: it's 60 miles from
my desk
*
London's Brompton Road tube station sold by Ministry of Defence for £53m
Historic complex, which closed in 1934, understood to have been
bought by property developer for conversion into flats
Published: 28 Feb 2014
London's Brompton Road tube station sold by Ministry of Defence for
£53m
*
Oxford Parkway station will lead to rise in house prices and commuter numbers
Station may be boon to area, but commuters just as likely to be
locals heading to work elsewhere as former Londoners
Published: 9 Mar 2014
Oxford Parkway station will lead to rise in house prices and
commuter numbers
*
+
London Tube ticket offices: some numbers crunched
Published: 26 Feb 2014
London Tube ticket offices: some numbers crunched
+
Your daily commutes: readers' stories
Published: 21 Feb 2014
Your daily commutes: readers' stories
+
Commuting makes you 'unhappy and anxious', says ONS
Published: 12 Feb 2014
Commuting makes you 'unhappy and anxious', says ONS
+
Daily commutes: share your pictures and stories
Published: 11 Feb 2014
Daily commutes: share your pictures and stories
(BUTTON) More more on this story
Most popular
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Commuting%2CRail+transport%2C
Motoring%2CHappiness+indices%2CHealth+%26+wellbeing%2COffice+for+Nation
al+Statistics%2CLondon+Underground%2CCycling]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
The Careers Blog
Guardian Careers
What's the secret of career happiness?
Can money buy you happiness? Personality, pay and company culture – we
uncover the secret to career bliss
• Happiness at work: what we can learn from the Swiss
• Job satisfaction: what's the secret?
Claire Burke
Mon 19 Jan 2015 07.00 GMT First published on Mon 19 Jan 2015 07.00 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
How do you choose a career that will make you happy?
[ ] How do you choose a career that will make you happy? Photograph:
Alamy
If you're thinking of looking for a new job in 2015, you're not alone.
According to research released this month, more than a third of workers
are planning to move jobs this year. But a new role doesn't always live
up to expectations, and before long you may be back scrolling through
recruitment sites searching for that elusive dream job. So how do you
avoid making the wrong move and choose a career that will make you
happy?
The first step is to understand your personality and how you like to
work, says Siobhan Hamilton-Phillips, director and founder of Career
Psychology. The consultancy uses psychometric assessments to help
people find a job that they will enjoy. "It's about finding out as much
about your personality as possible. You really need to have an
occupation that plays to your strengths," says Hamilton-Phillips. "For
example, extroverts are good at social interaction and communicating.
They tend to make good trainers. Introverts like working in smaller
groups or on their own. They have the ability to concentrate and focus
for a long time."
Understanding your personality traits helps you recognise which working
environments you are best suited to, she says. "If you know you're
playing to your strengths, in an environment you can thrive and feel
your work is rewarding, that really is happiness at work."
The next stage is to think about the skills you enjoy using. People are
happy when they use skills that make them feel energised, says John
Lees, a career strategist and author of How to Get a Job You Love. So
how do you find out what these are? "When you think about work on a
Sunday night, what are the bits of work you look forward to? That gives
you very powerful clues for what you should be doing." He also
recommends sitting down with a friend and discussing your work history.
Afterwards, ask them for the times when you seemed most excited and
engaged. This will help reveal the type of work you like best.
When it comes to getting a new job, many of us make the same mistake.
People don't do enough research to find out if they'll actually enjoy
the job, says Lees. "They understand they need to do a lot of research
to be a good candidate in a job interview but they don't do research
for themselves." This is particularly crucial if you're planning a big
career change. Lees recommends talking to people from the organisation
or sector and asking them what the role involves day to day. Work
shadowing is also a good option. Otherwise how will you know if you'll
like the job? "It's not all about internal reflection," says Lees. "You
only learn by asking people, 'what do you do most of the time?'"
Novella Bottini, an econometrician at thinktank Legatum Institute,
which commissioned a report on wellbeing and policy in 2014, says there
are four key features that affect people's happiness at work: support
and recognition, a clear idea of what is expected of them, reasonable
freedom over how they do the work and having a good work-life balance.
The latter is particularly critical. Bottini explains: "A study in
Europe suggested that people who are working more than 40 hours a week
are usually less happy. They have less time for social relationships,
for being part of a community. We know that these elements are critical
for the wellbeing of a person." However, if you are feeling the strain
of long working hours, the answer isn't necessarily to look for another
job. First, try and negotiate your role with your manager to address
the balance. If you're having the opposite problem – that your job
isn't challenging you – ask about the opportunities to make a sideways
move or work on a new project.
What about the all important question of money? We might think a six
figure salary will make us happy, but research suggests otherwise. A
study, which used data from the Office for National Statistics, looked
at the relationship between different jobs and levels of life
satisfaction. And while company chief executives, earning £117,700 a
year on average, were found to be the second happiest employees, many
in the top 20 earn less than £19,000 a year, including company
secretaries, fitness instructors and school secretaries. Vicars, who
earn around £20,568, were found to be the most joyful of all.
Money means different things to different people, says Lees. "Money is
part of the mix but it's not as important as people believe. It's not
an indicator of work happiness. All we know is that giving people more
doesn't make them happier or improve their performance." However if
people feel underpaid, that can be a powerful demotivator.
Once you've experienced the world of work for a few years you begin to
realise the type of jobs you enjoy. However if you are fresh out of
school or university, how can you tell from the bewildering array of
career option which job will give you the most satisfaction? Tim Reed,
head of the careers and employability service at University of Kent,
says graduates should reflect on "who they are, what they want from
life, what they enjoy doing and what their values are. It's then
matching that with realistic opportunities out there. It's hard for
graduates but it's possible".
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more
content and advice like this direct to your inbox, sign up for our
weekly Careers update.
Topics
* Guardian Careers
* The Careers Blog
* Health
* Work & careers
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+Careers%2CHealth%2CW
ork+%26+careers]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Opinion
Work & careers
The cult of compulsory happiness is ruining our workplaces
André Spicer
Some companies strive to make the office fun, so we’ll work harder. But
forced positivity has a negative side
Mon 12 Dec 2016 07.00 GMT Last modified on Tue 26 Jun 2018 15.06 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Illustration by Nathalie Lees.
[ ] Illustration by Nathalie Lees.
In their quest to make employees happier, companies around the world
have been busy installing play equipment in the workplace. Google has
set up slides in its Zurich office so engineers can whizz between
floors. The online shoe retailer Zappos encourages employees to dress
as their favourite animal on certain days. There are US companies that
give staff an opportunity to be ninjas for the day. Fussball tables,
computer games, action figures and scooters have become fixtures in
some workplaces. And if you walked into the offices of Inventionland,
you could be mistaken for assuming you were in a children’s playground:
workspaces there include a fake pirate ship, a tree house, and a giant
shoe.
The lengths companies go to in order to make employees happy to spend
increasingly long hours at work do not stop there: Tony Hsieh, chief
executive of Zappos, has been known to down vodka shots with employees
in interviews. And Expedia, ranked this year as the happiest workplace
in the UK, has modelled its London office on a night club with free
bars, chill-out zones and Formula One simulators.
In The Wellness Syndrome, the book I wrote with Carl Cederström, we
took a look at the increasing fascination with happiness at work. We
found a growing industry of “funsultants” offering advice on how to
make workforces more positive. Firms such as Zappos have started to
employ chief happiness officers. There is also a booming field of
management research on positivity at work.
But despite all this effort, work still sucks. According to a recent
study by the London School of Economics, the place where we feel most
miserable is work. There is only one place and circumstance that makes
us feel worse – being sick in bed.
Workplace design: how office space is becoming fun again
Read more
The clamour to make employees happy at work is driven by one of the
oldest cliches in the human resource management playbook: that a happy
worker is a good worker. As William Davies shows in his book The
Happiness Industry, this idea has been part of management theory since
at least the 1930s. The problem is that there have been decades of
research on the link between employee satisfaction and productivity,
and the results are pretty inconclusive.
There are studies that find if you show students a standup comedy
routine and then get them to spot errors in a piece of writing, they
will do better than students who have not seen the comedy routine.
However, another study, of a major UK supermarket chain, found that the
stores with the least satisfied employees were the most productive and
profitable.
Happiness at work may be good for some jobs – such as customer-facing
work where you need to make members of the public feel upbeat too – but
there is evidence to suggest happiness could be a liability in other
roles. One study, for instance, found that people who were angry tended
to get better outcomes during a negotiation than a happy person would.
People in a good mood were also worse at noticing an act of deception
than people in a bad mood.
While happiness at work is not always good for productivity, surely it
must be good for individual employees? This is not always true either.
To proceed with an unerring emphasis on being happy can crowd out other
emotions; anger, sadness, anxiety and uncertainty – all staples of the
contemporary workplace – become a no-no. This implicit ban on negative
emotions can therefore be emotionally stunting for employees. A number
of recent studies show that being able to express a range of positive
and negative emotions is important, particularly when people are
dealing with difficult experiences.
But giving space for a range of emotions at work can also be important
for the health of the entire organisation. This is wonderfully
illustrated by a recent study considering why the mobile phone maker
Nokia failed. In 2007, the year the iPhone launched, Nokia was the
world’s leading mobile-phone maker. It had ample information about
Apple’s venture, so should have been able to successfully challenge it.
However, the Finnish company had invested heavily in a smartphone
operating system called Symbian, which wasn’t working well. Middle
managers in the company knew it, but they feared communicating the bad
news up the hierarchy because they didn’t want to appear to
be negative. They had got the message: if you wanted to keep your
division open, it was imperative to be only upbeat and pass on positive
news. Because senior managers only got positive news, it took them too
long to ditch Symbian, switch operating systems and launch a decent
smartphone. By that point, Apple and Samsung had overtaken Nokia. Now
Nokia no longer makes mobile phones.
The sad truth is that being constantly on the lookout for happiness may
actually mean happiness eludes us. This point was illustrated by a
study in which psychologists got two groups of people to do something
that usually makes people happy – watching a film of someone winning an
ice-skating competition. They then tested how happy the experience made
them. Before watching the video, one group read out a statement about
how important it was to be happy and have an upbeat attitude; the other
group did not.
The psychologists found that the group that didn’t read out the
statement actually tended to be more happy after watching the video.
This suggests that when we talk about how important happiness is, we
become less likely to find it, even when we have experiences that
usually make us happy.
Wanting to be happy at work is fair enough. But being forced to be
happy at work can be troubling. If organisations were genuinely
interested in making their employees happy at work, then they would
probably give up on the corporate clowning and look at some much more
downbeat interventions. A simple step would be allowing employees to
work from home at least some of the time. One experimental study found
employee satisfaction and productivity shot up when people were allowed
to work from home.
A second simple step would be to stop interrupting workers with all
sorts of pointless demands such as long emails, bureaucratic forms and
compulsory happiness initiatives. A study by researchers at Harvard
Business School found workers felt most satisfied on days at work when
they were just able to consistently focus on an important piece of work
and make some meaningful progress on it.
Finally, removing some of the endemic uncertainty that is built into
many workplaces would be an excellent step towards making employees
more happy at work. In my own work with Mats Alvesson we found that
many organisational restructuring and change initiatives achieve very
little apart from making employees miserable, building the reputations
of a few managers, and fattening the coffers of consultants.
One way organisations really could make their employees happier, aside
from slides and vodka shots? Think long and hard before pointless
restructuring.
Topics
* Work & careers
* Opinion
* Health & wellbeing
* Work-life balance
* comment
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Work+%26+careers%2CHealth+%26
+wellbeing%2CWork-life+balance%2CLife+and+style%2CUK+news%2CGuardian+Ca
reers]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Health and wellbeing
Can happiness be a good business strategy?
A happy workforce is more engaged, creative and more focused,
increasing the overall productivity of a company, says Tim Smedley
Tim Smedley for the Guardian Professional Network
Wed 20 Jun 2012 10.59 BST First published on Wed 20 Jun 2012 10.59 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
happiness-work
[ ] The link between happiness and productivity at work is increasingly
understood. Photograph: Alberto Incrocci/Getty Images
How happy are you at work? Maybe you're reading this at work right now?
Which could indicate that you work in a friendly workplace culture
where you're empowered to do as you see fit and read whatever you want
online. Or it could mean that you're bored out of your brain, whiling
away the hours until the clock clunks to home time. The former suggests
that you're a happy and productive worker; the latter, quite the
opposite. And this link between happiness and productivity at work is
becoming increasingly understood.
Nic Marks, of the New Economics Foundation (Nef), has spent the last 10
years of his life working in this field. It used to be known as
'well-being economics' until it was discovered that "normal people
didn't know what that meant", says Marks. Happiness is what it's really
all about.
"People who are happier at work are more productive – they are more
engaged, more creative, have better concentration", says Marks. "The
difference in productivity between happy and unhappy people at work can
range between 10-50%. That's 10% for non-complex repetitive tasks, or
up to 40-50% in service and creative industries." And that's an awful
lot in terms of business revenue.
The current poster boy for happiness in business circles is Tony Hsieh.
A beneficiary of the dot-com boom he became a multi-millionaire in his
early 20s by selling his web company LinkExchange to Microsoft for
$265m. He then took over fashion start-up Zappos in 1999 because he
missed working in a happy environment. "It began selfishly for me", he
admits. "I was in the financial position of not having to work again...
so if I'm going to go back into an office it better be around people I
would choose to hang out with. Otherwise, what's the point? But it
actually turned out to be a good business strategy."
By 2005, Hsieh decided that a happy company culture was Zappos's number
one business priority, from which everything else would grow. In an
ironic echo of the General Electric CEO Jack Welsch who advocated axing
the bottom performing 10% of managers each year, Hsieh removed the
5-10% of employees who did not buy into the same vision. "The best way
to make [a happy culture] stick is to get rid of the whatever
percentage of people who aren't living up to the company values", he
argues. "What we found is that short term pain was totally worth the
long-term gain of strengthening the relationships with everybody else."
By removing the cynics, says Hsieh, the remaining 90% "became
super-engaged". Empowerment policies then came thick and fast. The
company moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas where they could recreate
a college campus environment; the sole communication policy reads "'be
real and use your best judgement"; call centre staff are hired on
friendliness – only 5% of calls result in sales but long-term
relationships are built over time. By 2008 the company reached $1b in
gross merchandise sales. In 2012, it is now over $2bn, with 5,000
staff. That sort of growth – especially through a prolonged recession –
is hard to ignore.
The UK government is not ignoring happiness. For the last two years Lib
Dem MP Jo Swinson has chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
Wellbeing Economics. When it started out, two people came. The last
sitting in May was standing room only. "Anyone who has worked in a
business knows that when colleagues feel motivated, empowered and wake
up looking forward to going to work – then they will work better. We
all know that", says Swinson. "And increasingly businesses are
recognising that too."
In light of this groundswell of interest, Nic Marks and Nef have just
launched an online tool to help businesses measure and manage the
happiness of their employees. Marks feels that the employee engagement
surveys run by many businesses are too extractive, based on what
employers can get out of their employees rather than what employees
want. To avoid disappearing down an HR blackhole, as Marks puts it,
Nef's happiness survey gives employees instant results – including
personalised action plans – as well as collating the results
anonymously for the business.
One company who trialled the Nef approach – The Works, a recruitment
agency in the north of England – ended up changing its working hours
and internal communications practices on the back of the survey. "It's
given employees empowerment, hopefully it's given them more job
satisfaction", says Joanne Shires, the firm's head of people and
talent. "And for us it's a return on our social investment."
So can happier people at work actually lead to a happier and more
prosperous society? In down town Las Vegas, Tony Hsieh and Zappos are
putting that to the test. Having bought the old Las Vegas city hall to
house the new company headquarters, planning the obligatory cool
workplace trimmings – funky break-out areas, an internal pub – all felt
too insular, says Hsieh. So Zappos set up and funded a $350m project to
invest $100m in local real estate, $100m in residential development,
$50m in small businesses, $50m in education, and $50m in technology
start-ups.
"What started out as a new office move has actually turned out to be a
project to revitalise down town Vegas," says Hsieh. And guess what,
"we've seen our employees become engaged on a whole new level because
of this. It all feeds back into the Zappos brand... we can do well and
do good." Which has to be more than just a happy coincidence.
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become a GSB
member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox
Topics
* Health and wellbeing
* Strategy
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Health+and+wellbeing%2CGuardi
an+sustainable+business%2CStrategy]
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Making your ideas work
Life and style
Will starting your own business make you happy?
Everyone wants to enjoy their job, but what underlying psychological
factors increase your chances of being a happy worker? For some,
becoming self-employed was the answer
Emma Sheppard
@Emmalousheppard
Mon 21 Aug 2017 12.26 BST Last modified on Mon 21 Aug 2017 15.30 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Jade Sarkhel, freelance food photographer and stylist
[ ] Jade Sarkhel left a career in marketing after feeling unappreciated
for the hours she was putting in – she now runs her own photography
business. Photograph: Neil Sarkhel
Starting your own business can be a leap of faith, but freelance food
photographer and stylist Jade Sarkhel says she’s never been happier:
“It’s so much more satisfying if you know you’re building something for
yourself. I’m now earning three or four times what I did in a full-time
job and I’m working fewer hours.”
As an employee – first a hairdresser, then as a marketing executive for
a beauty brand and subsequently a restaurant group – Sarkhel admits she
was often left feeling unappreciated for the hours she was putting in.
She turned her photography hobby into a business in December and is
already hiring staff.
“What makes me happy at work now is variation,” she says. “And I can
have longer periods of work and breaks in between when I want to.”
The number of self-employed people in the UK has increased by 45% since
2000, to 4.7 million workers in early 2016. In 2015, a survey by the
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) (pdf) found that since
2010, 40% of the rise in jobs in the UK has been self-employment, a
change it said had sparked a debate about whether it was “as a sign of
entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and future economic growth ... [or]
primarily indicative of a rise in precarious, insecure work”.
Happiness consultant Samantha Clarke believes the rise can partly be
explained by the influx of a new generation who seek very different
things from a career, compared with their predecessors. “For them
happiness at work is essential – [the work] must be purposeful, the
environment must be mindful to their needs and also motivating and
nurturing for their desire to learn and grow,” she says. Plus
technology just makes it easier to give it a try – “you can set up
quite easily and effectively … you used to have to hire an expensive
web designer”.
Samantha Clarke, happiness consultant
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Happiness consultant Samantha Clarke says younger workers seek
purposeful work.
Trying to improve happiness at work has become big business in its own
right. Prof Ivan Robertson, a business psychologist and co-founder of
employee wellbeing company Robertson Cooper, says there’s now a much
better understanding of what we want from work, and corporations are
using that insight to try to retain talent. Remarkably it doesn’t all
come down to money, once a minimum level is achieved.
How to turn an idea into a dream job – by people who have done it
Read more
“Decades of research has identified three core things,” Robertson says.
“One is control – that you have control over how you go about your
work, including the place and time you do it, and how you work towards
your objectives. The more freedom you have over that, the happier
people tend to be. The second is resources. Do you have what you need
to be able to carry out your job? And the third is support. When the
resources aren’t there, or things get a bit much, is there support that
kicks in?”
If those three factors are present, Robertson adds, employees are
unlikely to feel stressed and unhappy at work. Elevating that to a
state of happiness depends on there being a higher purpose to the task
– “[it’s] a sense of meaningfulness, that what you’re doing actually
makes a difference”.
For many, self-employment will tick those boxes. According to the
latest research (pdf) from the Association of Independent Professionals
and the Self-Employed (known as IPSE), more than four out of five (84%)
people are very satisfied with working for themselves, citing a better
work-life balance, increased earning potential and control over work as
the main reasons. By contrast, a survey by HR professional body CIPD
(pdf) found just 45% of employees felt satisfied at work.
But entrepreneurs who set up their own businesses to achieve happiness
will need to consider the welfare of their staff as they grow. Jonathan
Birch, co-founder and creative strategy director of Glass Digital, says
his experience as an employee has directly affected his approach as an
employer when it comes to promoting a supportive culture.
Jonathan Birch of Glass Digital
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Jonathan Birch of Glass Digital: ‘It’s a different set of stresses and
satisfaction factors when it comes to running your own business. A big
part of it is loving what you do.’ Photograph: Mark Pinder for the
Guardian
“When we created our own agency, it was borne out of frustration.
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in the digital marketing world. As
an employee, I wanted visibility in terms of overall company goals to
put my contribution into context. We deliver all our campaigns with
utter transparency, so clients and staff can see what’s being delivered
and when. [And] we’ve got quite a flat structure, day to day. My view
is everyone should be valued, everyone should be heard.”
Work-life balance is also important, he adds. It’s something he’s
struggled with as a small business owner, but which he’s realised is
key to his own wellbeing. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t be anywhere else.
“It’s a different set of stresses and satisfaction factors when it
comes to running your own business. A big part of it is loving what you
do. That rubs off on your staff.”
Starting your own business may not be for everyone, Robertson admits.
While control is easy to achieve, resources and support may be harder
to find when self-employed – although he recommends finding a
co-founder to share the burden with. “There would be some people who
would feel so abandoned that [starting their own business] would be too
much. [But if someone] really believes in what they’re doing, that will
keep them motivated, focused and happy.”
Topics
* Life and style
* Making your ideas work
* Entrepreneurs
* Small business
* Work-life balance
* Work & careers
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Life+and+style%2CEntrepreneur
s%2CSmall+business%2CWork-life+balance%2CWork+%26+careers]
#RSS Feed for Business Club articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Finance»
3. Business Club
Nine easy ways to make yourself happier at work
Is your job getting you down? Here are a few quick and simple ways to get
yourself out of the workplace doldrums
Happiness tip: if you know a good joke, don’t post it on Facebook. If
it gets no likes, you’ll be miserable
Don't fake it. Try our nine tips for being happier at work Photo: Alamy
Rebecca Burn Callander
By Rebecca Burn-Callander, Enterprise editor
6:20PM BST 18 Aug 2014
Follow
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.
[jam-doughnut_1603342c.jpg]
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.
[teeth_1467641c.jpg]
Related Articles
* Brits feel financially secure but don't much love their jobs
17 Sep 2014
* Ten tips for conquering your email inbox
18 Jul 2014
* Ten time management techniques that really work
15 Jul 2014
* How to write the perfect LinkedIn profile in 7 steps
15 Aug 2014
* Top ten must-have apps for small businesses
05 Aug 2014
* The key to happiness - have low expectations
06 Aug 2014
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.
[messy-desk_2637008c.jpg]
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.
[walking_1371914c.jpg]
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.
[Archery-scotland_2301279c.jpg]
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.
[men-learning-compu_2749373c.jpg]
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.
[dogs_1768053c.jpg]
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.
[computer_2133891c.jpg]
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.
[meditation_2534282c.jpg]
Business Club
* Finance »
* Your Business »
* People »
* Rebecca Burn-Callander »
Politics blogs
Politics Blogs
Top finance galleries»
Advertisement
Business Club»
People
Money
Sales
Technology
Business Club Video
Your Business Video
SME Home
Advertisement
Ask the expert »
Ask John
Is something holding your company back? Ask our business agony uncle
and retail expert John Timpson to help you with anything from cash flow
crises to funding headaches, staffing problems and sales downturns by
emailing your question to askjohn@telegraph.co.uk
Latest finance videos »
Financial Detox: how to save money at work
Financial detox: saving money at work
Financial Detox: Shopping
Financial detox: tips for saving on shopping
BP boss: oil won't hit $100 a barrel for long time
City of London
Sponsored
Five ways Brexit could impact your investments
Join The Business Club »
Business Club membership form
Business Club membership banner
.
LinkedIn forum »
Join the conversation
Telegraph Business Club on LinkedIn banner
.
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Finance
* Financial Crisis
* Debt Crisis Live
* Markets
* Banks and Finance
* City Diary
* Economics
* Transport
* Media and Telecoms
* Energy
* Retail News
*
* Personal Finance
* Your Business
* Investing
* Savings
* Student Finance
* Jobs
* Job Search
* Companies
* China business
* Money Deals
* Money Transfers
* Comment
* Alex
* Find an IFA
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Politics
* Work
* Sex
* Life
* Women Mean Business
* Columnists
* Facebook Group
* Telegraph Dating
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Work
The 5 reasons why you're unhappy at work and what you can do about it
*
*
*
*
Save
Happiness is within your reach Happiness is within your reach Credit:
Mike Kemp/Blend Images
10 October 2017 • 7:00am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the topics within this article
* Mental health
* Working from home
* Health
* Changing Minds
* Sleep
* Happiness
It’s World Mental Health day and the chances are that while you sit at
your desk in the office this morning this will be more relevant to you
than ever before. A report this year revealed that one in three “‘sick
notes”’ handed out by GPs in Britain are now for mental health issues
and, shockingly, more than five 5 million of us are being signed off
work every year due to anxiety and depression.
More of us than ever now feel that our work life is actually affecting
our mental health. A not-so-cheering fact is that the UK currently has
the lowest ranking for job satisfaction in the western world, with
nearly a quarter of us reporting feeling deeply unhappy at work.
More of us are saying work is making us feel unhappy and depressed
More of us are saying work is making us feel unhappy and depressed
Credit: PeopleImages/Digital Vision
So why are we so unhappy? And, more importantly, what needs to change
to fix it? Enter Dr Annie McKee. The senior fellow at the University of
Pennsylvania, and high- profile leadership consultant, has written a
book called ‘How to be Happy at Work.’ After years spent consulting in
the public and private sectors, McKee was alarmed at how unhappiness
was such a consistent problem among her clients.
“There have definitely been times when I have been unhappy at work,”
she says, relaying how as a single mother at 27 she took herself to
college to finally pursue her career, “but part of the reason I wrote
this book was that it didn’t seem to matter what size or type of
company it was, so many workers said: I want to do well at work, I
really want to enjoy my work,: but I’m miserable.”
The ubiquitous alignment of misery with work is something that McKee
thinks is within our power to change. She believes that our
unhappiness, beyond any particulars about our individual office
cultures, is tied to three intrinsic work myths that we have blindly
believed for years: work has to be gruelling, how we feel about work
doesn’t matter, and we cannot ask for anything more from work.
Ultimately, we believe we are not meant to be happy at work.
Feeling over worked is making us feel anxious and unfulfilled
Feeling over worked is making us feel anxious and unfulfilled Credit:
Jessica Peterson/Getty Images
This she believes isn’t just bad for us, it’s bad for business too.
“When we are unhappy and miserable and disengaged, we don’t give our
best. Happy companies outperform their competitors by 20 per cent%.”
Workers in the UK highlighted three key factors affecting their job
satisfaction: pride in their organisation, feeling appreciated, and
being treated with fairness and respect. Based on this, the onus for
your happiness at work can, and maybe should, lie with your workplace.
McKee’s consultation with leaders has always taken this into account.
“If we can help leaders understand themselves better, and understand
the power that they have to either create good, happy work cultures, or
the opposite, then we can make a difference in the minds of individual
people who get up and go to work every day, and to the companies as
well. ”.
“But companies strive for organisational success over personal
success,” she notes.
“We’re in this hyper- competitive world where we are driving for short-
term gain over long- term success. In that kind of environment, people
learn that their boss will sacrifice them individually for the goal and
target of the company.”
Many are finding it hard to can't switch off at the end of the day
Many are finding it hard to can't switch off at the end of the day
Credit: Ghislain & Marie David de Lossy/Getty Images
It may also be why the UK freelance economy is flourishing. Since 2009,
it has grown by 25 per cent,% and there are now an estimated two 2
million freelance workers. A survey conducted to coincide with World
Mental Health Day by The Hoxby Collective, a global network of
freelancers, showed that over a third (33 per cent%) of workers
surveyed claimed to suffer mental health issues as a direct result of
working rigid hours. Of this, an overwhelming response (90 per cent%)
suffered from stress, 78 per cent% from anxiety and 52 per cent% from
insomnia. Their conclusion was that the traditional “‘9-5”’ (which has
shifted to 8-6 for many) is inefficient and is taking its toll.
However, as much as we may want it to be, our unhappiness at work is
not all our boss’s fault. This view forms the backbone to McKee’s book,
namely that we have more control over our work-based happiness than we
think, and the misapprehension that we don’t is only making things
worse. She
McKee advises a reframing of your perception of your job; asking
yourself how unhappy you really are and whether or not you have the
power to change things for yourself, instead of waiting for someone to
do it for you. Her book urges a heavy degree of navel-gazing, as she
argues that by understanding what you want from work you can better
decide whether what you are doing is right for you.
Freelance careers are soaring as people seek out ways to work hours
which suit them
Freelance careers are soaring as people seek out ways to work hours
which suit them Credit: GrandPix/Getty
Not recognising the need to make these changes is what McKee calls
“‘Boiling Frog Syndrome”. She says: “:’ “If you put a frog in boiling
water it will jump right out. Work is like a pot of water that is
gradually getting warmer and we don’t realise it. ,” she says,
“Unfortunately, a lot of people wait for it to become unbearable. They
wait for that great big wake-up call: getting sick or getting fired –
but if the water feels warm, it probably is. Pretty soon it will be too
hot.”
Getting out of this hot water means breaking free of what McKee calls
the “‘happiness traps”’ that work creates: overwork, money, ambition,
“‘should”’ and helplessness.
“Overwork is overvalued,” she pithily remarks., “People are lauded for
getting into work at 8am and reading emails at midnight. Nobody can
work like that, compromising sleep, health and family, without one day
waking up and realising that that they are emotionally depleted.”
Will it make me happy
Indeed, this is something that Lloyds Banking Group boss António
Horta-Osório talked about this weekend when he revealed that his
insomnia and inability to switch off reached such a crisis point that
he had to be admitted to the Priory in order to rest, and stop a total
physical collapse.
Prioritising money over health and happiness is, McKee notes, one of
the primary reasons for this work burnout, misery and the huge damage
it can do to your mental health. Ambition can also fuel this.
Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds banking group, was admitted to The
Priory after suffering from a bout of insomnia
Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds banking group, was admitted to The
Priory after suffering from a bout of insomnia Credit: HO/Reuters
“Ambition is good until it isn’t,” she continues., “You need to be
ambitious for what you want to get out of your job, not for what you
think you should want.” Which brings us to “‘should” – ’- the socially
constructed happiness trap that leads us to never view our own lives
from our own perspective, but from what we believe we “‘should”’ be
doing. All of this ultimately leads to happiness trap number five:
helplessness.
Interestingly, according to research, men are more likely than women to
fall into these traps. One recent survey showed that 80 per cent% of
women placed workplace happiness over salary, compared with 55 per cent
% of men. Disturbingly, this fits with what disgraced Saatchi & Saatchi
chairman, Kevin Roberts, claimed last year – ; when he blamed women’s
“circular ambition to be happy” on the dearth of female CEOs.
Should we be worried about this? Is happiness a barricade to success?
McKee vehemently disagrees. “Happiness and success go hand in hand,”
she says, and then pointedly adds: “And happiness comes first.”
The 5 'Happiness Traps'
1) OVERWORKED? SET BOUNDARIES
Ask yourself why you are working so much. Is it really because you have
to? Or is it a habit? Put in some boundaries –- when you want to work,
how you want to work and then discipline yourself to stick to it.
Pay rises: be careful what you ask for
Pay rises: be careful what you ask for Credit: Joe Giddens/PA/Wire
2) CHASING A PAY RISE OVER HAPPINESS? CHECK YOUR INSECURITY
We all work for money… but the decision to choose money over happiness
is fuelled by insecurity. Money, we think, will fool people into
believing we are deserving of our success. Instead, see money as an
outcome that follows our good work rather than a goal in itself.
3) AMBITIOUS? MAKE SURE IT’S FOR THE RIGHT THING
Ambition is good, but only if it is geared towards the right thing for
you. Ask why you are doing what you are? Success isn’t really success
when we define it as a win-lose, zero-sum game. Do something for the
wrong reason , or motivation and it can hurt our ability to lead
effectively.
Make work work for you
Make work work for you Credit: Igor Emmerich/Image Source
4) DO SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU WANT TO, NOT BECAUSE YOU “‘SHOULD”’
This trap is pervasive because it’s tied to how we learn to live in
society and our organisations. But some of the cultural rules that
guide us at work are outdated and destructive. One question to ask
yourself would be: do these rules that I am following fit with who I
am: yes or no. If no: why am I doing it?
5) FEELING HELPLESS AT WORK? FIND A FRIEND
It takes blind faith and courage to take action when we believe we are
unable to influence our world. Find a friend who will be able to give
you back a confident image of yourself and who will support your
beliefs and remind you what you deserve.
How to Be Happy At Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope and Friendship by
Dr Dr. Annie McKee (Harvard Business Review Press) is out now.
To find out more information about mental health go to:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/changing-minds/
Related Topics
* Mental health
* Working from home
* Health
* Changing Minds
* Sleep
* Happiness
* Anxiety
* Depression
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Women latest
1. Hands up in a classroom
19 Dec 2018, 4:31pm
Comment: After a tumultuous year, do any of our leaders deserve top marks?
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
2. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks to head chef Stuart Jones as she
visits the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care
home at Brinsworth House o
19 Dec 2018, 3:34pm
Is Meghan having twins...and other things not to say about the size of a
pregnant woman's bump
Premium
3. Women are rejecting the term 'mumpreneur'
19 Dec 2018, 3:11pm
Comment: When did we decide it was OK to call business women 'mumpreneurs'?
Clue: it's not
Josephine Fairley
Premium
4. Richard Ratcliffe is still campaigning for his wife's release from
Iranian jail
19 Dec 2018, 1:10pm
Richard Ratcliffe: 'My daughter wants to know why Mummy won't be out of
prison for Christmas'
Premium
5. Kay Burley
19 Dec 2018, 11:55am
Comment: Brexit chaos is fuelling vile misogyny - and I won't tolerate it
Kay Burley
Premium
6. Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926 - a mystery that
still intrigues us today
19 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Was there more to Agatha Christie's 11 mysterious missing days than has
previously been revealed?
Premium
7. Christine Armstrong, author of 'Mother of All Jobs'
19 Dec 2018, 6:00am
The working mum's guide to getting through Christmas
8. More than half of business women surveyed said they found the term
'mumpreneur' negative
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Don't patronise us with 'mumpreneurs' label, says poll of 500 businesswomen
9. Brexit supporters protest
18 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Comment: Why I’ve changed my mind about Theresa May’s deal
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
10. Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem were killed by
Oudeh's former partner
18 Dec 2018, 4:33pm
If two men were killed at the football every week, it would be a scandal -
so why don't we care it's happening to women?
Premium
11. Imelda Cortez spent more than 18 months in jail awaiting trial, a
further ordeal after allegedly being repeatedly raped by her
stepfather for seven years
18 Dec 2018, 12:59pm
Salvadoran rape victim accused of attempted murder after giving birth to baby
in latrine is freed from jail
12. Children and their identity has become a hot topic in the
classroom
17 Dec 2018, 6:30pm
Comment: Teaching children boys have periods too is not education, it’s
'mythinformation'
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
13. Any number of online daters are guilty of toying with the truth
(posed by models)
17 Dec 2018, 6:07pm
Confessions of a midlife online dater: How it feels to lie about your age -
and be lied to
Premium
14. Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton
17 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Forget the Brexit blues - there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful
15. Good on Nigella for reminding us of her comical experience
17 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: Nigella's tummy, and how women fall for the lie of perfection every
day
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
16. Helen Lederer
17 Dec 2018, 12:01am
New prize offers £5,000 book deal for 'overlooked' funny women writers
17. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
18. PornHub, the world's biggest free porn provider, keeps a record of
everything that you search for
16 Dec 2018, 1:06pm
What porn can tell us about the world in 2018
Premium
19. Helena Bonham Carter
16 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Helena Bonham Carter: 'Being well known and vulnerable is a tricky
combination'
Premium
20. French police
16 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: It's time to end this national hysteria - things aren't as bad as
they used to be
Zoe Strimpel
Premium
[Zoe%20Strimpel-small.png]
21. Coming from a family where the festive season meant feuds and
fights, Hannah Betts took a bah humbug approach to it all. But now
she’s sharing a home with a man who is anything but the Grinch…
15 Dec 2018, 6:00am
We've moved in, bought a dog and decorated the tree - but are we Christmas
compatible?
Premium
Voucher codes
Body Shop discount code
Office Shoes discount code
Dunelm discount code
Marks and Spencer discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Women's Life articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Work
* Family
* Sex
* Life
* Health
* Wonder Women Columnists
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Women»
3. Women's Life
Women are happier with work-life balance than men
Men are less likely than women to agree they achieve the right balance
between their work and homelife, new findings reveal.
Men are less likely than women to agree they achieve the right balance
between their work and homelife, new findings reveal.
Photo: Alamy
By Rhiannon Williams
6:47AM BST 25 Sep 2013
Follow
The Office for National Statistics has found that more than six in ten
women believe the balance between their professional and personal lives
is just right.
Some 13 per cent of women 'strongly agreed' the way they balanced their
lives was good, with an additional 48 per cent described it as 'fine'.
Jill Kirby, former chair of the Centre for Policy Studies' family and
welfare policy group told the Daily Mail: "Women are broadly happy with
the choices they are making at the moment.
"As we know from previous surveys, women are more interested in having
time at home and often want part-time work so they can have the time
they need with their children"
The report suggested that the majority of women do not require
full-time jobs or taxpayer subsidies to work longer hours, saying:
"Over half of employees in the UK agreed or strongly agreed that they
achieved the right balance between their work and home lives.
Related Articles
* The secret to happiness? Being a woman
25 Sep 2013
* Ed Miliband flirts with Web 2.0 meets Feminism 3.0
24 Sep 2013
* Why Angela Merkel cannot escape Thatcher's legacy
23 Sep 2013
* Ed Miliband flirts with Web 2.0 meets Feminism 3.0
24 Sep 2013
* 'Labour's women champion would make no difference'
24 Sep 2013
"Men are less likely than women to agree or agree strongly that they
achieve the right balance."
A quarter of women surveyed declared themselves to be unhappy with how
they juggled work and home, as 17 per cent disagreed that the balance
was correct, and 8 per cent disagreed strongly.
An additional 15 per cent said they were undecided.
Just over half of men - 53 per cent - said they felt their work-life
balance to be good, while 31 per cent disagreed.
Psychologists have claimed that couples with very different careers
were able to attain a better work-life balance than partners working in
the same profession, as the latter are more likely to work long hours.
Presented last year at the British Psychological Society Division of
Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, the findings stated that
academic couples were more likely to struggle with their work-life
balance, spend longer in the office and put more emphasis on their
careers than academics whose partners had different jobs.
Last year the ONS found that just over 48 per cent of adults reported
"relatively low satisfaction" with their work-life balance.
The report said obtaining “the correct balance” between work and home
“can help increase and maintain levels of well-being”.
It also found that nine out of ten Britons said the most common pastime
undertaken in free time was watching television.
Women's Life
* News »
* UK News »
* Women »
* Rhiannon Williams »
Related Partners
* Telegraph Dating: Find your perfect match
In Women's Life
A road name changed to Quai de Nina Simone
French feminists hijack Paris street signs
Kate Townshend was ghosted by an ex partner
'Ghosted' by my ex: I never heard from him again
Fainting isn't feeble - our reluctance to help is
As abuse survivors often feel powerless as adults, it is important to
remember how you want to approach recovery is your decision to make.
Inside Yarl's Wood: We fled the UK only to be locked up
Ella Achola
Black feminism is sadly still necessary
Read more from Women
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
Advertisement
Advertisement
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
*
* Crossword
* Blogs
* Dating
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Business
* Economy
* Companies
* Opinion
* Open economy
* Markets
* Alex
* Telegraph Connect
* Events
* Newsletter
(BUTTON) More
Premium
* Telegraph
* Business
Women are getting happier at work – it's a start
* Mark Price
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Mark Price
Follow the topics within this article
* Happiness
* Jobs and employment
2 November 2018 • 9:20am
*
*
*
*
*
Save
A businesswoman at work using a smartphone According to the
engaging.works data, women scored themselves just higher in response to
the question: do you feel happy at work? Credit: Hero Images/Getty
Images
Last year, in the aftermath of allegations about Harvey Weinstein, the
MeToo campaign that followed and large gender pay gaps at the BBC, I
wrote an article in these pages about the happiness of women in the
workplace. Based on the data from my engaging.works website, which
surveys the workplace satisfaction of thousands of people, I found a
5pc happiness gap, with men more likely to be content than their female
counterparts.
No surprise there, you might say.
Following the requirement for more transparent reporting, we have seen
(sometimes huge) differences in pay between men and women. The
Hampton-Alexander Review, launched in 2016, set the ambition that women
should make up 33pc of all FTSE...
To continue reading this article
Start your free trial of Premium
* Access all Premium articles
* Subscriber-only events
* Cancel any time
Free for 30 days
then only £2 per week
Try Premium
Access one Premium article per week
Register for free
Register for free to continue reading this article
Register
Or unlock all Premium articles, free for 30 days
Start trial
Already have an account? Login
Want to learn more? View all subscriptions
Login
Print subscriber? Click here
Related Topics
* Happiness
* Jobs and employment
* Show more
*
*
*
*
*
Follow Telegraph Business
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow Telegraph Business
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
IFRAME: //www.dianomi.com/smartads.epl?id=203
Business latest
1. Alstom logo
19 Dec 2018, 7:35pm
Former Alstom director found guilty in corruption case
Premium
2. The London Stock Exchange Group
19 Dec 2018, 7:21pm
Contracts worth £45 trillion saved from Brexit cliff edge in final hour move
from Brussels
Premium
3. fed
19 Dec 2018, 7:15pm
Live
Fed raises interest rates but warns weaker growth means fewer hikes
in 2019
4. Damian Collins, chair of the Digital Culture Media and Sport
committee
19 Dec 2018, 5:09pm
MPs call for Facebook antitrust probe over data access scandal
5. solar panel
19 Dec 2018, 5:00pm
Google spin-off that stores energy in molten salt backed by Jeff Bezos and
Bill Gates
6. Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK
19 Dec 2018, 3:48pm
Walmsley hopes focus on new drugs will give GSK a shot in the arm
Premium
7. Caffe Nero was taken private in by in 2007 having previously been
owned by boss Gerry Ford
19 Dec 2018, 3:18pm
Caffè Nero avoids tax bill as debt mountain keeps it in the red
Premium
8. House of Fraser
19 Dec 2018, 2:55pm
Spike in companies going bust boosts insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor
Premium
9. GSK HQ
19 Dec 2018, 2:34pm
GSK cuts landmark deal with Pfizer to combine consumer health units
Premium
10. solar power
19 Dec 2018, 2:08pm
Shell snaps up stake in Asian solar company
Premium
11. Emma Walmsley
19 Dec 2018, 1:48pm
Comment: Emma Walmsley rolls the dice on a huge shake-up at GSK
Ben Marlow
Premium
Ben Marlow
12. A high street
19 Dec 2018, 1:19pm
MPs to launch fresh inquiry into business rates as high streets wilt
Premium
13. RBS
19 Dec 2018, 1:02pm
Santander and TSB join challenger minnows on list of banks competing for RBS
cash
Premium
14. A woman walks past an estate agent's window display
19 Dec 2018, 11:37am
House price growth falls to five-year low in sluggish property market
Premium
15. Black Friday
19 Dec 2018, 11:31am
Cheaper petrol and slowing food inflation deliver Christmas boost for
families
Premium
16. Volkswagen car show stand
19 Dec 2018, 11:12am
Volkswagen revamps bonus scheme in the wake of 'dieselgate' scandal
Premium
17. mobile user
19 Dec 2018, 10:12am
Loyal customers face £4bn rip-off, says competition watchdog
Premium
18. Santander branch
19 Dec 2018, 9:24am
Santander fined £33m for mishandling deceased customer accounts
Premium
19. These are the most high-profile casualties in a bruising year for
UK retail
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Gallery: These are the most high-profile casualties in a bruising year for UK
retail
Premium
20. Food producers at risk of going bust
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Food producers at risk of going bust in next six months
Premium
21. The Bank of England
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Bank of England loses half a million on luxury sports club, NAO finds
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher Codes
* Modern Slavery
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Health articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Health
People work harder when they're happy, study finds
A new study from the University of Warwick finds that happier people are more
productive at work, and that its worthwhile for employers to invest in
workplace environment
People work harder when they're happy, study finds
The study found that happiness makes people over 12 per cent more
productive at work Photo: © Frank and Helena / Alamy
7:07AM GMT 21 Mar 2014
Happier people work harder, a study has found.
Happiness makes people over 12 per cent more productive at work,
according to the latest research from the University of Warwick.
Professor of Economics Andrew Oswald said: "Companies like Google have
invested more in employee support and employee satisfaction has risen
as a result.
"For Google, it rose by 37 per cent, they know what they are talking
about. Under scientifically controlled conditions, making workers
happier really pays off."
Dr Daniel Sgroi added: "The driving force seems to be that happier
workers use the time they have more effectively, increasing the pace at
which they can work without sacrificing quality."
Related Articles
* Meningitis B vaccine set to be made available for babies in
Government adviser U-turn
21 Mar 2014
* Thousands of dementia patients not referred to specialists
20 Mar 2014
* Pensioners who do not volunteer reduce their life expectancy, says
Lord O'Donnell
20 Mar 2014
* A happiness index makes for sound economics
20 Mar 2014
The study, to be published in the Journal of Labor Economics, included
four different experiments with more than 700 participants.
During the experiments a number of the participants were either shown a
comedy movie clip or treated to free chocolate, drinks and fruit.
Others were questioned about recent family tragedies, such as
bereavements, to assess whether lower levels of happiness were later
associated with lower levels of productivity.
Dr Eugenio Proto said: "We have shown that happier subjects are more
productive, the same pattern appears in four different experiments.
"This research will provide some guidance for management in all kinds
of organizations, they should strive to make their workplaces
emotionally healthy for their workforce."
Health
* News »
* UK News »
* Lifestyle »
In Health
Asco
Miniature horse therapy
An astonishing image of a pregnant pony uterus has been selected as the
overall winner for the 2015 Wellcome Image Awards. The photograph was
taken by Michael Frank, and is of an historic specimen from the Lanyon
Anatomy Museum of the Royal Veterinary College in London. It shows the
preserved uterus of a New Forest pony, approximately five months into
the pregnancy
Wellcome Image Awards
A young women has had to have a metal spoon fished out of her stomach
after accidentally swallowing it while eating ice cream. Zhang Weiwei,
the 22-year-old varsity student from Wuhan University in Wuhan, central
China’s Hubei Province, was on her way back from a meal with friends
when the incident happened. Weiwei had bought an ice cream and was
chatting and walking back to her dorm room when another friend saw her
and jumped on her back to greet her. Weiwei got such a fright that she
swallowed the entire 14cm metal spoon.
Weird X-rays
For the past two years Russian photojournalist Vladimir Yakovlev
travelled around the world, searching for people who have discovered
new found hobbies and pleasure in their older age. With the series The
Age Of Happiness, Yakovlev hopes to change the usual perception of life
after retirement and promote positive ageing. On his travels he met
some extraordinary characters over 60-year-old - some very close to the
100 milestone - who enjoy each day and inspire others to make their
lives equally fulfilling.
Life begins at 70
A group of men from Caerphilly in South Wales celebrated completing a
pioneering 35-year health study - beating killer diseases by making
simple changes to their lifestyle.
Living proof: the secret of healthy ageing
The Hepatitis C Trust
Secret Postcards
Celebs in specs
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Men's Health articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Women
* Men
* GoodLife
* Wellbeing
* Interiors
* Gardening
* Food
* Pets
* Relationships
* Expat
* Puzzles
* Announcements
* Events
* Thinking Man
* Active
* Fashion and Style
* Relationships
* The Filter
* Instant Expert
* Why Not Get Moving?
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Men»
3. Active»
4. Men's Health
Men over 60 happier at work than women
Men nearing retirement are the happiest they have ever been at work and for
the first time in their entire working lives they are happier than women,
according to new research.
5:45PM GMT 02 Dec 2009
Women also experience a 'happiness bounce' towards the end of their
working lives but it is much smaller than men's.
Researchers at the University of Portsmouth studied 5,000 public sector
workers as part of a study with spin-out company Quality Of Working
Life Ltd.
Their results show that employees aged over 60 have a significantly
higher quality of working life than their middle-aged colleagues and
this pre-retirement 'bounce' is more pronounced in men.
The research also shows that quality of working life tends to be high
in young workers but those aged 25-59 have the lowest quality of
working life, as measured by the Work-Related Quality of Life scale.
Dr Darren Van Laar, of the university's psychology department, said:
"Previous research has shown that women are generally happier than men
at work. However, this study shows that as we get older the difference
in happiness narrows and the happiness factor of men and women
completely reverses at around age 60.
Related Articles
* Father wins sex discrimination case after request to work part-time
rejected
04 Nov 2014
"At this age, men, with several years of working life still to go,
become much happier at work than women for the first time.
"Men might be happier as they approach retirement because they tend to
have jobs that offer more flexibility and they are able to wind down
more and reduce their stress. Also, men may typically have the prospect
of a much higher pension, which also provides more flexibility and
options.
"The differences between men and women might also have something to do
with gender differences in attitudes towards work and retirement. Men
may look forward to retirement much more and see it as an opportunity
to stop working and spend more time doing the things they like doing.
"Women on the other hand may value work for the social opportunities
and networks it provides rather than simply as a means of earning
money. The prospect of more leisure time may not seem nearly as
attractive because they may see themselves as 'still working' but at
home and in a different way. And the prospect of more time at home with
their husbands may not be a cause of joy and happiness."
Dr Van Laar said: "While we are only now beginning to identify the
factors that contribute to quality of working life, this research
underlines the potential benefits from taking action to improve the
work environment and experience for all age groups.
"This becomes more than of academic interest when the trends are
analysed more closely in the light of the planned increases in
retirement ages."
Quality of Working Life Ltd will now work with employers to find out
why men see work in a more positive light after the age of 60 and to
see if those factors can be extended to help women too.
Men's Health
* News »
* UK News »
* Health News »
In Men's Health
The troubles of men rarely get our attention
Five ways to avoid a midlife crisis
Overweight child eating chips
Why you never get over a fat childhood
A new discovery could mean a unisex contraceptive pill one day,
scientists believe
The secret to better sperm? A handful of nuts
A baby crying
It's time for a proper debate on circumcision
Men's grooming is going below the belt
Read more from Telegraph Men
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Editor's Choice
My cat died, and it affected me as much as losing my dad
Dave the cat
The grief felt after the loss of a pet can be every bit as painful as
that following the death of a human, so why don’t we take it seriously,
asks Lee Kynaston
17 of the best white trainers for men
If you say something sexist at work, will you lose your job?
Men need to open up about depression, not man up
It's taken me 30 years, but I'm proud to say I'm ginger
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* World News
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Health
* Jobs
* Sport
* Football
* Cricket
* Fantasy Football
* Culture
* Motoring
* Dating
* Finance
* Personal Finance
* Economics
* Markets
* Fashion
* Property
* Puzzles
* Comment
* My Telegraph
* Letters
* Columnists
* Technology
* Gardening
* Telegraph Shop
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Guidelines
* Advertising
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* News
* UK
* World
* Politics
* Science
* Education
* Health
* Brexit
* Royals
* Investigations
* Matt
* Front Bench newsletter
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* News
Four day working week would boost productivity and happiness, Oxford
University study suggests
*
*
*
*
Save
Office workers Researcher told BBC - gains from improved productivity
could make up for the 'lost' fifth day at home or enjoying leisure time
* Charles Hymas
30 September 2018 • 2:45pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Charles Hymas
Follow the topics within this article
* Happiness
A four-day working week would boost productivity, a study by Oxford
University economists suggested.
The gains from improved productivity could make up for the "lost" fifth
day at home or enjoying leisure time,the lead researcher told the
BBC, suggesting it is potentially the ultimate virtuous working circle
to improve work-life balance.
It comes as it was reported Sunday that Labour is exploring proposals
that would see workers enjoy a three-day weekend, but get paid the same
as a five-day working week, by companies passing on efficiency savings
from new technology to staff.
For the past six months, a team led by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, associate
professor of economics and strategy at Oxford University's...
Register for free to read this article, or log in to your Telegraph account
Register Log in
Related Topics
* Happiness
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
News latest
1. Stickers are set up in protest on the entrance of the police
station in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, Wednesday, December
19th.
19 Dec 2018, 7:27pm
Police stations closed as French officers demand £248m of unpaid overtime in
day of protest
2. A photo taken from the Majestic hotel on May 15, 2016 shows a
general view of the Croisette in Cannes
19 Dec 2018, 7:16pm
Invasive beetle set to wipe out palm trees of French Riviera
3. Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:57pm
Gallery: Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Premium
4. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Petrov have been named as
the suspects
19 Dec 2018, 6:41pm
'We never forget and we never give up', Met Chief vows to bring Salisbury
poisoners to justice
5. UN
19 Dec 2018, 6:29pm
Husband of British UN diplomat arrested on accusations of domestic violence
after diplomatic immunity waived
6. 02:16
19 Dec 2018, 6:28pm
Comment: Did a stupid man say ‘stupid woman’? Well, at least it’s a break
from Brexit
Michael Deacon
Premium
Michael Deacon
7. christmas
19 Dec 2018, 6:21pm
Shoppers predicted to spend £1bn on Christmas day for the first time
8. UK aid is less effective than other countries because of its focus
on poorly governed states
19 Dec 2018, 6:20pm
Focus on fragile states linked to UK slipping down aid effectiveness ranking
9. Matt cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:08pm
Gallery: Matt cartoons, December 2018
Premium
10. The furore over non-disclosure agreements began with Harvey
Weinstein
19 Dec 2018, 6:05pm
Women being forced to sign gagging clauses which stop them talking to their
doctor, MPs hear
11. Matthew Glynn was jailed for five years
19 Dec 2018, 5:49pm
'Far right' bombmaker, found with 23 bombs and 'hate board' featuring the
Royal Family, jailed
12. 02:38
19 Dec 2018, 5:43pm
Jeremy Corbyn called back to Commons to deny calling Theresa May a stupid
woman as sexism row dominates PMQs
Premium
13. As part of the annual Old Colwyn fancy dress pub crawl, in North
Wales, some participants dressed up as African beach traders and
rappers from Run DMC
19 Dec 2018, 4:39pm
Hospital charity refuses fundraisers' cash who 'blacked up'
14. Burglar admits breaking into funeral home (pictured) to have sex
with corpse
19 Dec 2018, 4:10pm
Burglar admits breaking into funeral home to have sex with corpse
15. A UK border at Gatwick airport
19 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Immigration White Paper sets out foreign worker rules after Brexit
Premium
16. No country in the EU or EEA met the 75 per cent target for flu
vaccine targets
19 Dec 2018, 3:41pm
EU countries fail to meet flu vaccination targets among vulnerable people
17. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya found guilty of lying to police to avoid
speeding charge
19 Dec 2018, 3:29pm
Labour MP Fiona Onasanya faces possible jail sentence after being found
guilty of lying to police
18. 01:34
19 Dec 2018, 3:28pm
Can super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be Manchester United's saviour one more
time?
19. Banksy's latest piece in Port Talbot, South Wales
19 Dec 2018, 3:24pm
Banksy claims Port Talbot mural is his latest work
20. Alexander Perepilichnyy
19 Dec 2018, 3:20pm
Russian billionaire could have been poisoned, coroner says as he highlights
police failings
21. Latvian EU Commission vice-president in charge the Euro, Social
Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital
Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a press conference
at The European Commission headquarters in Brussels, on December
19, 2018
19 Dec 2018, 2:43pm
Brussels rules out 'managed no deal Brexit' and warns of flight, freight and
financial havoc
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Health and Fitness
* Body
* Mind
* Nutrition
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Health and Fitness
* Mind
A Lykke life: the six pillars of happiness that keep the whole world smiling
*
*
*
*
Save
A globe The search for happiness is universal Credit: Duncan Beedie
* Boudicca Fox-Leonard
10 September 2017 • 7:00am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Boudicca Fox-Leonard
Follow the topics within this article
* Portugal
* Africa
* Happiness
* Iceland
Meik Wiking could be the happiest person I’ve ever met. It’s raining,
his favourite independent coffee shop in London is closed and we’ve
been forced to seek refuge in a nearby chain, and he’s still smiling.
"Hygge works really well in Denmark, but what works well in France is
the value placed around meal times"Meik Wiking
But then the Dane knows a thing or two about staying chipper. As the
CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen he is one of the
leading experts in global happiness, committed to understanding
well-being and quality of life.
Last year his book, The Little Book of Hygge – which looked at the
reasons why Denmark is the happiest nation in the world – became an
international bestseller, translated into 32 languages.
Wiking
Meik Wiking knows a thing or two about happiness
A year on from Brits skittering to buy cosy throws, candles and
pastries, Meik has another Danish word for us, Lykke. And this time the
scope is global. The Danish word for happiness, Lykke, takes the focus
away from Scandinavia to explore how other countries are leading the
way in cultivating happiness.
It was inspired by the letters and emails from people around the world,
telling him their happiness stories. “Every culture and country does
something well in terms of improving quality of life and there’s a lot
of inspiration we can pick up from around the word,” says Meik. “Hygge
works really well in Denmark, but what works well in France is the
value placed around meal times.”
For the most part, he says his countrymen have been puzzled by the
international reaction to Hygge.
“Hygge is just the way we live. Danes see Hygge the way Americans see
freedom. It’s something inherently Danish, but Hygge happens
everywhere.”
People from around the world
Across the world, certain themes are common in the search for happiness
Credit: Flashpop/Digital Vision
Far from having the monopoly on cosiness and conviviality, Meik says
Danes have simply given the rest of the world a word to appreciate what
they were already doing.
“A French mother of two told me about how she and her children would
regularly spend a Sunday under the duvet on the sofa and called it a
lazy afternoon. Now it can be a Hyggely afternoon. It’s about removing
the guilt from enjoying the simple pleasures in life.”
Lykke, by comparison, is Meik’s magnum opus, separating happiness into
six categories, Togetherness, Money, Health, Freedom, Trust and
Kindness, domains that came up as a result of his and his team’s
analysis of the World Happiness Report.
The world's 20 happiest countries for 2017
Meik is particularly interested in how the way we design cities impacts
our behaviour and happiness. While the UK just edges into the top 20
Happiest Countries, Meik feels that our long commutes (particularly
those living and working around the capital) and our unequal work/life
balance are what hold us back as a country.
On the plus side, apparently we’re leading the way in destigmatising
mental health issues (Thanks to Prince Harry speaking out in part), and
even our world famous predilection for queues might be a stress buster.
Lykke, he hopes, will give us a spectrum of tips and ideas from around
the world.
If he’s passionate about equipping us all with the means to be happier,
then it is in part because his own life has mirrored his research. Five
years ago Meik was languishing around a seven on the happiness scale,
working for another think tank in Copenhagen. “It was a well paid job
but I just wasn’t super passionate about it,” he says.
At the same time, he had noticed a global growth in happiness research.
“The UN had passed a Happiness Resolution, David Cameron initiated the
happiness survey in the UK and I realised this was an exciting area and
someone should do something,” says Meik.
Yet, he didn’t have the courage to take the leap himself; not until the
loss of his close friend and mentor to cancer at the age of 49.
Kids and a globe
The UN has made happiness an important part of its agenda Credit: Brand
X Blend Images - Larry Williams
“Back in 1998 my own mother had died of cancer at 49. I was only 34 and
I thought, ‘what if you only have 15 years left?’”
It was the memento mori that pushed him to quit his job and establish
the Happiness Research Institute. Today he rates his happiness at a
whopping 9/10, and his experience correlates with evidence that self
employed people are happier with their lives, even when they work hard
and earn less money. “It’s about the sense of control freedom and
identity,” says Meik.
"We tend to overlook that there are lots of people doing good things.
First and foremost Lykke is a story of optimism and hope"
For a cynical Brit, such as myself, all this smiling and happiness
sounds a little exhausting. Thank God Meik admits to having good days
and bad days. “I’m doing quite well in the happiness scale. But I also
have to do my tax returns. I’m not smiling when I’m doing those,” he,
laughs. “In life you go through happiness and unhappiness. There’s
promotions, redundancies, engagements and heartbreaks. It goes up and
down for me as well.”
Since Hygge exploded, practising what he preaches has become even more
important. Traveling the world as de facto global ambassador for
happiness, Meik always makes sure he has a book with him at the
airport. To stay in touch with friends, he organises regular supper
clubs where they all share the cooking responsibilities. It is, he
says, more hyggely that way, and, no one person shoulders the stress of
hosting. “We’re all still talking about the time we spent hours making
a mountain of sausages from scratch, and they were all absolutely
horrible. But we had a really fun evening!” he says.
Wiking
Wiking says that Lykke 'is a story of optimism and hope'
He hopes people will be encouraged to implement some of Lykke’s ideas
into their own lives.
“With a lot of political turmoil globally, it’s nice to look for the
good in the world. We tend to overlook that there are lots of people
doing good things. First and foremost Lykke is a story of optimism and
hope.”
The Little Book of Lykke (Penguin Life, £9.99) is available from
books.telegraph.co.uk
Little things making a big difference around the world
Togetherness
Okinawa, Japan
Home to some of the healthiest people in the world, where many live to
an age of more than 100. Some suggest it has to do with moai, which
means to “come together in a common purpose”. It is a solid part of
Okinawan tradition to create small, secure social networks in which
members commit to each other for life.
Moai is created when a child is born and helps to integrate the child
into a lifelong community. Whether you face serious problems in life,
economic struggle, sickness or grief over the loss of a loved one, the
moai will be there.
Perth, Australia
Shani, a young Canadian woman, turned a street in a suburb of Perth
into a community by introducing pizza nights, movie nights, herb
gardens and goats, through asking people to dream of what kind of
street they would like to live in. Knocking on a neighbour’s door for
the first time may be terrifying for some, but the rewards can be big.
The Netherlands
Since 2006, the Dutch have celebrated National Neighbour’s Day on the
last Friday of May. Initiated by the coffee company Douwe Egberts, the
Dutch notion that a good neighbour is better than a distant friend has
turned an initiative to get neighbours together over a cup of coffee
into a nationwide event that is celebrated in 2,000 districts.
Mexico
The Day of the Dead celebrations take place between Oct 28 and Nov 2
each year. The belief is that, on this day, the deceased have divine
permission to visit friends and relatives on earth. People visit the
graves of families and friends, taking food and drink with them. The
events are a celebration of life rather than a sober mourning of its
passing and create a sense of togetherness even with lost ones.
The festival
The Day of the Dead featured in the James Bond film 'Spectre' (2015)
Credit: Steven Vaughan
Western Africa
The proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” exists in many
different African languages, but is sometimes said to have originated
among the Igbo and Yoruba people of western Africa. Our language shapes
our behaviour – and the proverb is a reminder that if we honour the
notion that we are each other’s keepers, we all become happier.
Money
United States
The Giving Pledge is a philanthropic initiative started by Warren
Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates which encourages the world’s
wealthiest individuals and families to donate the majority of their
wealth to help address society’s biggest issues. Today, more than 150
billionaires from more than 15 countries have signed the pledge.
Gates and Buffett
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are high-profile philanthropists Credit:
AP
Pabna, Bangladesh
The development organisation BRAC helps people out of poverty by
bringing them together and having them pool their resources to start
their own businesses and to resolve problems in the community.
Spain
Established by the charity Mensajeros de la Paz, the Robin Hood
Restaurant in Madrid is a typical restaurant by day but, at night, it
transforms into a pioneering place where homeless people can dine at
tables set with flowers and with proper cutlery and glasses, free of
charge. The restaurant uses the money from paying customers at
breakfast and lunch to fund free evening meals.
Happy Spaniard
Credit: Duncan Beedie
Vietnam
Reaching Out Vietnam provides opportunities for people with
disabilities to learn skills and gain meaningful employment so that
they are able to integrate fully into their communities and lead
independent and fulfilling lives. Fairtrade gift shops sell items made
by disabled people in Vietnam and the profits are fed back into the
business to assist disabled people by giving them training and finding
them jobs.
Health
Denmark
In Copenhagen, 45 per cent of all commutes for work or education are by
bike. This is part of the reason why Danes get more exercise than most
people – without hitting the gym.
Finland
The country’s cherished sauna culture is best expressed by the public
facilities found in towns and cities. True Vikings adore the healthy,
invigorating combination of heat and icy water.
A happy Finn
Credit: Duncan Beedie
Japan
Shinrin-yoku literally translates as “forest bathing” and refers to
soaking up the sights, smells and sounds of a natural setting to
promote physiological and psychological health. The term was first
coined in 1982, but today millions of Japanese walk along 48 “forest
therapy” trails to get their dose of what I guess could be labelled
“outdoorphins”.
Bhutan
In some Bhutanese schools, students and teachers start and finish their
day with a silent moment of “brain brushing”, a short mindfulness
exercise. Because the Bhutanese focus on Gross National Happiness
instead of Gross National Product, the country is almost a laboratory
testing out different approaches to improve well-being. A study found
that the GNH curriculum significantly increased student well-being and
improved performance.
Iceland
The television show Lazy Town uses an athletic protagonist, Sportacus,
who lives on a diet consisting of fruit and vegetables to encourage
children to take part in physical activities outdoors and eat
healthily. The hero is contrasted with the show’s lazy,
junk-food-eating villain and antagonist. In co-operation with a major
supermarket chain in Iceland, healthy greens were branded as “sports
candy” (as in the TV show), resulting in a 22 per cent increase in
sales of fruit and vegetables.
Top 65 happy songs
Freedom
Portugal
The happiest parents seem to be found in Portugal. According to a
comprehensive study that was initiated in 2005, Portuguese grandparents
play a key role in the day-to-day life of families and help with the
daily routine of looking after their grandchildren. When six grown-ups
instead of two take an active part in and responsibility for
accompanying children to school, supervising homework, taking them to
sports and other clubs and doing other chores like cooking, it provides
the parents with more freedom – and, as it turns out, greater levels of
happiness.
United States
The Live Near Your Work Program in Maryland gives monetary rewards of
up to $3,000 (£2,277) towards the purchase, down-payments on or final
costs of new homes for people who move to within five miles of their
workplace. Participants consequently spend less time commuting and a
substantial number have switched their mode of transport from driving
to walking.
Germany
In 2011, Volkswagen stopped its BlackBerry servers sending emails to a
proportion of its employees when they are off shift. The staff can
still use their devices to make calls, but the servers stop routing
emails 30 minutes after the end of employees’ shifts, and start again
30 minutes before they return to work.
Their logo
Volkswagen: not all bad Credit: AFP
Sweden
Public employers and private companies are experimenting with shorter
working days and weeks. One of them is the SEO company Brath, which
reports: “Today we get more done in six hours than comparable companies
do in eight. We believe it brings with it the high level of creativity
demanded in this line of work. We believe nobody can be creative and
productive for eight hours straight. Six hours is more reasonable, even
though we, too, of course, check Facebook or the news at times.”
Trust
Israel and Palestine
The Parents’ Circle Families Forum is a grass roots organisation of
Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost immediate family members
in the conflict. A process called the Parallel Narrative Experience
aims to help each side of the conflict understand the personal and
national narratives of the other. The members meet one another on a
regular basis to forge mutual understanding and respect between the
communities.
Israeli and Palestinian embracing
Credit: Duncan Beedie
Denmark
Østerskov high school uses role-playing games throughout the school
year to teach children. Pupils spend a week at a time “living” in
ancient Rome or on Wall Street, for example. The teachers find that,
for instance, children with Asperger’s learn social skills and how to
handle social situations by playing different characters in the games.
Singapore
The Singapore Prison Service has changed its jails into schools for
life by focusing on co-operation and rehabilitation. Prison officers
have been assigned to manage all matters relating to the inmates in a
particular housing unit, and they take on the role of mentor and
counsellor. The inmates are given the power to make decisions, as long
as these serve to help them make a change for the better. By any
measure, the results have been impressive, ranging from improved staff
morale and safety, better social connections between prisons and the
rest of society and a drop in recidivism from 44 to 27 per cent over
a 10-year period.
Brazil
In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, artists have created a small, but
significant, revolution. And their main weapons are a brush and some
colourful paint. In an open, collaborative and inclusive process, they
paint the favela houses in the colours of the rainbow – and a lot of
local young people help with the project, making it theirs. They choose
the colours together, paint together and play together. Today, it is a
new world that greets the locals and the tourists. It is bright,
colourful and proud. These are not just houses, these are homes. And
the people who live here are now proud to show that they have more to
offer the world than the world might have expected.
The colourful houses
A huge art project has transformed parts of Rio's favelas Credit:
Favela Painting / Barcroft Media
Kindness
India
In Hyderabad, the Gift Compassion Project pairs up children from rich
and poor schools, who exchange gifts they have made themselves in order
to break down social barriers.
Poland
In a pillar-like chest of drawers in the middle of a Warsaw square,
homeless individuals have their own box, on which they write down the
things they need the most. Caring passers-by can then drop the
necessary items in the box.
Turkey
To keep homeless dogs from starvation in Istanbul, the Turkish company
Pugedon has invented a vending machine that dispenses dog food in
exchange for bottles. When someone deposits a bottle at the top, food
is released at the bottom. The Smart Recycling Boxes operate at no
charge to the city and the recycled bottles cover the cost of the
food.
Related Topics
* Portugal
* Africa
* Happiness
* Iceland
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow the Telegraph Health and Fitness news
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow the Telegraph Health and Fitness news
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
Health and Fitness latest
1. This time of year it's common to feel a bit run down, but that's no
excuse to avoid going to the doctor if you think you need it
19 Dec 2018, 11:55am
Do you have a common winter illness or is it time to see a doctor?
2. Try to build some physical activity into your Christmas plans
19 Dec 2018, 11:38am
How to stay fit over Christmas – with Professor Greg Whyte
Premium
3. 41 million people around the world are vaping – but we don't yet
know the long-term health consequences
18 Dec 2018, 11:02am
Is vaping safe? What research says about the cigarette substitute that's on
the rise among teenagers
4. A car traveling in heavy snow on the A9
17 Dec 2018, 6:00am
How to stay sane when Christmas getaway chaos hits
Premium
5. Hilary Todd,NASH sufferer at home, with her daughter Beth
16 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Why has liver disease in Britain reached 'almost epidemic' proportions?
Premium
6. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
7. Emma Thompson
16 Dec 2018, 9:22am
Do you need crying therapy?
Premium
8. Tom Ough and swimmers, emerging from sea
16 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Horrifically cold, yet oddly vivifying: the strange British tradition of the
Christmas swim
Premium
9. Fitness trends
15 Dec 2018, 7:00am
E-bikes, breathing and rest: How low-intensity training will take off in 2019
Premium
10. Woom Room
14 Dec 2018, 11:00am
My night in the Woom Room, the luxury apartment designed for the perfect
night's sleep
Premium
11. Lucy Holden
14 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Are you ready for a ‘Low Alcohol, Low Sugar’ party this Christmas?
Premium
12. Wainwright
13 Dec 2018, 5:39pm
Remembering Tim Wainwright, a talented artist who did inspirational work on
cancer
13. Man in gym
13 Dec 2018, 11:00am
Scared of the gym? Here's how to feel more confident
Premium
14. Pavillon de la Rein
12 Dec 2018, 6:24pm
Spa Spy: Pavillon de la Rein, Paris - reviewed
15. Bathroom scales
12 Dec 2018, 5:00pm
Why weighing yourself over Christmas is a terrible idea, according to a
Harley Street nutritionist
Premium
16. A growing number of women in their 30s and 40s are opting to have
terminations. The vast majority – 70 per cent – are in a
relationship.
12 Dec 2018, 12:41pm
‘Why I chose to have an abortion at 39’
Premium
17. The pool at Akasha is bathed in ambient light and extremely
relaxing
11 Dec 2018, 9:52am
Spa Spy: Akasha at the Hotel Cafe Royal, London W1 – reviewed
18. Dr Michael Mosley
10 Dec 2018, 11:25am
The 5:2 inventor: Your diet myths busted - and where vegans are going wrong
Premium
19. Research shows learning to play a musical instrument confers a
huge range of benefits
10 Dec 2018, 10:00am
Why you should give the gift of music this Christmas
Premium
20. Christmas dinner table
10 Dec 2018, 9:34am
How to navigate the December health minefield
Premium
21. Josh Burt following Government health guidelines for wellbeing with
help from personal trainer
10 Dec 2018, 8:03am
Can following every government health guideline really make me fitter?
Premium
Voucher codes
Wiggle Promo Code
Holland and Barrett discount code
Myprotein discount code
Lookfantastic discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
career inspiration
Guardian Careers
Three things you think will make you happier at work (but won't)
When we get what we want we’re still miserable – so what common
mistakes do we all make in our search for career contentment?
Charlotte Seager
Charlotte Seager
@CharlotteSeager
Email
Mon 28 Mar 2016 07.01 BST Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 21.21 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Eggs with human characteristics isolated on white as concept
[ ] What makes some of us happier at work than others? Photograph:
Alamy
For many of us, work’s not working out. Mundane tasks, too much to do
and the nagging feeling that your job may be, well, meaningless – mean
that 47% of people in the UK want to change jobs. And for millennials
like me it’s even higher, with 66% of us wanting to quit. We all know
what will make us happy – more money, longer holidays, a promotion –
yet when we get them, we’re still miserable.
So what common myths do we believe about happiness? And, more
importantly, what will actually make us happy at work?
Myth: more money will make me happier
“Our perceptions of pay are relative to what other people are making,”
says research psychologist Dr Ronald Riggio. “So even if you are paid a
lot – think professional athlete – if you find out a similar other, say
another athlete, is making more than you, it can lead to
dissatisfaction and unhappiness regardless of the amount you are
making.”
However, research on salary and happiness suggests that satisfaction
with life does increase with salary, but only up to around £50,000 a
year. After that, more money doesn’t make you happier. “The reason it
works up to a point is that a salary of £50,000 allows you to cover all
your needs and expenses and probably keeps you from stress and worry,”
Riggio adds.
Myth: more holidays will make me happier
More time off will only help if being at work makes you miserable. “If
you really love your work, offering less time at work obviously won’t
make you happy. If you don’t like your job, then it might,” says
Riggio.
However, even then this happiness will be short-lived. “People
‘habituate’ and get used to more time off, so it doesn’t improve
overall happiness. And if someone doesn’t like their job, they then
become even more unhappy when they return to work.”
Myth: changing job or getting a promotion will make me happier
According to research, simply changing jobs won’t make you happier.
Psychologists tracked high-level managers for five years and measured
their work satisfaction before and after changing job or being
promoted.
Surprisingly, although these managers experienced a burst of
satisfaction immediately after the job change, their satisfaction
plummeted within a year. In other words, they experienced a sort of
happiness hangover. Whereas managers who chose not to change jobs
experienced little change in their overall level of satisfaction.
Truth: striving towards goals will make you happy
So if a higher salary, longer holidays or a new job won’t make us
happier – sigh, even writing that is making me miserable – what will?
The answer, according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, psychologist and author of
The How of Happiness, is striving towards specific career goals, rather
than material objectives like more money. It’s the struggling,
stretching your skills and working towards something achievable that
makes us happy – not the accomplishment.
Why? Well, because striving towards a specific goal gives structure and
meaning to our day-to-day work. “It creates obligations, deadlines and
timetables, as well as opportunities for mastering new skills and
interacting with others,” writes Lyubomirsky. “It helps us attain a
sense of purpose, feelings of efficacy over our progress and mastery
over our time. All these things make people happy.”
Having friends at work is also the biggest predictor of long-term job
happiness, according to Michelle Gielan, founder of the Institute for
Applied Positive Research and author of Broadcasting Happiness. “And
you don’t need a ton of friends and close work colleagues; just a
handful of meaningful relationships to reap the benefits.” So fostering
friendships at work is a key way to boost your mood.
Finally, happy employees also feel as though their work is meaningful.
“No work is meaningful unless the brain says it is,” says Shawn Achor,
psychologist and author of The Happiness Advantage. “And you can imbue
any job with meaning if you focus on building relationships at work, or
on growing, or providing for your family.”
So don’t believe the myths – to be content at work, you need to work
steadily towards a specific goal, make friends and find meaning in what
you do. More money, holidays and promotions won’t lead to lasting
happiness.
Looking for a job? Browse Guardian Jobs or sign up to Guardian Careers
for the latest job vacancies and career advice
Topics
* Guardian Careers
* career inspiration
* Work & careers
* Psychology
* Careers
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+Careers%2CWork+%26+c
areers%2CPsychology%2CCareers]
#alternate RSS Feed for Lifestyle articles - Telegraph.co.uk RSS Feed
for Expat articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Women
* Men
* GoodLife
* Wellbeing
* Interiors
* Gardening
* Food
* Pets
* Relationships
* Expat
* Puzzles
* Announcements
* Events
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Lifestyle
Workers more positive if they eat outside the office, study finds
Walking away from your desk and eating lunch outside makes a person happier
about their work, according to a new study.
Can't stand a noisy eater? You may be a creative genius.
Can't stand a noisy eater? You may be a creative genius. Photo: Alamy
By Hayley Dixon and agencies
11:11AM BST 14 Apr 2013
Leaving the office to eat lunch increases general wellbeing, and makes
employees look more favourably upon their job, it is said.
In contrast, those who eat at their desk are likely to feel more
miserable, possibly damaging their productivity.
Eating sandwiches on the beach was found to boost mood the most, with a
park bench in a green space second best.
Both of these locations make us happier - and more positive about our
job - than going to a restaurant, psychologists found.
Going home to eat also perks people up and the research even found that
snacking on a bus or train made people happier.
Related Articles
* Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen happier than the rest of
us, ONS study to find
22 Jul 2012
* Bamburgh Castle 'best place' in Britain to eat lunch
27 May 2013
* Walking back to happiness for Marks & Spencer?
06 Apr 2013
Going to a work cafe had next to no effect on workers' “happiness
score”, while eating at their desk made them feel more downbeat.
The research was commissioned by bread brand Kingsmill and carried out
by scientists at the University of Sussex.
A Kingsmill spokesman said: "It's fascinating that lunches outside, at
the beach or on a park bench, can have such a dramatic impact on
people's emotional wellbeing and attitudes towards work.
"Eating sandwiches with the sun on your face, or feeling a light
refreshing breeze, can really help refresh you and refocus your mind
for the afternoon ahead."
University of Sussex scientists measured workers' happiness eating
lunch in different places using a number of different psychological
tests.
These included self evaluation questionnaires and word association
tests.
They then assigned a happiness index score to each location.
On average, when workers ate at the beach their happiness increased by
a score of 17.04, while eating at their desk caused their happiness
score to fall by 1.42.
The report states: "People who ate lunch at the beach showed the
greatest increase in happiness.
"This was followed by people who are lunch in a public green space; at
a restaurant; at home with family; and public transport.
"People who ate lunch at the work cafe essentially had no change in
happiness after lunch. Eating lunch at a work desk may actually make
people less happy."
It went on: "People who ate lunch at the beach showed the greatest
increase in association between happiness and work.
"Eating lunch at a work desk or work cafe decreased associations
between happiness and work."
Kingsmill is now calling on employers to let staff eat lunch off-site,
even if only occasionally, in a bid raise happiness and productivity
levels, and have launched a nationwide search for the UK's top 10 Lunch
Spots.
Followed by the beach and a green space people most enjoyed eating
lunch in a restaurant, followed by at home, then on public transport.
The desk was the least satisfying place to have lunch, the study found.
Lifestyle
* News »
* UK News »
* Science »
* Hayley Dixon »
Read more from Lifestyle
Advertisement
Advertisement
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/_p/prime-location/v1/telegraph_widg
et.html
More from the web
More from the web
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
* Car Warranty
*
* Crossword
* Dating
* Theatre Tickets
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Health News articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Monday 17 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Health»
4. Health News
Getting the bus or train to work makes us happier than driving, study finds
Workers who give up their cars and get the bus or train to work are happier
despite the crowds and disruption, a study has found.
it was found that the likelihood of reporting being constantly under
strain or unable to concentrate were at least 13 per cent higher for
those participants who used car travel
it was found that the likelihood of reporting being constantly under
strain or unable to concentrate were at least 13 per cent higher for
those participants who used car travel Photo: Alamy
Rebecca Smith
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
7:00AM BST 15 Sep 2014
Follow
Commuting to work by bus, train, bicycle or foot makes people happier
than those who use their car each day instead, research suggests.
The study of 18,000 British workers by a team at University of East
Anglia found commuting that involved some physical activity improved
measures like feelings of worthlessness, sleepless nights and
unhappiness.
Lead researcher Adam Martin, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said:
"One surprising finding was that commuters reported feeling better when
travelling by public transport, compared to driving.
"You might think that things like disruption to services or crowds of
commuters might have been a cause of considerable stress. But as buses
or trains also give people time to relax, read, socialise, and there is
usually an associated walk to the bus stop or railway station, it
appears to cheer people up."
He added: “This research shows that if new projects such as London’s
proposed segregated cycleways, or public transport schemes such as
Crossrail, were to encourage commuters to walk or cycle more regularly,
then there could be noticeable mental health benefits.”
Related Articles
* Ditch the car and lose half a stone - research shows public
transport linked to lower BMI
20 Aug 2014
* Cycling should be included in the National Curriculum
24 Apr 2013
* Children 'should get compulsory cycling lessons at school'
24 Apr 2013
It was found that the likelihood of reporting being constantly under
strain or unable to concentrate were at least 13 per cent higher for
those participants who used car travel, when compared to active travel.
The researchers said that commuting by bus or train incorporates the
beneficial effects of being physically active as most journeys will
involve walking to the station or stop but also include time to read or
talk to friends while travelling.
It was also found that people who had longer walks to work within their
commute had high scores on the well-being test.
Switching from driving to other forms of commuting increased the
well-being score.
Writing in the journal Preventive Medicine, the researchers said:
"Together, these results appear to suggest that avoiding car driving
may be beneficial to well-being. This view complements existing
evidence of a negative association between driving and physical health
and is consistent with the hypothesis that car driving, a non-passive
travel mode that requires constant concentration, can give rise to
boredom, social isolation and stress.
"However, this view is also consistent with the hypothesis that
intrinsic enjoyment is gained from the exercise or relaxation
associated with active travel."
This is the first long term study to investigate modes of commuting and
the effect on well-being, the researchers said.
It comes after a similar study found people who gave up their car and
got the bus or train to work lost weight and were healthier physically.
The average man who commuted to work by bus or train was half a stone
lighter than a similar man who drove to work.
The effect was similar but less dramatic in women. That study found
that taking the bus or train to work was as beneficial as walking or
cycling for body weight.
Health News
* News »
* UK News »
* Health »
* Rebecca Smith »
In Health News
A young women has had to have a metal spoon fished out of her stomach
after accidentally swallowing it while eating ice cream. Zhang Weiwei,
the 22-year-old varsity student from Wuhan University in Wuhan, central
China’s Hubei Province, was on her way back from a meal with friends
when the incident happened. Weiwei had bought an ice cream and was
chatting and walking back to her dorm room when another friend saw her
and jumped on her back to greet her. Weiwei got such a fright that she
swallowed the entire 14cm metal spoon.
Weird X-rays
For the past two years Russian photojournalist Vladimir Yakovlev
travelled around the world, searching for people who have discovered
new found hobbies and pleasure in their older age. With the series The
Age Of Happiness, Yakovlev hopes to change the usual perception of life
after retirement and promote positive ageing. On his travels he met
some extraordinary characters over 60-year-old - some very close to the
100 milestone - who enjoy each day and inspire others to make their
lives equally fulfilling.
Life begins at 70
A group of men from Caerphilly in South Wales celebrated completing a
pioneering 35-year health study - beating killer diseases by making
simple changes to their lifestyle.
Living proof: the secret of healthy ageing
Rapeseed: the British olive oil?
Why olive oil should be kept out of the frying pan
A member of the CG Environmental HazMat team disinfects the entrance to
the residence of a health worker at the Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital who has contracted Ebola in Dallas, Texas
Ebola outbreak in pictures
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* News
* UK
* World
* Politics
* Science
* Education
* Health
* Brexit
* Royals
* Investigations
* Matt
* Front Bench newsletter
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* News
We're working harder, feel more stressed and have less security - but Brits
are happier at work than ever before
*
*
*
*
Save
Businesswoman on a tablet British workers may be putting more hours in
than ever, but most say they would enjoy working even without the money
Credit: Alamy
* John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor
23 July 2016 • 10:00pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* John Bingham
Follow the topics within this article
* Jobs and employment
* Graduates
* Happiness
From Monday morning blues to clockwatching on a Friday afternoon, work
is supposed to be the part of life we tolerate only because we have to
pay the bills.
But new research shows that even though Britons are putting in longer
hours, feel more stress and, for many, are much less secure in their
jobs than in the past, they are also happier at work than ever before.
The striking paradox in attitudes to work is highlighted in new
findings from the 30-year British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), the
longest running and most authoritative barometer of public opinion in
the UK.
It found that almost two thirds of Britons are now so wedded to their
careers that money is a secondary consideration, a view which has
strengthened noticeably over the period of the financial crisis and
subsequent recession.
Experts argued the shift could be because people’s jobs have become
more “interesting” and less rigid in recent years because of changes in
the economy and the increase in graduate work.
Commuters casting shadows
Britons are so wedded to their careers that money is a secondary
consideration Credit: Daniel Munoz/Reuters
But psychologists said it also raises the possibility that what makes
people happy has changed with career replacing family at the centre of
their priorities.
The most recent edition of the BSA shows that 62 per cent of people in
the UK believe they would enjoy having a job “even if [they] did not
need the money”. That includes 14 per cent – or one in seven – who
strongly agreed with the statement.
When the same question was asked in 2005, only 49 per cent agreed
overall. Only nine per cent agreed strongly.
"There is a common pattern of people working harder but being more
happy"Kirby Swales
That finding was, in turn, virtually unchanged on the level seen in
1997 (48 per cent).
The figures, published by NatCen Social Research, show a striking
contrast between the experience of the recent economic downturn,
sometimes known as the “Great Recession”, to that in previous periods
of economic uncertainly, when it comes to enthusiasm for work.
The proportion saying they would enjoy employment even if they did not
need the money slipped from 54 per cent in 1989 to 48 per cent by 1997,
during the early 1990s recession, in line with what might be expected
during a period of higher unemployment.
By contrast, it rose sharply during the recent downturn.
The report argues that the changes in the workplace, with many
employees experiencing less rigid working conditions than in the past,
could be part of the explanation.
Commuter waits on the street
The workplace has become less rigid Credit: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
The number of graduates in the workforce – a group more likely to say
they would work even if they did not have to – has more than doubled
since the mid-1980s.
Kirby Swales, director of the NatCen Survey Centre, said there was
evidence that both white collar workers and those in manual or routine
jobs are “buying in” to their work more than in the past – but often
for different reasons.
“There is a common pattern of people working harder but being more
happy,” he said.
“It could be at the lower end the job satisfaction is driven by fear of
recession but at the managerial end it is more driven by the changing
nature of work … and people are willing to work harder.”
The study includes detailed questioning about people’s own working
life. They were asked a whether they considered their job well paid and
secure as well as aspects such as being “interesting”, if it made them
feel “useful” or allowed them to work independently.
Overall it shows that job satisfaction has increased over the last two
decades but job security has not – and actively deteriorated for those
in traditional working class “routine” or “semi-routine” posts.
"For all the talk of work-life balance, there isn’t much indication
that we are getting it"Dr Stephanie Morgan
Those in professional jobs report having much more freedom and
flexibility than they did a decade ago but those in some routine jobs
said the opposite.
Yet both groups are more likely to report working longer hours and feel
stress at work than in the past.
“We find that there has been an increase in those that are saying
willing to work hard,” said Mr Swales.
“It does seem to be increasingly accepted among people that they have
to go that extra mile and they accept that work is a bit more stressful
and a bit more imposing on their work-life balance but if that is
associated with more autonomy there are plenty of people choosing to do
that.”
Dr Stephanie Morgan, an occupational psychologist at Kingston Business
School in London said the findings suggest that for some people, work
has overtaken aspects of life such as family as a priority source of
happiness.
Office workers from above
People get pride from their work Credit: Alamy
While more people report feeling stress, for those in fulfilling jobs
that stress could actively be linked with happiness and feelings of
pride in their work.
“For all the talk of work-life balance, there isn’t much indication
that we are getting it,” she said.
“But it has been accepted that [work itself] is part of being happy.
There has been a lot more talk of having an identity at work and
getting meaning out of work and being able to continue when we retire,
having relationships and seeing people and all the important things
which come from having a job.
“Certainly the indications from this suggest that people are actually
working longer hours and feel less secure – and those two things are
probably linked and therefore mustn’t be neglected.
“But people are enjoying the work and are saying that they would do it
even if they didn’t have to … maybe the balance is considered to be
acceptable. It might not be a perfect balance but if you are enjoying
the work and go home and go home and in the hors you have you are a
better partner and parent [maybe] that is considered sufficient.”
*
*
*
*
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
READ MORE ABOUT:
* Jobs and employment
* Graduates
* Happiness
* Show more
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
News latest
1. Stickers are set up in protest on the entrance of the police
station in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, Wednesday, December
19th.
19 Dec 2018, 7:27pm
Police stations closed as French officers demand £248m of unpaid overtime in
day of protest
2. A photo taken from the Majestic hotel on May 15, 2016 shows a
general view of the Croisette in Cannes
19 Dec 2018, 7:16pm
Invasive beetle set to wipe out palm trees of French Riviera
3. Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:57pm
Gallery: Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Premium
4. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Petrov have been named as
the suspects
19 Dec 2018, 6:41pm
'We never forget and we never give up', Met Chief vows to bring Salisbury
poisoners to justice
5. UN
19 Dec 2018, 6:29pm
Husband of British UN diplomat arrested on accusations of domestic violence
after diplomatic immunity waived
6. 02:16
19 Dec 2018, 6:28pm
Comment: Did a stupid man say ‘stupid woman’? Well, at least it’s a break
from Brexit
Michael Deacon
Premium
Michael Deacon
7. christmas
19 Dec 2018, 6:21pm
Shoppers predicted to spend £1bn on Christmas day for the first time
8. UK aid is less effective than other countries because of its focus
on poorly governed states
19 Dec 2018, 6:20pm
Focus on fragile states linked to UK slipping down aid effectiveness ranking
9. Matt cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:08pm
Gallery: Matt cartoons, December 2018
Premium
10. The furore over non-disclosure agreements began with Harvey
Weinstein
19 Dec 2018, 6:05pm
Women being forced to sign gagging clauses which stop them talking to their
doctor, MPs hear
11. Matthew Glynn was jailed for five years
19 Dec 2018, 5:49pm
'Far right' bombmaker, found with 23 bombs and 'hate board' featuring the
Royal Family, jailed
12. 02:38
19 Dec 2018, 5:43pm
Jeremy Corbyn called back to Commons to deny calling Theresa May a stupid
woman as sexism row dominates PMQs
Premium
13. As part of the annual Old Colwyn fancy dress pub crawl, in North
Wales, some participants dressed up as African beach traders and
rappers from Run DMC
19 Dec 2018, 4:39pm
Hospital charity refuses fundraisers' cash who 'blacked up'
14. Burglar admits breaking into funeral home (pictured) to have sex
with corpse
19 Dec 2018, 4:10pm
Burglar admits breaking into funeral home to have sex with corpse
15. A UK border at Gatwick airport
19 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Immigration White Paper sets out foreign worker rules after Brexit
Premium
16. No country in the EU or EEA met the 75 per cent target for flu
vaccine targets
19 Dec 2018, 3:41pm
EU countries fail to meet flu vaccination targets among vulnerable people
17. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya found guilty of lying to police to avoid
speeding charge
19 Dec 2018, 3:29pm
Labour MP Fiona Onasanya faces possible jail sentence after being found
guilty of lying to police
18. 01:34
19 Dec 2018, 3:28pm
Can super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be Manchester United's saviour one more
time?
19. Banksy's latest piece in Port Talbot, South Wales
19 Dec 2018, 3:24pm
Banksy claims Port Talbot mural is his latest work
20. Alexander Perepilichnyy
19 Dec 2018, 3:20pm
Russian billionaire could have been poisoned, coroner says as he highlights
police failings
21. Latvian EU Commission vice-president in charge the Euro, Social
Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital
Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a press conference
at The European Commission headquarters in Brussels, on December
19, 2018
19 Dec 2018, 2:43pm
Brussels rules out 'managed no deal Brexit' and warns of flight, freight and
financial havoc
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Men
* Thinking Man
* Active
* Fashion and Style
* Relationships
* The Filter
* Telegraph Dating
(BUTTON) More
Premium
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Men
* Thinking Man
Lord Price: 'I want to help people be a little bit happier at work'
*
*
*
*
Save
Lord Price in the grounds of his Dorset home: 'When I sit down to
write, I am happy' Lord Price in the grounds of his Dorset home: 'When
I sit down to write, I am happy' Credit: JAY WILLIAMS
* Peter Stanford
4 September 2017 • 7:00pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Peter Stanford
Follow the topics within this article
* Theresa May
* Liam Fox
* House of Lords
* Waitrose Ltd
* Careers
* Mark Price
Once retired from the front line, our high-profile business chiefs tend
to follow predictable paths: a bit of well-paid consultancy to “keep
their hand in”, counterbalanced with membership of charitable boards;
more time with the family and on the golf course; and the inevitable
stab at their memoirs.
But Mark Price’s “retirement” choices are arguably more ambitious than
his career to date, and anything but conventional.
After a decade as managing director of Waitrose, part of a 33-year
stint at John Lewis that began in the lighting department of their
Southampton store, Price stood down in 2016 while deputy chairman of
the partnership, the company famously owned by its workers.
He is fond enough...
To continue reading this article
Start your free trial of Premium
* Access all Premium articles
* Subscriber-only events
* Cancel any time
Free for 30 days
then only £2 per week
Try Premium
Access one Premium article per week
Register for free
Register for free to continue reading this article
Register
Or unlock all Premium articles, free for 30 days
Start trial
Already have an account? Login
Want to learn more? View all subscriptions
Login
Print subscriber? Click here
Related Topics
* Theresa May
* Liam Fox
* House of Lords
* Waitrose Ltd
* Careers
* Mark Price
* Brexit
* Happiness
* David Cameron
* John Lewis
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Men latest
1. Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem were killed by
Oudeh's former partner
18 Dec 2018, 4:33pm
If two men were killed at the football every week, it would be a scandal -
so why don't we care it's happening to women?
Premium
2. Any number of online daters are guilty of toying with the truth
(posed by models)
17 Dec 2018, 6:07pm
Confessions of a midlife online dater: How it feels to lie about your age -
and be lied to
Premium
3. Luke's wearing tee, Norse Projects, £100; white shirt, Our Legacy,
£230; Stan Ray trousers, £75; Vans shoes, £57; and orange Flagstuff
bag, available from goodhoodstore.com 17 Dec 2018, 12:30pm
Male makeover: How I finally mastered the man bag
4. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
5. The news presenter and Young Minds ambassador on father-son moments
and tough questions
15 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Sean Fletcher: When our son was first diagnosed with severe OCD, my wife and
I blamed ourselves
6. Donald J. Trump with Charlie Kirk
14 Dec 2018, 7:00am
‘Melt the snowflakes’: the US campus activists stamping out students’ ‘safe
spaces’
Premium
7. Celebrants and acolytes process to the altar during a Christmas
candlelight service
14 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Have you got anything else besides ‘Journey of the Magi’?
Premium
8. Living life to the full: Billy Connolly toured Florida in a Fire
Engine Red Chevy Impala
13 Dec 2018, 10:01pm
Billy Connolly's Ultimate World Tour, review: a poignant celebration of a
life on the road
4
9. Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip arrive for a
church service near to her Maidenhead constituency
13 Dec 2018, 8:00pm
Philip May is flying the flag for ‘best supporting husbands’ like me
Premium
10. There are now 21 billion chickens living worldwide
12 Dec 2018, 3:37pm
Comment: Why the humble chicken is the perfect relic of man's dominion
Joe Shute
Premium
[Joe_Shute-small.png]
11. Philip May was spotted at PMQs supporting his wife, the Prime
Minister
12 Dec 2018, 3:31pm
Comment: Every successful woman needs a husband like Philip May - take it
from me
Brenda Trenowden
Premium
12. Beryl dancing with little Scarlett in the Christmas special of Old
People's Home for Four Year Olds
11 Dec 2018, 5:54pm
'We formed a special bond from the start' - meet the stars of Old People's
Home for Four Year Olds
Premium
13. Richard Morris, centre, in Nepal
11 Dec 2018, 8:54am
Our man in Nepal on being the face of Britain with a visible difference
14. Debora Robertson visits 'Doggy Style' a christmas market for dogs
11 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Should you buy your dog something stylish for Christmas?
Premium
15. Many experts now believe monogamy is a tighter fit for women than
for men, says Wednesday Martin
07 Dec 2018, 5:11pm
Why men should give their wives a cheat pass this Christmas
Premium
16. Labassa Woolfe's sumptuous Marylebone store
07 Dec 2018, 12:48pm
20 style items every man should know about
Premium
17. man aftershave
06 Dec 2018, 2:48pm
The 10 best perfumes and fragrances for men
Premium
18. "I wonder how soon I can push him out of that window?"...
05 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
11 things that happen in every marriage - but no-one tells you
Premium
19. Labrador retriever Sully, the late former US president's faithful
service dog, lying in front of Bush's casket on December, 2018 in
Houston, Texas
05 Dec 2018, 6:00am
When man gets lonely, God sends dogs
Premium
20. It might be time to reconsider your under-the-mistletoe conduct
04 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
How to have a merry woke Christmas
Premium
21. Elaborate proposals have become popular
03 Dec 2018, 5:00pm
Lost rings and missing brides-to-be: when elaborate marriage proposals go
badly wrong
Premium
Voucher codes
Dominos vouchers
Clarks discount code
Railcard promo code
B&Q discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Jobs articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Finance»
3. Jobs
It's official: most people are miserable at work
Half of all UK workers want to change careers
Woman crying Just because I’m crying doesn’t mean I’m unhappy
London's workers are unhappiest of all
Rebecca Burn Callander
By Rebecca Burn-Callander
5:00AM BST 18 Sep 2015
Follow
The UK is home to millions of discontent workers, it has emerged, as
more than half of the nation's employed people admit that they would
rather be in a different career.
According to new research by the London School of Business and Finance
(LSBF), which interviewed 1,000 male and female professionals of
different age groups from across the UK, an overwhelming 47pc want to
change jobs and more than one in five are looking to career hop in the
next 12 months.
British workers are hoping that a new career will bring increased
salary prospects, better work-life balance and improved job
satisfaction, the report found.
Workers seeking a career change, by age
"With a changing economy and new sectors creating jobs and business
models that would not have even existed a decade ago, many
professionals may have considered the option of jumping ship and facing
the challenges of a new career path," said Dr Steve Priddy, dean and
director of research at LSBF.
"I’m particularly delighted to see that our younger workforce is bold
enough to dare try to enter a new professional field."
London workers are even more likely to be unhappy in their jobs with
55pc saying that they want to switch careers; 45pc are looking to do so
in the next two years.
Not all Brits are simply seeking improved pay or hours - some truly
regret their career choices. Around a quarter said they had made a
mistake entering their current profession. This figure rises to 30pc
for 25-34 year-olds.
When this figure is extrapolated to the "Millennial" generation,
workers aged between 18 and 34, the figure hits 66pc.
Think Tank: Fix the workplace, not the workers Millennials feel that
their entrepreneurial talents are under-utilised in the traditional
workplace
"The high rate of desire to change careers in younger people comes from
them arriving to the workforce eager to succeed but professionally
immature," explained Jeanine O’Donnell, career strategist at jobs
platform CareerHMO.
"The result? They get into a new career and employer and the first
impression is that this is not what they wanted. Thus, they make a
generalisation that it's the wrong career and they want to change.”
IFRAME: http://renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/55fbb97bf94584352d111ba8
Regionally, professionals in London and Scotland are the most likely to
regret choosing their current careers and the main reason is a lack of
work/life balance.
But despite their clear disillusionment, many people are still
unwilling to change careers. This is mainly because of fears over a
lack of financial security - 29pc cited this as a major barrier - while
uncertainty about what to switch to affected 20pc and a fear of failure
plagued 15pc.
Financial worries were cited by 41pc of Millennials as the prime reason
they weren't budging from their current jobs, and they were also the
most likely to change jobs when more money was on the table.
“Salary can be what’s called a ‘hygiene factor’, i.e. if people are
dissatisfied with their prospects at work, then it becomes a reason to
move,” said Margaret Davies, occupational psycologist and director at
women's development consultancy The Glass Lift.
Workers aged between 35 and 44 tended to be more interested in a career
move that improved their work/life balance.
Overall, the over 55s are the most content workers in the UK, with just
19pc looking to change career.
Cardiff is home to the nation's happiest workers. Some 68pc of people
surveyed in the city said they were satisfied with their career.
This compares to London where just 19pc of workers said they will never
want to change careers
telegraph.co.uk
Follow @telefinance
Top finance galleries»
Advertisement
Advertisement
IFRAME: http://www.dianomi.com/partner/telegraph/11882.epl
Latest finance videos »
Financial Detox: how to save money at work
Financial detox: saving money at work
Financial Detox: Shopping
Financial detox: tips for saving on shopping
BP boss: oil won't hit $100 a barrel for long time
City of London
Sponsored
Five ways Brexit could impact your investments
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/pricegrabber/PricegrabberUKExpa
tFinance.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/pricegrabber/PricegrabberUKExpa
tTech.html
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Finance
* Financial Crisis
* Debt Crisis Live
* Markets
* Banks and Finance
* City Diary
* Economics
* Transport
* Media and Telecoms
* Energy
* Retail News
*
* Personal Finance
* Your Business
* Investing
* Savings
* Student Finance
* Jobs
* Job Search
* Companies
* China business
* Money Deals
* Money Transfers
* Comment
* Alex
* Find an IFA
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Shopping and consumer news articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Shopping and consumer news
Are happy workers more productive?
As Pret a Manger becomes the latest company to credit happy workers for
improved profits, we examine the evidence that suggests smiling employees
might keep the tills ringing
Do happier employees work more efficiently?
Do happier employees work more efficiently? Photo: Getty Images
Harry Wallop
By Harry Wallop
6:00AM BST 22 Apr 2015
Follow
Was it the new quinoa pots on the menu? Or the 50,000 portions of
macaroni cheese it is selling each week? There are a number of reasons
why the sandwich chain Pret a Manger was able to report an impressive
set of annual figures yesterday – with sales up 16 per cent to £594
million. But many management experts think they know the biggest cause:
happiness.
The company takes the wellbeing of its workforce very seriously. Not
because it is intrinsically paternalistic (though it may well be) but
because it thinks there is a direct link between the happiness of the
people serving the avocado and herb salad wraps and the company’s
turnover.
Its chief executive, Clive Schlee, was interviewed by the Telegraph a
couple of years ago as he toured some outlets. He said: “The first
thing I look at is whether staff are touching each other – are they
smiling, reacting to each other, happy, engaged? I can almost predict
sales on body language alone.” The staff are given a bonus – paid to
everyone in their branch – if a weekly secret shopper spots positive
and happy staff behind the counter. No wonder the employees are often
frighteningly enthusiastic and decidedly unBritish in their
high-fiving, whooping and giving out the occasional free coffee to
customers.
[pret_2162227a.jpg]
It is easy to dismiss Pret’s management style as nauseatingly
Californian and to dismiss any link between its workers’ real wellbeing
and the company’s profits. But the economics of happiness is a topic
being taken increasingly seriously around the world – in universities
as well as on factory floors, warehouses and offices. Not least in
Britain, where levels of productivity lag many major economies.
• Want to get a free Pret coffee? Flirt
• Britain's productivity is a national disgrace
On some measures Britain is now around a fifth less productive per
worker than the G7 average, and an embarrassing 40 per cent below the
United States. It is a stick which Ed Balls regularly uses to beat
George Osborne with. So could a happier workforce close this
productivity gap and help Britain enjoy a full throttle recovery?
Professor Andrew Oswald, at the University of Warwick, is regarded as
one of the leading experts in this field. Last year he and his team
published major findings. In simple terms, happy people were 12 per
cent more productive than “normal” people. This sounds deceptively
black and white. But Prof Oswald insisted that his team’s experiment,
involving 700 people in laboratory conditions, is the most conclusive
proof that there is a causal link between happiness and improved
performance.
During the experiments volunteers were either shown a comedy clip
making them laugh or given free chocolate or fruit as an incentive.
They were then given a series of arithmetic tasks. The happy group just
did better. The unhappy group (weeded out through a series of
interviews to ascertain if they were suffering from tragedy in their
family life) did worse.
[belgrave-house-22_3187097b.jpg]
^Google's London head quarters
The paper was widely reported at the time and cited as a compelling
reason why companies needed to follow the example of Google. The
internet company is regarded as the pioneer in employee happiness.
Googlers, as they are called, are given free ice creams, free lifts to
work, free dry cleaning, the opportunity to spend 20 per cent of their
time in the office on non-work projects of “passion” (no, that does not
mean an affair).
Cynics suggest this is a clever method to ensure workers never need to
leave the office. But many companies have embraced this ethos.
Stickyeyes, a digital consultancy in Leeds, is one of many companies to
now offer free massages to workers as well as “Free Food Fridays” and a
non-pay bar at the end of the week. Innocent Smoothies, the juice
company, has ping pong tables nestling on fake grass at its London
headquarters, and every three months it gives workers a detailed
questionnaire about their happiness. It helps them spot spikes as well
as dips in satisfaction. “We were getting feedback about our working
hours,” says Jane Marsh, the head of people, at Innocent. Employees
were expected to finish work at 6pm. They wanted to leave at 5.30pm.
“We changed it,” she says.
A fairly simple measure – but one that, in theory, cost it 875 working
hours a week across its 350 employees. Was it cost effective? “We
implemented it at the end of last year, so we’ve yet to get our first
read on it. But anecdotally it has had a very positive impact.”
[INNOCENT-1_2383638b.jpg]
^The Innocent offices
There is a slight problem with anecdotal evidence from trendy companies
and laboratory experiments undertaken at Warwick. Dr Alex Bryson at the
National Institute of Economic and Social Research says: “You have to
ask yourself about the believability of the experiment. How did they
induce happiness? By showing a comedy clip. Even if you could induce
higher wellbeing into individual workers that doesn’t necessarily
translate into improved profitability.
“Firstly, it is costly. If, for instance, you have a profit share model
for workers.” This is the case with John Lewis, often given as shining
example of a company stuffed with happy “partners”, enjoying the
company’s own country club and generous sabbaticals. But, despite
excellent sales and profit growth in recent years, when it comes to
profit per worker – the standard measure of productivity – John Lewis
lags significantly behind many of its rivals, such as Marks & Spencer.
• Why providing free coffee and a thinking chair could attract
jobseekers
Work undertaken by Prof Alex Edmans at the London Business School and
Wharton, suggests, however, there is a link between not just happier
workers, but between happier companies and shareholder returns over a
long period of time. Between 1994 and 2009, the 100 best companies to
work for in the United States, as measured by Fortune magazine,
outperformed their peer group by 2.3 per cent per year. This is not a
correlation, but a direct causation, insists Prof Edmans.
Everyone agrees that rewards – usually bonuses and better pay – lift
workers’ morale most. But small things help too.
[johnlewisbonus_1841495a.jpg]
^John Lewis partners finding out their annual bonus (as a percentage of
salary)
One of the key measures experts recommend is to give them more autonomy
about how they work. This can be as little as allowing them to move
their desk, says Prof Oswald. But even expensive measures can be cost
effective. An American private medical insurer called Humana studied 33
of its nursing teams, and found patients working with its happiest
nurses had 40 per cent less paid in claims, 70 per cent fewer visits to
hospital. In turn, Humana paid out 24 per cent less per patient.
This mounting evidence that worker happiness is an important a measure
as operating profit margin has, of course, bred a whole happiness
industry. Companies are increasingly turning to analytics companies and
human resource specialists and asking them track their workers’
satisfaction.
This, in turn, raises an important ethical question: is the business of
your employer to investigate your mental health? Marsh, at Innocent,
says: “Do you need to keep an eye of border of privacy? Of course you
do. Some people may be unhappy at work, which has nothing to do with
their office life. You have to tread carefully.”
[manufacturing-supp_2674327b.jpg]
^Is he happy? Does it matter?
But even if all privacy concerns are overcome and measuring worker
happiness become standard practice across the offices of Britain, it’s
not certain than workers will actually start skipping to their desks.
This is because of the fact that happiness is a relative concept.
“Because we are creatures of comparison [if] everyone gets paid more,
everyone looks at each other, there is an enormous washing out effect
because relativities haven’t changed," says Prof Oswald. "Unfortunately
humans can’t help looking over their shoulder.”
Only if we can crack envy, it seems, can we all truly learn to be
happy, and so productive, workers.
thetelegraphnews
Follow @telegraphnews
Top news galleries
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Jobs articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Finance»
3. Jobs
Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen happier than the rest of us, ONS
study to find
Anyone who lives there knows it, but now it looks like the Government has
found the proof: workers who live and toil outdoors in the British
countryside are happier than the rest of us.
Farmers, forestry workers and fishermen happier than the rest of us,
ONS study to find
Those who work outdoors in the countryside are happier than the rest of
us Photo: Alamy
Christopher Hope
By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent
10:00PM BST 22 Jul 2012
Follow
Results from the Government’s first ever survey of National Well Being,
published by the Office for National Statistics, are likely to show
that people who work in farming, forestry and fishing are happier than
others.
The ONS – more used to weighing up public sector finances or crime
statistics – was given the rather subjective task of asking how happy
Britons are by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010.
Ministers want to use the information to allow young people to make
informed choices about their jobs – asking whether they will be happy,
rather than whether they will earn a lot of money.
The prime mover behind the 'happiness index' has been Mr Cameron who
said when he became Conservative leader in 2005 that gauging people's
wellbeing was among the "central political issues of our time".
He said then: "It's time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB —
general well being." Previous surveys have suggested that Britons'
happiness has remained static for 25 years
Related Articles
* Workers more positive if they eat outside the office
14 Apr 2013
* Family mealtimes to become official measure of national ‘happiness’
07 Mar 2014
According to provisional data from the ONS's Well Being study - which
have been seen by The Daily Telegraph – 20 different industry sectors
were ranked according to “mean life satisfaction”.
The study - which is published in full on Tuesday morning - found that
at the top of the satisfaction list were people who work in
“agriculture, forestry and fishing”.
That was followed in the top third of the satisfaction index - perhaps
surprisingly - by “people working in mining, quarrying, “real estate
activities”, electricity and gas supply and “water supply, sewerage and
waste”.
Propping up the list were those working in “admin and support
services”, transport and storage”, “accommodation and food services”
and “wholesale repair of vehicles”.
Even people who are paid to cheer us up did not appear to be a very
happy with their lot, with those working in “arts, entertainment and
recreation” ranked below bankers and insurers for job satisfaction.
The study covered the quality of life of people in the UK,
environmental and sustainability issues, as well as the economic
performance of the country.
The ONS wants the new well-being survey to “provide a more coherent
measure of 'how the country is doing' than standalone measures such as
GDP”.
The news came amid fears that voice of Britain’s countryside in
Government is being silenced after the 100-year-old post of the
independent rural advocate was abolished.
A letter to today’s The Daily Telegraph, signed by four bishops and the
high sheriff of Cornwall, calls for the advocate’s role to be
reinstated, urging “ministers to retain an independent adviser on rural
affairs across government”.
They say: “There has been an independent voice for rural communities in
Government since the Rural Development Commission was established in
1909.
“In the current economic circumstances, it is more important than ever
that the voices of rural communities are not lost and that an
independent adviser — distinct from the range of rural pressure groups
— exists to speak up for rural interests.”
Mary Creagh, the shadow Environment secretary, said: “People in rural
areas still need this independent champion, as their Tory and Lib Dem
MPs are silent on rural problems, neutered by ambition, government
propaganda or quiet despair.”
Stuart Burgess, who was rural advocate between 2004 and 2010, told The
Daily Telegraph: “I am personally concerned about the loss of the
independent rural champion who can give voice into the very heart of
Government.
“The voice is going to be lost. The rural unit has been set up in Defra
– but that does not provide that independent voice that Lloyd George in
1909 that was so important to have.
“The strength in the independent rural voice is the ability to go
around the country, to gather evidence and to listen rural communities
– and getting those messages into the heart of Government.”
Jobs
* News »
* Politics »
* Environment »
* Christopher Hope »
Best paid jobs in the UK 2014
Roles of the future could include body part makers and child designers.
10 well paid jobs for 2030
Kate Broughton makes cards and crafts from her West Yorkshire home:
'I quit work to sell my crafts online - and net £20,000'
Maureen Gilbertson
eBay for a living: 'Our turnover is now £1.5m'
Top finance galleries»
Advertisement
Advertisement
IFRAME: http://www.dianomi.com/partner/telegraph/11882.epl
Latest finance videos »
Financial Detox: how to save money at work
Financial detox: saving money at work
Financial Detox: Shopping
Financial detox: tips for saving on shopping
BP boss: oil won't hit $100 a barrel for long time
City of London
Sponsored
Five ways Brexit could impact your investments
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/pricegrabber/PricegrabberUKExpa
tFinance.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/pricegrabber/PricegrabberUKExpa
tTech.html
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Finance
* Financial Crisis
* Debt Crisis Live
* Markets
* Banks and Finance
* City Diary
* Economics
* Transport
* Media and Telecoms
* Energy
* Retail News
*
* Personal Finance
* Your Business
* Investing
* Savings
* Student Finance
* Jobs
* Job Search
* Companies
* China business
* Money Deals
* Money Transfers
* Comment
* Alex
* Find an IFA
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Travel
Discovering hygge
* Destinations
* Hotels
* Offers
* Holiday types
* City
* Beach
* Tours
* Cruise
* Ski
* Family
* Advice
* Luxury
* Book a trip
* Travel Shows
* Travel Insurance
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Travel
* Discovering hygge
Why living like a Dane could transform your life for the better
Brought to you by Visit Denmark
*
*
*
*
*
* Shares
Save
Family at the dining table Savour the moments: live like a Dane and see
why they're among the happiest people in the world Credit: Getty
12 June 2018 • 11:15am
(BUTTON) Follow
Denmark is famous for being one of the happiest countries in the world. So
what can we learn from them?
Want to know the secret to happiness? Ask a Dane. The country is
regularly ranked as one of the happiest in the world. One study even
found that the closer a country is in distance to Denmark, the happier
its people are likely to be! So are Danes just born happy, or do they
know something we don’t?
If the key to happiness lies in social equality and a community spirit
then the Danes certainly have a head start. Denmark is known for being
one of the most egalitarian countries in the world and its high levels
of wellbeing are often attributed to its welfare system, where higher
taxes provide free healthcare, school and university education, and
government spending on children and the elderly is higher per capita
than any other country in the world. It is thought that this provides a
sense of security that takes away some of the worries people might
otherwise have.
But the Danes have some other secrets to living a happy life too — and
there are a few lessons we can learn from them.
Prioritise a work-life balance
According to an OECD Better Life report, the Danes have better
work-life balance than anywhere else in the world, with only 2 per cent
regularly working long hours (compared to an average figure of 13 per
cent for other countries). All employees are entitled to a minimum of
five weeks paid holiday a year, and when Danes are at work, they often
have flexible working environments. No wonder studies say the Danes are
among the happiest — and most productive — workforce in the world. You
won’t find many Danes working past 5pm. Instead, they’re meeting
friends in cafes, going for a walk in the park and cooking dinner with
their families. Living, basically.
People enjoying a sunset in a park
Time well spent: learn to prioritise time outside of the office Credit:
Getty
Appreciate the little things
The Danes are masters at stripping things back and focusing on what
makes them happy without feeling guilty about it — whether that’s
snuggling down to watch a movie with the family or having a delicious
cinnamon bun. Part of this is down to hygge, the Danish concept which
is even harder to define than it is to pronounce, but which involves
creating a warm and contented atmosphere and enjoying the good things
in life with people you love. Hygge is about everyday happiness. It’s
slowing down, being in the present moment and celebrating the simple
pleasures in life. It’s the antidote to our modern lives and all the
pressures that come with them. The fact that is such an important part
of Danish culture is probably one reason they’re so happy.
Spending time with loved ones
Spending quality time with the people we love is one of the easiest
routes to happiness — yet many of us let things like work, or spending
time online, get in the way. Not the Danes. In his book, The Little
Book of Hygge, Meik Wiking notes that 78 per cent of Danes socialise
with friends, family or colleagues a minimum of once a week, compared
to the European average of 60 per cent.
“Danes are really good at making time for friends and family, with
regular meals or time scheduled in together,” says Helen Russell,
author of novel Gone Viking (Ebury), who moved from the UK to Denmark
five years ago. “We all know how much better we feel when we’ve spent
quality time with our people – and this is a key part of getting
hygge.” It all stems back to the days when gathering food and wood were
a crucial part of surviving the Danish winter. “You had to help out
neighbours, your family and friends to survive. Now, there’s central
heating and supermarkets and offices to go to, but there’s still a
cultural emphasis on being together,” she adds.
Couple cycling in Denmark
Social society: Danish culture emphasises time spent with friends and
family Credit: Getty
Trusting one another
Denmark has been shown to be one of the most trusting nations in
Europe. “One of the main reasons Danes are often considered the
happiest people in the world is trust – 79 per cent of Danes trust
“most people” — and if you trust your neighbours (and your neighbour’s
neighbours) you’re less anxious and have the headspace to be happy,”
says author Helen Russell. “You feel better and you save yourself
unnecessary stress – plus trusting the people around you can make them
behave better so this trust becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Of
course, there is one more way to channel some of that famous Danish
happiness too — visit Denmark and hope some of the conviviality rubs
off on you.
The Danish way
Hygge is more than a passing fancy for Danes, it's a philosophy that
forms a key part of their endless success in the world happiness charts
- and it could be your antidote to the stress of modern life.
A city break to Copenhagen will do more that satiate your wanderlust,
it'll satisfy your most fundamental desire - to feel good.
SAS takes you from London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Aberdeen
and Edinburgh directly to Copenhagen.
Discover the airline that believes hygge starts in the sky,
visit flysas.com
*
*
*
*
*
* Shares
Don't miss
1. Young people sitting on a dock in Copenhagen 12 Jun 2018, 12:00pm
Eight ways to make your life more hygge
2. The view of London from Parliament Hill
12 Jun 2018, 11:45am
How to enjoy a hygge day out in London
3. Nyhavn canal
12 Jun 2018, 11:30am
Four of the best hygge influencers to follow on Instagram
4. Lobby at Radisson Collection Hotel Royal Copenhagen
12 Jun 2018, 11:00am
Where are the coolest places to stay in Copenhagen?
5. Four friends sitting by open fire
15 May 2018, 11:57am
Why the Brits already understand hygge
6. A group of friends sharing a bottle of wine
15 May 2018, 11:55am
Why the Danes are dead serious about hygge (and you should be too)
7. Skyline of Copenhagen
15 May 2018, 11:55am
The seven most hygge things in Copenhagen
8. Row of houses and boats at Nyhavn
15 May 2018, 11:55am
Why Copenhagen is the ultimate place for a relaxing city break
9. Tivoli Gardens
15 May 2018, 11:54am
How to spend a long weekend in Copenhagen
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher Codes
* Modern Slavery
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Good News
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Good News
What’s the secret to happiness? Scientists may have found the answer
In association with Seven Seas
*
*
*
*
Save
Blake Lively A very happy Blake Lively smiles during a press conference
in Cannes Credit: AFP
* Mark Molloy
23 May 2016 • 7:15am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Mark Molloy
Follow the topics within this article
* Other
* International Day of Happiness
The pursuit of happiness can be a lifelong search for some - but
researchers believe they may have found a key factor in feeling a
greater overall sense of wellbeing.
Individuals who feel a strong sense of belonging to social groups are
much happier people, according to new research by psychologists.
Nottingham Trent University researchers found that the more an
individual identified with a particular group, such as family, in their
local community or through a hobby, the happier they were with their
life.
revelers
Happy revellers Credit: AFP
“Our findings suggest that thinking more about one's group life could
have significant benefits for an overall sense of wellbeing,” said Dr
Juliet Wakefield, a psychologist at Nottingham Trent University.
“We tend to identify with groups that share our values, interests and
life priorities, as well as those that support us in times of crisis,
and we can see how this would link to happiness. Our work taps into
knowledge that is deep within all of us, but which we often forget due
to the fast-paced and achievement-focused nature of modern life – that
to be your best self, you tend to require the support of others.”
Pope Francis
A smiling Pope Francis Credit: Reuters
They studied how 4,000 participants felt connected to certain groups,
and then measured the impact this had upon their levels of happiness.
She added: “It's important to note that identifying with a group isn't
the same as membership, though. You can be a member of a group with
which you feel no connection at all. It's that subjective sense of
belonging that's crucial for happiness.
IFRAME: //giphy.com/embed/BQAk13taTaKYw
“Healthcare professionals should encourage people to join groups that
they are interested in, or which promote their values and ideals, as
well as advising people to maintain association with groups they
already belong to. Simple social interventions such as this could in
turn help to reduce NHS expenditure and prevent future ill health.”
Another study found that intelligent people could be more easily
distracted at work.
So if you have trouble concentrating at work, it’s probably because of
all those amazing ideas you have running through your head.
Revealed: The age adults are at their ‘healthiest and happiest’.
For healthy living
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
* Follow on LinkedIn
READ MORE ABOUT:
* Other
* International Day of Happiness
* Show more
Don't miss
1. Peter Gwyn said he hope this will encourage more female contestants
to take part in the show
28 Aug 2018, 12:01am
University Challenge to introduce 'gender neutral' questions following
complaints from viewers
2. Rory and Rhys on their wedding day
13 Jan 2018, 4:01pm
Liberal churches boosted by LGBT weddings as couples join their
congregations
3. Four Brits have set a new world record for rowing across the
Atlantic
13 Jan 2018, 8:49am
UK quartet celebrate with a cup of tea after breaking Atlantic rowing record
4. Smiling woman
22 Aug 2017, 10:30am
Love at first sight? It's not as unrealistic as you might think
5. Thomas Moore holds the hair he cut off for cancer patients.
17 Sep 2016, 9:10am
Boy donates hair to make wigs for child cancer patients
6. The world's most "liveable" city, apparently, but where is it?
15 Sep 2016, 11:30am
Move over Melbourne – this is really the world’s most ‘liveable’ city
7. Duncan Jones and David Bowie in 2009
30 Jul 2016, 11:03am
Duncan Jones welcomes baby son six months after David Bowie's death – and has
given him a special name
8. Matthew Dunn completed his tour of Europe with the Royal Navy Black
Cats before returning the wallet
04 Jul 2016, 6:31pm
Navy engineer returns lost wallet via 1,300 mile European road trip
9. Muhannad points to the shelf where he found the money
30 Jun 2016, 4:08pm
Syrian refugee praised after handing in €50,000 he found hidden in donated
wardrobe
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
* Follow on LinkedIn
Brought to you by Seven Seas
1. Ladies shopping
Dress for your style and not your age
2. Man carrying lady on his back
What your body really needs at 50
3. Lady meditating outside
Beauty starts from within
4. A Boots store
3 for 2 across selected Seven Seas products
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Thinking Man articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Thursday 13 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Women
* Men
* GoodLife
* Wellbeing
* Interiors
* Gardening
* Food
* Pets
* Relationships
* Expat
* Puzzles
* Announcements
* Events
* Thinking Man
* Active
* Fashion and Style
* Relationships
* The Filter
* Instant Expert
* Why Not Get Moving?
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Men»
3. Thinking Man
Which is best: interesting job or well-paid job?
A high salary can make you more unhappy, while jobs that start off
interesting don't always remain so, says Rhymer Rigby
As you rise through the ranks, you often move away from what makes your
job interesting Photo: Alamy
By Rhymer Rigby
8:29AM GMT 04 Dec 2014
It’s the topic of a thousand dinner party conversations. Is it better
to have a job which pays very well or a job that is genuinely
interesting? Do you want people to say, “Wow, that’s cool” when you
tell them what your chosen vocation is? Or do you want to go on holiday
in the Maldives and drive a Range Rover Sport?
The conventional thinking on money and job satisfaction comes from a
theory developed by the psychologist Frederick Herzberg. He proposed
that there were two sets of factors in the workplace. One group, known
as motivators, cause satisfaction. These are things like achievement,
advancement and interest in work. The other group, called hygiene
factors, cause dissatisfaction if they are absent – and salary is part
of this group. So, if you don’t earn enough you will be dissatisfied.
But once you earn enough, extra money counts for very little.
In fact, says Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology at
Lancaster University, a higher salary may actually make you less happy.
“You’ll be giving up things like time with your family and friends in
order to earn the extra money.” The answer might seem obvious, then.
Find a job that is interesting and where you earn enough, but don’t
worry about about earning a vast salary because the Range Rover won’t
make you happy if you never have time to see your girlfriend.
However, context is hugely important. If you live in an ultra-expensive
city such as London or New York, “enough” may be well into six figures.
So you may have considerably more latitude when it comes to an
interesting job if you’re based in Bristol or Leeds. Equally, if your
friends are high-earning bankers and lawyers, you may experience far
more salary-related dissatisfaction than you would if they were
teachers. Time of life is important too. “If you’re divorced and have
no kids then you might be far happier working all hours to earn a huge
salary,” says Prof Cooper.
There are also gender differences. “We did some research which showed
that 18 per cent of people were mainly motivated by money,” says Ian
Gooden, CEO of the HR consultancy Chiumento. “But men are twice as
likely to be motivated by money than women and this is particularly
true of men under 35.” So, working in the City until your mid 30s and
then going to do something interesting that pays less is actually a
very smart idea, in terms of your happiness.
Related Articles
*
* 10 ways to tell that you're out of touch at work
27 Nov 2014
* Is your CV full of awful clichés?
20 Nov 2014
* It's time we stopped pretending to be passionate about work
13 Nov 2014
* Have you 'made it' in life?
05 Dec 2014
Money can cause satisfaction and dissatisfaction in other ways too. We
tend to benchmark ourselves against our peers. So if you get a £1m
bonus, you’ll be pleased – unless Mike, who sits next to you, gets a
£1.5m bonus. To anyone on a normal salary, this may sound ridiculous –
but it’s not actually about the money, it’s about the recognition. The
extra £500,000 says that Mike performed 50% better than you and that’s
what’s making you unhappy.
Gooden warns that it’s also very easy to get trapped in high-earning
jobs. “You get the phenomenon of ‘economic prisoners’ where you wind up
stuck in a job you hate because you need the salary to support your
lifestyle.” You can’t turn round to your partner and explain that
you’re going to take the kids out of private school and move to a
smaller house because you hate your career. “There is no acceptable way
out,” he says.
What about an interesting job, then? On the face of things, doing
something that stimulates and interests you should be far more positive
than going for the big bucks. However, while this is mostly true, there
are downsides to cool jobs.
For starters, people often go into sectors because they’re widely
viewed as being interesting and not because they personally find the
job in question interesting. Thus, you might get a job in the media,
when actually you’d be much happier (and probably better paid) working
in IT because what really motivates you is solving problems. So you
need to think hard and honestly about what interests you.
Which would you rather have:
Bear in mind too that, when it comes to interest, all jobs to some
extent revert to the norm. What you loved when you joined can easily
become just work three years down the line, especially if you are the
kind of person who sees work as a means to an end. Moreover, as you
rise through the ranks, you often move away from what makes your job
interesting and into general management, which is pretty similar
whatever sector you’re in.
You often see this with people who work in tech: they don’t want to be
promoted because they want to do the interesting stuff, not manage
people. “Be very careful about letting go of what interests you for
more money,” says Gooden. In fact, he adds, while there is a common
belief that we should all aim as high as possible at work, “Not many
people are motivated by really demanding jobs.”
So, is it more important to earn a lot of money or have an interesting
job? The answer is that you need to step back and ask yourself what is
important to you – while reminding yourself that your work does not
exist in isolation. However, we can say that earning vastly in excess
of what you need is not likely to make you happy – and if you have the
choice between a job that interests you and pays enough and one that
doesn’t interest you and pays far more, you should go for the former.
Finally, it’s worth remembering that one of the most significant
contributors towards happiness at work is not related to how
interesting your job is or how much it pays. “Relationships at work are
so important,” says Prof Cooper, “especially your relationship with
your line manager.” In fact, if you hate your boss, you’ll probably
still be miserable, even if your job is both fascinating and well-paid.
Thinking Man
* Finance »
* Personal Finance »
* Jobs »
* Men »
In Thinking Man
Britain needs a Minister for Men
Don't look back in anger: Loaded's final cover
Loaded 'could have been Britain's answer to Rolling Stone'
Why are so many middle-aged men committing suicide?
How men became the new glamour models
Men accused of sexual assault are offered little help by the State
What it's like to be falsely accused of rape
Read more from Telegraph Men
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Editor's Choice
My cat died, and it affected me as much as losing my dad
Dave the cat
The grief felt after the loss of a pet can be every bit as painful as
that following the death of a human, so why don’t we take it seriously,
asks Lee Kynaston
17 of the best white trainers for men
If you say something sexist at work, will you lose your job?
Men need to open up about depression, not man up
It's taken me 30 years, but I'm proud to say I'm ginger
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* World News
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Health
* Jobs
* Sport
* Football
* Cricket
* Fantasy Football
* Culture
* Motoring
* Dating
* Finance
* Personal Finance
* Economics
* Markets
* Fashion
* Property
* Puzzles
* Comment
* My Telegraph
* Letters
* Columnists
* Technology
* Gardening
* Telegraph Shop
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Guidelines
* Advertising
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
(BUTTON) More
Work-life balance
Happiness at work: why it counts
The government is attempting to measure national wellbeing alongside
earnings – but what difference does happiness make?
Cary L Cooper and Stephen Wood
Fri 15 Jul 2011 22.58 BST First published on Fri 15 Jul 2011 22.58 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
A boss shouting on his assistant 2. Image shot 2008. Exact date
unknown.
[ ] Bad management and bullying in the workplace wil affect
productivity. Photograph: Aiste Miseviciute/Alamy
Is it worth measuring the nation's happiness? That was the question
posed at the Work Foundation's annual debate last month, inspired by
the government's move to incorporate questions on wellbeing into the
Office for National Statistics's quarterly national citizen's survey.
With politicians in many countries now talking about gross national
wellbeing, new books devoted to finding happiness being released and
the proliferation of wellbeing indices such as the Happy Planet Index,
a "happiness agenda" is emerging. But how will a national measure of
this help enhance wellbeing throughout the UK's workforce, particularly
at a time of economic instability, high unemployment and intrinsic job
insecurity?
The absence of wellbeing in the workplace is costly. In the
government's recent Foresight Programme study on mental capital and
wellbeing, it was estimated that sickness absence, presenteeism (being
present at work but contributing little added value to the business)
and labour turnover cost the country about £26bn a year.
Incidences of stress-related sickness absence have also risen,
replacing backache as the main source of work illness, with 40% of
incapacity benefits (the biggest source) attributed to mental ill
health and stress. Indeed, the 2009 Boorman review for the NHS into
health and wellbeing indicated savings of over £555m could be made from
reduced sickness absence if healthier work environments were created.
So there is a bottom-line argument for minimising workplace stress and
enhancing wellbeing. Stephen Bevan, managing director of the Work
Foundation, feels the government may also have another motivation for
attempting to measure happiness: "We are likely to see GDP grow very
slowly over the coming decade or longer, so governments will need
another measure of success than economic growth."
Bevan also points out: "If we take the happiness agenda seriously and
make the changes that would enhance wellbeing at work, we could see
real bottom-line benefits in terms of sickness absence and greater
productivity from more engaged workers."
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest we are motivated at work
by things other than money and that, as long as we are relatively
job-secure and earning a reasonable wage, the quality of working life
is at least as important. In the Mercer global engagement scale –
developed with thousands of workers in the UK, US, Japan, India,
Germany, France and China – "base pay" as a motivator comes low down a
list of 12 factors that engage workers.
The top motivator is "respect" – how valued and trusted by their
organisation employees feel. Then comes (in order of priority) "type of
work", "providing good service to customers", "the people you work
with" and finally, good "work-life balance". Only after these does pay
come into the equation. Given the recent controversies over bankers'
pay, it's interesting that "bonuses" come bottom of the list.
All this should support the findings of the recent review into the
fairness of top public sector salaries by executive chairman of the
Work Foundation Will Hutton, which recommended a maximum salary for
senior executives of 20 times that of the lowest paid.
President Franklin D Roosevelt said during the Great Depression that
"true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and
independence … people who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of
which dictatorships are made … the hopes of the Republic cannot forever
tolerate either undeserved poverty or self-serving wealth."
The way jobs are shaped, by both managers and employees, has a huge
impact on our sense of wellbeing at work. But the quality of work is in
danger of being neglected, especially when people are worrying about
unemployment. The focus in much of the happiness debate is on the
primacy of being employed and people's perceptions of their income
relative to others.
While there may be some truth in the Anna Karenina principle that all
happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its
own way, we increasingly have a better understanding of what makes for
unhappiness and stress in the workplace. If people don't have much
control over their jobs, are not engaged and involved in
decision-making, consistently work long hours, and are badly managed or
bullied, they will suffer.
There are ways of treating people at work that can make them happier
that have little to do with money or bonuses. This has been confirmed
by research based on the government's Workplace Employee Relations
Survey, endorsed by the Health and Safety Executive and reflected in
the National Institute of Clinical Excellence's guidelines on managing
workplace stress.
So what can we do to make our workplaces happier environments? First,
we need managers with better social and interpersonal skills, who
manage people by praise and reward and not fault-finding (because few
managers do this, a pay rise is often the only time people feel their
contribution is recognised). Second, individuals should have autonomy
and control over their work – the absence of micro-management. Third,
there needs to be a shorter working hours culture, where appropriate
flexible working arrangements are available which people can take up
without damaging their careers or feeling guilty. Fourth, there should
be manageable workloads and achievable deadlines, and finally, a
culture should be encouraged in which employees feel valued and
trusted.
Alistair Blaxill, executive director of Communisis, one of the UK's
biggest marketing services providers, says the happiest companies he
has worked for are those that "give their staff 'wriggle room', don't
micro-manage, let people know when they have done a good job, make them
feel part of a family and ensure reasonable work-life balance".
Yet despite all the supporting evidence, some of these basic
ingredients are not being applied. And if that's the case, how will a
national measure of happiness help? We think it will do so indirectly –
by motivating businesses and politicians to do better when
international and corporate bench marks are put into the public arena
by business and social commentators.
But developing this wellbeing index is also a high risk for the
government, because over time it could highlight a worsening in
people's happiness levels, holding government accountable. On the
upside, the government will need to take action to enhance wellbeing,
as it does when responding to slow economic growth or declining gross
domestic product (GDP). Which reminds us of the old Japanese proverb "a
vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a
nightmare".
In launching the inclusion of wellbeing items in the Office for
National Statistics' survey a few months ago, the prime minister
emphasised that GDP was not a good measure of a society's success.
In doing so, David Cameron echoed the sentiments of US senator Robert F
Kennedy, in a speech he gave at the University of Kansas in 1968.
"Gross national product does not allow for the health of our children,
the quality of their education or the joy of their play," Kennedy said.
"It … measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor
our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country.
It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life
worthwhile."
• Cary L Cooper is distinguished professor of organisational psychology
and health at Lancaster University Management School and co-author of
Wellbeing: Productivity and Happiness at Work; Stephen Wood is
professor of management at the University of Leicester
Topics
* Work-life balance
* Work & careers
* Mental health
* Economic growth (GDP)
* Economics
* Office for National Statistics
* Economic policy
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Money
* Property
* Pensions
* Savings
* Borrowing
* Careers
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Work-life+balance%2CWork+%26+
careers%2CMoney%2CMental+health%2CEconomic+growth+%28GDP%29%2CEconomics
%2COffice+for+National+Statistics%2CEconomic+policy%2CSociety%2CBusines
s%2CPolitics%2CUK+news]
#RSS Feed for Science News articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
* Science News
* Dinosaurs
* Space
* Night Sky
* Evolution
* Picture Galleries
* Science Video
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Science»
4. Science News
Happiness is having a job, and the salary doesn't matter
Having a job is more important to people than how much they are paid,
according to the first official inquiry into what makes Britons happy.
Commuters make their way to work over London Bridge. Anastasia de Waal
said employment was central to people's sense of identity and wellbeing
Commuters make their way to work over London Bridge. Anastasia de Waal
said employment was central to people's sense of identity and
wellbeing Photo: AP
By Tim Ross, Social Affairs Editor
7:30AM GMT 10 Jan 2011
Follow
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysed responses from more
than 2,000 people to David Cameron's initiative to measure the nation's
wellbeing.
The emerging results showed that job security, personal health and
relationships with family members were at the top of most people's
concerns, and were cited by nine out of 10 of those responding to the
ONS consultation.
Other key ingredients of a happy life were parents' sense of the
security of their children's future, with couples keen that their
children have a good life and a nice place to live; the freedom of
society; and spiritual and religious beliefs.
Respondents were more likely to rate having a job as important to them
than being paid a high salary.
Anastasia de Waal, a social policy analyst at the think tank Civitas,
said employment was central to people's sense of identity and
wellbeing.
"A job is about your life, it is not about your income," she said.
"It is about every aspect – having the motivation to get up in the
morning, self-esteem and being a role model to your children. Income is
almost secondary to that.
"People's lives fall apart if they don't have a job. They are much more
likely to be depressed if they are out of work, and there is a strong
relationship between unemployment and family breakdown and health
difficulties."
The Prime Minister launched the programme in November, in an attempt to
create a broader measure of Britain's success than the performance of
the economy.
Mr Cameron said governments had a role in helping people "feel better"
and that the national wellbeing index should help politicians and wider
society "build a better life".
Paul Allin, director of the wellbeing project at the ONS, said the
initiative would combine objective data, such as crime, employment and
life expectancy rates, with subjective measures, such as fear of crime,
job satisfaction and self-reported health, to give "a more complete
picture of national wellbeing".
"We want to encourage people to tell us what matters to them," he said.
"The more responses we have to the debate, the more realistic a picture
of the UK we will have."
The ONS consultation will run until April.
Science News
* News »
* How about that? »
* UK News »
* Health News »
* Tim Ross »
In Science News
A combination photograph shows the beginning (top L) to the end (top L
to bottom R) of a total solar eclipse as seen from the beach of Ternate
island, Indonesia
Total eclipse, in pictures
Scott Kelly returns to Earth
The remote economy of the Svalbard archipelago
An astonishing image of a pregnant pony uterus has been selected as the
overall winner for the 2015 Wellcome Image Awards. The photograph was
taken by Michael Frank, and is of an historic specimen from the Lanyon
Anatomy Museum of the Royal Veterinary College in London. It shows the
preserved uterus of a New Forest pony, approximately five months into
the pregnancy
Wellcome Image Awards
The first space 'selfie'
Named after Sir David
Space selfie by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst
Pictures of the year- part 4
Top news galleries
Advertisement
IFRAME:
http://www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.faceb
ook.com%2Ftelegraph.co.uk&width=292&connections=0&stream=false&header=f
alse&height=62
Telegraph on Facebook
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Philip Johnston articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Blog
* Columnists
* Personal View
* Telegraph View
* Letters
* Cartoon Archive
* My Telegraph
* Politics
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Comment»
3. Columnists»
4. Philip Johnston
How can we measure happiness?
Western leaders are looking beyond traditional indexes of economic and social
well-being and turning to ways of measuring national happiness. Philip
Johnston wonders how such a scheme might work.
How can we measure happiness?; Clear blue laughter: David Cameron is a
firm believer in 'GWB’ – general well-being; Getty
Clear blue laughter: David Cameron is a firm believer in 'GWB’, an
index of general well-being Photo: Getty
By Philip Johnston
8:13AM GMT 16 Nov 2010
Follow
What makes you happy? The smell of new-mown grass on a spring morning,
perhaps; or the laughter of your children. Maybe it is watching an
England winger running 80 yards to score a try against Australia at
Twickenham, or the thought of winning the lottery. For many of us
happiness is spiritual, individual, difficult to define and ephemeral.
A Buddhist monk with no possessions beyond his clothes and an alms bowl
might consider himself happier than a City financier with homes on
three continents. For people afflicted with mental or physical health
problems, happiness may be unattainable. Then there are the Victor
Meldrews among us who are never happier than when they have something
to grumble about.
Personal happiness is something we all aspire to; so what about
national happiness? Can the well-being of a country be measured? Is it
possible to aggregate all those individual experiences into a happiness
index that can be published quarterly, along with crime statistics,
inflation rates and unemployment figures? David Cameron thinks it is –
and he is not alone. Political leaders including Nicolas Sarkozy and
Barack Obama subscribe to the idea that measuring a nation’s well-being
by its economic output – its GDP per capita – is a policy dead-end. Is
this wise?
The consideration of happiness and how to maximise it is hardly a new
activity. It has exercised great minds from Socrates to Montaigne and
on to Bentham, Mill and the authors of the American Declaration of
Independence. But while philosophers tended to deal with how we should
lead our lives as individuals, the idea of happiness, both as a science
and a specific aim of national policy, has only taken off in the past
decade or so. And there are allegedly physiological dimensions, too.
Researchers have found a close correlation between reported happiness
and activity in the cerebral cortex, which would explain why some drugs
can bring about a feeling of well-being.
Although there is little evidence that this science has any sound basis
or is anything other than a strategy for declining growth, it has
become a booming academic discipline around the globe. More than 200
colleges, including the University of Cambridge, either have research
institutes or offer courses in so-called positive psychology, which
seeks to maximise happiness for individuals and society at large.
International conferences are devoted to the subject.
So it is hardly surprising that it caught Mr Cameron’s eye, especially
when most of the economic news is gloomy and government policy is
couched in the downbeat language of austerity. In such circumstances,
looking beyond the traditional measurements of national well-being is a
serious temptation, even if it risks being derided as gimmickry.
Moreover, economists believe that the pursuit of public happiness as a
policy goal has merit even when the economy is booming. This is
because, as their data have become more comprehensive and
sophisticated, they have noticed one apparent paradox: that despite a
substantial increase in GDP in the industrialised West, the levels of
human contentment have remained static.
This realisation encouraged Lord Layard, professor of economics at the
LSE and adviser to Gordon Brown, to urge the last Labour government to
recognise that economic growth need not be an overriding priority. He
believed governments should embrace the Benthamite principle that, “the
best society is that where the people are happiest, and the best policy
is the one that produces the greatest happiness”.
They found this hard to do because so little was known about what made
people happy. But, as Lord Layard points out, “the past 30 years have
seen a major scientific revolution and we know much about what causes
happiness, using the results of psychology and neuroscience.
“The first thing we know is that in the past 50 years, average
happiness has not increased at all in Britain or in the United States –
despite massive increases in living standards.” In better-off
countries, in other words, simply raising incomes does not make people
any happier.
In truth, Mr Cameron has been thinking along these lines for a while.
Shortly after he became Tory leader in 2005, he said: “Well-being can’t
be measured by money or traded in markets. It’s about the beauty of our
surroundings, the quality of our culture and, above all, the strength
of our relationships. Improving our society’s sense of well-being is, I
believe, the central political challenge of our times.” He added: “It’s
time we admitted that there’s more to life than money and it’s time we
focused not just on GDP but on GWB – general well-being.”
Of course, there were many who felt it was easy for the millionaire
Tory leader to diminish the importance of money when he has plenty of
it. But Mr Cameron was tapping into a political idea gaining traction
elsewhere. Two years ago, Mr Sarkozy went so far as
to commission Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, the Nobel prize-winning
economists, to consider how a sense of national happiness might be
captured. They proposed replacing GDP with a broader measure based on
something called net national product (NNP), which takes account not
just of annual growth but the value, and depreciation, of all of a
nation’s human and physical resources. An enthused Mr Sarkozy suggested
broadening this into an internationally accepted index of national
achievement that would embrace the state of the environment, the
equality of incomes, the quality of public services, free services
provided within a family or community and even opinion polls on the
contentment of ordinary citizens.
But it can be seen from this list how easy it is for politicians to set
criteria for happiness that fit their own political outlook. If a
government pursues policies aimed at spending more on public services,
producing income equality and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, then it
will obtain high scores against the benchmarks and targets it has set
for itself. Yet it might enhance a country’s well-being if the
government taxed less, spent less and did less.
In order to avoid a politically biased view of what constitutes
national contentment, it would be essential to have an independent body
such as the Office for National Statistics deciding what questions to
ask and when to do so. A survey conducted in the middle of a cold, wet
January, for instance, might produce significantly gloomier results
than one carried out in June.
So what might a list of questions contain? Measurements of national
well-being are already included in cross-border surveys carried out by
the UN or the OECD and include such indicators as a perceived lack of
corruption; low unemployment; high levels of education and income; and
the number of older people in the labour market. Using such criteria,
polls can try to paint a picture of what a country thinks about itself.
But when it comes to exploring on a national basis individual
perceptions of personal happiness, Mr Cameron could be walking into a
political quagmire. Questions such as “How much purpose does your life
have?” may be the stock in trade of psychiatrists and priests but are
dangerous for politicians because the answers are so unpredictable. As
John Stuart Mill said: “Ask yourself whether you are happy and you
cease to be so.”
Yet it seems that modern politicians have bought so heavily into the
idea that the state can do everything that they have deluded themselves
into believing it can deliver the most elusive of all human desires:
happiness. They have been persuaded that it is possible to measure life
satisfaction and that its achievement on a national scale should be a
goal of government. The difficulty is to establish an index that does
not remain static or decline. After all, which politician will enjoy
being accused of making his fellow citizens less happy than they were?
If measuring happiness is a relatively new phenomenon in the West, it
has underpinned the public policy of one country for almost 40 years.
The Kingdom of Bhutan has pursued the goal of “gross national
happiness” since 1972. Its main components include the promotion of
equitable socioeconomic development; preservation and promotion of
cultural values; and the establishment of good governance.
It probably helps, too, that there is little in the way of traffic,
commuting into major cities does not involve an hour-long journey
crushed together like sardines, television was banned until 1999 and
the Himalayas provide a visual backdrop to a stunning sub-tropical
landscape. No wonder they are happy.
Philip Johnston
* Politics »
* Economics »
* Comment »
* Personal View »
* David Cameron »
In Philip Johnston
There are 11,400 foreign nationals in the UK's jails
Deporting convicts is easier said than done
How can we measure happiness?; Clear blue laughter: David Cameron is a
firm believer in 'GWB’ – general well-being; Getty
How can we measure happiness?
One of the two European Parliament buildings, in Strasbourg
As we wield the axe, Europe asks for more
Mother pushing stroller by clothes shop on street
There's plenty of welfare on offer to the Poles
Top News Galleries
Advertisement
Follow The Telegraph on social media
Advertisement
IFRAME:
http://www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.face
book.com%2FTelegraphComment&width=300&height=258&colorscheme=light&show
_faces=true&header=false&stream=false&show_border=true
Sign up to our Politics email
Sign up for our Politics email
Read our latest comment and analysis
Advertisement
Advertisement
MORE
Moderation FAQs
* How we moderate reader comments
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* World News
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Health
* Jobs
* Sport
* Football
* Cricket
* Fantasy Football
* Culture
* Motoring
* Dating
* Finance
* Personal Finance
* Economics
* Markets
* Fashion
* Property
* Puzzles
* Comment
* My Telegraph
* Letters
* Columnists
* Technology
* Gardening
* Telegraph Shop
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Guidelines
* Advertising
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Women's Health articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Work
* Family
* Sex
* Life
* Health
* Wonder Women Columnists
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Women»
3. Women's Health
How happy are you? (And here's how to be happier)
Many of us would like to be happier in life. Here's a simple way to find out
how to make that happen, writes Anna Pitts
How to be happier
How to be happier
By Anna Pitts
9:13AM BST 01 May 2014
If we are happy, we are content. You often hear people say ‘I don’t
mind as long as I’m happy’ or ‘if you’re happy, I’m happy’. Our lives
seem to revolve around this invisible but powerful force and
understanding it is the key to, well, happiness.
Abstract notions are difficult to comprehend and realising what makes
you happy or figuring out how you can be happier is tricky. Sometimes,
you don’t realise there are problems, or can’t specify what they are,
until you sit down and analyse the situation. But, the good news is
this can now be done - the Graduate Recruitment Bureau has invented the
'wheel of happiness’ a handy, quick self-assessment exercise that makes
sense of your life in minutes.
Read: Can you be happy for 100 days?
This exercise splits your life in to eight key areas, displayed around
the circumference of the wheel. A line runs from each title to the
centre of the wheel forming a scale of 1-10. You then rate each aspect
of your life allowing you to see which areas are dragging you down-
something which you might not have been able to pinpoint just by
thinking about it. Connect the dots to see the shape of your ‘happiness
wheel’ (but don’t worry - it will never be perfectly round)! It will
probably change each time you do it too, which can be handy for
comparing different times of your life.
So, how does this work? Basically, you can give your own level of
happiness a number by adding up your scores in each category.
Technically, the highest happiness score is 80 (8 areas, rating 10 in
each) so you can use this to gauge how much happier you could
theoretically be.
Related Articles
* Could you be happy for 100 days in a row?
19 Mar 2014
* Why adultery could aid a happy marriage
14 Feb 2014
* The secret of a happy marriage: women wearing the trousers
18 Feb 2014
* Want a happy and healthy relationship in 2014? Here's how
03 Jan 2014
* Secret to a happy marriage? What's mine is ... mine
19 Feb 2014
The wheel of happiness
[happywheel_2868855c.jpg]
For example, the wheel above has the following figures:
Health: 9
Wealth: 6
Family and friends: 9
Fun and recreation: 8
Relationships: 6
Career: 5
Physical environment: 6
Personal growth: 8
Total happiness score: 57/80
Result: 71 per cent happy
Therefore, the things in this person’s life that seemingly don’t need
improving and make them the happiest are their health, friends and
family, fun and recreation and personal growth. On the other hand,
things dragging them down that might need addressing are their career,
wealth, physical environment and relationships as these all scored
below seven.
Once you’ve identified your ‘problem area’ it might be handy to further
analyse it with subsequent, more detailed wheels. Say you scored low in
‘friends and family’, create a wheel with the different people in your
life round the edge and rate your relationships with them to see which
are making you unhappy.
The beauty of the wheel is its versatility - it can take you 10 seconds
or 10 hours, depending on how long you fancy analysing your life! You
can make a complicated computer diagram or do a quick scribble on a
post-it note. You can tailor it - do a general analysis, then get down
to the nitty-gritty, and, if you wish, delve even deeper!
Doing this exercise means you can see and calculate how happy you
actually are, according to you - the only opinion that really counts.
You can then see the areas that you might want to address, getting you
on track to understanding your happiness.
Anna Pitts is a researcher at the Graduate Recruitment Bureau. Follow
her on Twitter @annaepitts or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Women's Health
* Lifestyle »
* Women »
* Women's Life »
In Women's Health
Stress levels are on the increase
Working in a male-dominated office made me ill with stress
Pavan Amara, the founder of My Body Back
Sex after rape: the woman helping rape victims enjoy sex again
As abuse survivors often feel powerless as adults, it is important to
remember how you want to approach recovery is your decision to make.
Inside Yarl's Wood: We fled the UK only to be locked up
Nine unusual ways to help you conceive
Lindsey Swift, 25, was fat-shamed whilst running
Fat-shamed female jogger: 'I know I'm fat - why do you think I'm running?'
Read more from Women
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
Advertisement
Advertisement
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
*
* Crossword
* Blogs
* Dating
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Expat Health articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Health»
4. Expat Health
How to have a life and get on in life, Danish-style
Why Denmark has the best work-life balance in the world and how our expat
columnist attempted to get in on the act
Work life balance
Denmark knows the importance of work-life balance
Helen Russell
By Helen Russell
6:21PM GMT 12 Feb 2016
Follow
“It’s me. I’m still at the office,” the voice on the end of the line
sighs: “I’ll be another hour. Don’t wait for me to eat.” My husband
apologises, sounding forlorn, before hanging up as I glance at the
clock.
It reads 5pm.
This is ‘pulling an all-nighter’, Danish-style.
With a working day typically ending at 4pm and overtime frowned on as
an indicator of inefficiency, Denmark has the best work-life balance in
the world. Rush hour starts at 3pm and by five-ish, most families
around my way are thinking about supper.
This came as a shock when we moved here from London for my husband’s
job in 2013. Working from home as a freelance journalist, I’d just
about had time to answer a few emails, sample some Danish pastries (in
the name of ‘cultural integration’) and brush the crumbs off my jumper
when my other half came crashing through the door. I took this to be a
first day exception, easing the new boy in gently. But then the same
thing happened the next day. And the one after that. And when Friday
rolled around, he was back at 2.30pm.
"Working from home as a freelance journalist, I’d just about had time
to answer a few emails, sample some Danish pastries and brush the
crumbs off my jumper when my other half came crashing through the door"
I was still in my pyjamas, hair unbrushed, coffee mugs scattered about
my desk, speaking, ironically, to a time management expert in Boston. I
had justified my slovenliness by telling myself that it was still
morning in America. Then my husband sauntered in.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. Was he sick? Had he lost his
job? Had there been some sort of nuclear disaster only communicated in
Danish? (my motto: ‘why think rationally when you can add a little
drama?’).
But no, he told me: “People just leave even earlier on Fridays.”
Less work, more Danish pastries, seems like a good deal Photo: Alamy
The official working week in Denmark is 37 hours – far fewer than the
50-plus weeks we were used to putting in back home – but a recent OECD
study showed that the average Dane only works 33 hours a week. Denmark
also comes top of the world in terms of worker motivation and has the
happiest workforce in the EU.
Yeah, because they’re massive slackers! was my initial response. But
then I discovered that workers are 12 per cent more productive when
they’re in a positive state of mind, making Denmark the second most
productive country in the EU.
“There’s this word Danes have,” my husband called out from the sofa
where he’d taken up residence to decide how to fill his 65-hour
weekend. “It’s ‘arbejdsglæde’,” he goes on: “from ‘arbejde’ the Danish
for work and ‘glæde’ - the word for happiness. It literally means
‘happiness at work’.” The word exists exclusively in Nordic languages,
I learn, and is considered essential to living the good life in
Denmark. “It’s like there’s an expectation that you’ll be happy at
work, so Danes make this a priority,” is how he puts it, through a
mouthful of crisps: “They don’t do presenteeism - you just get your
work done and go home.”
“It’s like there’s an expectation that you’ll be happy at work, so
Danes make this a priority. They don’t do presenteeism - you just get
your work done and go home.”
Of course Denmark’s not perfect. By any means. In many ways. And
there’s still workplace stress and even high levels of antidepressant
use. But this is because Danes expect arbejdsglæde: if they’re unhappy,
they do something about it. There isn’t the same culture of ‘soldiering
on’, for fear that being honest might impact negatively on your career,
that I’ve experienced in the UK. In Denmark, you get help: you take six
months off, after which you’re welcomed back into the fold. And with a
short working week, you can have a life and get on in life.
• Having a baby Scandi-style
• Welcome to Denmark - the most shameless nation on the planet
This was a radical concept for a die-hard Londoner to get her head
around. As a freelancer with no clear demarcation of working hours or
even ‘office space’ (the kitchen; the living room; the bath, even –
anywhere will do), I found it hard to switch off. So in the spirit of
living Danishly, I decided take the no-nonsense Viking approach.
After a hard day at the not-at-all-coalface, I poured myself a
medicinal glass of wine, hovered the cursor over ‘Shut Down’ on my
laptop, and clicked. There was silence. I could hear my fridge whirring
and next-door’s cat having a fight with a hedge. But the world did not
end. And I had a startling realisation that I was not nearly as
indispensible as I thought I was. This, I decided, was A Good Thing.
Work-life balance: one. Presenteeism: nil.
• Helen Russell is the author of The Year of Living Danishly –
Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country (Icon, £8.99)
10 places where expats are most satisfied with their work-life balance
telegraph.co.uk
Follow @telegraph
Advertisement
EXPAT HOME»
Telegraph Expat: news, features and advice for expatriates around the
world, including offshore finance, property, education, health and the
Expat Directory
Before You Go
Expat Money
Expat News
Expat Life
Expat Property
Expat Health
Expat Education
Expat Directory
MyExpat
Expat Email Bulletin
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
MYEXPAT GROUP BLOG»
Annabel Kantaria
* Annabel Kantaria has lived in Dubai since long before most people
knew where it was
Anna Nicholas
* Anna Nicholas blogs about life in rural Majorca
Stephen Clarke
* Stephen Clarke gives the inside scoop on his home city of Paris
Mark Johnson
* Mark Johnson splits his time between south-west France and London
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for Women's Business articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Work
* Family
* Sex
* Life
* Health
* Wonder Women Columnists
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Women»
3. Women's Business
Monday blues? There's no better time to start an extra-curricular activity
Research has found that having wide-ranging interests outside of work -
particularly volunteering - can help improve your productivity and wellbeing.
Josephine Fairley urges us all to embrace 'Corporate Social Opportunity'
Happiness tip: if you know a good joke, don’t post it on Facebook. If
it gets no likes, you’ll be miserable
Josephine Fairley offers advice on how to be happier at work (and
out) Photo: Alamy
Josephine Fairley
By Josephine Fairley
12:40PM GMT 10 Nov 2014
Follow
I heard a wonderful phrase the other day: Corporate Social Opportunity.
Simply, it means taking the chance to do something positivem outside of
your workplace, which will benefit not only your own wellbeing, but
that of someone else.
It's so much better than the dry, tired term ‘Corporate Social
Responsibility’, which makes volunteering sound like something
companies have to do to look good in their annual report.
Not so.
More than ever, we're told, young people want to work for businesses
they consider 'ethical' - to have some sense of social responsiblity.
Volunteering is part of this culture and can open up a wealth of
opportunities for a company and its staff. It can increase job
satisfaction and productivity (plus, it gets you out of the office and
stops you being sedentary for a day).
That's why it's vital that you - and your employer - grab the chance
with both hands.
Related Articles
* A man sleeping underneath his desk in his cubicle at work
* Knackered parents in office: Don't hate them
01 Dec 2014
* Social media blamed for crisis of confidence in schoolgirls
10 Nov 2014
* How to have a sense of humour in the office
17 Nov 2014
* Work bad behaviour: Would you cheat your way to the top?
03 Nov 2014
Once upon a time, employees might have been taken on an assault course
(or even paint-balling), as a team-building initiative. How wasteful.
(Not to mention painful).
How much better, I’ve always reasoned, to do something worthwhile:
painting a homeless shelter or an old age people’s day care centre,
doing some guerilla gardening: anything ‘hands-on’, which helps to
build a set of shared values as well as a set of shared
responsibilities.
And why stop at volunteering? Karen Blackett, CEO of agency Mediacom,
allows her staff one 'inspiration day' a month - where her employees
can learn a new skill and report back to their colleagues. Anything
from abseiling to pottery goes - it doesn't have to be a team activity.
Having an extra-curricular activity, she reasons, makes you more
interesting and inspiring.
That's why I was delighted to be invited, last week, to the launch of a
wonderful new initiative, dreamed up by Kids Company’s Camila
Batmanghelidjh and John Frieda (the many responsible for many a ‘Good
Hair Day’).
'The School of Confidence' buddies adult volunteers with young people
who need – yes – a confidence boost, helping them acquire the
life-skills required to integrate successfully into society. Broken
homes are a given – but all sorts of other abuse is rife, too.
It couldn't come at a better time, given today's new figures showing a
dramatic fall in confidence and self-esteem in teenage girls, blamed on
cyberbullying and increased social media use. Not to mention, the MPs
committee who, last week, warned that more young people than ever are
seeking counselling for mental health issues.
Lawyers, writers and business dynamos are now offering one-on-one
sessions that seek to transmit some of the knowledge and confidence
it’s taken to get them where they are - while offering an all-important
shoulder to lean on. Frieda is actually there himself, volunteering a
five full days a week.
Hats off, I say.
Having cashed out of his haircare brand (to the tune of a reported £260
million) 12 years back; this is a man who has clearly found his new
mission, and it goes way beyond the perfect blow-dry. But several of my
fellow lunchgoers looked downcast.
‘There’s no way my boss would give me time off to volunteer,’ observed
a couple.
It's a shame. To me, any organisation which doesn’t allow its staff the
opportunity to do some good, as well as make some money, is missing a
trick. My own observation is that the emotional rewards from feeling
like you’re making a difference to someone else, in a hands-on way, are
huge. (We did, after all, mostly grow up on a diet of Blue Peter, which
gets kids in the mindset of ‘doing some good’ almost as soon as they’re
out of Pampers.)
Studies have shown that millennials, in particular, are influenced by a
company’s sense of purpose, rather than a higher salary, when it comes
to deciding which job to take – and it also leads to better retention.
That’s win, win, win, in my book.
Not convinced?
It's backed up yet again by a brand new piece of research. Join In - an
‘Olympic legacy' charity which offers opportunities in community sport
- has observed that volunteers’ personal wellbeing was twice as high as
those who had never volunteered. In fact, they scored three to four
times higher, when asked if they felt part of their community, and
whether they trusted people within it.
From everything I’ve seen, allowing employees to volunteer works true
magic. It's why I'd recommend that you get involved - at whatever level
you can. Even the smalllest contribution can make a huge change to your
happiness, motivation and stress-levels. Not to mention the lives of
others.
And to those bosses who might be unsympathetic to the idea of their
staff giving some hours every month to becoming a ‘Confidence Building
Friend’ (or indeed, to do any other activity)?
I say: get with the Corporate Social Opportunity programme. Remember
what happened to the first round of dinosaurs.
Women's Business
* Women »
* Wonder Women Columnists »
* Josephine Fairley »
In Women's Business
How two women became CEOs through job sharing
Stress levels are on the increase
Working in a male-dominated office made me ill with stress
Women work two hours for free a day. Prepare for payback
Constantly feeling the pressure?
How to go back to work after a holiday - and beat the blues
Lena Dunham gives advice in new youtube mini-series Ask Lena.
'My dream job is turning out to be a nightmare'
Read more from Women
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from the web
Loading
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
More from The Telegraph
More from the web
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
*
* Crossword
* Blogs
* Dating
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#RSS Feed for France articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* USA
* Asia
* China
* Europe
* Middle East
* Australasia
* Africa
* South America
* Central Asia
* KCL Big Question
* Expat
* Honduras
* France
* Francois Hollande
* Germany
* Angela Merkel
* Russia
* Vladimir Putin
* Greece
* Spain
* Italy
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. World News»
4. Europe»
5. France
Nicolas Sarkozy wants to measure economic success in 'happiness'
Nicolas Sarkozy has cemented the French reputation for enjoying the good life
by proposing the country's economic progress should be measured in
"happiness".
Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed measuring economic progress in terms of
'happiness'
Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed measuring economic progress in terms of
'happiness' Photo: AFP
By Henry Samuel in Paris
6:24PM BST 14 Sep 2009
The French president has announced a "revolutionary" plan to make joy
and wellbeing the key indicators of growth, rather than traditional
yardsticks like a country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The new assessment will be based on figures relating to work-life
balance, recycling, household chores and even levels of traffic
congestion.
Critics have pointed out that measuring "happiness" will make France's
struggling economy, famous for its short working week and generous
social benefits, look better.
Mr Sarkozy asked US economist Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel
economics prize and a critic of free-market economists, and Armatya Sen
of India, who won the 1998 Nobel Prize for work on developing
countries, to come up with the new measures.
Their report recommended a shift in emphasis on gross domestic product
to ones which measure wellbeing and "sustainability".
Related Articles
* Nicolas Sarkozy: how french happiness will be measured
14 Sep 2009
Mr Sarkozy said he would "fight to make all international organisations
change their statistical systems by following the recommendations" of
the report.
He said: "A great revolution is waiting for us. For years, people said
that finance was a formidable creator of wealth, only to discover one
day that it accumulated so many risks that the world almost plunged
into chaos.'
"The crisis doesn't only make us free to imagine other models, another
future, another world. It obliges us to do so."
When the measures are adopted, France will move a step closer to the
remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, currently the only country in the
world which puts happiness at the heart of government policy.
In Bhutan, the government must consider every policy for its impact on
"Gross National Happiness". This has led to a ban on advertising,
wrestling channels, plastic bags and traffic lights.
Mr Sarkozy told a packed hall at Paris' Sorbonne university the world
could have predicted last year's economic crisis if it had looked at
happiness, wellbeing and sustainability.
The French government is now planning to include many of the
"happiness" indicators in its regular growth statistics.
His report explains that dry economic statistics alone are no longer
sufficient. "Traffic jams may increase GDP as a result of the increased
use of gasoline, but obviously not the quality of life," it writes.
The report also suggests "measuring the proportion of one's time in
which the strongest reported feeling is a negative one", such as pain
or worry. Conversely, positive emotions such as joy should also be
charted.
Leisure should be part of the equation too as "consuming the same
bundle of goods and services but working 1,500 hours a year instead of
2,000 hours a year implies an increase in one's standard of living".
More prominence should be given to the distribution of income and
wealth, as well as to access to education and health.
Others aspects to be factored in are hobbies, social relationships and
levels of personal debt.
Sustainability is vital, said the report, to factor in countries or
individuals who over-consume their economic wealth or damage the
environment for the future.
The president is rumoured to have delayed the report's release as he
thought discussing happiness in the depths of the economic crisis might
have been unpopular.
But with France showing timid signs of recovery, the president decided
the world was ready.
France
* News »
* World News »
* Europe »
Related Partners
* The best way to transfer money overseas
In France
Work began on Monday to clear a shanty town outside Calais used by
migrants trying to reach Britain after the French government won a
legal battle to dismantle part of the Jungle camp.
Calais Jungle evictions, in pictures
Frontman Jesse Hughes blows a kiss before the start of the concert
Eagles of Death Metal in concert
Sculptures decorated with oranges and lemons in Menton on the French
Riviera ahead of the start of the
The Lemon Festival of Menton
The Eiffel Tower is lit with the blue, white and red colours of the
French flag in Paris, France to pay tribute to the victims of a series
of deadly attacks on Friday in the French capital. The City of Paris
motto
Paris: 25 images that define a week of terror
Waterloo Commemorations
The Chauvet cave replica
Cave paintings recreated
The supertide submerges Mont Saint-Michel's narrow causeway, cutting
off the historic commune
The Tide is High
Top news galleries
Advertisement
IFRAME:
http://www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.faceb
ook.com%2Ftelegraph.co.uk&width=292&connections=0&stream=false&header=f
alse&height=62
Telegraph on Facebook
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_INT_300x
550.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from the web
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
#alternate RSS Feed for UK News articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018 | UK News feed
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. UK News
Women happier if they work part-time
By Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent
12:01AM BST 23 Sep 2007
Women are happiest with part-time jobs that allow them to combine work
and family life, a study has found.
The researchers conducted what they call the first detailed academic
study of British couples and their work-life balance. They found that
women who worked part-time reported higher levels of satisfaction with
their job than those who worked full time.
All working women reported greater "life satisfaction" than housewives
with no paid job. The findings held true both for mothers and childless
women. Men were happier working full time.
Employment experts said the findings highlighted the need for more
part-time jobs. Of the 13 million British women who have jobs, about 44
per cent work part time, compared with only 10 per cent of working men.
The researchers were surprised at their findings on job satisfaction,
because part-time work has traditionally been concentrated in low-paid,
low-skilled occupations.
Related Articles
* Childless women 'hostile to working mums'
19 Sep 2007
* Women lose out on jobs 'because of maternity laws'
22 Sep 2007
The study was based on interviews with 3,800 couples who were
questioned repeatedly over an eight-year period in the British
Household Panel Survey.
The report was compiled by Professor Alison Booth of Essex University –
a mother-of-two who went part time after the birth of her children but
now works full-time – and Jan van Ours of Tilburg University in the
Netherlands. They concluded: "Women prefer part-time jobs. Women with
children are significantly happier if they have a job."
Emma Stewart, a co-founder of the Women Like Us employment agency,
which recruits through a word-of-mouth network among primary schools
parents, said: "Half of the women who come to us had 10 years of work
experience before they had children, and they don't want to let that go
to waste.
"They want to find work that is fulfilling but they want to fit their
work around their home life.
UK News
* News »
In UK News
Telegraph View
George Bush
Telegraph Obituaries
Latest Politics News
The Viking longboat burns during the annual Up Helly Aa festival in
Lerwick, Shetland Islands
Up Helly Aa Festival
A husky waits for practice with its sledder
Aviemore Sled Dog Rally
Top news galleries
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
Sign up to our Frontpage news email
Frontpage email sign up
Advertisement
Advertisement
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* News
* UK
* World
* Politics
* Science
* Education
* Health
* Brexit
* Royals
* Investigations
* Matt
* Front Bench newsletter
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* News
Finding love makes you happier than a pay rise, study finds
*
*
*
*
Save
Finding a partner is one of the key life changes to make you happy, a
study found Finding a partner is one of the key life changes to make
you happy, a study found
* Hannah Furness
12 December 2016 • 12:01am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Hannah Furness
Follow the topics within this article
* Happiness
* Health
* Mental health
* Depression
* Anxiety
Jane Austen famously wrote that a single man in possession of a good
fortune must be in want of a wife.
Her words, as ever, have proved ahead of her time, as a new study
reveals having a partner has a greater impact on happiness than getting
a pay rise.
Finding love and enjoying good mental health are by far the most
important keys to a happy life, a study by the London School of
Economics has found.
Both factors were found to be more significant contributors to an
individual's overall contentment than economic factors, including
doubling one’s salary, according to analysis by the LSE.
A pay rise will only do so much to improve your mood
A pay rise will only do so much to improve your mood
The study was based on several international surveys which asked
200,000 people around the globe to determine how different factors had
an impact on their wellbeing.
The investigation found that doubling a person's income raised their
happiness by under 0.2 points, on a scale of 0-10.
It suggested individuals care largely about their income relative to
other people, so general increases in income have very small impacts on
the overall happiness of the people.
Conversely, unemployment reduces the happiness of each unemployed
person by about 0.7 points on average, further creating “fear and
unease among those in work” and affecting the whole community.
Mental health is the biggest single predictor of individual happiness.
Television shows like First Dates may boost happiness by pairing people
off
Television shows like First Dates may boost happiness by pairing people
off
The study found suffering from depression or anxiety disorders is more
common than unemployment and it also reduces happiness by 0.7 points.
Having a partner also raises happiness by 0.6 points, and losing a
partner by separation or death reduces happiness by a roughly equal
amount, the study found.
“People need to be needed, and to be in meaningful relationships,”
authors said.
The findings, researchers suggests could go on influence how
governments treat their voters, with a shift in emphasis likely to
produce better outcomes for happiness.
Unemployment had a negative effect on the happiness of the whole
community
Unemployment had a negative effect on the happiness of the whole
community
“Happiness is hugely affected by the ethos of a society, which affects
everyone in it,” the report found.
“For example, happiness is higher in societies where people trust each
other. If those who trust others rises from 0 per cent to 100 per cent,
happiness rises by 1 whole point.
“Freedom is also a crucial determinant of happiness. So no-one who
favours happiness should favour a totalitarian state.”
Richard Layard, co-author of the report, said: "'The evidence shows
that the things that matter most for our happiness and for our misery
are our social relationships and our mental and physical health.
Feeling depression or anxiety, not unsurprisingly, was found to have a
negative effect on wellbeing
Feeling depression or anxiety, not unsurprisingly, was found to have a
negative effect on wellbeing
“This demands a new role for the state - not 'wealth creation' but
'wellbeing creation'.
"In the past, the state has successively taken on poverty,
unemployment, education and physical health.
But equally important now are domestic violence, alcoholism, depression
and anxiety conditions, alienated youth, exam-mania and much else.
These should become centre stage."
The findings will be discussed at a conference on wellbeing at the LSE
on December 12 and 13, co-organised with the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other leading institutions.
*
*
*
*
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
READ MORE ABOUT:
* Happiness
* Health
* Mental health
* Depression
* Anxiety
* Show more
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
News latest
1. Stickers are set up in protest on the entrance of the police
station in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, Wednesday, December
19th.
19 Dec 2018, 7:27pm
Police stations closed as French officers demand £248m of unpaid overtime in
day of protest
2. A photo taken from the Majestic hotel on May 15, 2016 shows a
general view of the Croisette in Cannes
19 Dec 2018, 7:16pm
Invasive beetle set to wipe out palm trees of French Riviera
3. Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:57pm
Gallery: Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Premium
4. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Petrov have been named as
the suspects
19 Dec 2018, 6:41pm
'We never forget and we never give up', Met Chief vows to bring Salisbury
poisoners to justice
5. UN
19 Dec 2018, 6:29pm
Husband of British UN diplomat arrested on accusations of domestic violence
after diplomatic immunity waived
6. 02:16
19 Dec 2018, 6:28pm
Comment: Did a stupid man say ‘stupid woman’? Well, at least it’s a break
from Brexit
Michael Deacon
Premium
Michael Deacon
7. christmas
19 Dec 2018, 6:21pm
Shoppers predicted to spend £1bn on Christmas day for the first time
8. UK aid is less effective than other countries because of its focus
on poorly governed states
19 Dec 2018, 6:20pm
Focus on fragile states linked to UK slipping down aid effectiveness ranking
9. Matt cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:08pm
Gallery: Matt cartoons, December 2018
Premium
10. The furore over non-disclosure agreements began with Harvey
Weinstein
19 Dec 2018, 6:05pm
Women being forced to sign gagging clauses which stop them talking to their
doctor, MPs hear
11. Matthew Glynn was jailed for five years
19 Dec 2018, 5:49pm
'Far right' bombmaker, found with 23 bombs and 'hate board' featuring the
Royal Family, jailed
12. 02:38
19 Dec 2018, 5:43pm
Jeremy Corbyn called back to Commons to deny calling Theresa May a stupid
woman as sexism row dominates PMQs
Premium
13. As part of the annual Old Colwyn fancy dress pub crawl, in North
Wales, some participants dressed up as African beach traders and
rappers from Run DMC
19 Dec 2018, 4:39pm
Hospital charity refuses fundraisers' cash who 'blacked up'
14. Burglar admits breaking into funeral home (pictured) to have sex
with corpse
19 Dec 2018, 4:10pm
Burglar admits breaking into funeral home to have sex with corpse
15. A UK border at Gatwick airport
19 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Immigration White Paper sets out foreign worker rules after Brexit
Premium
16. No country in the EU or EEA met the 75 per cent target for flu
vaccine targets
19 Dec 2018, 3:41pm
EU countries fail to meet flu vaccination targets among vulnerable people
17. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya found guilty of lying to police to avoid
speeding charge
19 Dec 2018, 3:29pm
Labour MP Fiona Onasanya faces possible jail sentence after being found
guilty of lying to police
18. 01:34
19 Dec 2018, 3:28pm
Can super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be Manchester United's saviour one more
time?
19. Banksy's latest piece in Port Talbot, South Wales
19 Dec 2018, 3:24pm
Banksy claims Port Talbot mural is his latest work
20. Alexander Perepilichnyy
19 Dec 2018, 3:20pm
Russian billionaire could have been poisoned, coroner says as he highlights
police failings
21. Latvian EU Commission vice-president in charge the Euro, Social
Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital
Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a press conference
at The European Commission headquarters in Brussels, on December
19, 2018
19 Dec 2018, 2:43pm
Brussels rules out 'managed no deal Brexit' and warns of flight, freight and
financial havoc
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Mother Tongue articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Wednesday 19 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Work
* Family
* Sex
* Life
* Health
* Wonder Women Columnists
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Women»
3. Mother Tongue
Secret of a man’s happiness: do the dishes for a quiet life
They may be written off down the pub as “under the thumb”, but husbands who
do more chores in the home are happier than those who do not, according to
experts at Cambridge University.
Secret of a man’s happiness: do the dishes for a quiet life
Secret of a man’s happiness: do the dishes for a quiet life Photo:
CORBIS
By John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor
6:30AM BST 27 Jun 2012
Follow
A study of men across seven countries found that those who shouldered a
bigger share of domestic responsibilities had a better sense of
wellbeing and enjoyed a better work-life balance.
But experts suggested that, while this may be partly because they felt
less guilty, the main reason could be that they had simply learnt the
secret of a quiet life.
Sociologists used data from the regular European Social Survey which
compares the lifestyles of people across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Germany, France and Britain.
All of the participants are asked standard questions used to measure
their happiness or wellbeing such as whether they feel “fulfilled” in
life and whether they wake up feeling refreshed.
They were also asked a series of questions designed to measure their
levels of “work-life conflict”.
Related Articles
* Good marriage and puppy secret to long life
14 Nov 2012
* Why the Germans are far-sighted, Italians impatient and French
depressive - according to studies
03 Apr 2013
* Women master cookery at the age of 55, says survey
31 Oct 2012
* Men sharing household chores
31 Jul 2011
* British women ‘leisure queens’ of the Western world, international
study says
05 Mar 2014
* Household chores bad for heart
13 Jan 2011
The answers from men and women were then compared with separate
questions dealing with how much time they spent on tasks like cooking,
washing, shopping or DIY.
The researchers expected to find that where men shouldered more of the
burden, women’s happiness levels were higher.
In fact they found that it was the men who were happier while their
wives and girlfriends appeared to be largely unmoved.
Those men who did more housework generally reported less work-life
conflict and were scored slightly higher for wellbeing overall.
Prof Jacqueline Scott, professor of empirical sociology at Cambridge,
co-author of a book on gender roles in which the study is included,
said this may be because more men support gender equality than in the
past.
But she added that it may also be that women nowadays are more likely
to be vocal in making their feelings about lazy husbands known.
“Times are changing,” she said.
“As a more equitable philosophy becomes the ideal, if you are
experiencing something which doesn’t live up to that to are more ready
to express dissatisfaction – and certainly that is what is perceived by
men.
“They are picking up on more family conflict.”
She added: “There were really good reasons from the literature for
thinking that it would be women who really benefited if the men did
more but that is not what we found and that is what is interesting.
“I think that really is because by and large women have taken it for
granted that they would have to do a double shift.
“It is not that their wellbeing rises if he is doing more on this
measure.”
Mother Tongue
* News »
* UK News »
* John Bingham »
In Mother Tongue
Sexting part of everyday life for half of teenagers
Pornography has changed the landscape of adolescence
Bryony Gordon: How to throw a cheap kids birthday party for under £35
How to throw a children's birthday party - without going viral
Lucy Cavendish's dog has been very unwell
'"I will give her an injection and she will drift off," the vet says'
Bryony Gordon's daughter is a toddler
'I am an adult. Finally, an adult!'
On her family holiday in Mauritius Bryony Gordon experiences a storm
'The mountain behind the resort has been swallowed by clouds and mist'
Read more from Women
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
Advertisement
Advertisement
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
*
* Crossword
* Blogs
* Dating
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* News
* Science
* Telegraph
* News
* Science
Give workers 'breathing breaks' to boost happiness, says expert
*
*
*
*
*
Save
A woman breathes outside Only pregnant women are trained in breathing
even though it could boost happiness and productivity
* Sarah Knapton, Science Editor
20 March 2017 • 6:30am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Sarah Knapton
Follow the topics within this article
* United Nations
* Sugar
* Happiness
* Anxiety
* Depression
* International Day of Happiness
Employees should be allowed ‘breathing breaks’ throughout the day to
increase their productivity and happiness, a leading expert has said.
Author and happiness guru Max Strom, who offers lunchtime breathing
workshops for office workers in central London, claims that calming the
breath can have a huge impact on well-being.
Max Strom
Max Strom
Ahead of the United Nations International Day of Happiness day he
argues that while smokers are allowed regular breaks outdoors,
non-smokers are often forced to sit at their desks for long periods of
time when they should be having regular trips into the fresh air.
“Pregnant women are taught to breathe because it is so beneficial when
coping with physical and emotional distress, but nobody else is,” he
said.
“So when smokers go out for their break, the rest of the workforce
should be allowed to follow them out, to go and breathe in the fresh
air. It would have such a big impact.
“Happiness is something we all want, and yet nobody is educated about
how to achieve it. Nobody really thinks what makes them happy, they
just think about what gives them pleasure. It’s not the same thing. We
should teach happiness in schools.
Max teaching delegates at the World Government Summit in Dubai his
Inner Axis breathing technique
Max teaching delegates at the World Government Summit in Dubai his
Inner Axis breathing technique
“In the western world there are probably around 40 per cent of people
who are suffering from anxiety or depression, because happiness is
plummeting.
“And it’s largely driven by the rise of technology. People are more
connected than ever, and yet they have never been more isolated. People
are now starving for intimacy.”
Mr Strom, author of the book ‘There Is No App For Happiness’, claims
the advent of air conditioning, the television and the internet are the
three worst technological culprits for breeding loneliness.
Air conditioning or central heating has allowed people to feel far more
comfortable in their own homes, meaning they need to venture out less.
Likewise, television and the internet have allowed people to
communicate without ever meeting.
Max Strom teaching yoga in London
Max Strom teaching yoga in London Credit: Karen Yeomans
“The problem is 90 per cent of human communication is not done through
words, it’s visual,” he added.
“You can’t tell tone of voice, or see facial expressions. So when you
communicate using text or email, you’re having 10 per cent of a
relationship. We now have to rely on emoticons to get the true meaning
across.
“The internet is the new white sugar. The more you use it, the more you
want to use it, and the worse it is for you. People waste so much time
on technology and what they don’t realise is that time is lifespan.
When you kill time, you are killing yourself.”
Max Strom teaching
Max Strom teaching
International Day of Happiness was founded following the UN Conference
on Happiness in 2012. It is a campaign cooridinated by Action for
Happiness, which brings together groups for, 160 different countries to
improve well-being.
Mark Williamson, Director of Action for Happiness said: "We urgently
need a change in priorities.
“Ultimately we want to help create a society that puts people’s overall
happiness first, rather than focusing just on economic growth. We want
to encourage people away from self-obsessed materialistic and
unfulfilling behaviour towards a more collaborative and loving way of
living.”
Mr Strom said people could take the first step by demanding that
technology simplifies life, not complicates it. He also suggests
working out what makes them happy, and then telling family and friends.
“Some technology is good. The washing machine has hugely freed up time
for people, for example” he said.
“But it’s important to define happiness at the deepest level. If you
never go on this journey and learn what makes you happy, you will never
find it.”
*
*
*
*
*
Follow the Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
READ MORE ABOUT:
* United Nations
* Sugar
* Happiness
* Anxiety
* Depression
* International Day of Happiness
* Show more
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow the Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Science latest
1. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome may be triggered by the immune system
17 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome may be triggered by hyperactive immune system, study
suggests
2. Father putting up Christmas lights with children
14 Dec 2018, 2:22pm
The Mighty Girl effect: why fathering a daughter protects men against sexism
3. An Alzheimer's brain (left) compared with a healthy brain
13 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Alzheimer’s could be triggered by medical procedures, study suggests
4. A toxic mix of stress and over-indulgence can trigger a heart
attack
12 Dec 2018, 11:30pm
Why 10pm on Christmas Eve (or Christmas Day) could be deadly
5. The bluestones of Stonehenge may have been dragged by animals
12 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Was Stonehenge built by cow power? Study suggests Neolithic farmers had
mastered animal traction
6. Wine in a glass
12 Dec 2018, 5:15pm
Glass-a-day drinkers less likely than teetotallers to end up in hospital
7. Aleph Farms used natural beef cells to grow the three dimensional
structure of a minute steak
12 Dec 2018, 4:30pm
First lab-grown steak unveiled as scientists say it will be available to buy
within two years
8. 80 per cent of people aged between 11 and 30 struggle with acne
12 Dec 2018, 3:51pm
Acne treatment on horizon as scientists find gene areas linked to skin
condition
9. The little sculpture is thought to represent Cernunnos the Celtic
god of nature, life and the underworld.
12 Dec 2018, 12:01am
2000-year-old figurine of a horned Celtic fertility god found in Roman
settlement
10. Chickens are now so ubiquitous on the planet that their bones will
be written into the fossil record
12 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Age of the chicken: why the Anthropocene will be geologically egg-ceptional
11. Scientists fear that too much food in formative years may rewrite
the genetic code
11 Dec 2018, 7:10pm
Overeating in teenage years may damage lifespan of future grandsons, study
suggests
12. A Christmas pudding
10 Dec 2018, 11:30pm
How long does it take to work off the Christmas pudding? Longer than you
think
13. Flu is far more dangerous for people with heart problems
10 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Why the annual flu jab could help people with heart problems live longer
14. A nematode worm in a biofilm of microorganisms found in Kopanang
gold mine in South Africa, lives 1.4 km below the surface
10 Dec 2018, 6:42pm
'Zombie' bacteria hint life on Earth began deep underground
15. 02:54
[Voyager%20858-small.png]
10 Dec 2018, 6:37pm
Voyager 2 leaves Solar System, becoming only second man-made object to enter
interstellar space
16. Farms are often responsible for polluting rivers with slurry and
pesticides
08 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Countryside becoming 'lawless', say expers, as Environment Agency cuts
inspections by one third
17. Many people don't comply with statins but upping their dose could
help them see the benefits, researchers believe
07 Dec 2018, 5:35pm
Increasing statin dose could prevent thousands of heart attacks and stokes a
year
18. Despite requesting contact with 12 people a week, most people only
have the brain power for 7 interactions
07 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Seven is the lucky number in web dating...but you shouldn't take it
personally if you're number eight
19. Demis Hassabis the co-founder and CEO of DeepMind
06 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
DeepMind's AlphaZero now showing human-like intuition in historical 'turning
point' for AI
20. Not all eligible women make it in for a smear test
05 Dec 2018, 11:30pm
Women should be offered DIY cervical cancer testing kits, study says
21. Genetically modified pigs were used to avoid rejection
05 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Pig hearts could soon be tested in humans after scientists pass important
milestone
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Women in Leadership
Happiness at work: what we can learn from the Swiss
Harriet Minter
Switzerland's citizens regularly rank among the world's happiest, so
what makes them so cheerful during their working hours?
Contact author
@harrietminter
Fri 11 Oct 2013 08.00 BST First published on Fri 11 Oct 2013 08.00 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Box of chocolates
[ ] Swiss people are some of the happiest around – maybe it's something
to do with chocolate? Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
It's Friday morning and the weekend is just a few hours away. So are
you feeling happy? Probably not. The Fulfilment@Work report from
Randstad says that while women enjoy their jobs a tiny bit more than
men, only 17% would say they were very fulfilled.
But fear not, there might be a way to make your working week better.
Reports from the OECD and the UN suggest that Switzerland's citizens
regularly rank amongst some of the happiest in the world. So could we
all be happier at work if we were a bit more Swiss?
According to the OECD world happiness rankings, the average Swiss
citizen works 1,632 hours a year, 144 less than the world average. Add
to this an average wage $7,000 more than the world average (although a
complicated tax system and very expensive Starbucks might mean you
don't end up better off) and it seems the first rule of working more
Swiss is do less for more. Which sounds good to me.
Nicola Mendelsohn famously became Facebook vice-president for EMEA on a
four-day week, but can it work for the rest of us?
In a recent article, Andrew Simms argued that a four-day week increases
happiness and could cut carbon emissions. But apart from the banker
Simms found, who does 50% less work for just 20% less pay, the dream of
a better work-life balance looks unlikely.
Especially when you discover that part-time workers earn less and the
UK has some of the longest hours in Europe.
So given that our first option is as likely as being able to find a
tuneful cuckoo clock, we need to turn to another Swiss staple,
neutrality. Could adopting a neutral approach to office politics help
you get ahead? It would certainly be more peaceful and give you more
time to actually get on with your job. Win/win, right? Wrong.
In an article for the Harvard Business Review, the authors of Break
Your Own Rules are clear: "The bottom line is that it's just not
possible to opt out of the political game at work and still win in your
career." So far being Switzerland isn't really working out as a career
strategy.
But there is hope. As well as earning more and working less, the OECD
also ranks Switzerland highly for the connectivity of its citizens,
with 94% of them stating that they know someone they could rely on in a
time of crisis. Feeling connected to each other doesn't just bring
happiness in our social lives, but in our working lives too.
In his book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, author Alain de Botton
explains that a job feels meaningful "whenever it allows us to generate
delight or alleviate suffering in others." Unless you're working in
healthcare or as Lindt chocolatier, this might not seem like a daily
occurrence, but by bringing a little joy to your colleagues you could
also push your own happiness level up to Swiss proportions.
Consulting firm DHW (Delivering Happiness at Work) claims you can bring
a smile to your team's faces by making sure that everyone knows your
company's core values, having an open and accessible CEO and by making
sure you tell people when they're doing a good job.
While shorter hours and a politics-free world might be the dream, if
you're looking to find a little more fulfilment in your workplace you
could do worse than just handing out a compliment or two, noticing when
a colleague is having a bad day, or simply putting the Swiss into
chocolate and sharing it round the office. Who knew being happy was so
easy?
Sign up to become a member of the Women in Leadership community here
for more comment, analysis and best practice direct to your inbox
Topics
* Women in Leadership
* Women in business
* Staff retention
* Management
* Policy
* Work/life
* comment
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Women+in+Leadership%2CWomen+i
n+business%2CStaff+retention%2CManagement%2CPolicy%2CWork%2Flife]
#alternate RSS Feed for How about that? articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Wednesday 19 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. News Topics»
4. How about that?
Revealed: the 10 UK cities where workers are happiest
Does your city make the list?
Norwich - home to the UK's happiest workers
Norwich - home to the UK's happiest workers Photo: PA/Chris Radburn
Adam Boult
By Adam Boult
8:50PM GMT 02 Feb 2016
Follow
According to a recent study by 'business psychologists' OPP, the UK
city where people are most happy in their jobs is Norwich.
OPP, European distributor of Myers-Briggs personality test, questioned
more than 2,500 workers about their levels of job satisfaction.
36 per cent of respondents said they felt more satisfied at work than
they did the previous year. Workload, salary and management changes
were listed as the three most important factors influencing job
satisfaction.
Lowest levels of job satisfaction were reported among workers in
Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow.
The industries with the unhappiest workers were found to be finance,
followed closely by retail, catering & leisure and manufacturing &
utilities
Highest levels of satisfaction were found among those working in
architecture, engineering, building, sales, media and marketing.
IFRAME: http://renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/56b115748b03d1a947fbd50a
John Hackston, Head of Research at OPP, said: “Although it is great to
see employee happiness on the rise, our research shows that job
satisfaction doesn’t fully translate into feeling successful at work."
"Employees highlight that improving communication within organisations
is particularly important. Effective communication will not only
improve performance and decision-making but also enables employees to
better understand the organisation’s strategy.
"By addressing the factors that affect workplace satisfaction,
businesses can help their employees achieve their full potential."
A 2014 study by researchers at the University of Warwick found that
'happy people were 12 per cent more productive than “normal” people.
• Are happy workers more productive?
During the research volunteers were either shown a comedy clip making
them laugh or given free chocolate or fruit as an incentive.
They were then given a series of arithmetic tasks. The happy group just
did better. The unhappy group (weeded out through a series of
interviews to ascertain if they were suffering from tragedy in their
family life) did worse.
• Nine easy ways to make yourself happier at work
UK cities with the happiest employees
1. Norwich
2. Liverpool
3. Birmingham
4. Brighton
5. Plymouth
6. Sheffield
7. Nottingham
8. Manchester
9. Southampton
10. Bristol
thetelegraphnews
Follow @telegraphnews
Top news galleries
Advertisement
IFRAME:
//www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.
com%2FTelegraph.co.uk&width&height=62&colorscheme=light&show_faces=fals
e&header=true&stream=false&show_border=true
Telegraph on Facebook
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Business
* SME Home
* SME Home
* SME News
* Quick Guides
* Security Risks
* Innovation
* Insights
* Money
* Wellbeing
* HP Products
(BUTTON) More
Premium
* Telegraph
* Business
* SME Home
A happy office is a productive office
Brought to you by hp logo
*
*
*
*
* Shares
Save
woman with headphones in holding smartphone smiling at camera Sound
moves: think about the small improvements you can make to the lives of
staff Credit: Getty Images
* Rebecca Burn-Callander
28 September 2015 • 3:40pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Rebecca Burn-Callander
There is one simple thing that small businesses can do to hang on to
talented staff and it is not what you might think
Pay rises, flexible working and social gatherings be damned. What
workers really want, it turns out, is a few tunes in the office.
Music has topped the bill in a new report, which looks into the best
workplace moraleboosting tactics, followed by flexible hours and
“chatting with colleagues”.
The research shows that it really is not that hard to make workers
happy. Just a few tweaks to the workplace environment could help you
keep staff turnover down. About 44pc of the small business workers
surveyed said that playing music would improve their working life; 41pc
wanted flexible hours; and 40pc sought a sociable work environment.
Sage One, the payroll software business, found that more than a quarter
of the UK small business personnel would be happier at work if they
were offered treats.
The research goes to show how relatively small sums of money can go a
really long way in staff retention. By letting your people play the
music they want during their working day, you are not only likely to
hang on to them for longer, they could actually be more productive as a
result.
Replacing good people is time-consuming, costly and can put emotional
strain on small teams
Separate research, conducted last year by Mindlab International, found
that nine out of 10 workers perform better when listening to music.
During the study, 88pc of participants produced their most accurate
test results and 81pc completed their fastest work when music was
playing.
Of course, music tends to work better in environments where staff are
involved in data entry, creative projects or on sales floors. It is
less helpful for work that requires high levels of problem-solving.
The Sage One study also debunked a few myths about what staff really
want at work. Just 12pc cared about pictures, plants or other
decorations, showing that office surroundings may not be as important
as the interior design experts would have us believe.
What the report does not talk about, however, is all the free measures
that small business owners can take to boost morale.
It is easy to say “well done” when someone has done a great job. It is
free(ish) to give loyal workers their birthday off – and this is a
strategy that has paid off for fast-growing companies such as Timpsons,
the keycutting chain.
Make sure that you have a policy of promoting staff from within to show
your people that they are not going to be stuck in a career rut, and
that hard work is rewarded.
Take some time to think about the small, incremental improvements that
you can make to the lives of staff. Replacing good people is
time-consuming, costly and can put emotional strain on small teams.
It is easy to make a start: consider a team playlist on Spotify or any
of the other streaming networks, buy in some decent cakes, and push
flexible hours up the work agenda. It is the way forward for having
happy staff.
For more advice on preparing your business for the tech challenges of
the future, visit HP BusinessNow
*
*
*
*
* Shares
Most recent
1. Happy colleagues working
11 Apr 2017, 10:00am
Investors want more than cash - it's all about chemistry
Premium
2. A woman going through her accounts in a workshop
30 Mar 2017, 1:00pm
How small businesses can gain control of their finances
Premium
3. Miso tasty food
29 Mar 2017, 12:45pm
When would you throw the towel in on your startup?
Premium
4. Contemporary artist and designer Heath Kane
07 Mar 2017, 9:00am
Sweating the big stuff: business talking politics
Premium
5. Two models wearing Rose and Willard clothing
27 Feb 2017, 9:00am
How a fashion entrepreneur tried resizing her business
Premium
6. Green tea
15 Feb 2017, 9:00am
Seventeen of the best startup business ideas for 2017
Premium
7. A man using a tablet computer to initiate smart lighting
10 Feb 2017, 9:00am
Five new technologies that could improve your business
Premium
8. A woman holding her head as she fills in tax returns by hand
06 Feb 2017, 9:00am
The crackdown on ‘innocent mistakes’ in tax returns
Premium
9. A woman wearing underwear holding her stomach
27 Jan 2017, 9:00am
Waking up to women's needs: the femtech revolution
Premium
Find out more from HP
1. Businessman in a conference room
Join for instant savings, a dedicated account manager and much more
HP Business Club
2. HP product
Check out the HP store for the laptop ideal for your business
Find your perfect laptop
3. Woman in office with laptop
Reinvent the way you manage your company with BusinessNow
HP BusinessNow
4. HP OfficeJet Pro
You'll find the printer suited for your business at the HP store
Find your perfect printers
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher Codes
* Modern Slavery
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* News
* UK
* World
* Politics
* Science
* Education
* Health
* Brexit
* Royals
* Investigations
* Matt
* Front Bench newsletter
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* News
Young people struggle to cope with setbacks as happiness falls to lowest
level in a decade
*
*
*
*
Save
A young student in a study group suffering from the exhaustion of
finals "This is a generation rapidly losing faith in their ability to
achieve their goals in life, who are increasingly wary of and
disillusioned with the jobs market and at risk of leaving a wealth of
untapped potential in their wake." Credit: PeopleImages/Digital
Vision
* Olivia Rudgard, Social Affairs Correspondent
5 April 2018 • 12:01am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Olivia Rudgard
Follow the topics within this article
* Mental health
* Children's health
* Anxiety
* Depression
* Jobs and employment
Today's youngsters are the unhappiest in almost a decade because they
do not know how to cope with setbacks, research by the Prince's Trust
has found.
The charity, founded by the Prince of Wales, said worries about the
future, money, and "not being good enough" were "piling up" on young
people aged 16-25.
Its research found that happiness and confidence in emotional health
had dropped to their lowest levels since 2009.
Its index rates young people's emotional health by ranking happiness
levels in areas such as work and relationships from 0 to 100.
In this year's survey the overall average figure was 57, a four-point
fall from the previous year and down from 70 when the study was first
carried out.
Almost half of the young people said they did not feel they could cope
well with setbacks in life.
Financial worries were behind the issues experienced by many
respondents, with one in three saying that being without a job would
put their mental health at risk.
One in ten said they had lost a job through redundancy or having a
contracted terminated or not renewed, or being fired, and 54 per cent
said they were worried about their finances.
61 per cent of young people said they regularly felt stressed, 53 per
cent said they regularly felt anxious and 27 per cent said they felt
hopeless on a regular basis. Almost half said they had experienced a
mental health problem.
Nick Stace, UK chief executive at The Prince’s Trust, said: “It should
ring alarm bells for us all that young people are feeling more
despondent about their emotional health than ever before.
"This is a generation rapidly losing faith in their ability to achieve
their goals in life, who are increasingly wary of and disillusioned
with the jobs market and at risk of leaving a wealth of untapped
potential in their wake.
“One of the most important things we can do to stem this flow is to
show young people that it’s worth having high aspirations, that
opportunities to earn a good living and progress in a career are out
there and that they’ll be supported along the way to live, learn and
earn."
mental health young people numbers
The charity said it would work with mental health charity Young Minds
to review its programmes so it could incorporate aspects which would
help participants' mental health.
The charity, founded in 1976, works with disadvantaged young people to
help them get a job or continue their education.
Figures released earlier this week by the National Association of
Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers suggested that 96 per cent of
teachers had worked with children who were experiencing mental health
issues.
Related Topics
* Mental health
* Children's health
* Anxiety
* Depression
* Jobs and employment
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
Follow Telegraph News
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
News latest
1. Stickers are set up in protest on the entrance of the police
station in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, Wednesday, December
19th.
19 Dec 2018, 7:27pm
Police stations closed as French officers demand £248m of unpaid overtime in
day of protest
2. A photo taken from the Majestic hotel on May 15, 2016 shows a
general view of the Croisette in Cannes
19 Dec 2018, 7:16pm
Invasive beetle set to wipe out palm trees of French Riviera
3. Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:57pm
Gallery: Telegraph cartoons, December 2018
Premium
4. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga and Alexander Petrov have been named as
the suspects
19 Dec 2018, 6:41pm
'We never forget and we never give up', Met Chief vows to bring Salisbury
poisoners to justice
5. UN
19 Dec 2018, 6:29pm
Husband of British UN diplomat arrested on accusations of domestic violence
after diplomatic immunity waived
6. 02:16
19 Dec 2018, 6:28pm
Comment: Did a stupid man say ‘stupid woman’? Well, at least it’s a break
from Brexit
Michael Deacon
Premium
Michael Deacon
7. christmas
19 Dec 2018, 6:21pm
Shoppers predicted to spend £1bn on Christmas day for the first time
8. UK aid is less effective than other countries because of its focus
on poorly governed states
19 Dec 2018, 6:20pm
Focus on fragile states linked to UK slipping down aid effectiveness ranking
9. Matt cartoons, December 2018
Gallery
19 Dec 2018, 6:08pm
Gallery: Matt cartoons, December 2018
Premium
10. The furore over non-disclosure agreements began with Harvey
Weinstein
19 Dec 2018, 6:05pm
Women being forced to sign gagging clauses which stop them talking to their
doctor, MPs hear
11. Matthew Glynn was jailed for five years
19 Dec 2018, 5:49pm
'Far right' bombmaker, found with 23 bombs and 'hate board' featuring the
Royal Family, jailed
12. 02:38
19 Dec 2018, 5:43pm
Jeremy Corbyn called back to Commons to deny calling Theresa May a stupid
woman as sexism row dominates PMQs
Premium
13. As part of the annual Old Colwyn fancy dress pub crawl, in North
Wales, some participants dressed up as African beach traders and
rappers from Run DMC
19 Dec 2018, 4:39pm
Hospital charity refuses fundraisers' cash who 'blacked up'
14. Burglar admits breaking into funeral home (pictured) to have sex
with corpse
19 Dec 2018, 4:10pm
Burglar admits breaking into funeral home to have sex with corpse
15. A UK border at Gatwick airport
19 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Immigration White Paper sets out foreign worker rules after Brexit
Premium
16. No country in the EU or EEA met the 75 per cent target for flu
vaccine targets
19 Dec 2018, 3:41pm
EU countries fail to meet flu vaccination targets among vulnerable people
17. Labour MP Fiona Onasanya found guilty of lying to police to avoid
speeding charge
19 Dec 2018, 3:29pm
Labour MP Fiona Onasanya faces possible jail sentence after being found
guilty of lying to police
18. 01:34
19 Dec 2018, 3:28pm
Can super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be Manchester United's saviour one more
time?
19. Banksy's latest piece in Port Talbot, South Wales
19 Dec 2018, 3:24pm
Banksy claims Port Talbot mural is his latest work
20. Alexander Perepilichnyy
19 Dec 2018, 3:20pm
Russian billionaire could have been poisoned, coroner says as he highlights
police failings
21. Latvian EU Commission vice-president in charge the Euro, Social
Dialogue, Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital
Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a press conference
at The European Commission headquarters in Brussels, on December
19, 2018
19 Dec 2018, 2:43pm
Brussels rules out 'managed no deal Brexit' and warns of flight, freight and
financial havoc
Premium
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Relationships articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Women
* Men
* GoodLife
* Wellbeing
* Interiors
* Gardening
* Food
* Pets
* Relationships
* Expat
* Puzzles
* Announcements
* Events
* Thinking Man
* Active
* Fashion and Style
* Relationships
* The Filter
* Instant Expert
* Why Not Get Moving?
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Men»
3. Relationships
Men are happier when their wives don't go out to work, study finds
A new Australian study reveals that couples with breadwinning wives are more
likely to split than those who follow 'traditional gender roles'
Jon Hamm and January Jones in Mad Men
Jon Hamm and January Jones in Mad Men: 'traditional gender roles die
hard' Photo: AMC
By Jonathan Wells
12:34PM BST 15 Jul 2015
According to a study published today, the success of modern marriages
is dependent on a strict adherence to traditional social values. The
extensive survey, conducted by the Melbourne Institute of Applied
Economic and Social Research, has collated data suggesting that if the
man isn't bringing home the bacon, then his marriage is more likely to
fail.
• House-husbands are 'more likely to have an affair'
Professor Roger Wilkins, the author of the report, believes that the
recent economic downturn could be upsetting the equilibrium of
conventional marriages. He commented that "there’s reasonable evidence
that if the unemployment rate rises, particularly for men, it will have
detrimental consequences for marital stability".
Whilst these 'conventional marriages', built upon foundations of
'traditional social values', are becoming less and less important in a
world of legalised gay marriage and equality in the workplace, the fact
remains that many male/female couples still operate using the social
codes that were so stringently established during the last century.
[B8P7AM_3324795b.jpg] ^Are out-dated social attitudes towards marriage
still hard-wired into the modern man?
Shockingly, even in instances where one partner worked over 50 hours
every week, the rate of divorce and relationship dissatisfaction was
still not as high as when a female partner out-earned her husband.
Wilkins acknowledges that these results do not scream 'social
progress', yet explains why he was not surprised.
"When you look at men’s relationship satisfaction, it’s at its highest
when their wife is not in the workforce. It does seem that that’s what
is behind it; those traditional gender roles die hard. I guess all
things being equal, men would prefer their wife at home and managing
the household."
Indeed, a study published last year concluded that husbands who work
long hours are likely to have happier and healthier wives while
hardworking women's spouses tend to suffer.
• Key to a happy marriage is a hard working husband
Stress and jealousy appear to be the major factors that upset the
equilibrium of marriages - most notably either when the man is
unemployed, or when he is out-earned by his female partner. And though
these findings may not reflect the gender flexibility of the modern
world, they do prove that the institution of marriage has been
hard-wired with some rather out-dated and unspoken rules.
Let us know where you stand on the issue below.
IFRAME: //renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/55a6337d9831cbaa21840944
telegraph.co.uk
Read more from Telegraph Men
Advertisement
online dating
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Editor's Choice
My cat died, and it affected me as much as losing my dad
Dave the cat
The grief felt after the loss of a pet can be every bit as painful as
that following the death of a human, so why don’t we take it seriously,
asks Lee Kynaston
17 of the best white trainers for men
If you say something sexist at work, will you lose your job?
Men need to open up about depression, not man up
It's taken me 30 years, but I'm proud to say I'm ginger
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* World News
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Health
* Jobs
* Sport
* Football
* Cricket
* Fantasy Football
* Culture
* Motoring
* Dating
* Finance
* Personal Finance
* Economics
* Markets
* Fashion
* Property
* Puzzles
* Comment
* My Telegraph
* Letters
* Columnists
* Technology
* Gardening
* Telegraph Shop
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Guidelines
* Advertising
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Politics
* Work
* Sex
* Life
* Women Mean Business
* Columnists
* Facebook Group
* Telegraph Dating
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Work
How to cope with working in a male-dominated office - and get promoted
*
*
*
*
Save
Louisa advises a reader who feels isolated as the only woman manager at
work Louisa advises a reader who feels isolated as the only woman
manager at work Credit: Alamy
* Louisa Symington-Mills, Telegraph Women careers agony aunt
1 December 2015 • 9:30am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Louisa Symington-Mills
I graduated from university four years ago with a business degree and
am now a junior manager for a fast-growing IT company. I've been
promoted twice in the last year. However the company is staffed almost
entirely by men and I’m the only female in a managerial role, so I feel
incredibly out of place. Although I get on well with my colleagues, I'm
constantly self-conscious. I’m proud of my career progress and enjoy
the responsibility, but I can't help thinking I should leave and move
to a different sector where I would feel more comfortable. Help!
Working in a profession dominated heavily by the opposite sex can be a
daunting experience – whether you’re male or female. It’s well
understood that men and women react differently to their working
environment, resulting in behavioural and emotional variations - which
can create challenges for both.
Our society remains driven by our perception of gender roles and
stereotypes. This informs how we see men who work in traditionally
'female sectors' (such as nursing) and women in 'male roles'. And the
effect of these influences can feel multiplied when it’s a question of
one versus many.
You’ve landed a great job in an exciting business that offers you
managerial responsibility at a comparatively early stage in your career
– a fantastic achievement. For all your success at work, it’s also
absolutely logical you feel strained as a result of your experience of
being one of a very few women - and indeed the only woman at managerial
level.
"Women in male-dominated occupations have less healthy patterns of
cortisol - a hormone linked to stress response and immune function".
Earlier this year, Indiana University measured the cortisol patterns of
women working in office environments where men made up 85 per cent or
more of the staff.
The research found women in male-dominated occupations have less
healthy patterns of cortisol - a hormone linked both to stress response
and immune function - throughout the day. The resulting impact on
personal health and wellbeing shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Just this week, a new study found that one in three young women, aged
18 to 30, think men are better suited to being an IT technician
compared to 10 per cent of older women, aged 31 and over.
So if the vast majority of your peer group think you aren’t suited to
working in a male-dominated industry, it’s understandable you might be
questioning it too.
These are your challenges at the moment.
You must prioritise your health and happiness
You must prioritise your health and happiness Credit: Alamy
Here’s what’s working in your favour: you’re great at your work; you
enjoy your role; you get on well with your colleagues; the job is
exciting and has potential. You’re in a strong position; you have a
very useful and transferable degree, and are currently gaining great
experience by working for a fast-growing business that’s allowing you
to shine early on in your career.
In spite of the complexity of what you’re feeling, I believe your
question is reasonably straightforward to answer.
If the positive enjoyment your feel for your job and career path
outweighs the negative anxiety you feel as a result of being in a
gender minority – and my sense from reading your letter is that this is
the case – then you should persevere with the role you have. If, on the
other hand you feel your wellbeing is being compromised and your
situation is creating stress which is proving increasingly hard to
manage, then you must prioritise your health and happiness.
"Assertiveness is a mindset as much as a skill, so keep in mind why you
were hired and promoted".
If you stay, then here some tips and strategies you can use to give
yourself the confidence to move onwards and upwards at work:
Stop the self-doubt: Your self-confidence is being undermined because
you’re acutely aware of how you differ from your colleagues. You need
to embrace and accept these differences, and focus instead on reminding
yourself of all your positive attributes in order to reinforce your
confidence. Assertiveness is a mindset as much as a skill, so keep in
mind why you were hired and promoted.
Be yourself: It may be tempting to feel you have to change yourself and
your working or management style to fit in with others around you. But
don’t – it’s a sure-fire way to undermining your own happiness at work
in the long term. Instead, make sure you’re playing to your strengths
and focus on being authentic.
Add to your skills: Being confident professionally will really help
support your conviction in yourself, and will enhance your managerial
authority. Think about your senior colleagues at work and whether there
is any training or further education you can organise yourself that
would cement your knowledge or soft skills, then sign yourself up.
Find a mentor or sponsor at work
Find a mentor or sponsor at work Credit: Alamy
Find a sponsor: This is someone senior and influential at your firm who
will endorse you, look out for you, and generally shout about your
talent and potential to whoever will listen. A sponsor should help you
focus your ambition and make the most of the career opportunity ahead
of you, and studies have shown they can be particularly helpful to
women in male-dominated workplaces.
Push for change: You have a growing profile in a small and innovative
business, so use your influence to persuade your senior management of
the benefits of recruiting a more diverse workforce – it’s not as
unrealistic a proposition as it may sound. Present a case for
implementing diversity targets to your management team, and explore how
your firm can broaden its recruitment strategy to ensure the business
is attracting a diverse workforce according to gender, racial and
educational background.
Good luck.
Louisa Symington-Mills works in private equity as a COO and is founder
and CEO of Citymothers and Cityfathers, networks of more than 6,000
parents in City careers. She is The Telegraph's careers agony aunt.
Email your work and business questions to: work.advice@telegraph.co.uk
Louisa cannot print answers to every single question submitted, but she
does read all your emails. Please note that by submitting your question
to Louisa, you are giving your permission for her to use your question
as the basis of her column, published online at Wonder Women. All
questions will be kept anonymous and key details, facts and figures may
change to protect your identity. Louisa can only answer based on the
information you give her and her advice is not a substitute for legal
advice.
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Women latest
1. Hands up in a classroom
19 Dec 2018, 4:31pm
Comment: After a tumultuous year, do any of our leaders deserve top marks?
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
2. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks to head chef Stuart Jones as she
visits the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care
home at Brinsworth House o
19 Dec 2018, 3:34pm
Is Meghan having twins...and other things not to say about the size of a
pregnant woman's bump
Premium
3. Women are rejecting the term 'mumpreneur'
19 Dec 2018, 3:11pm
Comment: When did we decide it was OK to call business women 'mumpreneurs'?
Clue: it's not
Josephine Fairley
Premium
4. Richard Ratcliffe is still campaigning for his wife's release from
Iranian jail
19 Dec 2018, 1:10pm
Richard Ratcliffe: 'My daughter wants to know why Mummy won't be out of
prison for Christmas'
Premium
5. Kay Burley
19 Dec 2018, 11:55am
Comment: Brexit chaos is fuelling vile misogyny - and I won't tolerate it
Kay Burley
Premium
6. Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926 - a mystery that
still intrigues us today
19 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Was there more to Agatha Christie's 11 mysterious missing days than has
previously been revealed?
Premium
7. Christine Armstrong, author of 'Mother of All Jobs'
19 Dec 2018, 6:00am
The working mum's guide to getting through Christmas
8. More than half of business women surveyed said they found the term
'mumpreneur' negative
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Don't patronise us with 'mumpreneurs' label, says poll of 500 businesswomen
9. Brexit supporters protest
18 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Comment: Why I’ve changed my mind about Theresa May’s deal
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
10. Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem were killed by
Oudeh's former partner
18 Dec 2018, 4:33pm
If two men were killed at the football every week, it would be a scandal -
so why don't we care it's happening to women?
Premium
11. Imelda Cortez spent more than 18 months in jail awaiting trial, a
further ordeal after allegedly being repeatedly raped by her
stepfather for seven years
18 Dec 2018, 12:59pm
Salvadoran rape victim accused of attempted murder after giving birth to baby
in latrine is freed from jail
12. Children and their identity has become a hot topic in the
classroom
17 Dec 2018, 6:30pm
Comment: Teaching children boys have periods too is not education, it’s
'mythinformation'
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
13. Any number of online daters are guilty of toying with the truth
(posed by models)
17 Dec 2018, 6:07pm
Confessions of a midlife online dater: How it feels to lie about your age -
and be lied to
Premium
14. Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton
17 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Forget the Brexit blues - there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful
15. Good on Nigella for reminding us of her comical experience
17 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: Nigella's tummy, and how women fall for the lie of perfection every
day
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
16. Helen Lederer
17 Dec 2018, 12:01am
New prize offers £5,000 book deal for 'overlooked' funny women writers
17. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
18. PornHub, the world's biggest free porn provider, keeps a record of
everything that you search for
16 Dec 2018, 1:06pm
What porn can tell us about the world in 2018
Premium
19. Helena Bonham Carter
16 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Helena Bonham Carter: 'Being well known and vulnerable is a tricky
combination'
Premium
20. French police
16 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: It's time to end this national hysteria - things aren't as bad as
they used to be
Zoe Strimpel
Premium
[Zoe%20Strimpel-small.png]
21. Coming from a family where the festive season meant feuds and
fights, Hannah Betts took a bah humbug approach to it all. But now
she’s sharing a home with a man who is anything but the Grinch…
15 Dec 2018, 6:00am
We've moved in, bought a dog and decorated the tree - but are we Christmas
compatible?
Premium
Voucher codes
Body Shop discount code
Office Shoes discount code
Dunelm discount code
Marks and Spencer discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Politics
* Work
* Sex
* Life
* Women Mean Business
* Columnists
* Facebook Group
* Telegraph Dating
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Work
The workplace fable of the Anxious Executive who tried to stay on top
*
*
*
*
Save
Mark Price shares his workplace fables Mark Price shares his workplace
fables (posed by models)
* Mark Price
23 October 2017 • 12:10pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Mark Price
Follow the topics within this article
* Mark Price
* Careers
* Happiness
* Jobs and employment
Mark Price shares his workplace fables - true stories form the business
front line that can teach us lessons about career success...
As far as the Anxious Executive was concerned, his role was to be the
star at the centre of the team. The other members were there to make
him look good.
Thus, the Anxious Executive always made sure that when he appointed
people to his team, they were good - but not too good. After all, the
leader should always be the brightest and best, he thought.
The Anxious Executive made sure never to praise his team in public. He
didn’t want other people to overhear and to think others were better
than he.
"After all, the leader should always be the brightest and best, he
thought"
Even when the Anxious Executive finally retired, he took steps to
ensure his successor wasn’t quite as good, so his own legacy seemed
greater.
But the New Executive was different.
She recruited people who were more knowledgeable than she. She publicly
acknowledged how good each new member was, seeking their advice and
listening to their views.
The New Executive saw her role as creating the ideal conditions for a
team to work together. They enjoyed great success and the Anxious
Executive’s legacy was quickly forgotten.
Moral of the tale
Confident leaders surround themselves with able people.
Workplace Fables by Mark Price - Anxious Executive
Share your Workplace Fables and learn more about Mark’s mission to
improve workplace happiness at engaging.works/ideas
Related Topics
* Mark Price
* Careers
* Happiness
* Jobs and employment
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Women latest
1. Hands up in a classroom
19 Dec 2018, 4:31pm
Comment: After a tumultuous year, do any of our leaders deserve top marks?
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
2. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks to head chef Stuart Jones as she
visits the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care
home at Brinsworth House o
19 Dec 2018, 3:34pm
Is Meghan having twins...and other things not to say about the size of a
pregnant woman's bump
Premium
3. Women are rejecting the term 'mumpreneur'
19 Dec 2018, 3:11pm
Comment: When did we decide it was OK to call business women 'mumpreneurs'?
Clue: it's not
Josephine Fairley
Premium
4. Richard Ratcliffe is still campaigning for his wife's release from
Iranian jail
19 Dec 2018, 1:10pm
Richard Ratcliffe: 'My daughter wants to know why Mummy won't be out of
prison for Christmas'
Premium
5. Kay Burley
19 Dec 2018, 11:55am
Comment: Brexit chaos is fuelling vile misogyny - and I won't tolerate it
Kay Burley
Premium
6. Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926 - a mystery that
still intrigues us today
19 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Was there more to Agatha Christie's 11 mysterious missing days than has
previously been revealed?
Premium
7. Christine Armstrong, author of 'Mother of All Jobs'
19 Dec 2018, 6:00am
The working mum's guide to getting through Christmas
8. More than half of business women surveyed said they found the term
'mumpreneur' negative
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Don't patronise us with 'mumpreneurs' label, says poll of 500 businesswomen
9. Brexit supporters protest
18 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Comment: Why I’ve changed my mind about Theresa May’s deal
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
10. Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem were killed by
Oudeh's former partner
18 Dec 2018, 4:33pm
If two men were killed at the football every week, it would be a scandal -
so why don't we care it's happening to women?
Premium
11. Imelda Cortez spent more than 18 months in jail awaiting trial, a
further ordeal after allegedly being repeatedly raped by her
stepfather for seven years
18 Dec 2018, 12:59pm
Salvadoran rape victim accused of attempted murder after giving birth to baby
in latrine is freed from jail
12. Children and their identity has become a hot topic in the
classroom
17 Dec 2018, 6:30pm
Comment: Teaching children boys have periods too is not education, it’s
'mythinformation'
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
13. Any number of online daters are guilty of toying with the truth
(posed by models)
17 Dec 2018, 6:07pm
Confessions of a midlife online dater: How it feels to lie about your age -
and be lied to
Premium
14. Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton
17 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Forget the Brexit blues - there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful
15. Good on Nigella for reminding us of her comical experience
17 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: Nigella's tummy, and how women fall for the lie of perfection every
day
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
16. Helen Lederer
17 Dec 2018, 12:01am
New prize offers £5,000 book deal for 'overlooked' funny women writers
17. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
18. PornHub, the world's biggest free porn provider, keeps a record of
everything that you search for
16 Dec 2018, 1:06pm
What porn can tell us about the world in 2018
Premium
19. Helena Bonham Carter
16 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Helena Bonham Carter: 'Being well known and vulnerable is a tricky
combination'
Premium
20. French police
16 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: It's time to end this national hysteria - things aren't as bad as
they used to be
Zoe Strimpel
Premium
[Zoe%20Strimpel-small.png]
21. Coming from a family where the festive season meant feuds and
fights, Hannah Betts took a bah humbug approach to it all. But now
she’s sharing a home with a man who is anything but the Grinch…
15 Dec 2018, 6:00am
We've moved in, bought a dog and decorated the tree - but are we Christmas
compatible?
Premium
Voucher codes
Body Shop discount code
Office Shoes discount code
Dunelm discount code
Marks and Spencer discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Pets
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Pets
* News and features
Ten reasons why bosses should embrace Bring Your Dog to Work Day
*
*
*
*
Save
Dogs Take your four-legged friends along for the commute to work on
Friday 22nd June Credit: Barrie Harwood / Alamy Stock Photo
* Pete Wedderburn
21 June 2018 • 12:45pm
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Pete Wedderburn
Follow the topics within this article
* Animals
* Dogs
* Happiness
Tomorrow - Friday 22nd June - is national Bring Your Dog to Work Day.
Bosses across the UK are being encouraged to allow their staff to bring
their pets to work, with the intention of making the workplace a more
relaxed, productive, enjoyable place. The hashtag
#BringYourDogToWorkDay will be trending, with photos of dogs sitting on
office chairs, in coffee docks and at workplace receptions.
On first impressions, this may seem like an indulgence to sentimental
pet owners. However, with deeper analysis, it turns out that there’s a
strong rationale for a dog friendly attitude in the workplace.
Dog at work
A Thai company allow their staff to bring their dogs to work with the
aim to lower stress, promote a positive work environment and increase
productivity Credit: RUNGROJ YONGRIT /EPA
Why Bring Your Dog to Work Day should be embraced in 2018
1. Dogs are a powerful source of social support for humans. When a dog
is beside you, you have a sense that they are giving you genuinely
unconditional love, and that feels good. A dog doesn’t care if you
have done something wrong, if you are grumpy, or if you are having
a down day of any kind. A dog loves you anyway, giving you cheerful
attention regardless of what else is going on in your life. So it’s
no wonder that dogs make humans feel better, improving their social
life in a very real and direct way. And it can only be good to have
that extra emotional support beside your staff at work.
2. Dogs encourage owners to take exercise: studies have shown that on
average, dog owners walk 79% further than non-dog owners. Exercise
has many add on benefits for physical and mental health. Employees
with their dogs at work are likely to get out and about at coffee
breaks: the physical exercise will help with their state of mind
and productivity for the rest of the day.
3. Petting a dog has been proven to reduce stress, whether or not you
own the dog. The process of patting and stroking a dog reduces the
blood pressure, changes your physiological state into a more
relaxed mode, and makes you feel better. So dogs in your office
could help lessen the overall stress of the workplace environment.
4. Pet ownership generally has been shown to have a number of positive
health benefits, including fewer visits to the doctor, lower
cholesterol and improved heart health. If you encourage pet
ownership amongst your employees by letting them bring their dogs
to work, you’re likely to be rewarded by a healthier workforce with
fewer sick days.
5. Dogs are social creatures, loving to be included in their owners’
daily activities. It’s fun for dogs to be out and about with
humans, and it’s good for their psychological and physical health
too. Far too many dogs are left isolated in back gardens, on their
own. If more dogs are brought to work, there will be a positive
impact on the animal welfare of thousands of dogs across the
country. This may not be a direct benefit for you business, but
it’s a do-gooder aspect that your dog-loving staff and customers
will appreciate.
6. If employees are allowed to bring their dogs to work, they will
save money through not having to pay for a dog minder, doggy day
care or dog walker. This is a genuine financial perk for your staff
that costs you nothing.
7. Dogs act as a social lubricant, increasing the ease and frequency
of conversations between friends, colleagues and strangers. If you
don’t believe this, take a dog with you and count the number of
social encounters you have compared to being out and about on your
own. So the human social connections in your workplace will be
enhanced by having dogs scattered amongst your team.
8. Dogs that are used to being out and about with their owners tend to
be more relaxed, better socialised and easier to be around than
dogs that are left isolated on their own. The process of spending
time in a wide variety of social situations often leads to positive
conditioning for dogs, helping them to be well rounded, friendly
and easy-going animals. The more pleasant experiences that a dog
enjoys, the easier they tend to be to interact with. This is
another do-gooder aspect of a dogs-at-work policy: you will be
doing your bit to make the nation’s dogs more sociable and better
behaved.
9. A Dogs At Work policy is often viewed by employees as a valuable
employment perk. A recent study showed that over two fifths (43%)
of employees would like to see pets allowed in the office, 39% felt
that pets at work would increase their productivity, 50% believed
it would increase their happiness, and a significant proportion of
workers would be prepared to stay at work for longer if pets were
allowed to be there with them.
10. Your company will be joining a long list of successful companies
that have adopted Dogs At Work policies, including Amazon, Google
and Ben & Jerry’s. Not surprisingly, a pet food company has one of
the longest running Pets-At-Work schemes. Purina PetCare have had a
year-round dog friendly policy since 2003. They’ve witnessed for
themselves the many benefits, and to encourage other companies to
join in, they have launched a Pets at Work Toolkit which includes
six easy steps to set-up a successful Pets at Work scheme, as well
as, as well as health and safety advice and tips on workspace
requirements.
dogs
Dogs are social creatures, loving to be included in their owners’ daily
activities Credit: Hero Images Inc. / Alamy
Do you want to make your dog owning employees’ love you more than ever?
Welcome their pets to work tomorrow, and they’ll be barking and howling
your praise.
Related Topics
* Animals
* Dogs
* Happiness
* Show more
*
*
*
*
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Pets latest
1. Pete Wedderburn
17 Dec 2018, 12:50pm
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
2. Debora Robertson visits 'Doggy Style' a christmas market for dogs
11 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Should you buy your dog something stylish for Christmas?
Premium
3. Pete Wedderburn
09 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
4. Cats
07 Dec 2018, 11:00am
Jobs with cats: from vets to kitten socialisers and more
5. Pete Wedderburn
29 Nov 2018, 1:05pm
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
6. Pete Wedderburn
29 Nov 2018, 12:15pm
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
7. Was Billy a victim of a cat ripper?
26 Nov 2018, 6:00pm
Things you only know when your pet goes missing while a cat killer is at
large
8. Cat
20 Nov 2018, 5:15pm
The National Cat Centre: giving hope (and homes) to unwanted cats
9. Pete Wedderburn
11 Nov 2018, 7:00am
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
10. Pete Wedderburn
04 Nov 2018, 7:00am
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
11. dog walking
25 Oct 2018, 4:00pm
Dog harness or collar? The best way to control your pet revealed
12. Andrew Baker with Sammy the cockapoo
21 Oct 2018, 6:00am
'Help, my pet has an embarrassing problem': Telegraph writers share their
animal troubles with TV's expert vets
13. Nick Harding with Barry, the Bengal
14 Oct 2018, 10:00am
A tale of two kitties: the cats that got their claws into me
Premium
14. Pug puppy
03 Oct 2018, 6:00am
Comment: Dogs may be dumb, but that's why we love them
Boris Starling
Premium
15. Pete Wedderburn
01 Oct 2018, 10:02am
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
16. Lizard
20 Sep 2018, 1:00pm
A chameleon has brought karma to my life - how I became a 'mad lizard lady'
Premium
17. Pete Wedderburn
17 Sep 2018, 3:37pm
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
18. Pete Wedderburn
17 Sep 2018, 3:21pm
Pet subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
19. Pete Wedderburn
26 Aug 2018, 7:00am
Pet Subjects: Telegraph vet Pete Wedderburn answers your questions
20. Dogs
26 Aug 2018, 7:00am
Comment: How to protect your pooch from dognappers
Sophia Money-Coutts
Premium
[sophia_money_coutts-small.png]
21. Pete Wedderburn
19 Aug 2018, 6:00am
How can I stop my lovely ginger tom being aggressive?
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Expat
* Money
* Ask the experts
* Education and family
* Health
* Property
* Expat life
* Before you go
* Expat news
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Expat
* Expat health
Does expat life really make you healthier, wealthier and happier?
In association with
[IntegraGlobal_1204.jpg?imwidth=185&impolicy=spark-logo]
*
*
*
*
*
Save
A couple drinking champagne abroad Is life abroad as good as they say
it is? Credit: Alamy
* Elizabeth Roberts
1 March 2016 • 11:03am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Elizabeth Roberts
Follow the topics within this article
* Healthy food
It’s official: living overseas is good for your health, wealth and
happiness. Or at least, that’s the case if the latest survey on the
topic is to be believed.
An online poll of 1,000 people was carried out for international
relocations company MoveHub. Half the respondents (located in the UK
and Ireland) had spent time living abroad, and half had not.
A total of 69 per cent of expats rated their health as good or even
very good compared with only 58 per cent of people who had lived in
just one country.
When it comes to happiness, 63 per cent of expats described themselves
as happy or very happy compared with only 53 per cent of others. And 40
per cent of those who’d tasted expat life said they were making a lot
of money or were on a good salary. This is compared with 28 per cent of
those who had not lived overseas.
But is this too good to be true? We asked six Telegraph Expat readers
and contributors around the world:
Andy Probert, 46, a freelance journalist from Bromsgrove in
Worcestershire, has lived in Turkey for 10 years.
“As an expat, life is a lot sunnier, more relaxed, far less pressured
and more enjoyable. We earn 12 per cent interest on our savings, the
annual council tax is £40, there are greater opportunities to explore
your interests, as well as enjoying the social, historic and cultural
fabric of our adopted homeland.
"I returned to the UK in February and was struck by how the rat race
has become a virtual 24-hour experience"
Andy Probert, Brit living in Turkey
"For the first time in eight years, I returned to the UK in February
and was struck by how the rat race has become a virtual 24-hour
experience. Sitting in a traffic jam on a B-road at 2am, wondering
where all the traffic had come from, made me yearn for ‘home’. Home is
now Turkey.”
Journalist and author Helen Russell pictured in Denmark with her son
Helen Russell, pictured with her son, is happier - but not healthier or
richer
Helen Russell is a 35-year-old journalist and author from London. She
lives in Denmark.
“Since relocating at the start of 2013 I’ve enjoyed living Danishly –
the distance from friends and family back home has made me appreciate
them more; I’ve stretched myself personally and professionally to
create a new life for myself in my adopted homeland; and there’s
something about the experience of starting over - or making a big
change in your life - that is invigorating (albeit terrifying at
times).
"Being an expat in the country regularly voted the happiest in the
world has certainly made me more content. But healthier? And richer?
No. The one-a-day Danish pastry habit and the eye-wateringly high taxes
that fund the fabulous Scandinavian welfare state mean I am down on the
£ and up on the lbs. But I am happy. And hygge (content). And this, for
the moment, feels like a deal worth making.”
Jonny Lis, a 28-year old from London, has lived in the Philippines for
three years, where he works as an operations manager.
“Moving to the Philippines has definitely made me happier. I used to
live in a cramped house in Brixton, with a dead-end job that I didn't
like, and I was always running out of money due to the costs of living
in London. I now live in a lovely flat with an outdoor pool and gym.
• Expat romance: top 10 places to fall in love with a local
"I love my job and have a great deal of financial freedom as everything
is so much cheaper. I do miss my friends and family but have made new
friends out here too, which really helped my transition. I wouldn't
necessarily say that I was healthier; my work schedule matches UK
hours, so I work 3pm to midnight Monday to Friday. As a result I
usually snack late at night after work, which can easily lead to me
putting on weight if I'm not careful, and I can’t cycle to work like I
used to in London as the roads here are very treacherous.
"However, I get a lot more sunshine and good weather, I have a number
of exotic islands close by for long weekends away, I have made a lot of
friends, and have had some unforgettable experiences that I know I
wouldn't have had if I had stayed in the UK. Coming here was easily the
best decision I ever made.”
Operations Manager Jonny Lis pictured with his girlfriend Grace in
Philippines
Jonny Lis, pictured with his girlfriend, Grace, is wealthier and
happier in the Philippines Credit: Jonny Lis
Neil Bunting, 50, from Hastings, has worked in international schools in
Indonesia, Oman and Saudi Arabia for the past 15 years. He now lives in
Dubai.
“I wouldn’t change my decision for anything. It has been a wonderful
journey experiencing life in different cultures. It hasn’t always been
a smooth ride and I have been exposed to dangers and frustrations,
especially with the bureaucracy of moving, but the learning experiences
have been tremendous.
• What type of expat are you?
"It may be a cliché, but living in the sun does make you happier, as
does the opportunities that come more easily along with a more
comfortable lifestyle. I am not sure it is healthier, perhaps not in
terms of the over exposure to the sun and pollution, but from a mental
health point of view living in countries where people smile all the
time definitely makes you feel better.”
Gillian Harvey, 37, is from Hertfordshire. A mother of five, she has
lived in France since 2009. A freelance writer, Gillian blogs for
Telegraph Expat.
“Since moving to France I’m happier and healthier, but not much
wealthier. I can’t fault the health care here. Although I miss aspects
of life in the UK, the pace of life is definitely slower here, which
helps to reduce stress. But food costs the Earth, taxes are high, and
heating oil costs a fortune. As they say, two out of three ain’t bad.”
Tim Howe, 52, from Bath is a self employed teacher, translator and
interpreter. He’s lived in Germany since 1998.
“While I love being my own boss, Germany is no easy ride. Monthly
advance tax payments and health insurance contributions make a big hole
in earnings. On the plus side are climate and lifestyle; generally
better than in the UK. Warm Bavarian summers mean regular meet-ups with
friends at shady beer gardens and beer-fuelled, free-music street
festivals. Alpine mountains and lakes, within a two-hour drive of my
home, also beckon. Do I miss anything? Yes, British humour and TV.”
So overall, our expats are unanimous in their belief that relocating
made them happier. But when it comes to health and wealth, it depends
very much on location. What's your experience?
IFRAME:
https://renderer.qmerce.com/interaction/561e5e50bece044e1456b680
*
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
* Follow on Pinterest
READ MORE ABOUT:
* Healthy food
* Show more
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
* Follow on Pinterest
Loading...
Expat Promotions
Expat latest
1. The world's best hotel villas
Gallery
13 Dec 2018, 11:15am
Gallery: The world's best hotel villas
2. Think expats and you probably think of the Costa del Sol, but a
surprising city could be a veritable goldmine: Mumbai in India
11 Sep 2018, 7:08am
The surprising places British expats can earn the most
Premium
3. A cruise ship
02 Aug 2018, 9:26am
Five essential tips if you want to retire early
4. Vila Sola Cabiat Lake Como
30 Jul 2018, 10:21am
Holidaying like a Clooney at Lake Como's spectacular Villa Sola Cabiati
5. Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech
09 Jul 2018, 4:28pm
A private tour of Villa Oasis, Yves Saint Laurent's magical Marrakech home
6. A tax inspector emerging from the sea to spy on a sunbathing expat
08 Jul 2018, 9:15am
HMRC cracks down on British expats as tax haul trebles: are you at risk?
Premium
7. An elderly couple walking on the promenade in Benalmadena, Spain
22 Jun 2018, 5:07pm
Expats: everything you need to know about Brexit (so far), from an accountant
Premium
8. The Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai
06 Jun 2018, 7:00am
British expats: how easy is it to get a mortgage in the UK?
9. Fireworks above the Opera House and Harbour Bridge for New Year's
Eve on January 1, 2018 in Sydney, Australia.
20 May 2018, 8:00am
How to get a tax rebate when you move abroad
10. Roo and Pete Lucas
08 Apr 2018, 8:45am
Meet the intrepid Britons who set up businesses to live the expat dream
Premium
11. Punto del Sol, on the south-west coast of Madeira
14 Mar 2018, 6:00am
Why holiday home buyers are warming to the sweet taste of Madeira
Premium
12. An offplan flat with a pool on the roof with Humberts Affinity
13 Mar 2018, 2:00pm
Not just a stop on the way to Marbella: the rise of Malaga as a holiday home
hotspot
13. View of Prague
05 Mar 2018, 2:00pm
Motoring house prices and a buoyant economy: is it time for investors to take
a fresh look at Prague?
Premium
14. The students and their families were studying in the Caribbean when
they were uprooted to Preston
21 Dec 2017, 6:00am
We were evacuated from our homes by Hurricane Irma - to a university in
Preston
15. British Conservative MP Nicky Morgan speaks at an Open Britain
campaign organised press event in London on March 28, 2017, on the
subject of "The Government's Brexit Contract with the British
people"
19 Sep 2017, 10:17am
Expats' fears over private pension payment post-Brexit
16. European Health Insurance Card
20 Jul 2017, 2:00pm
Britons face losing healthcare in Europe as EU toughens Brexit stance
Premium
17. cala Galdana
09 Jul 2017, 6:00am
Forget mainland Spain; try Menorca, the untouched gem of the Mediterranean
18. Chateau Diter
29 Jun 2017, 8:10pm
British couple wins fight for demolition of Provence faux palazzo
19. 01:30
Snap general election guide
07 Jun 2017, 10:41am
Can British expats abroad vote in the General Election and if so, how?
20. EU flag and Union Jack on a sandcastle
07 Mar 2017, 10:10am
What will happen to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) after Brexit?
21. Arijiju Kenya
01 Mar 2017, 1:04pm
Is this Africa's most beautiful new holiday home? Inside Arijiju, Kenya's
unique new exclusive-use villa
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#RSS Feed for Wellbeing articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Wednesday 19 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Women
* Men
* GoodLife
* Wellbeing
* Interiors
* Gardening
* Food
* Pets
* Relationships
* Expat
* Puzzles
* Announcements
* Events
* Diet
* Fitness
* Mood and mind
* Sleep
* Health Advice
* Doctor's Diary
* Graham Norton
* Spa Spy
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. Lifestyle»
3. Wellbeing
If you're happy and you know it raise your hand
Wellington College is running classes in happiness – but will they work for
Lucy Cavendish?
Happiness classes are now on offer for parents at Wellington College
Happiness classes are now on offer for parents at Wellington
College Photo: Andrew Crowley
Lucy Cavendish
By Lucy Cavendish
7:00AM BST 11 Oct 2010
My mother thinks I push myself too hard. “Why do you work, cook, clean,
look after four children, and walk your dogs every day?” she asks. My
answer is always the same: this is modern life. But when she asks me if
it makes me happy, I tend not to answer. Can you ever make yourself
happy? Can anyone teach a stressed-out mother of four how to be happy?
I’m here at Wellington College in Berkshire on a damp Sunday evening to
find out. I am being allowed to sit in on one of the first “happiness
classes” that the school is running for parents of its pupils. Since
2006, when Dr Anthony Seldon, the master of the college, announced that
happiness was to become part of the weekly curriculum, what actually
goes on in the tutorials in wellbeing and positive psychology has been
privy only to the students who attend the £9,000-a-term school.
The introduction of the classes caused something of an outcry. There
were those who thought it a waste of time for a school that prided
itself on its intellectual prowess. However, Seldon fought back,
pointing out that his course – devised with the Institute of Wellbeing
at Cambridge – would help children struggling with the pressures of
exam-orientated schooling and league tables. Now, many schools offer
similar courses.
“There should be a wider vision,” Seldon said at the time, “in which
the purpose of education is to develop all the faculties existing
within each child. Education is about preparing children for life in
the fullest sense. If these faculties are not nurtured at school, they
are unlikely to be developed later, especially in those from poorer
backgrounds.”
Four years on, Seldon clearly hopes that the new happiness lessons for
parents will prove just as much of a hit as those for their troubled
teens. Ian Morris, the 34-year-old teacher who runs the courses, says:
“I see them more as wellbeing classes. We look at many areas –
altruism, resilience, taking joy in the natural world – and hope the
lessons are thought-provoking and useful.”
Related Articles
* American universities targeting British students
21 Sep 2010
* Wellington College extends 'happiness lessons' to parents
20 Sep 2010
* Private schools to overhaul entrance tests
14 Sep 2010
* A-levels are not fit for purpose
16 Aug 2010
When I meet the 15 parents who have come for a weekly, hour-long class,
they are all white, middle-class and, I suspect, all here for the same
reason: curiosity.
“I’m here because I want to know what my son actually does in these
classes,” says Colette Turley. Has she noticed a difference in him?
“I’m not sure,” she says after a pause, “but I think anything that
helps teenagers come to terms with themselves and coping with
everything life has to throw at them is a good thing.”
Today’s parents class is on the theme of mindsets. We start by watching
a quick – very quick – clip of Usain Bolt running the 100 metres.
Morris asks whether we believe that Bolt’s ability to run faster than
anyone else on the planet is due to nature or nurture. There is a
silence, before a father pipes up, saying he believes it to be a
combination of the two. “He must be built to run fast,” he says, “and
have grown up in an environment that encouraged him to run.”
Morris nods, but then tells us that a surprising 50 per cent of the
children he teaches believe Bolt is fast only because he was born that
way. “They also believe that some people are born to be good at maths,
for example, and that they are not. They therefore often get negative
thoughts about their abilities. They think, 'What’s the point of trying
at maths when I was not born to be good at it?’ I want them to see that
being 'good’ at something is also about making an effort and being open
to that learning experience.”
He then tells us about the work of the social psychologist Carol Dweck.
She identified two mindsets that children tend to fall into: “fixed”
and “growth”. Those with a “fixed” mindset often get praised for being
clever – “Look at you, how clever you are!” This can result in a child
only attacking problems he thinks he will succeed at.
“The child will be wedded to success and reluctant to take on
challenges in case they 'fail’ and then feel stupid,” Morris tells us.
“People with a 'growth’ mindset believe the more they work at
something, the better they will get. They are much less likely to give
up when the going gets tough.” Dweck, he says, found it far more
beneficial to praise the process of learning rather than the end
result.
One parent tells me her son doesn’t consider himself as academic as
some of the other boys. “I think this sort of class will really help
him,” she says. “He is scared of failure and sometimes I think that
stops him from trying.”
The session is enjoyable, but I have mixed feelings about how effective
it is. Yes, it might be useful for the parents to see just what Morris
is teaching their children about this topic – and the lesson certainly
made me think. But I am not sure that this alone can make people happy.
“Well, maybe happiness is the wrong term,” says Morris. “It is perhaps
about being better informed. It’s about provoking thought and helping
their confidence, isn’t it?”
When parents start asking Morris for advice, there seems to be a gap
between the theory and the cold hard reality of searching for
happiness. A woman with a sleek black ponytail asks if the fixed vs
growth mindset is why her child won’t do her piano practice. “She does
her violin practice when her violin teacher is more scary than her
piano teacher.” Morris asks how old her child is. “Ten,” says the
woman. There is a silence. “She’s very young,” says Morris, “so I don’t
really have an answer to that.”
At best, I find the class interesting. I am guilty, as I am sure most
parents are, of offering that “Oh, aren’t you so clever?” line. It has
never really occurred to me to praise the doing of something rather
than the overall achievement. It also makes me realise why people feel
so negative about themselves. Then again, I am not one to put happiness
high on my agenda. I am just trying to survive.
Except that, as I drove away from Wellington College and saw some boys
play football in the dark, I did feel oddly more capable of feeling
happy. That, perhaps, is the key to being able to cope with what life
throws at you.
Wellbeing
* Education »
* Family Advice »
* Lucy Cavendish »
Top news galleries
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from the web
More from the web
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* Motoring
* Motoring News
* Food and Drink
* Recipes
* Restaurants
* Women
* Women's Life
* Sex
* Family and Parenting
* Gardening
* Gardening Advice
* Gardening Pictures
*
* History
* Expat
* Car Warranty
*
* Crossword
* Dating
* Theatre Tickets
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
* Home
* My Feed
* Saved
The Telegraph
(BUTTON)
* News
* Politics
* World
* Sport
* Technology
* Business
* Money
* Opinion
* Obituaries
* Travel
* Culture
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Family
* Health and Fitness
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Cars
* Free Mobile App
* Jobs
* Financial Solutions
* Rewards
* Events
* Dating
* Offers
* Shop
* Garden Shop
* Bookshop
* Tickets
* Puzzles
* Fantasy Football
* Voucher Codes
* Work at The Telegraph
* Telegraph Corporate
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe now
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
Upgrade to Premium
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* Subscribe - 30 days free
* Login
* Register
* Search
* Video
* Rewards
* My Account
My details
My newsletters
Logout
The Telegraph
* Home
* News
* Sport
* Business
(BUTTON) ALL SECTIONS
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Politics
* Work
* Sex
* Life
* Women Mean Business
* Columnists
* Facebook Group
* Telegraph Dating
(BUTTON) More
* Telegraph
* Lifestyle
* Women
* Work
The workplace fable of The Energetic Boss
*
*
*
*
Save
light bulb with gears inside Credit: © Sergey Nivens / Alamy Stock
Photo
* Mark Price
21 November 2017 • 6:00am
(BUTTON) Follow
Follow the author of this article
* Mark Price
Follow the topics within this article
* Publishing
* Mark Price
* Careers
* Happiness
Mark Price shares his workplace fables - true stories from the business
front line that can teach us lessons about career success
When the new boss arrived he was brimming with ideas. New products,
more innovation, better prices, greater service, more outlets, better
training and so on and so forth. It was like watching a three-ring
circus as all areas of the business worked hard, improved, caught up
and then overtook the competition.
“Will he never stop!” exclaimed the team as new idea followed new idea.
Many yearned for a rest but enjoyed the fruits of their success, and
the encouragement to try new things.
When the energetic boss left everyone was relieved when the new leader
called for a period of ‘consolidation’. A time to improve what had been
done, to draw breath, to reflect. The pace lessened but so did
progress. The competition pushed forward and went from followers to
leaders once more.
Moral of the tale:
Running a business is like travelling up a down escalator. Run and you
make progress, walk and you stay the same, stand still and you go
backwards
Workplace Fables: 147 True Life Stories, by Mark Price, is published by
Stour Publishing. To order your copy for £8.99 plus p&p, call 0844 871
1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
Share your Workplace Fables and learn more about Mark’s mission to
improve workplace happiness at engaging.works/me/ideas
Related Topics
* Publishing
* Mark Price
* Careers
* Happiness
* Show more
*
*
*
*
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
(BUTTON) Show comments
If you would like to add a comment, please register or log in
Register Log in
Please review our commenting policy
Follow The Telegraph
* Follow on Facebook
* Follow on Twitter
* Follow on Instagram
IFRAME: https://widgethost.barnebys.com/widgets/28/?w=300&h=460
Women latest
1. Kirsty Wark
19 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Kirstie Wark: I reported from Lockerbie still wearing my Christmas party
outfit
2. Hands up in a classroom
19 Dec 2018, 4:31pm
Comment: After a tumultuous year, do any of our leaders deserve top marks?
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
3. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex speaks to head chef Stuart Jones as she
visits the Royal Variety Charity's residential nursing and care
home at Brinsworth House o
19 Dec 2018, 3:34pm
Is Meghan having twins...and other things not to say about the size of a
pregnant woman's bump
Premium
4. Women are rejecting the term 'mumpreneur'
19 Dec 2018, 3:11pm
Comment: When did we decide it was OK to call business women 'mumpreneurs'?
Clue: it's not
Josephine Fairley
Premium
5. Richard Ratcliffe is still campaigning for his wife's release from
Iranian jail
19 Dec 2018, 1:10pm
Richard Ratcliffe: 'My daughter wants to know why Mummy won't be out of
prison for Christmas'
Premium
6. Kay Burley
19 Dec 2018, 11:55am
Comment: Brexit chaos is fuelling vile misogyny - and I won't tolerate it
Kay Burley
Premium
7. Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926 - a mystery that
still intrigues us today
19 Dec 2018, 7:00am
Was there more to Agatha Christie's 11 mysterious missing days than has
previously been revealed?
Premium
8. Christine Armstrong, author of 'Mother of All Jobs'
19 Dec 2018, 6:00am
The working mum's guide to getting through Christmas
9. More than half of business women surveyed said they found the term
'mumpreneur' negative
19 Dec 2018, 12:01am
Don't patronise us with 'mumpreneurs' label, says poll of 500 businesswomen
10. Brexit supporters protest
18 Dec 2018, 7:00pm
Comment: Why I’ve changed my mind about Theresa May’s deal
Allison Pearson
Premium
Allison Pearson
11. Raneem Oudeh (left) and her mother, Khaola Saleem were killed by
Oudeh's former partner
18 Dec 2018, 4:33pm
If two men were killed at the football every week, it would be a scandal -
so why don't we care it's happening to women?
Premium
12. Imelda Cortez spent more than 18 months in jail awaiting trial, a
further ordeal after allegedly being repeatedly raped by her
stepfather for seven years
18 Dec 2018, 12:59pm
Salvadoran rape victim accused of attempted murder after giving birth to baby
in latrine is freed from jail
13. Children and their identity has become a hot topic in the
classroom
17 Dec 2018, 6:30pm
Comment: Teaching children boys have periods too is not education, it’s
'mythinformation'
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
14. Any number of online daters are guilty of toying with the truth
(posed by models)
17 Dec 2018, 6:07pm
Confessions of a midlife online dater: How it feels to lie about your age -
and be lied to
Premium
15. Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton
17 Dec 2018, 6:00pm
Forget the Brexit blues - there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful
16. Good on Nigella for reminding us of her comical experience
17 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: Nigella's tummy, and how women fall for the lie of perfection every
day
Celia Walden
Premium
Celia Walden
17. Helen Lederer
17 Dec 2018, 12:01am
New prize offers £5,000 book deal for 'overlooked' funny women writers
18. Joule by ChefSteps
16 Dec 2018, 4:00pm
Ready, steady… go! 15 last-minute Christmas gifts for the healthiest people
you know
Premium
19. PornHub, the world's biggest free porn provider, keeps a record of
everything that you search for
16 Dec 2018, 1:06pm
What porn can tell us about the world in 2018
Premium
20. Helena Bonham Carter
16 Dec 2018, 8:00am
Helena Bonham Carter: 'Being well known and vulnerable is a tricky
combination'
Premium
21. French police
16 Dec 2018, 6:00am
Comment: It's time to end this national hysteria - things aren't as bad as
they used to be
Zoe Strimpel
Premium
[Zoe%20Strimpel-small.png]
Voucher codes
Body Shop discount code
Office Shoes discount code
Dunelm discount code
Marks and Spencer discount code
* Contact us
* About us
* Rewards
* Archive
* Reader Prints
* Branded Content
* Syndication
* Guidelines
* Privacy
* Terms and Conditions
* Advertising terms
* Fantasy Sport
* Voucher codes
© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Please support us by disabling your adblocker
We've noticed you're adblocking.
We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so
that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.
Thank you for your support.
Need help?
Visit our adblocking instructions page.
(BUTTON) Close
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Careers in sustainable business
Guardian sustainable business
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
Nic Marks
Thu 20 Mar 2014 12.36 GMT First published on Thu 20 Mar 2014 12.36 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Employees at desk
[ ] Happier employees are found to be more creative, more innovative
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.
Global issues such as human rights, peacekeeping and sustainable
development are what we would expect the UN to have on its agenda. So
why has it decided that the seemingly frivolous idea of happiness is
worth championing?
If we could create a world that was more inclusive, equitable, and
balanced, a world where all people were happier, most of us would agree
that this would be progress. When understood like this, happiness
suddenly seems a much more serious issue, one that belongs on the
global agenda. The UN is so serious about it that in a 2012 resolution
it called for a "more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to
economic growth that promotes ... the happiness and well-being of all
peoples".
As far away as Bhutan, whose government convened the first UN
Conference on Happiness at which the International Day of Happiness was
instigated, happiness is now featuring on national agendas. The UK
government is taking a lead and is the first western nation to have an
official national indicator of wellbeing.
All too often, the concept of happiness is hijacked by advertisers and
the popular media and then sold back to us in the form of materialism
and glamour. In reality, the important things for our happiness are
rarely even things at all. They are more about the quality of our
relationships and whether what we do in our home and working lives
feels purposeful.
The London-based campaign group Action for Happiness is co-ordinating
many global events this year under the banner of "reclaiming
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
the things we hope will make us happy. We don't expect to be happy at
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
happier in our whole lives. We'd be better partners, better parents,
better people. So happiness at work is good for us, as individuals.
But what about business? Let's ask another question: what happens to a
business if its employees are happier at work?
Far from spending the day lolling about and chatting with colleagues,
as some sceptics might assume, happier employees are more creative,
more innovative and more focused on their work. Every day they make
more progress with their work than their unhappy colleagues. They also
are much less likely to leave – who leaves a job they love?
When we do the maths, the costs of ignoring happiness at work are
substantial. An average UK company will employ about 250 people. If it
is average in all aspects, then about 40 of them will leave each year
and over 1,000 days will be lost due to absenteeism. If the company had
a really happy, engaged workforce, then staff turnover would typically
halve, absenteeism would be cut by 25%, and productivity would increase
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
the world will continue on its current path towards an inequitable,
unbalanced, and unsustainable future, regardless?
This is where the happiness perspective gets really interesting. Most
of us feel happier when we work for an organisation that is seeking to
make a positive impact in the world. In fact, many of us forgo higher
salaries to work for organisations and on issues that are aligned with
our personal values and sense of purpose. Organisations that create
products and services that make the world a better place will surely be
rewarded with employees who are happier, more engaged, and genuinely
proud to work there. There is a win-win-win here for individuals,
business and society.
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
all of us.
Nic Marks is director of Happiness Works and on the board of Action for
Happiness
Join the community of sustainability professionals and experts. Become
a GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox
Topics
* Guardian sustainable business
* Careers in sustainable business
* Health and wellbeing
* Ethical business
* Corporate social responsibility
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Guardian+sustainable+business
%2CLife+and+style%2CHealth+and+wellbeing%2CEthical+business%2CCorporate
+social+responsibility]
#RSS Feed for Health News articles - Telegraph.co.uk
[p?c1=2&c2=6035736&cv=2.0&cj=1]
Accessibility links
* Skip to article
* Skip to navigation
[telegraph_print_190.gif]
Telegraph.co.uk
___________________ Submit
Tuesday 18 December 2018
* Home
* Video
* News
* World
* Sport
* Business
* Money
* Comment
* Culture
* Travel
* Life
* Women
* Fashion
* Luxury
* Tech
* Film
* Politics
* Investigations
* Obits
* Education
* Science
* Earth
* Weather
* Health
* Royal
* Celebrity
* Defence
* Scotland
Advertisement
1. Home»
2. News»
3. Health»
4. Health News
Millions resign or call in sick as Monday Blues bite in recession
Millions of workers resign or call in sick every year due to stress at work,
according to research that suggests the "Monday Blues" could be worse than
ever.
Millions resign or call in sick as Sunday Blues bite in recession
More than a quarter of people said their weekend was ruined by the
Sunday Blues – the thought of returning to work on Monday
morning Photo: CORBIS
Andy Bloxham
By Andy Bloxham
7:30AM BST 17 May 2010
Follow
A study for the mental health charity Mind found that almost 20 per
cent of people had claimed they were ill because they could not cope
with pressure in the office.
Eight per cent of the population left a job last year due to stress and
more than a quarter of people said their weekend was ruined by the
thought of returning to work on Monday morning - researchers found.
The study is released to coincide with the launch of the charity’s
campaign to improve the work-life balance for employees.
It urged people to take practical steps to improve their working life,
such as by “reclaiming” their lunch hour.
The study found that stress was badly affecting people’s sleeping
patterns, general health and relationships.
Related Articles
* An audience with the human iPod
16 May 2010
* QI: Quite Interesting facts about bees
14 May 2010
* Secret court opened up in autistic pianist case
13 May 2010
* One in seven soldiers driven to alcohol by war horror
13 May 2010
* 'Tidal wave' of mental trauma among servicemen
13 May 2010
It noted that a record number of prescriptions for anti-depressants
were issued last year at 39.1m, while a quarter of people said stress
was affecting their relationship with their spouse or partner.
The recession was cited as a powerful negative influence on happiness
at work, as staff felt pressured into working longer hours without
extra pay while fearing for their jobs.
One in four said they had cried at work because they could not cope
with the stress.
More than one in 10 said they felt they had insufficient support from
their manager.
According to separate research from the Shaw Trust, an employment
charity for the disabled, half of managers believe their staff never
suffer mental health problems.
Last year, the fit note was introduced to replace the sick note, an
occupational health advice line was launched, and national stress
management standards were brought into force to be monitored by the
Health and Safety Executive.
However, Mind believes not enough is being done to tackle the issue of
mental health in the workplace.
Paul Farmer, its chief executive, said: “Working conditions have been
incredibly tough for the last couple of years, and the emotional fall
out of the recession doesn’t just centre on people who have lost their
jobs, but on people who are struggling to cope with the extra demands
of working harder, longer hours, and under more pressure."
He added that it was in companies' interests to tackle mental health
problems including stress.
“Businesses who look after their staff reap the rewards in reduced
sickness absence and increased productivity.”
Last week, research from University College London was published in the
European Heart Journal which suggested those who work more than 10
hours a day are 60% more likely to develop heart problems.
Around 1m people regularly work more than 48 hours a week, with 600,000
going beyond 60 hours – the point at which the individual is at acute
risk of developing ill health.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National
Statistics, the working population of Britain in the first three months
of this year was just below 29m.
Mental illness costs employers an estimated £26bn every year.
Health News
* News »
* UK News »
* Andy Bloxham »
In Health News
A young women has had to have a metal spoon fished out of her stomach
after accidentally swallowing it while eating ice cream. Zhang Weiwei,
the 22-year-old varsity student from Wuhan University in Wuhan, central
China’s Hubei Province, was on her way back from a meal with friends
when the incident happened. Weiwei had bought an ice cream and was
chatting and walking back to her dorm room when another friend saw her
and jumped on her back to greet her. Weiwei got such a fright that she
swallowed the entire 14cm metal spoon.
Weird X-rays
For the past two years Russian photojournalist Vladimir Yakovlev
travelled around the world, searching for people who have discovered
new found hobbies and pleasure in their older age. With the series The
Age Of Happiness, Yakovlev hopes to change the usual perception of life
after retirement and promote positive ageing. On his travels he met
some extraordinary characters over 60-year-old - some very close to the
100 milestone - who enjoy each day and inspire others to make their
lives equally fulfilling.
Life begins at 70
A group of men from Caerphilly in South Wales celebrated completing a
pioneering 35-year health study - beating killer diseases by making
simple changes to their lifestyle.
Living proof: the secret of healthy ageing
Rapeseed: the British olive oil?
Why olive oil should be kept out of the frying pan
A member of the CG Environmental HazMat team disinfects the entrance to
the residence of a health worker at the Texas Health Presbyterian
Hospital who has contracted Ebola in Dallas, Texas
Ebola outbreak in pictures
Advertisement
Advertisement
Latest Video»
Rat climbs over man
Large rat climbs on sleeping commuter
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Old and frail wombat is rescued
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
Scientist in lab
Sponsored
When media meets medicine
More from The Telegraph
IFRAME:
https://s.telegraph.co.uk/international/Barnebys/2014/Barnebys_UK_300x5
50.html
Advertisement
Advertisement
More from the web
Loading
More from The Telegraph
Loading
News
Progress 17 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station
The latest news, opinion and analysis
View
Football
Catch up on all the latest football news and results
View
Film
All the latest film trailers, reviews and features
View
Competitions
Enter one of our exciting new competitions
View
Back to top
* HOME
* News
* UK News
* Politics
* Long Reads
* Wikileaks
* Jobs
* World News
* Europe
* USA
* China
* Royal Family News
* Celebrity news
* Dating
* Finance
* Education
* Defence
* Weird News
* Editor's Choice
* Financial Services
* Pictures
* Video
* Matt
* Alex
* Comment
* Blogs
* Crossword
* Contact us
* Privacy and Cookies
* Advertising
* Fantasy Football
* Tickets
* Announcements
* Reader Prints
*
* Follow Us
* Apps
* Epaper
* Expat
* Promotions
* Subscriber
* Syndication
© Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2018
Terms and Conditions
Today's News
Archive
Style Book
Weather Forecast
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
AVAVA/shutterstock.com
How to be happier at work, without changing jobs
* Relaxnews
* Wednesday 9 February 2011 01:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Unhappy in your job? News website BusinessNewsDaily reported on Febuary
7 strategies to change that, without having to change your job.
If you're suffering while on the clock, you're in good company. A
recent poll in the UK cited over 20 percent of office workers are
dissatisfied with their work, while 52 percent of Americans say they
are unhappy with theirs, according to an annual Conference Board
survey.
Also, last month the Legatum Institute released its 2010 index ranking
happiness in 110 countries (covering 90 percent of the world's
population) on a variety of scales, including economy, work, health,
and personal freedom. The results revealed that unless you're living in
Norway, Denmark, Finland, or perhaps Australia, you might have a few
complaints about your life in general.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The BusinessNewsDaily article reports that it's not our work that makes
us miserable, it's how we cope with our feelings of boredom,
perfectionism, or stress that are all part of the day-to-day package.
Here are a few tips to help change that, culled from a new book titled
Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You by authors Brant
Secunda, a spiritual healer, and Mark Allen, world champion Ironman:
1. Stand up and move around - Get up to have a face-to-face with a
coworker, walk around at lunchtime - anything to keep your body active
and energized.
2. Embrace the boredom - If repetitive tasks leave you numb with
boredom, take a tip from a top athlete who trains every day for hours
at a time: chipping away at small tasks can be a powerful way to reach
your financial and professional goals.
3. Change your routine - Try working 8 AM to 4 PM rather than 9 AM to 5
PM, if possible, or rearrange your desk. Make calls instead of
e-mailing.
4. Stop procrastinating for five minutes - If you're putting off a
large project with a looming deadline, start small. Commit to working
on it for just five minutes, and take it from there.
5. Go out to lunch - Take a break, and keep your body well fed and
hydrated throughout the day. Keep a large bottle of water at your desk
and sip it all day to keep you feeling refreshed and energized.
6. Live in the moment - Let go of perfectionism by doing the best you
can right now, despite what else might be going on in your life.
"Instead of focusing on absolute perfection, make the goal to give the
best you can in the moment, even if you know on another day it might be
better," states the article.
Read the full article here:
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/be-happier-and-healthier-at-work-10-st
rategies-to-try-0971/
A few more articles with tips:
http://www.businesspundit.com/50-tips-for-being-happier-at-work/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-happiness-project/201007/want-b
e-happy-work-dozens-tips-plus-few-quizzes-consider
Learn more about the world's happiest countries:
http://www.prosperity.com/
Try one of these resolutions for happiness from New York Times
best-selling author Gretchen Rubin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5rpNEmqPdM
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Voices
Your personality type and how your boss speaks to you are more valuable than
perks for workplace happiness
Why staff wellbeing at work is so much more than free lunches and
massages
* Cary Cooper and Ivan Robertson
* Tuesday 5 June 2018 13:02
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Voices
istock/Getty images
When Google promoted a software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan to the
role of “Jolly Good Fellow”, his career – and the entire culture of
Silicon Valley – took a sharp turn.
Meng, a cheerful employee valued for his motivational qualities, went
from developing mobile search tools to spreading happiness across the
organisation. Happiness became his job.
Google wasn’t the first to hire someone with the sole remit of
enforcing employee contentment. In 1999, when Google was still a
start-up, French fashion brand Kiabi hired Christine Jutard as its
chief happiness officer. She was one of the first to perform the role.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
But once Google did it, employee happiness became a key metric and
other organisations quickly adopted their approach. Three years after
Meng’s appointment, fast food giant McDonald’s even promoted Ronald
McDonald from brand mascot to CHO.
The role remains popular today. There are more than 1,000 chief
happiness officers listed on jobs website LinkedIn. But a closer look
at what really makes employees happy shows that lots of companies are
going about it the wrong way.
The theory goes that happy employees are productive employees and
productive employees generate more profit.
The secondary benefit is that happy employees don’t look to jump ship.
This cuts recruitment costs, further increasing profits. So most
organisations investing heavily in fostering a happiness culture think
they see a good return on investment.
Expedia, for example, provides an office full of perks and up to
US$14,000 per year, per person, in travel perks, to keep people happy.
Other firms offer unlimited vacations, free food, even office toys to
keep the happiness levels high.
But the answer to employee happiness is not in the form of bean bags
and ping-pong tables. As the Expedia example shows, it is the company’s
“culture” and “career opportunities” that have made it one of the UK’s
most popular places to work – not the physical surroundings.
Read more
* Why half the country's workforce wants a different job
There is a real difference between happiness gimmicks and working in a
well-being culture – one that values people, manages them by praise and
reward rather than fault-finding, and that enables them to work
flexibly and provides them with work-life balance. Research shows that
these are the real keys to happiness.
A 2017 study of start-up businesses found that 57 per cent had at least
one member who worked remotely, either from home or wherever they
happened to want to work. Companies surveyed said this was a logistical
choice. The best person for the job might not have been local to begin
with and offices only have so much space.
But there’s an added benefit here: the implied trust and autonomy of
allowing staff to work remotely may contribute more to their happiness
than dragging them into an office stocked with free coffee and fruit.
As John Ruskin, the British reformer, said in 1851: “In order that
people may be happy at work, these three things are needed: they must
be fit for it, they must not do too much of it, and they must have a
sense of success in it”.
Research shows that employee happiness is also determined by their
personalities. In a large study of 3,200 employees from a variety of
organisations and sectors, carried out by Robertson Cooper Ltd, a
workplace well-being consultancy that we set up, we found that certain
personality types experienced more “good days at work” than other
types.
We discovered that employees who scored highly on positive emotions and
enthusiasm, lower on depressive tendencies like sadness, hopelessness
and loneliness and those who “begin tasks and carry them through” have
the highest number of good days at work.
If you combine these three personality characteristics, those who had
all three had 79 per cent of “good days at work”, whereas those who had
low scores on these only had 57 per cent of good days. This, in turn,
translates into higher job satisfaction, better health and higher
productivity.
The implications here is that employers should try and recruit people
with these characteristics but, of course, some people who lack some of
these characteristics may have key skills that are even more important.
And, even if you do recruit with happiness traits in mind, being
content at work will, to a larger extent, depend on the workplace
culture that truly values staff, trusts them, manages them humanely and
compassionately and provides them with greater balance in their lives.
Read more
* Is there bullying in your workplace? Here's why
In our recent book Wellbeing: Productivity and Happiness at Work, case
studies of major employers – including Rolls Royce, BT, John Lewis
Partnership, Network Rail and the UK Civil Service – shows how this
kind of well-being culture boosts the bottom line.
Happiness and contentment at work is not about sushi for lunch and
massages at your desk; it is about how bosses treat those that work for
them. As Mark Twain once wrote: “Keep away from people who try to
belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great
make you feel that you, too, can somehow become great.”
Cary Cooper, 50th Anniversary Professor of Organisational Psychology
and Health, University of Manchester and Ivan Robertson, Emeritus
Professor of Work & Organizational Psychology, University of Manchester
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the
original article.
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
More about Workplace wellbeing Productivity
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > World > Europe
Six-hour working day 'boosts productivity and makes people happier'
Nurses who worked six-hour days were found to be 20 per cent happier
and had more energy
* Samuel Osborne @SamuelOsborne93
* Wednesday 11 May 2016 10:12
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Commuters walk to work over London Bridge ( Scott Barbour/Getty Images
)
A shorter work day increases productivity and makes people happier,
research has found.
The Svartedalens retirement home in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest
city, conducted an experiment to determine whether cutting hours
improved patient care and boosted employees' morale.
Nurses who worked six-hour days for the past year were found to be 20
per cent happier and had more energy at work and in their spare time.
Sweden's 6 hour work day explained
The 68 nurses also took half as much sick time as those in the control
group and were able to do 64 per cent more activities with elderly
residents.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
They were also 2.8 times less likely to take any time off work in a
two-week period, Bengt Lorentzon, a researcher on the project,
told Bloomberg.
Created with Sketch. The 10 happiest countries in Europe
Show all 10
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. The 10 happiest countries in Europe
1/10 Denmark
Coulourful houses and boats seen in the Nyhavn district in Copenhagen
2/10 Switzerland
3/10 Iceland
Iceland, Northern Lights
4/10 Norway
Wheel deal: cycling in Norway
Visit Norway
5/10 Finland
Getty
6/10 The Netherlands
7/10 Sweden
AFP
8/10 Austria
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
9/10 Germany
Getty Images
10/10 Belgium
The city hall on Brussels' Grand Place is illuminated during a light
show, December 30, 2015
Reuters
1/10 Denmark
Coulourful houses and boats seen in the Nyhavn district in Copenhagen
2/10 Switzerland
3/10 Iceland
Iceland, Northern Lights
4/10 Norway
Wheel deal: cycling in Norway
Visit Norway
5/10 Finland
Getty
6/10 The Netherlands
7/10 Sweden
AFP
8/10 Austria
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
9/10 Germany
Getty Images
10/10 Belgium
The city hall on Brussels' Grand Place is illuminated during a light
show, December 30, 2015
Reuters
"If the nurses are at work more time and are more healthy, this means
that the continuity at the residence has increased," Mr Lorentzon said.
"That means higher quality [care]."
Sweden made headlines in 2015 when it was reported the country
was moving towards a six-hour work day.
Read more
* Sweden introduces six-hour work day
* The truth about Sweden’s six-hour work day
* Sweden's six-hour work day comes to the UK at Agent Marketing in
Liverpool
A Toyota centre in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city,
implemented shorter working hours over a decade ago, with the company
reporting happier staff, a lower turnover rate and an increase in
profits.
Their results prompted a number of other Swedish companies to trial
shorter hours.
Six out of 10 bosses in the UK agreed cutting employees' work hours
would improve productivity, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Longer working hours have been liniked with heart disease and stroke,
according to a medical study published in the Lancet.
More about Sweden Gothenburg Sweden work Occupational Psychology
Six-hour workday
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
British people are happier to be in work despite increased stress, research
finds
Six out of 10 people say they would like to be employed even if they
did not need the money
* Gabriel Samuels @gabs_samuels
* Sunday 24 July 2016 10:17
*
* {{^moreThanTen}} {{total}} comments {{/moreThanTen}}
Click to follow
The Independent
People queue outside a job centre in Bristol, UK ( Getty )
The majority of British people are happy and grateful to be in work and
would still choose to have a job even it they did not need the money,
according to research.
About 62 per cent of people in the UK say they would like to be
employed in a job they enjoyed rather than simply staying at home
– despite also saying they were suffering from increased stress due to
longer working hours.
People also said they feel under more pressure than ever to perform in
their jobs, and feel they have less job security than in the past.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* Zero-hours contracts: Tories have broken their pledge on job
security
* Millennials’ lifetime earnings ‘permanently scarred’ because
they’ve entered the jobs market at a tough time, report finds
* UK faces short recession as Brexit uncertainty hits house prices,
consumer spending and jobs, EY predicts
Employed people do however feel more attached to their careers beyond
simply the money they bring in, and are now more likely to remain in a
job even if they won the lottery.
The survey showed graduate workers were among the most likely to say
they would like a job even if it was not financially necessary.
When the survey was held in 2005, only 49 per cent of people said they
would want to be employed even if they did not need to be.
The findings form part of the recently released British Social
Attitudes survey (BSA), which has been assessing the thoughts and
beliefs of the nation since 1983.
Meanwhile those in professional jobs report having much more freedom
and flexibility than they did a decade ago.
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
Show all 50
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
1/50 19 December 2018
There was controversy in the Commons today as Jeremy Corbyn allegedly
called the Prime Minister a stupid woman under his breath after she
made a joke at PMQs
AP
2/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
3/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
4/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
5/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
6/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
7/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
8/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
9/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
10/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
11/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
12/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
13/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
14/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
15/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
16/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
17/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
18/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
19/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
20/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
21/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
22/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
23/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
24/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
25/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
26/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
27/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
28/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
29/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
30/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
31/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
32/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
33/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
34/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
35/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
36/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
37/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
38/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
39/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
40/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
41/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
42/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
43/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
44/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
45/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
46/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
47/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
48/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
49/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
50/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
1/50 19 December 2018
There was controversy in the Commons today as Jeremy Corbyn allegedly
called the Prime Minister a stupid woman under his breath after she
made a joke at PMQs
AP
2/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
3/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
4/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
5/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
6/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
7/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
8/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
9/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
10/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
11/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
12/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
13/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
14/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
15/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
16/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
17/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
18/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
19/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
20/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
21/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
22/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
23/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
24/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
25/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
26/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
27/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
28/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
29/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
30/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
31/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
32/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
33/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
34/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
35/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
36/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
37/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
38/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
39/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
40/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
41/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
42/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
43/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
44/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
45/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
46/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
47/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
48/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
49/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
50/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
Kirby Swales, director at the NatCen Survey Centre which coordinated
the research, said people seem to be more willing to work harder to
achieve something to be happy about.
“There is a common pattern of people working harder but being more
happy. We find that there has been an increase in those that are
willing to work hard," Mr Swales told the Telegraph.
“It does seem to be increasingly accepted among people that they have
to go that extra mile and they accept that work is a bit more stressful
and a bit more imposing on their work-life balance, but if that is
associated with more autonomy there are plenty of people choosing to do
that.”
Last week, it was reported a Scottish man who won a £14m lottery
jackpot was back to work as a plumber just two days after his win was
publicly announced.
John Doherty, 52, said he “would be bored sat at home” as he enjoyed
his work and “wanted to stay grounded”.
More about Employment BSA Survey work satisfaction Happiness
Reuse content
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
____________________ Enter your email address (BUTTON) Continue
(BUTTON) Continue Please enter an email address Email address is
invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email cannot be
used. Try another
Register with your social account or click here to log in
receiveIndyHeadlines [ ] I would like to receive morning headlines
Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email
Update newsletter preferences
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
Britain has best work environments out of major European countries, new
survey claims
Many workers in France, Germany and Italy feel bosses have no genuine
interest in their wellbeing
* Jack Peat
* Tuesday 16 October 2018 17:03
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Thirty-six per cent of workers on the continent said their boss had no
idea what they did on a day-to-day basis ( Rex Features )
Britain is home to some of the best work environments in Europe when
compared to other major economies, a new survey has revealed.
Despite a third of respondents saying they did not get enough
recognition from their boss, some 67 per cent said they thought their
manager had a genuine interest in their wellbeing and happiness at
work.
Almost half said they got on well with their boss on both a
professional and personal level and two-thirds agreed they deserved to
be in the position they were in.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* Why a valued and respected workforce boosts the bottom line
However, managers on the continent came off far worse.
Research of 5,000 workers in France, Germany and Italy has revealed
over a quarter of European employees felt their bosses had no genuine
interest for their wellbeing, with Italians feeling the most
underappreciated followed by workers in France and Germany.
By contrast, just 22 per cent of Britons said the same, the lowest
number of all four major economies.
The survey also found 44 per cent of European employees did not believe
their bosses would be able to complete a day’s work in their job.
This could be due to a lack of interest or effort to engage with them,
with 36 per cent of workers on the continent saying their boss had no
idea what they did on a day-to-day basis.
“The workplace has a profound effect on shaping the beliefs and values
of employees," said Saurav Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Perkbox. “In
fact, a key differentiator separating the highest performing companies
from the rest is the way they look after the wellbeing of their staff.
“It signals ‘the right way’ of doing things and becomes
self-reinforcing - you care for them, they will care for your business
in return.”
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
Show all 50
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
1/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
2/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
3/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
4/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
5/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
6/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
7/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
8/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
9/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
10/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
11/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
12/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
13/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
14/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
15/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
16/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
17/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
18/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
19/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
20/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
21/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
22/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
23/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
24/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
25/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
26/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
27/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
28/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
29/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
30/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
31/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
32/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
33/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
34/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
35/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
36/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
37/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
38/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
39/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
40/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
41/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
42/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
43/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
44/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
45/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
46/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
47/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
48/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
49/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
50/50 30 October 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, listens to Norwegian Prime
Minister Erna Solberg, center, flanked by Lithuania's Health Minister,
Aurelijus Veryga at the Oslo Cancer Cluster for a summit to discuss the
role of health technology. Speaking from Oslo, May says this week's
austerity-easing British budget does not signal an impending election
NTB scanpix via AP
1/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
2/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
3/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
4/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
5/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
6/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
7/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
8/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
9/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
10/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
11/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
12/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
13/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
14/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
15/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
16/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
17/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
18/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
19/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
20/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
21/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
22/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
23/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
24/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
25/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
26/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
27/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
28/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
29/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
30/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
31/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
32/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
33/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
34/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
35/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
36/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
37/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
38/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
39/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
40/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
41/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
42/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
43/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
44/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
45/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
46/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
47/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
48/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
49/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
50/50 30 October 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, listens to Norwegian Prime
Minister Erna Solberg, center, flanked by Lithuania's Health Minister,
Aurelijus Veryga at the Oslo Cancer Cluster for a summit to discuss the
role of health technology. Speaking from Oslo, May says this week's
austerity-easing British budget does not signal an impending election
NTB scanpix via AP
He added: “The case of France is an interesting one because most
businesses are obliged to provide employee benefits by law. But as
these stats show, this doesn’t necessarily evidence a ‘genuine
interest’ for employee wellbeing.”
The study also found over a quarter of respondents said they did not
get any form of verbal recognition for doing their job well.
Italy was worst performing in this regard, where almost a third said
they did not feel they got recognition. That compares to just one in
five employees in Britain, where workers felt the most appreciated on
the continent.
SWNS
More about Work Europe Job satisfaction
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > Business
People working for not-for-profit companies much happier than private sector
employees, study finds
The study found people working in the private sector would have to earn
an extra £27,000 per year to have the same happiness levels as people
working for third sector companies, such as charities or social
enterprises
* Siobhan Fenton @siobhanfenton
* Friday 3 June 2016 16:01
*
* {{^moreThanTen}} {{total}} comments {{/moreThanTen}}
Click to follow
The Independent
Third sector workers report being happier and more satisfied with their
pay ( Corbis )
Scientists have revealed one of the most effective ways to increase how
happy you are and it’s much simpler than you might think. Working for a
charity, social enterprise or other not-for-profit organisation
increases your happiness levels sharply, research has found.
Read more
* Scientists attempt to quantify happiness caused by alcohol
A study published in the Journal of Economic Psychology analysed data
on 12,786 people working in the private sector and 966 people employed
in the ‘third sector’ or not-for-profit organisations.
It found that not only were those in the third sector happier, but that
a person working for a private company would have to earn another
£27,000 per year to be as happy as their not-for-profit counterparts.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The study also found higher pay does not result in higher pay
satisfaction, as third sector employees expressed similar satisfaction
levels over how much they earn compared to private sector employees,
despite having significantly lower salaries than them.
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
Show all 50
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. UK news in pictures
1/50 19 December 2018
There was controversy in the Commons today as Jeremy Corbyn allegedly
called the Prime Minister a stupid woman under his breath after she
made a joke at PMQs
AP
2/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
3/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
4/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
5/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
6/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
7/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
8/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
9/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
10/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
11/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
12/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
13/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
14/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
15/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
16/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
17/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
18/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
19/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
20/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
21/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
22/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
23/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
24/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
25/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
26/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
27/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
28/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
29/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
30/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
31/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
32/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
33/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
34/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
35/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
36/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
37/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
38/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
39/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
40/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
41/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
42/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
43/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
44/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
45/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
46/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
47/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
48/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
49/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
50/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
1/50 19 December 2018
There was controversy in the Commons today as Jeremy Corbyn allegedly
called the Prime Minister a stupid woman under his breath after she
made a joke at PMQs
AP
2/50 18 December 2018
Jose Mourinho after he was sacked by Manchester United with immediate
effect. The Portuguese leaves United sixth in the table with the 3-1
defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday proving his final game in
charge. A club statement read: "Manchester United announces that
manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. The club
would like to thank Jose for his work during his time at Manchester
United and to wish him success in the future. A new caretaker manager
will be appointed until the end of the current season, while the club
conducts a thorough recruitment process for a new, full-time manager."
Reuters
3/50 17 December 2018
Firefighters and police officers attend a memorial service at the
Harrods Bombing memorial in west London, on the 35th anniversary of the
terrorist attack which left three police officers and three members of
the public dead, on December 17, 1983
PA
4/50 16 December 2018
Theresa May has hit out at Mr Blair, accusing him of "insulting"the
British people and the office of prime minister by "undermining" Brexit
talks with calls in Brussels for a second referendum.
PA
5/50 15 December 2018
Chester Zoo after a fire broke out in the Monsoon Forest habitat area.
PA
6/50 14 December 2018
Fracking has been halted at the Preston Road site in Lancashire after a
series of tremors peaking at 0.9 magnitude
Reuters
7/50 13 December 2018
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today told Theresa May that he expects
assurances that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
AP
8/50 12 December 2018
Theresa May announces that she is to face a vote of no confidence today
Reuters
9/50 11 December 2018
Armed police restrain a man inside the grounds of the Houses of
Parliament in London
Reuters
10/50 10 December 2018
A demonstrator dressed as Theresa May sells Brexit Fudge in Old Palace
Yard, Westminster
PA
11/50 9 December 2018
A pro-brexit demonstrator speaks into a megaphone at the "Brexit
betrayal" march in London. Counter-demonstrators also staged a march in
London today
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
12/50 8 December 2018
People in Santa costumes in Trafalgar Square, London, as they take part
in Santacon
PA
13/50 7 December 2018
A large mural depicting one star being chipped away from the EU flag is
seen in Dover. The work has been attributed to Banksy
Reuters
14/50 6 December 2018
A man wearing a storm trooper costume holds a sketchbook belonging to
costume designer John Mollo, and showing illustrations for Star Wars
costumes, during a photo-call ahead of an auction at Bonhams in central
London
Reuters
15/50 5 December 2018
Demonstrators for and against Brexit protest opposite the Houses of
Parliament
AFP/Getty
16/50 4 December 2018
Theresa May has suffered an unprecedented defeat after the government
was found to be in contempt of parliament for refusing to publish key
Brexit papers. Labour and other opposition MPs, including Ms May's DUP
allies, won a narrow victory on the emergency motion, which argued that
ministers failed to comply with a binding Commons resolution to publish
the full legal advice on the Brexit dea
Reuters
17/50 3 December 2018
The Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivering to 10
Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public
referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal. The Independent editor
Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and
People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna delivered 300,000 People's Vote
signatures at midday
The Independent/Lucy Young
18/50 2 December 2018
Competitors take part in the London Santa Run in London's Victoria Park
Reuters
19/50 1 December 2018
Britain will no longer have access to the EU's Galileo satellite system
(pictured) following brexit
PA
20/50 30 November 2018
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May attend the G20
leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Reuters
21/50 29 November 2018
Waves hit the British coast as Storm Diana approaches, in Portreath,
Cornwall
StuCornell/Twitter/Reuters
22/50 28 November 2018
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha
(left), the son of Leicester City's chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha,
and his mother Aimon watched by Leicester City players (right) as they
pause after laying flowers during their visit to the King Power Stadium
in Leicester, to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the
October 27 helicopter crash at the stadium. The chairman was among five
people killed when his helicopter crashed in the side's stadium car
park moments after taking off from the pitch
AFP/Getty
23/50 27 November 2018
A demonstrator wearing a mask of Facebook chief executive Mark
Zuckerberg poses outside Portcullis house to question the refusal of
Zuckerberg to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Committee investigation into disinformation and fake news at the Houses
of Parliament in London. Facebook boss Richard Allan is expected to be
among a number of officials giving evidence to an "international grand
committee" on disinformation and fake news
AFP/Getty
24/50 26 November 2018
Artist Joseph Hillier and his sculpture - Messenger, depicting "a young
powerful woman", which will be unveiled next year for Theatre Royal
Plymouth. The sculpture, spanning seven metres high and nine metres
wide, is too large to be put together at Castle Fine Arts foundry, near
Oswestry, so it's being made in sections with 30 master craftsmen to
weld them together
PA
25/50 25 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at the end of the
European Council meeting in Brussels. The leaders of the 27 remaining
EU member countries (EU27) have endorsed the draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement and approved the draft political declaration on future EU-UK
relations in a special meeting of the European Council on Britain
leaving the EU under Article 50
EPA
26/50 24 November 2018
Environmental activists gather around a mock 'coffin', with "our
future" written on it, on the green in Parliament Square during a
demonstration organised by the movement Extinction Rebellion, calling
on the British government to take action on climate and ecological
issues. After a week of protest action disrupting the traffic on
bridges in central London over the Thames, the social movement
Extinction Rebellion, planned a 'funeral march' to highlight what they
describe as a climate and ecological emergency. Extinction Rebellion
demands that the UK government reduces to net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025 and creates a citizens assembly to oversee changes in
environmental policies
AFP/Getty
27/50 23 November 2018
England batsman Jonny Bairstow celebrates after reaching his century
during Day One of the Third Test match against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese
Sports Club in Colombo
Getty
28/50 22 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May joins a parent and baby group during a visit
to the Kentish Town Health Centre in London
Reuters
29/50 21 November 2018
A crashed car, with an object protruding through the windscreen, sits
abandoned on the A628 in the Peak District, as a blast of snow hit the
north of England
PA
30/50 20 November 2018
Waves crash over Seaham lighthouse near Durham as the cold and wet
weather continues
PA
31/50 19 November 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May speaking at the CBI annual conference at
InterContinental Hotel. Ms May, speaking at the CBI conference, said it
was “important” that the UK had escaped EU rules by the 2022 election,
but did not give a guarantee
PA
32/50 18 November 2018
England's Harry Kane celebrates with team mate Jesse Lingard after he
scored the winning goal against Croatia, after coming from 0-1 down
during their Nations League match at Wembley Stadium. The win means
that England process to the semi-finals of the new competition and
relegate Croatia
AFP/Getty
33/50 17 November 2018
Demonstrators on Westminster Bridge in London for a protest called by
Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the dangers posed by climate
change
PA
34/50 16 November 2018
Environment Secretary Michael Gove speaking outside the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs offices. He confirmed he will
remain in post and thinks it is important to continue working with
Cabinet colleagues to ensure the best Brexit outcome for the country
PA
35/50 15 November 2018
Theresa May chuckles at a press conference in Downing Street after a
tough day in which multiple cabinet members have resigned and a number
of MPs have tabled votes of no confidence in her leadership
Reuters
36/50 14 November 2018
Pro-European Union, anti-Brexit demonstrators hold placards and wave
Union and EU flags as they protest outside of the Houses of Parliament.
British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft agreement
on Brexit
AFP/Getty
37/50 13 November 2018
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab leaves Downing Street. Prime Minister
Theresa May today faced her divided ministers as negotiators scrambled
to secure a divorce agreement with the European Union and anxiety
mounted over the risk of a no-deal Brexit
PA
38/50 12 November 2018
Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller (centre) welcomes Madrid Mayor Manuela
Carmena (left) and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall in Berlin. The
three city leaders are meeting to discuss common challenges, including
the consequences of Brexit, immigration and the growth of right-wing
populism
Getty
39/50 11 November 2018
Prince Charles, and President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier face
the Cenotaph during the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on Whitehall in
London. On the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice, the
day's events mark the final First World War Centenary commemoration
events hosted by the UK Government
AFP/Getty
40/50 10 November 2018
Fans, players and staff pay tribute inside of the King Power stadium as
a silence is observed in memory of Leicester City chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha prior to their Premier League match against Burnley.
The first time a match has been played in the stadium since the owners
helicopter crash
Getty
41/50 9 November 2018
Transport Minister Jo Johnson has resigned in protest of the
Government's Brexit plan and called for a Final Say referendum
EPA
42/50 8 November 2018
Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt delivers a speech at the
British embassy in Paris. Britain's foreign secretary says Brexit
negotiations are in "the final phase" and that he is confident that an
agreement will be reached with the European Union.
AP
43/50 7 November 2018
Captain James Pugh places a figure among artist Rob Heard's
installation Shrouds of the Somme, which honours the dead of the First
World War, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. 72,396 small
shrouded figures, representing soldiers who died and were never
recovered from the Somme battlefields, have been laid out by volunteers
and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment
PA
44/50 6 November 2018
Adrian Lester, Sir Lenny Henry, Ade Adepitan, Nadine Marsh-Edwards,
Marcus Ryder and Meera Syal, as they deliver a letter, signed by a
string of stars, to 10 Downing Street, calling for tax breaks to effect
change and boost diversity behind the camera
PA
45/50 5 November 2018
EU nationals, living in the UK take part in a demonstration along
Whitehall. Three campaign groups, 'the3million', 'British in Europe',
and UNISON came together to form a human chain from Downing Street to
Parliament Square and lobby MPs
Getty
46/50 4 November 2018
The Leicester City team with Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (centre in
white uniform) son of Leicester City's Thai owner Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha while they pay their respects during the second day
of the funeral ceremony at Wat Thepsirin Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Players and staff from the club arrived in Bangkok to attend a mourning
rite for the club's chairman, whose death last week in a helicopter
crash stunned the Premier League club
King Power/AFP/Getty
47/50 3 November 2018
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy, Boris Johnson, is set on
fire in Kent
PA
48/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading 'THE BOSS', for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by
Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai
Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives
on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other
people crashed outside the stadium
PA
49/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company's UK headquarters in London
as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant's handling of
sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their
European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different
parts of the world
AFP/Getty
50/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group
Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign
demanding action on climate change
PA
Study author Martin Binder said: “Adding to our understanding of job
satisfaction, the present paper has shown that for Great Britain’s
third sector, workers in non-profit organizations are much more
satisfied than their peers in private firms with the work itself that
they are doing, with their hours worked and with their job security.
They are not significantly more satisfied with their pay or promotion
prospects but given that they earn less on average it is interesting to
note that they are not less satisfied with their pay.”
It is estimated that 732,000 people work in the third sector in the UK.
The number is growing, increasing by 34 per cent between 2001 and
2011.
More about Work Employment Business Research wellbeing
Reuse content
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
Independent News email
Only the best news in your inbox
____________________ Enter your email address (BUTTON) Continue
(BUTTON) Continue Please enter an email address Email address is
invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email cannot be
used. Try another
Register with your social account or click here to log in
receiveIndyHeadlines [ ] I would like to receive morning headlines
Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email
Update newsletter preferences
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
The human brain map, showing the different areas that have different
roles. ( Rex Features )
Neurologists 'work out the key to finding happiness'
Researchers have found the answer as to what makes us happy by using
MRI to find where in the brain happiness occurs
* Emma Henderson
* @Emmalouisehendy
* Saturday 21 November 2015 13:21
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Everyone wants to be happy and it’s long been the ultimate goal for
humans. Now scientists believe they have found the region in the brain
that is responsible for controlling these feelings.
Researches at Kyoto University have narrowed their search into
happiness, by looking at the neural structures that cause people to be
happy.
Read more
* Read more Why Generation Y yuppies are all so unhappy
The research has been led by Wataru Sato, who thinks he has found the
answer as to what makes us happy, by using MRI to find out where in the
brain happiness happens.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Their study revealed that, an overall feeling of happiness is caused by
happy emotions and life satisfaction. When these two feelings happen at
once in the precuneus, you become happy .
Warwick University suggests happiness is genetically predetermined -
London Live
The precuneus is found in the medial parietal lobe of your brain
(located at the top of your head, towards the back) which is involved
in episodic memory, reflecting upon self and some aspects of
consciousness.
Doctors are still unclear what the neural mechanism behind happiness
occurring is though.
Participants had their brains scanned with MRI and then completed a
survey. The survey involved describing how happy the participants were
generally, how intensely they feel emotions, whether these are positive
or negative feelings and how satisfied they are with their lives.
Created with Sketch. Health news in pictures
Show all 40
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Health news in pictures
1/40 Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases
On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into
the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of
the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a
better equipped immune system
PA
2/40 Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study
finds
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that
many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail
Getty
3/40 Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds
A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has
found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and
methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users
Reuters
4/40 More children are obese and diabetic
There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since
2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a
leading cause
Reuters
5/40 Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal
thoughts
The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for
children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In
what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed
antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was
more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo.
Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users
engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide
Getty
6/40 Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study
claims
Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused
on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority
groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly
controlled blood sugar
iStock
7/40 Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar
levels since 1992 despite producer claims
A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high
amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for
children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the
last two and a half decades
Getty
8/40 Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns
New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund,
said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to
the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping
active
PA
9/40 New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes
A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able
to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three
quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the
trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which
were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been “sitting
on a shelf unused”, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor
of endocrinology and metabolism
REX
10/40 Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental
health problems, study finds
Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra
people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being
prescribed drugs and criticised “ideological” reasons doctors use to
avoid doing so.
Getty
11/40 Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E
The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to
delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa
Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in
Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month
later.
Just Giving
12/40 Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants
The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where
women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants.
Getty
13/40 Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS
The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients
in its care as part of a “zero suicide ambition” being launched today.
Getty
14/40 Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to
kill off tumours
Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the
immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly
to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny
amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour.
Wikimedia Commons / Nephron
15/40 Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major
study
Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent
more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase
their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues
Getty
16/40 NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women
wrongly given all-clear
Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after
failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the
all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their
doctors following the identification of “procedural issues” in the
service provided by Pathology First Laboratory.
REX
17/40 Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by
scientists
Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but
from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are
able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a
molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high
quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour
cells to gain these migratory properties.
Getty
18/40 NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles
advertised
A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being
advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently
vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent
higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years
ago.
REX
19/40 Cannabis extract could provide ‘new class of treatment’ for psychosis
CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that
causes paranoia and anxiety.
Getty
20/40 Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to
hand settlement money back to NHS
Mr Branson’s company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an
£82m contract to provide children’s health services across Surrey,
citing concerns over “serious flaws” in the way the contract was
awarded
PA
21/40 More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS
bursary scrapped
The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per
cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where
the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent
respectively
Getty
22/40 Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths
The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four
years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding
had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise
to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra
funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year.
Reuters
23/40 Long commutes carry health risks
Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows
that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and
performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant
impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent
more likely to suffer from depression
Shutterstock
24/40 You cannot be fit and fat
It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has
concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even
“metabolically healthy” obese people are still at a higher risk of
heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range
Getty
25/40 Sleep deprivation
When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you
are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this
could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain
to eat itself
Shutterstock
26/40 Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch
David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is
essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness
group was spurred to launch the ‘napercise’ class after research
revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is
therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have
to have children to take part
Getty
27/40 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn
Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such
as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health
professor have said.
Getty
28/40 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects
A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering
medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are
not caused by the drugs themselves
Getty
29/40 Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism
New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25
or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social
disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for
Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are
actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall
behind by the time they hit their teenage years.
Getty
30/40 Cycling to work ‘could halve risk of cancer and heart disease’
Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their
risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new
research suggests – but campaigners have warned there is still an
“urgent need” to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work
is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and
cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a
quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health
benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the
same degree as cycling.
Getty
31/40 Playing Tetris in hospital after a traumatic incident could prevent
PTSD
Scientists conducted the research on 71 car crash victims as they were
waiting for treatment at one hospital’s accident and emergency
department. They asked half of the patients to briefly recall the
incident and then play the classic computer game, the others were given
a written activity to complete. The researchers, from Karolinska
Institute in Sweden and the University of Oxford, found that the
patients who had played Tetris reported fewer intrusive memories,
commonly known as flashbacks, in the week that followed
Rex
32/40 Vaping backed as healthier nicotine alternative to cigarettes after
latest study
Vaping has been given an emphatic thumbs up by health experts after the
first long-term study of its effects in ex-smokers. After six months,
people who switched from real to e-cigarettes had far fewer toxins and
cancer-causing substances in their bodies than continual smokers,
scientists found
Getty
33/40 Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food,
scientists warn
Millions of people are putting themselves at risk by cooking their rice
incorrectly, scientists have warned. Recent experiments show a common
method of cooking rice — simply boiling it in a pan until the water has
steamed out — can expose those who eat it to traces of the poison
arsenic, which contaminates rice while it is growing as a result of
industrial toxins and pesticides
Getty
34/40 Contraceptive gel that creates ‘reversible vasectomy’ shown to be
effective in monkeys
An injectable contraceptive gel that acts as a ‘reversible vasectomy’
is a step closer to being offered to men following successful trials on
monkeys. Vasalgel is injected into the vas deferens, the small duct
between the testicles and the urethra. It has so far been found to
prevent 100 per cent of conceptions
Vasalgel
35/40 Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility, study finds
Women who work at night or do irregular shifts may experience a decline
in fertility, a new study has found. Shift and night workers had fewer
eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who work
regular daytime hours, according to researchers at Harvard University
Getty
36/40 Japanese government tells people to stop overworking
The Japanese government has announced measures to limit the amount of
overtime employees can do – in an attempt to stop people literally
working themselves to death. A fifth of Japan’s workforce are at risk
of death by overwork, known as karoshi, as they work more than 80 hours
of overtime each month, according to a government survey.
Getty
37/40 High blood pressure may protect over 80s from dementia
It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for
dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of
California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that
people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are
less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of
dementia) over the next three years than people of the same age with
normal blood pressure.
Getty
38/40 'Universal cancer vaccine’ breakthrough claimed by experts
Scientists have taken a “very positive step” towards creating a
universal vaccine against cancer that makes the body’s immune system
attack tumours as if they were a virus, experts have said. Writing in
Nature, an international team of researchers described how they had
taken pieces of cancer’s genetic RNA code, put them into tiny
nanoparticles of fat and then injected the mixture into the
bloodstreams of three patients in the advanced stages of the disease.
The patients' immune systems responded by producing "killer" T-cells
designed to attack cancer. The vaccine was also found to be effective
in fighting “aggressively growing” tumours in mice, according to
researchers, who were led by Professor Ugur Sahin from Johannes
Gutenberg University in Germany
Rex
39/40 Research shows that diabetes drug can be used to stop first signs of
Parkinson’s
Scientists in a new study show that the first signs of Parkinson’s can
be stopped. The UCL study is still in its research period but the team
are ‘excited’. Today’s Parkinson’s drugs manage the symptoms of the
disease but ultimately do not stop its progression in the brain.
PA
40/40 Drinking alcohol could reduce risk of diabetes
A new study shows that drinking alcohol three to four days a week could
reduce the risk of diabetes. Wine was found to be most effective in
reducing the risk due to the chemical compounds that balance blood
sugar levels.
Getty
1/40 Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases
On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into
the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of
the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a
better equipped immune system
PA
2/40 Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study
finds
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that
many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail
Getty
3/40 Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds
A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has
found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and
methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users
Reuters
4/40 More children are obese and diabetic
There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since
2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a
leading cause
Reuters
5/40 Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal
thoughts
The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for
children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In
what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed
antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was
more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo.
Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users
engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide
Getty
6/40 Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study
claims
Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused
on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority
groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly
controlled blood sugar
iStock
7/40 Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar
levels since 1992 despite producer claims
A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high
amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for
children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the
last two and a half decades
Getty
8/40 Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns
New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund,
said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to
the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping
active
PA
9/40 New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes
A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able
to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three
quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the
trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which
were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been “sitting
on a shelf unused”, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor
of endocrinology and metabolism
REX
10/40 Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental
health problems, study finds
Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra
people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being
prescribed drugs and criticised “ideological” reasons doctors use to
avoid doing so.
Getty
11/40 Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E
The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to
delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa
Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in
Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month
later.
Just Giving
12/40 Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants
The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where
women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants.
Getty
13/40 Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS
The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients
in its care as part of a “zero suicide ambition” being launched today.
Getty
14/40 Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to
kill off tumours
Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the
immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly
to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny
amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour.
Wikimedia Commons / Nephron
15/40 Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major
study
Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent
more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase
their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues
Getty
16/40 NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women
wrongly given all-clear
Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after
failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the
all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their
doctors following the identification of “procedural issues” in the
service provided by Pathology First Laboratory.
REX
17/40 Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by
scientists
Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but
from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are
able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a
molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high
quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour
cells to gain these migratory properties.
Getty
18/40 NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles
advertised
A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being
advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently
vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent
higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years
ago.
REX
19/40 Cannabis extract could provide ‘new class of treatment’ for psychosis
CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that
causes paranoia and anxiety.
Getty
20/40 Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to
hand settlement money back to NHS
Mr Branson’s company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an
£82m contract to provide children’s health services across Surrey,
citing concerns over “serious flaws” in the way the contract was
awarded
PA
21/40 More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS
bursary scrapped
The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per
cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where
the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent
respectively
Getty
22/40 Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths
The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four
years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding
had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise
to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra
funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year.
Reuters
23/40 Long commutes carry health risks
Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows
that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and
performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant
impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent
more likely to suffer from depression
Shutterstock
24/40 You cannot be fit and fat
It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has
concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even
“metabolically healthy” obese people are still at a higher risk of
heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range
Getty
25/40 Sleep deprivation
When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you
are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this
could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain
to eat itself
Shutterstock
26/40 Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch
David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is
essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness
group was spurred to launch the ‘napercise’ class after research
revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is
therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have
to have children to take part
Getty
27/40 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn
Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such
as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health
professor have said.
Getty
28/40 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects
A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering
medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are
not caused by the drugs themselves
Getty
29/40 Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism
New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25
or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social
disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for
Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are
actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall
behind by the time they hit their teenage years.
Getty
30/40 Cycling to work ‘could halve risk of cancer and heart disease’
Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their
risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new
research suggests – but campaigners have warned there is still an
“urgent need” to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work
is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and
cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a
quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health
benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the
same degree as cycling.
Getty
31/40 Playing Tetris in hospital after a traumatic incident could prevent
PTSD
Scientists conducted the research on 71 car crash victims as they were
waiting for treatment at one hospital’s accident and emergency
department. They asked half of the patients to briefly recall the
incident and then play the classic computer game, the others were given
a written activity to complete. The researchers, from Karolinska
Institute in Sweden and the University of Oxford, found that the
patients who had played Tetris reported fewer intrusive memories,
commonly known as flashbacks, in the week that followed
Rex
32/40 Vaping backed as healthier nicotine alternative to cigarettes after
latest study
Vaping has been given an emphatic thumbs up by health experts after the
first long-term study of its effects in ex-smokers. After six months,
people who switched from real to e-cigarettes had far fewer toxins and
cancer-causing substances in their bodies than continual smokers,
scientists found
Getty
33/40 Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food,
scientists warn
Millions of people are putting themselves at risk by cooking their rice
incorrectly, scientists have warned. Recent experiments show a common
method of cooking rice — simply boiling it in a pan until the water has
steamed out — can expose those who eat it to traces of the poison
arsenic, which contaminates rice while it is growing as a result of
industrial toxins and pesticides
Getty
34/40 Contraceptive gel that creates ‘reversible vasectomy’ shown to be
effective in monkeys
An injectable contraceptive gel that acts as a ‘reversible vasectomy’
is a step closer to being offered to men following successful trials on
monkeys. Vasalgel is injected into the vas deferens, the small duct
between the testicles and the urethra. It has so far been found to
prevent 100 per cent of conceptions
Vasalgel
35/40 Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility, study finds
Women who work at night or do irregular shifts may experience a decline
in fertility, a new study has found. Shift and night workers had fewer
eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who work
regular daytime hours, according to researchers at Harvard University
Getty
36/40 Japanese government tells people to stop overworking
The Japanese government has announced measures to limit the amount of
overtime employees can do – in an attempt to stop people literally
working themselves to death. A fifth of Japan’s workforce are at risk
of death by overwork, known as karoshi, as they work more than 80 hours
of overtime each month, according to a government survey.
Getty
37/40 High blood pressure may protect over 80s from dementia
It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for
dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of
California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that
people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are
less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of
dementia) over the next three years than people of the same age with
normal blood pressure.
Getty
38/40 'Universal cancer vaccine’ breakthrough claimed by experts
Scientists have taken a “very positive step” towards creating a
universal vaccine against cancer that makes the body’s immune system
attack tumours as if they were a virus, experts have said. Writing in
Nature, an international team of researchers described how they had
taken pieces of cancer’s genetic RNA code, put them into tiny
nanoparticles of fat and then injected the mixture into the
bloodstreams of three patients in the advanced stages of the disease.
The patients' immune systems responded by producing "killer" T-cells
designed to attack cancer. The vaccine was also found to be effective
in fighting “aggressively growing” tumours in mice, according to
researchers, who were led by Professor Ugur Sahin from Johannes
Gutenberg University in Germany
Rex
39/40 Research shows that diabetes drug can be used to stop first signs of
Parkinson’s
Scientists in a new study show that the first signs of Parkinson’s can
be stopped. The UCL study is still in its research period but the team
are ‘excited’. Today’s Parkinson’s drugs manage the symptoms of the
disease but ultimately do not stop its progression in the brain.
PA
40/40 Drinking alcohol could reduce risk of diabetes
A new study shows that drinking alcohol three to four days a week could
reduce the risk of diabetes. Wine was found to be most effective in
reducing the risk due to the chemical compounds that balance blood
sugar levels.
Getty
The results showed there was a positive relationship between the
subjective happiness score and grey matter volume on the right
precuneus. People who were more content with their lives, had a larger
precuneus.
Analysis also indicated that the same area had an association with the
combined positive and negative emotional intensity and life
satisfaction.
The study also reveaed that people experience emotions in a variant of
ways. Some people feel more happiness more intensely when they receive
compliments, for example.
Those people who feel happiness more intensely also feel sadness at a
lower intensity as well.
Read more
* Happiness is fulfilling your career goals by 27, suggests new study
* Why Korean children rank below England as the worst nation for
child happiness
* Happiness is.... what? Just the opposite of misery, or more? Week
in
Overall, the findings suggested that the precuneus is able to mediate
overall happiness by integrating the emotional and cognitive components
of happiness.
Mr Sato said: “Over history, many eminent scholars like Aristotle have
contemplated what happiness is. I’m very happy that we now know more
about what it means to be happy."
He added, "Several studies have shown that meditation increases grey
matter mas in the precuneus. This new insight on where happiness
happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programmes
based on scientific research."
More about Happiness MRI Meditation
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > World > Europe
How part-time work and exercise may explain why Holland is one of the
happiest countries in the world
The Dutch regularly top rankings for happiness
* Louis Dore
* Sunday 17 May 2015 10:01
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Cyclists make their way through the city streets on 11 May 2009 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands. ( Getty )
Holland consistently ranks as one of the happiest countries in the
world and recent statistics have pointed to their work structure as the
source.
In 2013 the country ranked fourth in the world for happiness in a
report by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), by a
panel of experts discussing economic and psychological factors
alongside national statistics.
The figures are used in an attempt to accurately describe the
well-being of a nation, which Holland scores consistently high in,
which recent analysis attributes to the proportion of people employed
in part-time work.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
It has been revealed that 26.8 per cent of Dutch men and 76.6 per cent
of women of working age spend less than 36 hours a week working. The
Economist attributes their happiness and their work structure to the
fact that dual income has not often been a necessity for a comfortable
life, and an adherence of the traditional view of a family with stay at
home mothers.
In comparison, just over ten per cent of men work part time in the UK,
as do around 40 per cent of women. While the divide in work and between
the genders in the Netherlands may be considered backward by some, the
country also has passed a law stating that women have the right to cut
back hours at their jobs without repercussions from employers.
Read more
* Dutch protester prosecuted for shouting 'f*** the king'
* Italian mayors sell off houses for £1 in hope of keeping villages
alive
The Netherlands has also come top of 28 European countries for physical
exercise, which may account for some of their happiness. Statistic
produced by the British Heart Foundation show that the highest
percentage of their population get moderate exercise at least four days
a week.
Whether working less hours allows the Dutch more time to exercise is
speculation, however, these figures and studies in happiness are areas
where the country top the rankings consistently.
More about Holland
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Culture > Books > Reviews
Book review: The Happiness Industry: How Government and Big Business Sold us
Well-Being by William Davies
In his impeccably researched book, Davies traces the history of the
happiness industry back to the work of the utilitarian Jeremy Bentham
* Lucy Popescu
* Saturday 23 May 2015 12:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Culture
The Happy industry by William Davies ( press )
Social media offer a platform for us to acknowledge our changing moods
and encourage an unnatural obsession with how our wellbeing and
happiness affect our working lives. Today, we can buy gadgets and apps
that measure our sleep or assess the benefits of our physical
activities. Self-help books about how to be happy proliferate and
ensure that we remain fixated on the subject. There are even
organisations which use cameras to track our smiles. Rather more
worryingly, this technology and knowledge is being harnessed by
corporations, policy makers and governments. According to William
Davies, the science of happiness “has now penetrated the citadel of
global economic management … the future of successful capitalism
depends on our ability to combat stress, misery and illness and put
relaxation, happiness and wellness in their place”.
In his impeccably researched book, Davies traces the history of the
happiness industry back to the work of the utilitarian Jeremy Bentham,
a British philosopher and social reformer who believed human actions
should promote happiness for the greatest number. Davies also examines
the work of Gustav Fechner, a theologian and physicist who founded
psychophysics; the economist William Stanley Jevons; the physiologist
and philosopher Wilhelm Wundt; and the animal psychologist John B
Watson. He illustrates how these disciplines overlapped and how
happiness studies became entangled “with economic and medical
expertise”.
His main criticism of “the science of well-being” is that it encourages
us to blame ourselves while ignoring political and economic contexts
and while those in power exploit the science for “private profit” or
“social control”. As Davies says, “unhappiness and depression are
concentrated in highly unequal societies with strongly materialist,
competitive values”. But the solutions offered, he argues, further
isolate the poor.
It’s an erudite study but because Davies covers so much The Happiness
Industry can be difficult to unpack. Davies concludes that only through
“understanding the strains and pains that work, hierarchy, financial
pressures and inequality place upon human well-being” can we challenge
them. Rather than allow our emotions to be bought and sold, we must
stop focusing on our inner lives and look “outwards upon the world”.
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Top Employers UK
Teamwork, social events and company culture are vital to happiness at work
Workplace happiness isn’t just about competitive pay and benefits,
increasingly workers are placing greater value on company culture
Supported by
TOP EMPLOYERS RESEARCH LP About this content
Alison Coleman
Fri 10 Feb 2017 10.00 GMT Last modified on Fri 10 Feb 2017 12.43 GMT
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Two employees at Pepsico in discussion in a breakout room.
[ ] Keeping employees happy at work can come down to subtle changes in
the values of an organisation. Photograph: Richard Davies
The UK’s savviest employers have always known that the key to a
productive business is investing time and effort in understanding what
makes people happy at work. Why do people love their job? What to
employees want their workplace to look like? Understand and act on this
and you should never have a problem with motivation or morale.
Yes, competitive pay and benefits are important, but employee happiness
is dependent on so much more. Increasingly, workers are placing greater
value on things like wellbeing and working conditions, where flexible
working, collaboration, career progression and a great team spirit are
part of the company culture.
“This is the human era of the workplace,” says Mark Batey, senior
lecturer in organisational psychology at Alliance Manchester Business
School. “The best places to work are those in which people can flourish
and be their best selves – instead of pretending to be someone else
five days a week. The perfect workplace also gives people flexibility
and autonomy as to where and how they work, built on a culture of
growth and trust.”
Among those organisations that have established a reputation for
providing flexibility and demonstrating trust, is Pepsico, Top
Employer-certified in the UK for five years running. “Our colleagues
are offered the chance to grow professionally through regular training,
career tools, and different assignments and experiences,” says Miriam
Ort, vice-president and head of HR, PepsiCo UK & Ireland. “We also have
a strong philosophy of career growth through experiences, which means
we are willing to invest in moving talent through diverse roles that
provide the breadth and depth our employees need to grow. This helps
them build rewarding careers and become the talent we need for the
future.”
Flexibility is crucial to employees’ ability to optimally manage their
work and their lives. In 2015 Pepsico launched a refreshed flexible
working philosophy in the UK that has been a huge hit with employees.
“They give us consistent feedback that they greatly value this
flexibility,” says Ort.
Keeping employees happy at work can come down to subtle changes in the
values of an organisation. “I love having a workplace that embraces
empathy as a key personality trait,” says Sarah Shields, vice-president
and general manager, Channel, Dell EMC UK. “This creates a fantastic
working culture and provides a broader scope for personal and
professional development. We have opportunities to mentor more junior
colleagues and volunteer in our local communities. By bringing our own
experiences into the office we can create a team that supports and
helps one another.”
Maximising employee happiness and engagement is management’s
responsibility, but HR is also helping, becoming more strategic on key
issues such as recruiting talent, building teams, developing future
leaders and influencing company culture.
“HR teams can have a huge impact on company culture and employee
satisfaction,” says Geoff Pearce, reward managing consultant at
NorthgateArinso. “Team-building days, social events and ensuring a
pleasant office environment – all are vital to happiness at work and
creating a community spirit among colleagues.”
Topics
* Top Employers UK
* Professional supplements
* features
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Top+Employers+UK%2CProfession
al+supplements]
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Culture > Books > Reviews
Happiness by Design by Paul Dolan, book review: A work in progress with some
way to go
* Peter Carty
* Sunday 5 October 2014 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Culture
What is happiness?
Traditionally the most we can say with confidence is that it is both
indefinable and wilfully elusive. But research into happiness is a
burgeoning branch of psychology and the Government takes it seriously.
David Cameron launched the UK’s regular National Well-being survey in
2012.
Dolan helped to design the Well-being survey, which gives this
self-help volume clout. Interestingly, his background is in economics
rather than psychology. Accordingly, he trades in scarcity. Our time is
limited, he says, so we should focus our attention on those things that
make us feel happier.
This sounds unremarkable, but Dolan emphasises the experiential: how we
feel about what happens to us at the time matters more than our
subsequent evaluation of it. His theory is that happiness consists of
experiences of pleasure and purpose over time. While this juxtaposition
of the enjoyable and the meaningful has roots in Aristotle, Dolan
claims that – in particular – his discovery that we require feelings of
purpose in order to be happy marks a departure.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
His main example is parenting. Why do we choose to have children, he
asks? Dolan had a strong sense that, despite the daily grind, his
parenting activities would feel purposeful. Fortunately, they have and
his new balance of pleasure and purpose suits him, but drawing wider
implications appears dubious. If the purposeful nature of child rearing
can produce positive ongoing emotions, the flipside is responsibilities
that can feel burdensome, if not crushing. And, away from the school
run, it’s apparent that any optimal balance of pleasure and purpose
will fluctuate wildly between us all.
Dolan goes on to scrutinise various prompts to happiness: music,
volunteering and so on. His discussion of money is interesting.
Research shows that income above a certain level does not make us feel
happier on a daily basis (with the caveat that the income threshold
seems to vary considerably between studies; Dolan cites a US figure of
$75,000). He explains that higher -income individuals place more value
on their time, which makes it feel scarcer, and so they find it harder
to relax.
Studiously, he avoids obvious political implications. Shouldn’t all
income above the happiness threshold be removed through taxation?
Instead, Dolan focuses on personal transformation through “nudge”
strategies. If you want to spend less time looking at emails, for
example, then you could change your password to “don’tcheckmeagain”.
Some of Dolan’s ways of making himself happy appear novel for a sober
social scientist. He’s a keen bodybuilder and he chats with a
fun-loving friend in Ibiza, Mig, at 9am each Thursday (though one has
to wonder exactly what Mig makes of these rigidly scheduled early
morning exchanges).
Back at the academic coalface, Dolan’s theory of happiness is a work in
progress with some way to go. There’s no doubt that Happiness by Design
does offers constructive advice for making ourselves at least a little
bit happier. Unfortunately, there’s a longer, more searching book to be
written to explain why we’re not about to act on much of it.
More about Paul Dolan
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
The road to happiness? Don’t catch the bus to work
* Jonathan Brown
* Wednesday 12 February 2014 18:10
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Train travel is more likely to induce anxiety than commuting by car (
Chris Turner/Stone/Getty Creative )
It was Margaret Thatcher who is credited with irrevocably damaging the
image of bus travel when she reputedly branded anyone over the age of
26 still using one as a “failure”.
New research however suggests that commuting by bus for more than half
an hour each way remains the mode of transport likely to leave you
anxious and dissatisfied whilst feeling less happy and worthwhile.
According to new data from the Office for National Statistics no form
of commuting greatly enhances overall levels of human joy, with those
forced to travel to a job claiming to suffer more negative feelings
than those who stayed at home.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The study of 60,000 people found that each 10 minute increase in
commuting time had a statistically significant impact on wellbeing.
Whilst those who travelled for a quarter of an hour or less each way
were relatively unscathed, those with a journey time of between 61 and
90 minutes reported feeling worst hit.
The average British commute is around 40-45 minutes – the highest in
Europe. Yet when one way trips exceeded 90 minutes the harmful effects
virtually disappeared, suggesting that so-called extreme commuters were
making the long haul to more satisfying and rewarding jobs.
But the research pointed out that there was a fine balance between the
costs of daily travel and the leafy rewards it could offer.
“Given the loss of personal well-being generally associated with
commuting, the results suggest that other factors such as higher income
or better housing may not fully compensate the individual commuter for
the negative effects associated with travelling to work and that people
may be making sub-optimal choices,” researchers concluded.
And they found that walking and cycling, long regarded as desirable
health-enhancing, stress-busting pursuits, may not be quite such a good
way to get about after all. Biking and walking all scored less highly
in some areas of wellbeing than travelling by car, van or minibus –
with particularly high levels of anxiety reported among those required
to travel for more than 30 minutes on foot each way to work. Train
travel was also more likely to induce anxiety than going by car.
But it was poor old bus travel that fared worst. “Long bus or coach
journeys to work lasting more than 30 minutes were associated with a
loss of personal well-being across all four measures,” it found.
Bus transport expert Andrew Braddock said market research revealed that
bus passengers reported satisfaction levels of nearly 90 per cent – on
a par with customers of premium retailers such as Marks & Spencer.
“The overall market for bus travel is the lower socio-economic group,
that is a fact. In many ways we are in contrast to continental Europe
and closer to the United States where it is the poorer groups who tend
to ride the bus.
“But the better bus companies in the UK now have vehicles that look
more like coffee shops, with leather seats and wi-fi as well as
on-board information systems so that people know if there is a delay,”
he said.
Claire Haigh of campaign group Greener Journeys rejected the suggestion
that the private car was less stressful than public transport.
“Research in 2010 shows that commuting to work by car is a third more
stressful than going by bus. On a bus you might be caught up in delays
but you can use your time more productively by reading or doing
emails,” she said.
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Voices
The secret to happiness is simple: live like a Stoic for a week
We don’t control what happens to us, we can’t control what the people
around us say or do, and we can’t even fully control our own bodies,
which get damaged and sick and ultimately die without regard for our
preferences. The only thing that we really control is how we think
about things
* John Sellars
* Friday 28 September 2018 09:30
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Voices
Our lives are but moments when placed within this cosmic perspective (
PA )
What have the Romans ever done for us? Well, obviously the roads – the
roads go without saying. How about guidance for how to live in the 21st
century? That seems less likely, but in fact the last few years have
seen a flurry of interest in the work of three Roman Stoic philosophers
who offered just that. They were Seneca, tutor to the Emperor Nero;
Epictetus, a former slave; and Marcus Aurelius, himself emperor.
Modern books drawing on their ideas and repackaged as guidance for how
to live well today include A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine,
Stoicism and the Art of Happiness by Donald Robertson, The Daily Stoic
by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman, and How to Be a Stoic by Massimo
Pigliucci. What all these books share is the conviction that people can
benefit by going back and looking at the ideas of these Roman Stoics.
There’s even an annual week dedicated to Stoicism.
Stoicism holds that the key to a good, happy life is the cultivation of
an excellent mental state, which the Stoics identified with virtue and
being rational. The ideal life is one that is in harmony with Nature,
of which we are all part, and an attitude of calm indifference towards
external events. It began in Greece, and was founded around 300BC by
Zeno, who used teach at the site of the Painted Stoa in Athens, hence
the name Stoicism. The works of the early Stoics are for the most part
lost, so it is the Roman Stoics who have been most influential over the
centuries, and continue to be today.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
So, what were the ideas? Two foundational principles can both be found
in the Handbook, a short work summarising the ideas of Epictetus. The
first is that some things are within our control and some are not, and
that much of our unhappiness is caused by thinking that we can control
things that, in fact, we can’t.
Goats prefer happy faces, study finds
What can we control? Epictetus argues that we actually control very
little. We don’t control what happens to us, we can’t control what the
people around us say or do, and we can’t even fully control our own
bodies, which get damaged and sick and ultimately die without regard
for our preferences. The only thing that we really control is how we
think about things, the judgements we make about things.
This leads us to the second foundational principle from Epictetus: it’s
not things that upset us, but how we think about things. Stuff happens.
We then make judgements about what happens. If we judge that something
really bad has happened, then we might get upset, sad, or angry,
depending on what it is. If we judge that something bad is likely to
happen then we might get scared or fearful. All these emotions are the
product of the judgements we make. Things in themselves are value
neutral, for what might seem terrible to us might be a matter of
indifference to someone else, or even welcomed by others. It’s the
judgements we make that introduce value into the picture, and it’s
those value judgements that generate our emotional responses.
Read more
* The weather is a bit like Brexit: no one’s happy with it
The good Stoic news is that these value judgements are the one thing
over which we have complete control. Things happen, none of which are
inherently good or bad, and it’s within our power to decide how we
value them. The paradox of Stoicism, as Epictetus formulates it, is
that we have almost no control over anything, yet at the same time we
have potentially complete control over our happiness.
At first glance, this might seem to understate the very real challenges
that people face in their daily lives. How can just thinking
differently help someone who is struggling to put food on their table,
for instance? The Stoics didn’t shy away from this. They fully
acknowledged that life can be hard sometimes.
Seneca knew this all too well: he suffered exile, multiple
bereavements, and was ultimately forced to commit suicide by Nero. He
also knew that it was all too easy to say “I’m not going to let these
external things disturb me” but quite another to follow through and not
be disturbed oneself.
Created with Sketch. The Independent's Happy List 2017
Show all 50
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. The Independent's Happy List 2017
1/50 1. Shamash Alidina, Rosa Connor and Victoria Johnson [L-R: Shamash, Rosa
and Vicky]
London’s Museum of Happiness believes in a happier, kinder and more
playful world. It’s a not-for-profit social enterprise run by Shamash,
Rosa and Victoria to provide experiences that offer people of all
backgrounds the chance to learn about living happier, more fulfilling
lives. They organise interactive exhibitions, workshops and events to
bring the science of happiness alive. One person who nominated the trio
said: “In lonely London I found love, fun and a lot of new friends at
Museum of Happiness. They make me happy!”
2/50 2. Joe Attridge
“Without volunteers like Joe we simply could not do what we do,” says
one member of the North London Hospice, where Joe has helped out for
over 10 years. “Not only does he raise thousands of pounds for us every
year, he also tirelessly provides emotional support to those who need
it most. Joe’s compassion and patience is truly outstanding and he has
an amazing affect on our patients. He is a very special individual.”
3/50 3. Joanna Bevan
As a volunteer at The Kindness Offensive, Joanna is devoted to
improving life for those in need across London and further afield. Some
of her achievements include running Foundation Speak Street which
offers free weekly English language lessons for refugees, helping to
create a sensory garden for special needs children, and organising free
day trips for the elderly to museums and places of interest. Joanna is
described as a ‘selfless character who is always working towards
building better communities.’
4/50 4. Max Brennan
Child of Courage Max, from Brixworth, Northampton, has Ehlers Danlos
Syndrome which means he tires easily and gets severe pain in his bones
and joints. Some days he finds holding himself up too hard and suffers
multiple falls. But five-year-old Max is determined to help other
children, He set up Max’s Marvellous Mission which saw him take part in
a Superhero Run to raise over £4,000 for the Newlife Foundation, a
charity which supports families across the UK to purchase equipment for
disabled children.
5/50 5. Sarah Burrows
Sarah, from Oxfordshire, was inspired to set up Children Heard and Seen
after she learnt that 65% of boys who have a parent with a conviction
go on to offend themselves. The charity provides support to children of
prisoners in one-to-one and group settings to help reduce the
likelihood of generational offending, mental health issues and family
breakdown. Activities includes creating songs to express their feelings
about having a parent in prison and making scrapbooks for their loves
one.
6/50 6. Matt Callanan
Matt’s project We Make Good Happen will see him do 403 good deeds, and
he hopes to inspire others to do a million more. So far, Matt, from
Cardiff, has put on a party for 100 year old lady in care home and
hidden twenty £10 notes around his home city (with two rules - don’t
spend it on yourself and do some good with it), an idea which went
viral. Matt was inspired to do all this as a way of continuing his late
father’s good deeds.
7/50 7. John Cattle
John runs a weekly skate club on the Isle of Wight, teaching over 200
people of all ages to skateboard. But, according to his pupils, he does
much more than that. One of the many who nominated John says: “He
teaches you to be brave, tackle your fears, trust people and have fun.”
John gives extra free sessions for those who need extra help, including
children with anger issues who find it hard to learn with others.
Another person who nominated him said: “He has infinite patience and
helps build confidence in all who meet him.”
8/50 8. Emily Chalke (R) and Rachel Price (L)
This duo created Ella’s Home, Emily had the vision and Rachel helped
make it happen. Ella's Home is a safe house in London where women can
recover from trafficking and sexual exploitation. Named after Ella whom
Emily met and helped nearly 5 years ago, the project offers long term
recovery support. Emily and team work hard to ensure the home is a
welcoming place for women to live and recover until they are ready for
independent living. The team also provide essential outreach and long
term support to women across London who have experienced sexual
exploitation and trafficking.
9/50 9. Ann Marie Cockburn
Since losing her 15 year old daughter Martha in 2013 to an accidental
overdose, Anne-Marie has relentlessly campaigned throughout the UK (and
internationally) for drug laws to be reviewed. Originally from
Ayrshire, Scotland, and now living in Oxford, Anne-Marie regularly
tells her story in order to raise awareness and to save anyone else
from losing another Martha. She has written a book (5,742 Days) and a
play called What Martha Did Next. She tells her story to prisoners with
The Forgiveness Project's 'Restore' Programme and campaigns with the
charity 'Anyone's Child: Families for Safer Drug Control'.
10/50 10. Jamie Collier
Chef Jamie has been a volunteer cooking tutor with Cyrenians Good Food
social enterprise for many years, helping to nurture a passion for good
food in people who experience mental and physical ill health. One
person who nominated Jamie says: “He embodies the concept of cooking
being about love, kindness and caring about others. In Jamie’s own
business he has taken on people who are long term unemployed and given
them a sense of purpose. His passionate teaching puts a smile on so
many faces, and quite simply he has helped many turn their lives
around.”
11/50 11. Josh Coombes
Hairdresser Josh has an enormous salon; the streets of London. For the
past year this 29-year-old has been giving free haircuts to homeless
people, posting photos of his scissor-work on Instagram. It's part of
Josh's campaign #DoSomethingforNothing which has encouraged people
around the globe to help others any way they can and give a voice to
society's marginalised. One person who nominated Josh says: “With
shears in hand and love in heart, this bloke is giving the gift of time
and attention to the invisible”.
12/50 12. Andy Cope
Andy founded organisation Brilliant Communities to bring happiness
projects into schools across the country. Using three-week positive
psychology workshops he places students at the centre of his work to
help spread kindness and wellbeing, transforming cultures in the
process. Students design their own projects, which have included an
induction scheme for new pupils and a record- breaking 21,000 random
acts of kindness across Derby, empowering them to think about making
positive changes in their own communities.
13/50 13. Karen Cully and Dale Parker
This inspiring pair from Norwich started making and delivering
sandwiches to the homeless in Norwich city centre four years ago,
taking the bus from their hometown of Dereham, Norfolk. Now they
provide a twice weekly service, called The People's Picnic, feeding
more than 70 homeless or disadvantaged people. Managed and staffed
completely by volunteers, The People's Picnic offers three hot food
options, three desserts and sandwiches to take away, along with
clothing, sleeping bag, blanket and toiletries donations.
14/50 14. Wayne Dixon
Planet-saving Tsar Former soldier Wayne from Blackburn led a campaign
to clean up rubbish from Britain’s countryside. Accompanied by his dog
Koda and carrying a 50lb canvas backpack of kit, Wayne undertook a
7,000 mile litter sweep with Keep Britain Tidy to raise awareness of
the importance of disposing of your rubbish responsibly. Wayne spent
every day of his walk across Britain cleaning verges and hedgerows and
using social media to spread his message.
15/50 15. Sister Peggy Ennis
“A remarkable person who has spent a lifetime helping people so often
marginalised by society,” says one person who nominated Sister Peggy.
She has supported hundreds of people to build new lives away from
addiction and crime during her 22 years as a volunteer for RAPt. Sister
Peggy's work includes running workshops for people recovering from drug
addiction, and she’s motivated by her unwavering belief that everyone
has the capacity to change their lives for the better.
16/50 16. Samantha Everard
Samantha set up The Samee Project to support people who face barriers
to work in Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Somerset. The
project ‘handholds’ people who want to be self-employed or need
support. and Samantha works tirelessly to help them with boost
confidence, learn skills and develop self-belief. Often those in need
of support are disabled, have long term illness or have fallen on bad
times, and so far the project has helped more then 200 people.
17/50 17. Cemal Ezel
What if your morning coffee could change lives? With the support of The
Big Issue, Cemal founded social enterprise Change Please to help reduce
homelessness through coffee. The scheme trains people who are homeless
to be baristas on a London Living Wage, and also provides housing, a
bank account and therapy. Currently operating in London, Manchester and
Newcastle, and soon New York, Cemal is responsible for lifting eight
people per month out of homelessness and into long-term employment.
18/50 18. Sally Field
Animal Saviour This dog-mad 97-year-old has volunteered at the RSPCA's
Millbrook Animal Centre in Chobham, Surrey for more than 40 years -
since the centre first opened it's doors. Sally has done everything
from dog walking to cleaning and cooking dinners for the rescue
residents. She volunteers twice a week and has walked at least 1,000
dogs during her time, and has adopted a seemingly restrained total of
seven hounds in that time.
19/50 19. Peter Finn
A hip replacement five years ago hasn’t slowed down marathon runner
Pete, from Rothley, Leicestershire, who clocks up the miles in aid of
learning disability charity Mencap. Now aged 64. this year’s London
Marathon was Pete’s 100th. He has also run around the world, in
Singapore, Dublin, Hong Kong and New York, and has raised over £54,000
so far. His sons James and Rory have both taken up running as well, and
they both joined Peter to complete their first marathons.
20/50 20. Rev Canon Sally Fogden
Loneliness Buster In a bid to foster community spirit and tackle
loneliness and isolation in rural communities retired vicar Sally
Fogden set up The Rural Coffee Caravan. This mobile community café and
information centre offers a place for people of all ages to socialise
or access services over a free cup of tea or coffee. It provides
everything from blood pressure checks to financial advice, and last
year it welcomed over 5,800 Suffolk residents. Sally also volunteers
for the Farming Community Network, and set up The Addington Fund to is
help farmers financially in times of crisis.
21/50 21. Laura Gleadall
Cancer-fighting Hero When Laura's sister Louise, 37, was diagnosed with
cervical cancer Laura began an almighty fundraising journey. While
juggling two jobs, looking after her son and helping to care for her
sister's three children, Laura motivated her whole community to hold
events, donate and spread the word to reach her target. She raised over
£100,000 using JustGiving Crowdfunding to pay for Louise to have
groundbreaking Immunotherapy in Germany, and Louise has now begun the
treatment.
22/50 22. Louise Harrison
Louise is a dedicated volunteer at Ronald McDonald House Arrowe Park, a
charity which provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for
families while their child is being treated at Arrowe Park Hospital in
Wirral. From training new volunteers to thinking up innovative ways to
fundraise, Louise is an integral part of the team. She even kept
volunteering last year whilst receiving a harsh course of radiotherapy
treatment for breast cancer.
23/50 23. Brian Heath
Community champion Aged 95, Brian still runs a community group called
Strictly Tea Dancers at the Allendale Centre in Wimborne, Dorset, which
encourages people of any age or ability to come together and learn to
dance. This completely volunteer-run initiative helps to address social
isolation, which especially affects older members of the local rural
community. Brian met his partner Margaret at the Centre, and they now
volunteer there together.
24/50 24. Rita Joliffe
The Wizzybug Loan Scheme provides free, powered wheelchairs to disabled
children across the UK. Rita, who lives near Burnham-on-Sea, travels
all over the country to tell people who might benefit from the idea and
help raise money for it to continue. In one year alone she raised over
£28,000. Designability, the charity behind the scheme, says: “Rita is
one in a million. She and her husband even requested people donate to
the scheme in lieu of gifts for their golden wedding anniversary,
raising £1,200 Every charity needs a Rita.”
25/50 25. Nisha Kotecha
Three years ago Nisha, from London, founded Good News Shared, a website
celebrating the positive stories that too often the public don’t hear
about. Nisha has volunteered for charities for over 10 years, and its
her mission to highlight their amazing and diverse work. After
experiencing a bereavement last year she went on to create The Moments
Journal, a positivity log to help people see and appreciate the good
things - big or small - from their day.
26/50 26. Dr Margaret Lobo
Since qualifying as a music therapist in 1987, Margaret has dedicated
her life to providing therapy for people of all ages with learning
disabilities, autism, neurological difficulties or mental health
problems. After building a music studio in her back garden, Margaret
set up the Otakar Kraus Music Trust, putting together a small team of
volunteers. Today the Trust helps over 250 people annually and provides
over 3,000 therapy sessions. Now in her 70s, Margaret still works to
help the most vulnerable people in her community and was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Middlesex.
27/50 27. Hussain Manawer
When this Essex performance poet and mental health campaigner won the
chance to go into space he decided to use it as a platform to raise
awareness of the number of people who live with mental illness.
Hussain, from Ilford, says: “I want to dedicate the trip to every
single person who has suffered from mental health, every young boy,
girl, man, woman who cries and doesn't know why.”. Hussain also speaks
out on behalf of the “two billion sane Muslims on the planet”, saying
he stands in support of the war on terror.
28/50 28. Jane McHale
Jane has been working for charity The Sick Children's Trust for 17
years, starting out as a part time assistant and now running 'Home from
Home', which supports families with seriously ill children. Eckersley
House, which is located in Leeds General Infirmary, almost always has a
waiting list, and staff say Jane goes 'above and beyond' to care for
every single person. In Jane's spare time she also fundraises, doing
everything from an aeroplane wing walk to knitting Christmas stockings
to sell.
29/50 29. Gary McKee
A beer-loving 47-year-old from Cleator Moor in Cumbria, had a better
idea. He ran 100 marathons – on 100 successive days. Gary's life
changed two decades ago when his father was diagnosed with cancer.
Nurses from Macmillan Cancer Support became a cherished part of the
McKee family during that dark time and now he has run approaching 2,700
miles to support them. What has kept him going, he says, has been the
thought of those who need Macmillan’s support.
30/50 30. Helen Missen
When her daughter developed anorexia six years ago Helen began working
to improve the support available for everyone affected by the illness.
She secured £500,000 extra funding for care from the Welsh Government
and founded an Eating Disorder Forum for carers and sufferers. Helen,
from Llanfyllin in Powys, is also is a Managing Trustee of Charlotte’s
Helix, a charity exploring the genetics behind the illness, and despite
being diagnosed with Lupus in 2013 she continues to fight for better
treatment for eating disorders.
31/50 31. Sianne Morgan
As well as being a foster carer of two children, Sianne has been a
dedicated youth worker for over 17 years, supporting young people
across Gwent who are not in education or employment. Whether it’s being
a shoulder to cry on or taking them to job interviews, Sianne helps
disadvantaged people achieve their best possible future. One young
person said: “She’s helped myself get through some hard times,
supporting me to now being in full time employment. Sianne never turns
away a young person in need and is an inspiration and role model to
many.”
32/50 32. Matthew and Steph Neville
This couple from Birmingham had been saving to buy a house for years.
However, when they finally had enough money they decided the funds
would be better spent providing a home for refugees who had to flee
from their own. Matthew works for Catholic aid agency CAFOD and Steph
works at St Chad’s Sanctuary, providing practical support and English
classes to people seeking sanctuary. They bought a house and gave it to
homelessness charity Hope Projects to fill.
33/50 33. Oliver Phillips
Tech entrepreneur Oliver built anti-Tinder meet-up app Meet’n’Eat to
help people make friends in post-Brexit London. It encourages people
who want to get to know others to eat together, matching them using GPS
location data alongside filters such as age, food choice, time and
date. Oliver, a master’s student at the London School of Economics,
thought up the idea while struggling to find English-speaking dining
companions in Asia and hopes it will help combat loneliness.
34/50 34. Paul Pulford
After beating heroin addiction, Paul built a garden in the concrete
courtyard of the hostel he was living in. Determined to help other
people whose lives are affected by homelessness, drug and al-cohol
addiction, Paul founded Grounded Ecotherapy, a project to help
volunteer gardeners learn and work together to create urban
sanctuaries. Through Paul’s leadership and enthusiasm mem-bers of
Grounded Ecotherapy have worked with The Eden Project, Chelsea Flower
Show and cre-ated a rooftop garden at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
35/50 35. Leona Rankin
After she lost her fiancé to sarcoma, Leona, from Belfast, founded a
charity in April 2013 to support people living with the disease. The
Boom Foundation (www.theboomfoundation.co.uk) is now the main referral
charity supporting people living with sarcoma in Northern Ireland, and
runs support groups and patient information days. Leona has raised over
£435,000 to raise awareness and fund specialist care, splitting the
money across her own initiatives in Northern Ireland and funding vital
research projects alongside the charity Sarcoma UK.
36/50 36. Onjali Q Raúf
“The most selfless and caring person I know,” is how one person
described Onjali. She launched Making Herstory in 2011 to tackle
violence against women and girls following the murder of her aunt when
she was aged just 28. The organisation works in diverse ways to help
society’s most vulnerable females; supporting survivors of violence and
abuse; assist-ing refugees; campaigning and lobbying to give voice to
disempowered women; and running edu-cation programmes in schools and
colleges.
37/50 37. Kim Reuter and Russ Elias
Inspirational musicians and self-confessed eccentrics Russ Elias and
Kim Reuter run Shabang!, an organisation committed to creating
accessible arts for children, young people and adults with additional
learning needs in Huddersfield. Russ and Kim combine traditional
teaching skills with their own ‘peculiar educational tomfoolery’ to
encourage their audience to par-ticipate in a special, unique shared
experience. One of the many who nominated them said: “Kim and Russ are
absolute stars and make life so much easier for so many families - they
live and breathe helping others.”
38/50 38. Sam Rowe
Positivity Coach Founder, Director and CEO of The Academy of Hard
Knocks, Sam was inspired to set up the initia-tive to break the cycle
of youth offending by providing the youth community with guidance or
role models. The organisation implements values of respect, safety,
confidence, professionalism and the importance of positive community
involvement. One person says: “Sam is a genuinely selfless, very
inspiring human being. He runs a course for young offenders to help
them to never go back, and he pushed me to do my absolute best.”
39/50 39. Mandy Sanghera
Mandy is a human rights activist who has spent the last 26 years
campaigning locally and nationally to campaign against forced
marriages, FGM and honour violence, as well as supporting victims and
survivors of violence and cultural abuse. As a motivational speaker
Mandy, from Coventry, helps to empower power to rebuild their lives
after abuse, and she was also involved in writing the guidelines on
disability and HBV for the forced marriages unit.
40/50 40. David Savage
As a volunteer for Humanists UK, David helped set up a training
programme for non-religious pas-toral carers, changing the way in which
care is delivered in hospitals, prisons, and universities. Be-fore
this, non-religious people were unable to access like-minded support at
times of crisis, meaning many often went without. For over a decade
David has worked hard to ensure that this initiative has been accepted
as part of chaplaincy teams all over England, Wales, and Northern
Ireland. The network has grown to over 150 members and has supported
tens of thousands of people. David, from Farnham, still volunteers
weekly as a non-religious pastoral carer at London’s Guys' and St
Thomas hospital.
41/50 41. Gemma and Craig Scott
Outstanding Fundraiser After losing seven family members to cancer,
this young couple from Scunthorpe decided to devote all their free time
to running marathons to raise money for Worldwide Cancer Research. This
year sees them running 10 marathons on two continents, and they always
train and run side by side. The Scotts even had their wedding themed
around the London Marathon, which they ran together in 2012.
42/50 42. Josephine Segal (right) and Vanessa Crocker (left)
Josephine and Vanessa, aka the “angels of kindness”, co-founded charity
Spread a Smile in 2013 after seeing the positive impact a magician’s
visit had on Josephine’s nephew who was receiving cancer treatment at
Great Ormond Street Hospital. Spread a Smile now organise over 10
events a month at four London hospitals, including art workshops and
VIP trips to concerts. One nominator said: “They make a real difference
to the lives of seriously ill children and their families, helping to
make wonderful memories during the darkest of days.”
43/50 43. Dial Sharma
For the last 50 years, Dial has given up his time to help reduce
isolation in the Asian community in North London and members of that
community to integrate more with the wider society. As well as
organising weekly get-togethers and trips to the seaside or abroad, he
also organises practical help with issues such as tax, bills, English
speaking, housing and immigration issues. Now aged 85, Dial recently
helped Asian women with no voice in the home to gain more independence
by attending coffee mornings.
44/50 44. Michelle Smith (photo credit: Ben Orrell Jones)
In 2009 Michelle self-funded and set up Mpower People to empower people
across Liverpool by helping them live healthier and more independent
lives. Today the social enterprise offers a range of sports and healthy
living education programmes, as well as training for employment
opportunities, enterprise development or personal development.
Initially aimed at those from disadvantaged groups, its now open to
anyone who might benefit.
45/50 45. Katherine Sparkes
Innovative Star Frustrated at the lack of inclusive opportunities for
disabled children, Katherine founded Flamingo Chicks, a ballet school
where disabled children can explore movement with friends. Over 2000
children take part each year across 14 different cities. Katherine also
founded Styleability which provides body confidence workshops for young
disabled adults, teaching them how to adapt cloth-ing to suit their
needs. One person said: “She mobilises and inspires people to do social
good - a passionate volunteer, she coaches others to be the change they
want to see.”
46/50 46. Abbi White
Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People in the East Midlands
helps care for Abbi’s brother Ryan, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
- a condition that causes all muscles to weaken. Determined to
fundraise for them Abbi, 14, began creating brightly coloured pictures
made from buttons to sell. So far she has raised almost £50,000. Abbi
says: “I wanted people to look at my art and think of Rainbows and what
an amazing place it is.”
47/50 47. Paddie McGinn
Paddie began volunteering as a handyperson with charity Volunteering
Matters, visiting vulnerable people where he lives in Alloa, Scotland,
to help them with odd jobs around the house that they couldn’t manage.
Soon Paddie also took on the responsibility of organising other
volunteers - arranging visits to ensure even more people benefit from
the service and helping to train new starters. Today he is also part of
the befriending project, visiting older, isolated people in the local
community.
48/50 48. Cliff Whyte
This postman from South London goes out of his way to be friendly and
cheer up everyone he meets. One person who nominated Cliff says he
knows everyone's name, their children's names and even what football
team they support. “He always stops to chat and takes the time to ask
how everyone is, and is a very positive influence on us all. He really
is part of the community, a real one in a million.”
49/50 49. Steve Wheen
Steve makes mini gardens in potholes around cities, to the delight of
passers-by. Each miniature creation tells a little story - from picnics
to royal weddings - and one fan said; “seeing a little flower bed
randomly in the pavement is just amazing, and he puts little props with
them depending on the season or event.” Steve’s ‘holes of happiness’
project has taken on a life of its own, with copycat pothole gardeners
popping up around the world to create joy.
50/50 50. Ann Medcalf (centre)
50. This 69-year-old volunteer (pictured centre) is described as a
'mainstay' of girl guiding in South Derbyshire. Ann has given almost 50
years of service, giving up her time to work with children of all ages,
from Rain-bows, Brownies, Guides and the senior section. One person who
nominated her says “Ann has devoted so much of her time to the Guide
Association, she does a phenomenal job, has incredible knowledge and is
well known and respected throughout the whole of the Midlands.”
1/50 1. Shamash Alidina, Rosa Connor and Victoria Johnson [L-R: Shamash, Rosa
and Vicky]
London’s Museum of Happiness believes in a happier, kinder and more
playful world. It’s a not-for-profit social enterprise run by Shamash,
Rosa and Victoria to provide experiences that offer people of all
backgrounds the chance to learn about living happier, more fulfilling
lives. They organise interactive exhibitions, workshops and events to
bring the science of happiness alive. One person who nominated the trio
said: “In lonely London I found love, fun and a lot of new friends at
Museum of Happiness. They make me happy!”
2/50 2. Joe Attridge
“Without volunteers like Joe we simply could not do what we do,” says
one member of the North London Hospice, where Joe has helped out for
over 10 years. “Not only does he raise thousands of pounds for us every
year, he also tirelessly provides emotional support to those who need
it most. Joe’s compassion and patience is truly outstanding and he has
an amazing affect on our patients. He is a very special individual.”
3/50 3. Joanna Bevan
As a volunteer at The Kindness Offensive, Joanna is devoted to
improving life for those in need across London and further afield. Some
of her achievements include running Foundation Speak Street which
offers free weekly English language lessons for refugees, helping to
create a sensory garden for special needs children, and organising free
day trips for the elderly to museums and places of interest. Joanna is
described as a ‘selfless character who is always working towards
building better communities.’
4/50 4. Max Brennan
Child of Courage Max, from Brixworth, Northampton, has Ehlers Danlos
Syndrome which means he tires easily and gets severe pain in his bones
and joints. Some days he finds holding himself up too hard and suffers
multiple falls. But five-year-old Max is determined to help other
children, He set up Max’s Marvellous Mission which saw him take part in
a Superhero Run to raise over £4,000 for the Newlife Foundation, a
charity which supports families across the UK to purchase equipment for
disabled children.
5/50 5. Sarah Burrows
Sarah, from Oxfordshire, was inspired to set up Children Heard and Seen
after she learnt that 65% of boys who have a parent with a conviction
go on to offend themselves. The charity provides support to children of
prisoners in one-to-one and group settings to help reduce the
likelihood of generational offending, mental health issues and family
breakdown. Activities includes creating songs to express their feelings
about having a parent in prison and making scrapbooks for their loves
one.
6/50 6. Matt Callanan
Matt’s project We Make Good Happen will see him do 403 good deeds, and
he hopes to inspire others to do a million more. So far, Matt, from
Cardiff, has put on a party for 100 year old lady in care home and
hidden twenty £10 notes around his home city (with two rules - don’t
spend it on yourself and do some good with it), an idea which went
viral. Matt was inspired to do all this as a way of continuing his late
father’s good deeds.
7/50 7. John Cattle
John runs a weekly skate club on the Isle of Wight, teaching over 200
people of all ages to skateboard. But, according to his pupils, he does
much more than that. One of the many who nominated John says: “He
teaches you to be brave, tackle your fears, trust people and have fun.”
John gives extra free sessions for those who need extra help, including
children with anger issues who find it hard to learn with others.
Another person who nominated him said: “He has infinite patience and
helps build confidence in all who meet him.”
8/50 8. Emily Chalke (R) and Rachel Price (L)
This duo created Ella’s Home, Emily had the vision and Rachel helped
make it happen. Ella's Home is a safe house in London where women can
recover from trafficking and sexual exploitation. Named after Ella whom
Emily met and helped nearly 5 years ago, the project offers long term
recovery support. Emily and team work hard to ensure the home is a
welcoming place for women to live and recover until they are ready for
independent living. The team also provide essential outreach and long
term support to women across London who have experienced sexual
exploitation and trafficking.
9/50 9. Ann Marie Cockburn
Since losing her 15 year old daughter Martha in 2013 to an accidental
overdose, Anne-Marie has relentlessly campaigned throughout the UK (and
internationally) for drug laws to be reviewed. Originally from
Ayrshire, Scotland, and now living in Oxford, Anne-Marie regularly
tells her story in order to raise awareness and to save anyone else
from losing another Martha. She has written a book (5,742 Days) and a
play called What Martha Did Next. She tells her story to prisoners with
The Forgiveness Project's 'Restore' Programme and campaigns with the
charity 'Anyone's Child: Families for Safer Drug Control'.
10/50 10. Jamie Collier
Chef Jamie has been a volunteer cooking tutor with Cyrenians Good Food
social enterprise for many years, helping to nurture a passion for good
food in people who experience mental and physical ill health. One
person who nominated Jamie says: “He embodies the concept of cooking
being about love, kindness and caring about others. In Jamie’s own
business he has taken on people who are long term unemployed and given
them a sense of purpose. His passionate teaching puts a smile on so
many faces, and quite simply he has helped many turn their lives
around.”
11/50 11. Josh Coombes
Hairdresser Josh has an enormous salon; the streets of London. For the
past year this 29-year-old has been giving free haircuts to homeless
people, posting photos of his scissor-work on Instagram. It's part of
Josh's campaign #DoSomethingforNothing which has encouraged people
around the globe to help others any way they can and give a voice to
society's marginalised. One person who nominated Josh says: “With
shears in hand and love in heart, this bloke is giving the gift of time
and attention to the invisible”.
12/50 12. Andy Cope
Andy founded organisation Brilliant Communities to bring happiness
projects into schools across the country. Using three-week positive
psychology workshops he places students at the centre of his work to
help spread kindness and wellbeing, transforming cultures in the
process. Students design their own projects, which have included an
induction scheme for new pupils and a record- breaking 21,000 random
acts of kindness across Derby, empowering them to think about making
positive changes in their own communities.
13/50 13. Karen Cully and Dale Parker
This inspiring pair from Norwich started making and delivering
sandwiches to the homeless in Norwich city centre four years ago,
taking the bus from their hometown of Dereham, Norfolk. Now they
provide a twice weekly service, called The People's Picnic, feeding
more than 70 homeless or disadvantaged people. Managed and staffed
completely by volunteers, The People's Picnic offers three hot food
options, three desserts and sandwiches to take away, along with
clothing, sleeping bag, blanket and toiletries donations.
14/50 14. Wayne Dixon
Planet-saving Tsar Former soldier Wayne from Blackburn led a campaign
to clean up rubbish from Britain’s countryside. Accompanied by his dog
Koda and carrying a 50lb canvas backpack of kit, Wayne undertook a
7,000 mile litter sweep with Keep Britain Tidy to raise awareness of
the importance of disposing of your rubbish responsibly. Wayne spent
every day of his walk across Britain cleaning verges and hedgerows and
using social media to spread his message.
15/50 15. Sister Peggy Ennis
“A remarkable person who has spent a lifetime helping people so often
marginalised by society,” says one person who nominated Sister Peggy.
She has supported hundreds of people to build new lives away from
addiction and crime during her 22 years as a volunteer for RAPt. Sister
Peggy's work includes running workshops for people recovering from drug
addiction, and she’s motivated by her unwavering belief that everyone
has the capacity to change their lives for the better.
16/50 16. Samantha Everard
Samantha set up The Samee Project to support people who face barriers
to work in Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Somerset. The
project ‘handholds’ people who want to be self-employed or need
support. and Samantha works tirelessly to help them with boost
confidence, learn skills and develop self-belief. Often those in need
of support are disabled, have long term illness or have fallen on bad
times, and so far the project has helped more then 200 people.
17/50 17. Cemal Ezel
What if your morning coffee could change lives? With the support of The
Big Issue, Cemal founded social enterprise Change Please to help reduce
homelessness through coffee. The scheme trains people who are homeless
to be baristas on a London Living Wage, and also provides housing, a
bank account and therapy. Currently operating in London, Manchester and
Newcastle, and soon New York, Cemal is responsible for lifting eight
people per month out of homelessness and into long-term employment.
18/50 18. Sally Field
Animal Saviour This dog-mad 97-year-old has volunteered at the RSPCA's
Millbrook Animal Centre in Chobham, Surrey for more than 40 years -
since the centre first opened it's doors. Sally has done everything
from dog walking to cleaning and cooking dinners for the rescue
residents. She volunteers twice a week and has walked at least 1,000
dogs during her time, and has adopted a seemingly restrained total of
seven hounds in that time.
19/50 19. Peter Finn
A hip replacement five years ago hasn’t slowed down marathon runner
Pete, from Rothley, Leicestershire, who clocks up the miles in aid of
learning disability charity Mencap. Now aged 64. this year’s London
Marathon was Pete’s 100th. He has also run around the world, in
Singapore, Dublin, Hong Kong and New York, and has raised over £54,000
so far. His sons James and Rory have both taken up running as well, and
they both joined Peter to complete their first marathons.
20/50 20. Rev Canon Sally Fogden
Loneliness Buster In a bid to foster community spirit and tackle
loneliness and isolation in rural communities retired vicar Sally
Fogden set up The Rural Coffee Caravan. This mobile community café and
information centre offers a place for people of all ages to socialise
or access services over a free cup of tea or coffee. It provides
everything from blood pressure checks to financial advice, and last
year it welcomed over 5,800 Suffolk residents. Sally also volunteers
for the Farming Community Network, and set up The Addington Fund to is
help farmers financially in times of crisis.
21/50 21. Laura Gleadall
Cancer-fighting Hero When Laura's sister Louise, 37, was diagnosed with
cervical cancer Laura began an almighty fundraising journey. While
juggling two jobs, looking after her son and helping to care for her
sister's three children, Laura motivated her whole community to hold
events, donate and spread the word to reach her target. She raised over
£100,000 using JustGiving Crowdfunding to pay for Louise to have
groundbreaking Immunotherapy in Germany, and Louise has now begun the
treatment.
22/50 22. Louise Harrison
Louise is a dedicated volunteer at Ronald McDonald House Arrowe Park, a
charity which provides free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for
families while their child is being treated at Arrowe Park Hospital in
Wirral. From training new volunteers to thinking up innovative ways to
fundraise, Louise is an integral part of the team. She even kept
volunteering last year whilst receiving a harsh course of radiotherapy
treatment for breast cancer.
23/50 23. Brian Heath
Community champion Aged 95, Brian still runs a community group called
Strictly Tea Dancers at the Allendale Centre in Wimborne, Dorset, which
encourages people of any age or ability to come together and learn to
dance. This completely volunteer-run initiative helps to address social
isolation, which especially affects older members of the local rural
community. Brian met his partner Margaret at the Centre, and they now
volunteer there together.
24/50 24. Rita Joliffe
The Wizzybug Loan Scheme provides free, powered wheelchairs to disabled
children across the UK. Rita, who lives near Burnham-on-Sea, travels
all over the country to tell people who might benefit from the idea and
help raise money for it to continue. In one year alone she raised over
£28,000. Designability, the charity behind the scheme, says: “Rita is
one in a million. She and her husband even requested people donate to
the scheme in lieu of gifts for their golden wedding anniversary,
raising £1,200 Every charity needs a Rita.”
25/50 25. Nisha Kotecha
Three years ago Nisha, from London, founded Good News Shared, a website
celebrating the positive stories that too often the public don’t hear
about. Nisha has volunteered for charities for over 10 years, and its
her mission to highlight their amazing and diverse work. After
experiencing a bereavement last year she went on to create The Moments
Journal, a positivity log to help people see and appreciate the good
things - big or small - from their day.
26/50 26. Dr Margaret Lobo
Since qualifying as a music therapist in 1987, Margaret has dedicated
her life to providing therapy for people of all ages with learning
disabilities, autism, neurological difficulties or mental health
problems. After building a music studio in her back garden, Margaret
set up the Otakar Kraus Music Trust, putting together a small team of
volunteers. Today the Trust helps over 250 people annually and provides
over 3,000 therapy sessions. Now in her 70s, Margaret still works to
help the most vulnerable people in her community and was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate from the University of Middlesex.
27/50 27. Hussain Manawer
When this Essex performance poet and mental health campaigner won the
chance to go into space he decided to use it as a platform to raise
awareness of the number of people who live with mental illness.
Hussain, from Ilford, says: “I want to dedicate the trip to every
single person who has suffered from mental health, every young boy,
girl, man, woman who cries and doesn't know why.”. Hussain also speaks
out on behalf of the “two billion sane Muslims on the planet”, saying
he stands in support of the war on terror.
28/50 28. Jane McHale
Jane has been working for charity The Sick Children's Trust for 17
years, starting out as a part time assistant and now running 'Home from
Home', which supports families with seriously ill children. Eckersley
House, which is located in Leeds General Infirmary, almost always has a
waiting list, and staff say Jane goes 'above and beyond' to care for
every single person. In Jane's spare time she also fundraises, doing
everything from an aeroplane wing walk to knitting Christmas stockings
to sell.
29/50 29. Gary McKee
A beer-loving 47-year-old from Cleator Moor in Cumbria, had a better
idea. He ran 100 marathons – on 100 successive days. Gary's life
changed two decades ago when his father was diagnosed with cancer.
Nurses from Macmillan Cancer Support became a cherished part of the
McKee family during that dark time and now he has run approaching 2,700
miles to support them. What has kept him going, he says, has been the
thought of those who need Macmillan’s support.
30/50 30. Helen Missen
When her daughter developed anorexia six years ago Helen began working
to improve the support available for everyone affected by the illness.
She secured £500,000 extra funding for care from the Welsh Government
and founded an Eating Disorder Forum for carers and sufferers. Helen,
from Llanfyllin in Powys, is also is a Managing Trustee of Charlotte’s
Helix, a charity exploring the genetics behind the illness, and despite
being diagnosed with Lupus in 2013 she continues to fight for better
treatment for eating disorders.
31/50 31. Sianne Morgan
As well as being a foster carer of two children, Sianne has been a
dedicated youth worker for over 17 years, supporting young people
across Gwent who are not in education or employment. Whether it’s being
a shoulder to cry on or taking them to job interviews, Sianne helps
disadvantaged people achieve their best possible future. One young
person said: “She’s helped myself get through some hard times,
supporting me to now being in full time employment. Sianne never turns
away a young person in need and is an inspiration and role model to
many.”
32/50 32. Matthew and Steph Neville
This couple from Birmingham had been saving to buy a house for years.
However, when they finally had enough money they decided the funds
would be better spent providing a home for refugees who had to flee
from their own. Matthew works for Catholic aid agency CAFOD and Steph
works at St Chad’s Sanctuary, providing practical support and English
classes to people seeking sanctuary. They bought a house and gave it to
homelessness charity Hope Projects to fill.
33/50 33. Oliver Phillips
Tech entrepreneur Oliver built anti-Tinder meet-up app Meet’n’Eat to
help people make friends in post-Brexit London. It encourages people
who want to get to know others to eat together, matching them using GPS
location data alongside filters such as age, food choice, time and
date. Oliver, a master’s student at the London School of Economics,
thought up the idea while struggling to find English-speaking dining
companions in Asia and hopes it will help combat loneliness.
34/50 34. Paul Pulford
After beating heroin addiction, Paul built a garden in the concrete
courtyard of the hostel he was living in. Determined to help other
people whose lives are affected by homelessness, drug and al-cohol
addiction, Paul founded Grounded Ecotherapy, a project to help
volunteer gardeners learn and work together to create urban
sanctuaries. Through Paul’s leadership and enthusiasm mem-bers of
Grounded Ecotherapy have worked with The Eden Project, Chelsea Flower
Show and cre-ated a rooftop garden at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
35/50 35. Leona Rankin
After she lost her fiancé to sarcoma, Leona, from Belfast, founded a
charity in April 2013 to support people living with the disease. The
Boom Foundation (www.theboomfoundation.co.uk) is now the main referral
charity supporting people living with sarcoma in Northern Ireland, and
runs support groups and patient information days. Leona has raised over
£435,000 to raise awareness and fund specialist care, splitting the
money across her own initiatives in Northern Ireland and funding vital
research projects alongside the charity Sarcoma UK.
36/50 36. Onjali Q Raúf
“The most selfless and caring person I know,” is how one person
described Onjali. She launched Making Herstory in 2011 to tackle
violence against women and girls following the murder of her aunt when
she was aged just 28. The organisation works in diverse ways to help
society’s most vulnerable females; supporting survivors of violence and
abuse; assist-ing refugees; campaigning and lobbying to give voice to
disempowered women; and running edu-cation programmes in schools and
colleges.
37/50 37. Kim Reuter and Russ Elias
Inspirational musicians and self-confessed eccentrics Russ Elias and
Kim Reuter run Shabang!, an organisation committed to creating
accessible arts for children, young people and adults with additional
learning needs in Huddersfield. Russ and Kim combine traditional
teaching skills with their own ‘peculiar educational tomfoolery’ to
encourage their audience to par-ticipate in a special, unique shared
experience. One of the many who nominated them said: “Kim and Russ are
absolute stars and make life so much easier for so many families - they
live and breathe helping others.”
38/50 38. Sam Rowe
Positivity Coach Founder, Director and CEO of The Academy of Hard
Knocks, Sam was inspired to set up the initia-tive to break the cycle
of youth offending by providing the youth community with guidance or
role models. The organisation implements values of respect, safety,
confidence, professionalism and the importance of positive community
involvement. One person says: “Sam is a genuinely selfless, very
inspiring human being. He runs a course for young offenders to help
them to never go back, and he pushed me to do my absolute best.”
39/50 39. Mandy Sanghera
Mandy is a human rights activist who has spent the last 26 years
campaigning locally and nationally to campaign against forced
marriages, FGM and honour violence, as well as supporting victims and
survivors of violence and cultural abuse. As a motivational speaker
Mandy, from Coventry, helps to empower power to rebuild their lives
after abuse, and she was also involved in writing the guidelines on
disability and HBV for the forced marriages unit.
40/50 40. David Savage
As a volunteer for Humanists UK, David helped set up a training
programme for non-religious pas-toral carers, changing the way in which
care is delivered in hospitals, prisons, and universities. Be-fore
this, non-religious people were unable to access like-minded support at
times of crisis, meaning many often went without. For over a decade
David has worked hard to ensure that this initiative has been accepted
as part of chaplaincy teams all over England, Wales, and Northern
Ireland. The network has grown to over 150 members and has supported
tens of thousands of people. David, from Farnham, still volunteers
weekly as a non-religious pastoral carer at London’s Guys' and St
Thomas hospital.
41/50 41. Gemma and Craig Scott
Outstanding Fundraiser After losing seven family members to cancer,
this young couple from Scunthorpe decided to devote all their free time
to running marathons to raise money for Worldwide Cancer Research. This
year sees them running 10 marathons on two continents, and they always
train and run side by side. The Scotts even had their wedding themed
around the London Marathon, which they ran together in 2012.
42/50 42. Josephine Segal (right) and Vanessa Crocker (left)
Josephine and Vanessa, aka the “angels of kindness”, co-founded charity
Spread a Smile in 2013 after seeing the positive impact a magician’s
visit had on Josephine’s nephew who was receiving cancer treatment at
Great Ormond Street Hospital. Spread a Smile now organise over 10
events a month at four London hospitals, including art workshops and
VIP trips to concerts. One nominator said: “They make a real difference
to the lives of seriously ill children and their families, helping to
make wonderful memories during the darkest of days.”
43/50 43. Dial Sharma
For the last 50 years, Dial has given up his time to help reduce
isolation in the Asian community in North London and members of that
community to integrate more with the wider society. As well as
organising weekly get-togethers and trips to the seaside or abroad, he
also organises practical help with issues such as tax, bills, English
speaking, housing and immigration issues. Now aged 85, Dial recently
helped Asian women with no voice in the home to gain more independence
by attending coffee mornings.
44/50 44. Michelle Smith (photo credit: Ben Orrell Jones)
In 2009 Michelle self-funded and set up Mpower People to empower people
across Liverpool by helping them live healthier and more independent
lives. Today the social enterprise offers a range of sports and healthy
living education programmes, as well as training for employment
opportunities, enterprise development or personal development.
Initially aimed at those from disadvantaged groups, its now open to
anyone who might benefit.
45/50 45. Katherine Sparkes
Innovative Star Frustrated at the lack of inclusive opportunities for
disabled children, Katherine founded Flamingo Chicks, a ballet school
where disabled children can explore movement with friends. Over 2000
children take part each year across 14 different cities. Katherine also
founded Styleability which provides body confidence workshops for young
disabled adults, teaching them how to adapt cloth-ing to suit their
needs. One person said: “She mobilises and inspires people to do social
good - a passionate volunteer, she coaches others to be the change they
want to see.”
46/50 46. Abbi White
Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People in the East Midlands
helps care for Abbi’s brother Ryan, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
- a condition that causes all muscles to weaken. Determined to
fundraise for them Abbi, 14, began creating brightly coloured pictures
made from buttons to sell. So far she has raised almost £50,000. Abbi
says: “I wanted people to look at my art and think of Rainbows and what
an amazing place it is.”
47/50 47. Paddie McGinn
Paddie began volunteering as a handyperson with charity Volunteering
Matters, visiting vulnerable people where he lives in Alloa, Scotland,
to help them with odd jobs around the house that they couldn’t manage.
Soon Paddie also took on the responsibility of organising other
volunteers - arranging visits to ensure even more people benefit from
the service and helping to train new starters. Today he is also part of
the befriending project, visiting older, isolated people in the local
community.
48/50 48. Cliff Whyte
This postman from South London goes out of his way to be friendly and
cheer up everyone he meets. One person who nominated Cliff says he
knows everyone's name, their children's names and even what football
team they support. “He always stops to chat and takes the time to ask
how everyone is, and is a very positive influence on us all. He really
is part of the community, a real one in a million.”
49/50 49. Steve Wheen
Steve makes mini gardens in potholes around cities, to the delight of
passers-by. Each miniature creation tells a little story - from picnics
to royal weddings - and one fan said; “seeing a little flower bed
randomly in the pavement is just amazing, and he puts little props with
them depending on the season or event.” Steve’s ‘holes of happiness’
project has taken on a life of its own, with copycat pothole gardeners
popping up around the world to create joy.
50/50 50. Ann Medcalf (centre)
50. This 69-year-old volunteer (pictured centre) is described as a
'mainstay' of girl guiding in South Derbyshire. Ann has given almost 50
years of service, giving up her time to work with children of all ages,
from Rain-bows, Brownies, Guides and the senior section. One person who
nominated her says “Ann has devoted so much of her time to the Guide
Association, she does a phenomenal job, has incredible knowledge and is
well known and respected throughout the whole of the Midlands.”
So the Stoics developed a whole series of practical exercises designed
to help train people to incorporate Stoic ideas into their daily lives.
Seneca recommended taking stock at the end of each day, noting when you
become irritated by something trivial, or act angrily in response to
someone who perhaps didn’t deserve it, and so on. By noting his
mistakes, he hoped to do better the next day.
Marcus Aurelius had another strategy, reminding himself each morning
that he was probably going to encounter a lot of angry, stressed,
impatient, ungrateful people during the coming day. By reflecting on
this in advance, the hope was that he would be less likely to respond
in kind. But he also reflected on the fact that none of these people
would be like this intentionally. They were the victims of their own
mistaken judgements.
Here we get another paradox: no one chooses to be unhappy, stressed,
angry, miserable, and yet these are in fact all the product of our
judgements, the one thing within our control.
Read more
* On my 58th birthday, I'm questioning what it means to be happy
Another Stoic strategy is to remind ourselves of our relative
unimportance. The world does not revolve around us. Aurelius regularly
reflected in his Meditations on the vastness of the universe and the
infinity of time stretching into the past and future, in order to put
his own short life into wider context.
Our lives are but moments when placed within this cosmic perspective.
Given this, why should we expect the universe to deliver whatever it is
that we might happen to want? On the contrary, it would be absurd to
expect it to conform to our will.
As Epictetus put it, if you expect the universe to deliver what you
want, you are going to be disappointed, but if you embrace whatever the
universe gives, then life will be a whole lot smoother. Again, this is
easier said than done, but more and more people are taking note of this
Stoic advice and working hard to incorporate it into their daily lives.
John Sellars is a lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University
of London. This article originally appeared in The Conversation
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
More about Happiness Philosophy Epictetus Stoics
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > People > Profiles
Richard Layard: ‘Money is not the only thing affecting people’s happiness’
The Chris Blackhurst Interview: With one in six adults in the UK
suffering from mental illness, Professor Lord Richard Layard is
convinced it’s time for a serious response from Government – which
would save the NHS money too
* Chris Blackhurst @c_blackhurst
* Sunday 13 July 2014 20:40
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Labour economist Professor Lord Richard Layard pictured in London (
Susannah Ireland )
How could we become a happier nation? One pioneering economist has
spent the best part of a decade arguing that we simply must find an
answer to this question – gaining the support of David Cameron, who
backed the notion of happiness as “the new GDP”.
That economist won’t let it drop. He wants to reignite the whole debate
and go further still. This is why the shocking facts come thick and
fast in Professor Lord Richard Layard’s new book, and in conversation
when we meet. To give just a few of the many he has stored up:
* Treating someone for depression or anxiety disorders costs on average
£650. The success rate is 50 per cent. If they then come off Employment
Support Allowance as a result, the saving to the taxpayer is £650 a
month. So, a single outlay of £650 can save £650 a month.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
* People with mental health problems cost the NHS an extra £2,000 each
in their physical healthcare (in trips to A&E, for example), or £10bn
in total. Spend more on psychotherapy and the cost would be covered by
the saving on physical healthcare.
* Mental health issues account for half of all sick days.
* In Britain today, one adult in six suffers from depression or a
crippling anxiety disorder. A third of families include someone who is
mentally ill – yet fewer than one in three people suffering from mental
health problems will receive treatment.
The argument for change posited by Layard and his co-author, David
Clark, professor of psychology at Oxford, in their new book, Thrive, is
a strong one. Mental health causes more of the suffering in our society
than physical illness, poverty or unemployment – yet we do precious
little about it.
Comedian Ruby Wax, no stranger to depression, is quoted approvingly by
Layard and Clark: “I’m incredulous that it’s 2014 and in this seemingly
evolved culture we live in we’re trying to hide the mentally ill
elephant in the room, even though it’s draining the economy, and
damaging the lives of [one in six] adults and one in 10 of all
children.”
By stigmatising such a prevalent condition, says Wax, “we all are
deranged… The fact that none of this information is discussed on a
regular basis, publicised and subsequently dealt with, condemns us all
to shame.”
I’m sitting with Layard in a coffee bar in west London. He’s best known
for his 2005 book, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. A leading
labour economist, based at the London School of Economics, he maintains
that government “does not do enough” to ensure the happiness of its
citizens, that happiness is a more realistic measure of success than
income, and that achieving a work-life balance should be the
over-arching goal for public policy.
As befits the father of “happiness science”, he’s got one of those
kindly faces that are coursed with laughter lines rather than wrinkles.
This latest work is an extension of the earlier one, pursuing the claim
that if the Government cares for the wellbeing of its people, it should
tackle the source of so much unhappiness, namely mental health, and
secure a huge economic spin-off.
“Ever since I wrote Happiness I’ve been concerned as to what can be
done about mental health,” he says. New, evidence-based therapies such
as CBT, cognitive behavioural therapy, he maintains, are highly
effective, and if the Government fully embraced them and made them
freely available, the benefits would be enormous.
It would not, he insists, be a case of splashing out on more
counsellors and hoping for the best. “The beauty of these treatments is
that their success can be measured. It’s possible to measure the
behaviour of a person before, during and after receiving treatment.”
Around seven million people are afflicted by a mental health condition.
But only 15 per cent of that total are being treated. “It’s too low,
it’s outrageous,” fumes Layard. Taking a hardline approach, it was
reported yesterday that the Government cut benefit payments to people
suffering from depression who refuse therapy or counselling, though it
is unclear if there will be extra money to pay for more treatment.
At present, the funds go to GPs. They’d like to refer more patients for
psychotherapy, but there’s a shortage of therapists. Instead, they
prescribe anti-depressants – and in record numbers according to figures
released last week, with annual NHS spending on the drugs increasing by
one third in just a year, rising to £282m. A quarter more prescriptions
are being made too, up to 53 million.
“We don’t have enough counsellors. We’ve got to train more people, but
they can only be trained in-service,” he says. Training is occurring,
in about 30 primary care trusts – but, he says, the urgent need is to
cover the whole country. “People are crying off sick from work because
of mental health; or people are just absent from work, again because of
mental health; or if they’re at work, they’re not performing properly,
again because of mental health.”
In all, reckons Layard, poor mental health or mental illness directly
accounts for a loss of 4 per cent of GDP. Then, if you add on crime
committed by mentally ill people, that is another 2 per cent of GDP.
Then there’s the additional cost of providing physical care to those
with mental health issues (not mental health beds or counselling, but
other care such as visits to A&E) which is a further 2 per cent. The
need for greater therapy provision has coincided with increased
autonomy for local NHS commissioners. “The key target has to be for
local commissioners to understand there’s a major health need in this
area; to ensure they’ve got the tools to address it; and to impress
upon them that it’s cost-neutral, that savings will pay for the extra
treatment.”
His first battle is to raise awareness. “One third of all families, all
households, contain someone who is mentally ill, but people simply
don’t think about it. There’s never been a study on the effects of
mental health on the workplace, on the daily lives of working people.
Then, there’s the unquantifiable links between mental health and
domestic violence, family conflict, drug and alcohol abuse, and child
misbehaviour.”
Layard was made a Labour peer in 2001. He’s married to Molly, the
ex-wife of Labour MP Michael Meacher. A social worker, she was created
a life peer in her own right as Baroness Meacher in 2006.
His career, as he puts it, divides into three. “In the 1980s, I worked
with Stephen Nickell on employment. There was complete confusion about
unemployment, its extent and its effect. My best book was Unemployment,
which said you could have lower unemployment if you gave more help to
unemployed people to get them into work, and made that help conditional
on them trying to get work. That became the basis of the European
‘Welfare to Work’ approach, and Labour’s New Deal.”
In the 1990s, he spent a lot of time advising organisations in the
newly capitalist Russia, and assisting Labour ministers in opposition,
then in government.
Then, in 2001, he started work on Happiness. “It was about making
governments realise that the happiness of their country was not
measured by the wealth of their nation. It was about measuring the
quality of life as people experience it.”
There are, he says, “many problems with just focusing on national
wealth. Money is not the only thing affecting people’s happiness. Money
is not the whole story; it’s not remotely the whole story. It’s
important we try to get a better balance between income, and human
relationships and mental and physical health. People must understand
that they would do well to preserve their human relationships; they
should give them a higher priority than how much they earn.”
Our leaders must pay more attention to this. “It’s very important
politicians don’t sacrifice the human side in the name of economic
growth.”
If he had his way, says Layard, he would like to see “a survey of the
well-being of employees put on the first page of every set of company
accounts. A lot of managers put the stress on the technical side and
don’t look at the human side. There’s a lot of evidence that a better
working environment is good for a better home environment.”
He’s a leading lights in Action for Happiness, along with thinker Geoff
Mulgan and educationalist Anthony Seldon. “We’ve now got 30,000 members
and 90,000 followers. It’s about seeing how we can develop real
communities and perform some of the functions in their lives that, say,
the church, used to perform.” He laughs. “We’re full of high-minded
aspirations, and we talk about things that we think really matter. We
meet periodically to do that – we’re making real progress on it now.”
And once a year, with John Helliwell and Jeffrey Sachs, he produces the
World Happiness Report. It’s produced by an offshoot of the United
Nations and ranks countries according to happiness. In the last survey,
Denmark was top, with the UK 22nd. “The Report’s had a million hits a
year for two years,” he says.
He’s also involved with the Mindfulness movement, aimed at getting more
life skills taught in schools and promoting the teachings of the Dalai
Lama in the West.
For today, though, his passion is happiness and, in particular, mental
health. “I’ve always been interested in happiness. I became aware of
evidence-based psychotherapy, which meant that for the first time
results could be measured – it was possible for instance to measure
happiness of the old people in an old peoples’ home.”
He was one of the drivers behind Improving Access to Psychological
Therapies, an initiative to widen access to psychological treatments.
Layard says: “Real evidence makes a big difference. Psychology is now
being done in the same way as physical healthcare, through controlled
trials and the resulting knowledge being replicable.”
But what about his own work-life balance, does he find any time to
relax? His face breaks into a delightful smile. “I’ve always had a
rule; I’ve never worked in the evenings. It’s always important to have
a happy personal life, and to have other interests beyond work, like
sport. And I’ve always made sure to have good holidays, well away from
everything – that’s very important. I play a lot of tennis – I’m
playing tonight.”
He looks at me and grins. He knows what I’m thinking. He’s 80 and he’s
playing tennis tonight.
The CV: Professor Richard Layard
Born: 1934
Educated: Eton College (King’s Scholar), Cambridge University, London
School of Economics
Made: a life peer, Baron Layard of Highgate
He is: a Labour peer but his wife, Baroness Meacher, a peer in her own
right, is a crossbencher
Career: Senior research officer to Robbins Committee on Higher
Education; Labour economist; founder of the Centre for Economic
Performance at LSE; developed “happiness economics”, wrote in 2005,
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science; in 2014, co-author of Thrive,
advocates expansion of treatment of mental health to help individual
and national well-being and economy.
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > World > Europe
7 reasons Denmark is the happiest country in the world
* Thomas Colson ,
* Business Insider
* Monday 26 September 2016 15:49
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Happiness expert Meik Wiking hails from Denmark, the happiest country
in the world.
His newly released book, “The Little Book of Hygge,” explores a word he
believes is central to that happiness.
As Wiking says, “hygge” (pronounced hoo-gah) has no direct translation:
It means cosiness, it means intimacy, and it means warmth — but it
means many more things than just these points.
We looked at some of the components that make up a Danish lifestyle, as
explored in “The Little Book of Hygge.”
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
For references in the piece, hygge is a noun, hyggeligt is a singular
adjective, and hyggelige is a plural adjective.
7. Togetherness
“In all the work I have done within the field of happiness research.
This is the point I am surest about: the best predictor of whether we
are happy or not is our social relationships,” Wiking says in his book.
Wiking cites the journalist Cathy Strongman, who moved from London to
Copenhagen and who wrote in The Guardian: “Work later than 5:30 and the
office is a morgue. Work at the weekend and the Danes think you are
mad. The idea is that families have time to play and eat together at
the end of the day, every day.”
6. Food and drink
“Sweets are hyggelige. Cake is hyggeligt. Coffee or hot chocolate are
hyggeligt, too. Carrot sticks, not so much,” Wiking says.
He believes that the high level of meat, confectionary, and coffee
consumption in Denmark is directly linked to hygge.
“Hygge is about being kind to yourself — giving yourself a treat, and
giving yourself, and each other, a break from the demands of healthy
living,” he says.
Wiking's compatriots seem to agree: The average Dane eats 3 kilos of
bacon a year.
5. The home
Pictured here: Queen Margrethe (3rd L), Prince Henrik (5th L), Crown
Prince Frederik (L) and Crown Princess Mary (6th R) and their children,
Prince Christian (4th L), Princess Isabella (2nd L), Prince Vincent
(6th L) and Princess Josephine (5th R). Also pictured: Princess
Alexandra (4th R) of Berleburg and Count Jefferson (3rd R) with their
children Countess Ingrid (Reuters)
The home is “hygge headquarters,” Wiking says. They even have a word
for it: hjemmehygge (home hygge). This may explain the Danish obsession
with good design.
They also have the most living space per capita in Europe.
4. Christmas
Christmas, Wiking says, is the most hyggelig part of the year. “Even
though it is possible to hygge all year round, only once a year is
hygge the ultimate goal of an entire month,” he says.
Christmas traditions in Denmark are not wildly different from those in
the UK or the US, but the difference is that “a Danish Christmas will
always be planned, thought of, and evaluated in relation to the concept
of hygge.”
There is even a word for it — julehygge (Christmas-hygge).
3. Lighting
From its iconic lampshades to the staggeringly widespread use of
candles, Denmark is a country obsessed with lighting. The Happiness
Research Institute's studies shows that 85% of people associate hygge
with candles; 28% of Danes light candles every day.
Wiking quotes the American ambassador to Denmark, who says candles
create “a kind of emotional happiness, an emotional cosiness.”
2. Copenhagen: The happiest city in the world
People fight with pillows during World Pillow Fight Day in front of the
City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark ()
Appropriately enough, the happiest country in the world has the
happiest capital city in the world. And it is full of hygglelig
destinations — from restaurants selling pickled herring in the New
Harbour to the iconic Tivoli Gardens, which is transformed every
Christmas into a spectacular festival of light.
1. The welfare model
While hygge clearly plays a major part in Denmark's happiness, Wiking
is keen to emphasise that the welfare model is what fundamentally
underpins the nation's well-being — they have high taxes but receive
social security, universal healthcare, and a universal pension in
return.
Wiking says there is “wide support for the welfare state.”
“The support stems from an awareness of the fact that the welfare model
turns our collective wealth into well-being,” he says.
Critics often point out that antidepressant consumption is very high in
Denmark for a country that claims to be the happiest in the world.
According to the OECD, Denmark ranks second in Europe for
antidepressant consumption per capita.
Wiking told Business Insider in an interview, however, that this
supposed “paradox” was nothing of the sort.
“The real story is, these countries recognise mental illness and try to
treat it in some way,” Wiking told Business Insider. “Being a society
that acknowledges that people suffer from mental illnesses, and that we
should try and do something about them? I think that's a good thing. A
lot of people miss that — they just think it's a paradox.”
Read more:
• This chart is easy to interpret: It says we're screwed
• How Uber became the world's most valuable startup
• These 4 things could trigger the next crisis in Europe
Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2016. Follow
Business Insider UK on Twitter.
More about Denmark Happiness Life
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. 7 reasons Denmark is the happiest country in the world
1/4
2/4
AFP/Getty Images
3/4
Pictured here: Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederikand
Crown Princess Maryand their children, Prince Christian, Princess
Isabella, Prince Vincentand Princess Josephine. Also pictured: Princess
Alexandraof Berleburg and Count Jeffersonwith their children Countess
Ingrid
Reuters
4/4
People fight with pillows during World Pillow Fight Day in front of the
City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Voices > Commentators
Jemima Lewis: Since when did work bring you happiness?
* Monday 1 August 2005 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Voices
If anything could make one feel a nostalgic fondness for the Yuppy, it
is the arrival of the Yeppy. A report published this week by the Social
Research Centre has identified a new breed of ambitious
twenty-something, dubbed the "Young, Experimenting Perfection Seeker".
Whereas Yuppies had rather prosaic, old-fashioned aspirations - lots of
money, a big house and an impressive job title - Yeppies aim for
altogether loftier heights. They want a job that will bring them
everlasting fulfillment. So instead of knuckling down to one
profession, they spend their twenties "browsing" through various
careers in search of The One.
This agony of indecision extends to other areas of their lives, such as
where to live and who to love. They "try on" a series of relationships,
deferring marriage and babies for as long as possible, and often live
with their parents into their late twenties rather than commit to the
tyranny of a mortgage.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
"Yeppies are unsure how to achieve their ambitions," says
anthropologist Kate Fox, the author of the report, "so they experiment
through a shopping-style approach, trying to find the perfect job, the
ideal relationship and the most fulfilling lifestyle." They may be, as
Fox claims, "less single-mindedly materialistic than their
predecessors", but their style is every bit as consumerist.
The idea that we ought to be fulfilled by our jobs is comparatively
new, and thoroughly unhelpful. For most of human history, work has
simply been a necessity. The Dickensian clerk, scratching away at the
same ledger in the same office for his entire working life, may have
been bored to tears - but at least he was not tormented by grandiose
expectations.
For most people, a respectable, steady job, rising slowly through the
ranks from apprenticeship to retirement, was the best one could hope
for. To pursue any kind of creative vocation, you had to be either
privately wealthy or content to be poor.
John Ruskin summed up the modest hopes of the 19th century worker thus:
"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things
are needed: They must be fit for it: They must not do too much of it:
And they must have a sense of success in it." Wise words indeed - but
much too humble for modern tastes.
These days, we expect to actively enjoy our work, and feel that we have
failed if enjoyment is not forthcoming. Ever since the Sixties, we have
had it drummed into us that we are entitled - even obliged - to seek
personal fulfillment in every aspect of our lives.
And since capitalism has done away with the job for life, most of us no
longer have the option of just stumbling into an office and staying
there. Instead, we must seize control of our career trajectories, and
stay at the steering wheel for the entirety of our working lives.
It is hardly surprising, then, that twenty-somethings sometimes crack
under the strain of choosing the right career. I exited my twenties
four years ago, when the Yeppie was just a twinkle in Kate Fox's eye -
but even then the pressure to find the perfect job was intense. It was
all anyone seemed to talk about.
I remember sitting on the stairs at a house party, commiserating with a
stranger about the demise of conversation. "The only thing people want
to know," she grumbled, "is what you do, how much you get paid, and
whether you enjoy it. You'd think there was nothing interesting about
us apart from our jobs."
We stared at our feet for a while, suddenly stumped for small talk. "So
... anyway," she said eventually. "What do you do?"
I was luckier than most of my peers, in that I had always known I
wanted to be a journalist. This did not protect me from career anxiety
(in the two months between leaving university and finding my first job,
I developed stress-related excema, asthma and alopecia; it was not a
pretty sight), but at least I had some idea what direction I should be
pointing in. Most of my friends, however intelligent and
well-qualified, didn't have a clue.
Everyone they spoke to gave the same advice: "Find something you like
doing, and do that." But they had no idea what they liked doing, apart
from playing Frisbee and watching old episodes of Dallas; so they
drifted into marketing, recruitment or banking, got increasingly
anxious and depressed about not being fulfilled, dropped out, dropped
back in again, and berated themselves continually for not having found
The Right Job. You can call it "browsing" if you like, but to me it
looked like mental torment.
From the other side of 30, all that angst seems even more unnecessary.
Nobody talks about their careers any more - they're too busy trying to
sort out marriage and babies. A cheerful resignation has settled over
the bankers and marketers: like the Dickensian clerk, they are coming
to see work as a means to an end, rather than their only vehicle for
self-expression.
The Yuppies had the good sense to crave only tangible, measurable
wealth. What the Yeppies are after - total spiritual satisfaction - is
something that no job can provide. Fulfillment, like love, becomes more
elusive the more you search for it. So you might as well stop
procrastinating and get on with the job - any job. Or as Edith Wharton
put it: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we'd have a pretty good
time."
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Created with Sketch. Does the happiness formula really add up?
Show all 3
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Does the happiness formula really add up?
1/3
SHONAGH RAE
2/3
SHONAGH RAE
3/3
SHONAGH RAE
1/3
SHONAGH RAE
2/3
SHONAGH RAE
3/3
SHONAGH RAE
Does the happiness formula really add up?
Being happy is as easy as ABC. Well, 'S+C+V', anyway. All you need is a
positive outlook (though 60 grand doesn't hurt). And if you can't manage
that, you can always turn to cognitive behaviour therapy, with its ideology
of focusing on the here and now. But is it really healthy to be relentlessly
chipper? Elizabeth Heathcote investigates
* Sunday 20 June 2010 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
The Noughties were never going to be good for pessimists. The tone for
the decade was set in 1997. As a grinning Tony Blair romped home to a
soundtrack of "Things Can Only Get Better", an American psychologist
named Martin Seligman, renowned in his field for his work on "learnt
helplessness", was elected president of the American Psychological
Association. Within months, he announced that having devoted 35 years
to the study of human suffering and mental illness – the standard fare
of psychologists – he would use the platform to explore human happiness
instead.
The idea wasn't new – since the 1950s, voices in the American
psychological community had been suggesting that the discipline would
benefit from an arm devoted to what makes us feel good rather than bad.
But Seligman was the one who did it. In 2000, he set up the Positive
Psychology Centre at the University of Pennsylvania and the tentacles
of the movement have been spreading ever since.
Seligman soon came up with a formula for happiness, H=S+C+V, where
happiness (H) is the sum of a person's genetic capacity for happiness
(S), their circumstances (C), and factors under their voluntary control
(V). Research showed, he said, that circumstance (in particular wealth
and health) plays a less important role in our happiness than most of
us believe (executives report only slightly higher levels of happiness
than people in the post-room); and that people who become paraplegic
eventually return to their previous levels of happiness.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
What this means is that voluntary control – the V in his equation – has
a high value, which means we can all learn to be happier (not least,
Seligman would no doubt say, by using the exercises in books such as
his own Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to
Realise Your Potential for Lasting Fulfilment). We should do this not
only because happiness is desirable in and of itself, but research
shows that happy, optimistic people are healthier, live longer, are
more successful and have more fulfilling relationships.
To achieve greater happiness, positive-psychology advocates "learnt
optimism" exercises, such as sitting down each evening and listing
things that went well that day; learning to feel grateful for what we
have; and practising random acts of kindness. Seligman also points out
that lasting happiness has nothing to do with the hedonistic pleasures
– shopping and partying – and more to do with solid values: a sense of
community and meaningful work. If it is all starting to sound a bit
like self-help, positive psychology has always made much of its
academic credentials. Everything it advocates is research-based and
proven, it insists.
The reach of positive psychology stretches beyond the personal.
Seligman's equation has political consequences, because if C is small
and V is big, and circumstances play a relatively small part in our
happiness, then governments concerned with wellbeing should focus less
on increasing wealth. One of the clarion calls for the movement is the
Easterlin paradox, an economic concept that shows that while GDP has
risen steadily in the West for decades, reported levels of happiness
have not changed. Money isn't making us happy, so something else has
to. In the US, positive-psychology programmes have been adopted in
schools, colleges and even the army.
For most of us here in the UK, the biggest visible effect has been a
steady stream of headlines and features devoted to the new science of
happiness. Positive psychology has proved itself much more
media-friendly than the traditional kind and its depressing studies
into misery and mental illness. "How to be happy!", "Money doesn't buy
you happiness", "Happy people are more successful/have more
friends/live longer" make appealing features. The BBC famously
attempted "Making Slough Happy" in 2005 using the new techniques. A
slew of sunny books have lured us with promises that we, too, can be
happier – and here's the science to prove it.
The ideas have informed government policy here, too. The LSE economist
Professor Richard Layard is the most prominent disciple of happiness
science in the UK, and lobbies for a change in emphasis in policy away
from increasing GDP and towards improving wellbeing. As Labour's
"happiness tsar", he oversaw a big change in the NHS frontline
mental-health provision and encouraged "happiness ' skills" teaching in
schools. His latest venture is the "Movement for Happiness", which will
launch this summer.
In an interview about the new venture, he said that "Increasingly
people ask, 'What is progress?' For 50 years we have aimed at higher
incomes – and got them. Yet over the same period there has been no
increase in happiness (in Britain or the US), as measured by surveys.
And there has been a shocking rise in the number of unhappy and
disturbed children. Clearly we have got our priorities wrong and our
society needs a radical change of tack."
You can't argue with that. Or can you?
For some time, I was a fan of positive psychology. I am a sitting duck
for the self-help industry – a bit pessimistic by nature, and dogged by
a belief that I should somehow be "doing better". This seemed to me an
excitingly scientific development. I studied optimism exercises, put my
neighbours' bins out as an act of random kindness, and lapped up
research reassuring me that even if I did have a Goldman Sachs salary,
it wouldn't make much difference to how I felt.
But increasingly, it is all getting on my nerves. I know that being on
chatting terms with my neighbours and spending time with my children
and doing work I find satisfying is fundamental to my happiness. Don't
most of us know that instinctively? But I also know that right now a
substantial increase in my income would do more than anything to
transform the quality of my life. Not because I want £600 handbags, but
because I would like to be able to save for my old age and worry less
about paying the mortgage.
The concept that beyond a modest level, money does not buy you
happiness underpins positive psychology. The reason, it says, is that
humans judge affluence by comparing themselves with others. If GDP goes
up and we are all a little better off, it has no impact on our
individual sense of wellbeing. "Of course people care about the level
of their income, but most of all they care about how their income
compares with other people's," writes Layard.
But at what level does that kick in? Different figures have been
bandied about over the years, but in an interview at the end of March,
at the launch of the Movement for Happiness, Lord Layard cited
"evidence from the US" that showed that beyond an annual salary of
£60,000, rises in salary do not lead to significantly greater increases
in happiness. According to the statistics I have in front of me from
the Inland Revenue, only around one in 16 people in the UK earn more
than £60k. So does any of this have any relevance for the rest of us,
the vast majority of people grappling with the insecurities and
pressures of the recession?
"Statements about how money does not bring happiness are more often
than not made by well-off, middle-class men, and for that reason I am
very cynical," says Richard Tunney, associate professor of psychology
at the University of Nottingham. "Yes, once you achieve a certain
lifestyle and security, each additional increment is going to bring
fewer benefits. But most people aren't at that top end. In fact, most
people aren't even in the middle, with a decent lifestyle with a secure
job. The average wage in the UK is less than £25,000. I live in a very
ordinary part of a very ordinary city, and £25,000 is not going to buy
you a house and you would be lucky if you could rent a flat. For most
of us, if we want to earn a sufficient amount of money to provide a
good lifestyle for our families, we don't see our families, and that
has serious psychological consequences in the long term. Any additional
money for most people is seriously going to affect their quality of
life." Prof Tunney has studied Lottery winners and confirms that they
are "measurably happier".
The idea that happiness in the West has not increased for 50 years
despite consistent increases in GDP is itself open to dispute. In 2008,
two economists at the University of Pennsylvania, Betsey Stevenson and
Justin Wolfers, questioned the Easterlin paradox when they reviewed EC
statistics since 1973 from the Eurobarometer survey and found that life
satisfaction had increased modestly but consistently alongside GDP in
eight of the nine European countries, including the UK. In America,
they found that while happiness overall has not increased, it has for
some people (men, non-whites, college graduates). The big losers are
women and the less educated. Broad brushstrokes, as always, make good
headlines – but underneath there lurk more complex truths.
One thing is for sure: if GDP declines – the measure of recession –
happiness levels fall; a phenomenon that many of us are experiencing
first-hand. The fear of losing your job, the stress of debt, the
spectre of huge cuts to schools and services – these are basic things
that undermine wellbeing. (The NHS last week revealed that it issued
39m prescriptions for drugs to treat depression in 2009 – a 95 per cent
jump over 1999, part of which has been ascribed by commentators to
stresses triggered by the economic downturn.) That C in the happiness
equation has become more and more prominent for more and more of us.
And statements about how happiness is within our voluntary control
whatever our circumstances just start to sound glib and irritating, and
like some modern-day opium for the masses. "Don't bother asking for a
pay rise – it won't make you any happier anyway."
Lord Layard is genuine and evangelical about the possibilities of the
new science of happiness and its ability to transform poor people's
lives. In 2005 he argued to the Number 10 strategy unity that
unemployment had been replaced by depression as the scourge of the
poor. Since fewer people were claiming unemployment benefits than
incapacity benefits for mental illness, tackling this would help the
economy as well as the wellbeing of the poorest in society. He argued
passionately for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – a short-term
therapy that focuses on thinking and behaviour – to tackle this. The
result, and his biggest legacy, is the Improving Access to
Psychological Therapies (IAPT) initiative, based on a massive expansion
in CBT as the NHS's primary treatment for depression.
CBT is different to positive-psychology exercises. It is an established
clinical treatment for mild and moderate depression and disorders such
as phobias, and unlike psychotherapeutic and analytical therapies which
focus on the past and the deep causes of problems, CBT focuses on the
here and now. It teaches people to recognize the links between thoughts
and feelings and mood and to alter these. It is usually a short-term
(and therefore inexpensive) therapy. Much of the new NHS provision is
based on an eight- session computer course that patients can follow at
home, with the guidance of a trained practitioner.
Practitioners generally respect the evidence supporting CBT as an
effective treatment, yet there is criticism of IAPT from within the
therapy community, mostly focused on the way in which other therapies
are being pushed out. "CBT is effective on mild to moderate anxiety and
depression, and a simple diagnosis," says Phillip Hodson, spokesman for
the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. "But the
diagnosis may not be simple. There may be lots of other aspects and
what we are seeing is that some of these are not being treated or
managed. Some primary care trusts are completely cutting the old
programme, yet the evidence on CBT is that it won't work for everyone,
and that for those people, other therapies can work."
Another question is whether CBT is enough to make a lasting change to
people's lives, especially those at the bottom of the social scale who
most need it. "The notion that a few weeks of CBT will transform
miserable people languishing in idleness and dependency into happy
shiny productive workers is embarrassing in its absurdity," wrote a GP,
Mike Fitzpatrick, in the British Journal of General Practice, as the
initiative was launched.
Where CBT and positive psychology do share air space is that they focus
on the here and now. But while CBT is a structured therapy aimed at
helping depressed people, positive-psychology techniques aim to make
well people happier. Where Freud defined successful therapy as turning
"hysterical misery into common unhappiness" – a negative into a smaller
negative – positive psychology works on a positive scale, aiming to
transform wellbeing from, say, a two to a six.
Professor Tunney, who is respectful of CBT, is a bit sniffy about
positive psychology. "Martin Seligman did some really good work in the
1970s and 1980s on depression but the stuff he is doing now doesn't
really hit the academic radar here." Psychology in Europe has followed
a different path, he says.
So are these optimism exercises and mindfulness techniques just a
jumped-up form of self-help?
I have one of the books in front of me, The How of Happiness by Sonja
Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California.
As I said, I am not unfamiliar with the genre and this certainly looks
like a self-help book, with its happy sunny yellow cover and its
aspirational tagline "A Practical Guide to Getting the Life You Want".
And it reads like a self-help book, with lots of personal anecdotes and
exercises and inspirational case studies of people who are happy
despite terrible circumstances and, of course, the reverse – people who
have everything yet still can't seem to feel good.
Lyubomirsky insists that everything written here is backed up by
science. But she loses my confidence early on when discussing her
version of Seligman's happiness equation – the extent that happiness is
within our voluntary control. For Lyubomirsky, circumstance accounts
for just 10 per cent of happiness, our genetic set point for 50 per
cent and "intentional activity" – what we make of our lives – for a
whopping 40 per cent. She insists that "a great deal of science backs
up this conclusion" and lists a couple of studies, but for me it is not
enough to be what I would call compelling.
The exercises in Lyubomirsky's book are similar to Seligman's. A list
of the chapter headings sums it up. "Practising gratitude and positive
thinking", "Investing in social connections", "Managing stress,
hardship and trauma", "Living in the present", "Committing to your
goals", "Taking care of your body and your soul".
I have tried some positive-psychology techniques in the past. Some of
it was helpful and some has even stayed with me. I think the idea that,
since humans can't resist comparing, it is better to compare your
situation with people who have less than you rather than more is
invaluable, and I still give myself that reality check when I find
myself envying someone's holiday home. And Seligman's ideas on focusing
your energies on what comes naturally, rather than fighting to be good
at things that don't, sticks too.
But I am starting to believe that what makes me happier than trying to
improve my mildly depressed, less-than-shiny self is to spend time with
like-minded people with whom I can be honest about who I am and how I
feel. "I know what you mean" is one of the most beautiful phrases in
the language.
So, my beef is less with the details of positive psychology and more
with the way it functions. By lending academic credence to the idea
that we can be better, shinier and happier if we just try, it has
turned happiness into not only something we should expect, but yet
another must-have commodity that you are failing if you don't achieve.
The stream of studies showing that happy people have more friends and
are more successful implies that we should all aspire to these things,
even though they may be wrong for a lot of people. What if you are the
sort of person who flourishes best in the slow lane? Or with a few
close friends? At the risk of sounding incredibly homespun myself,
isn't it better to know and accept yourself the way you are?
I suspect that Eric G Wilson, professor of English at Wake Forest
University, would agree with me. In his book Against Happiness, he
espouses the creative aspects of melancholy (how much great literature
would have been written without it?) and explains how, after years of
trying every self-help technique going, he has given it up. "I realise
somewhere in the core of my bones that I was born to the blues," he
writes. "If I don't adhere to this birthright, I would feel fake. My
summons is to the mixed-up earth."
Phillip Hodson can see the benefit of encouraging a more optimistic
perspective – "Life is a series of problems and you may as well enjoy
it," he says, even if, as he points out, a pessimistic view is usually
more accurate. His biggest concern is that this sort of approach could
tip over into a fear of feeling. "Positive and negative emotions come
in the same box," he says. How can you feel joy if you deny your anger?
What happens, in this new world, to the dark side?
It is a question we need to ask, says the psychoanalyst Darian Leader.
"We are living in a time when there is huge pressure to look happy
whether you feel it or not," he says. "Despair, fracture and
frustration – the only place for these emotions now is within the arts.
Even in psychology, no one wants to know. But basic unhappiness and
malaise are part of human life. If you can't express these emotions,
they will resurface as new symptoms or as physical illness. It is
important to have a society that recognises and acknowledges the darker
side."
Indeed, in his new book The Uses of Pessimism and the Danger of False
Hope (Atlantic, £15.99), Roger Scruton presents a robust case for
optimists and idealists being responsible for some of history's worst
harm and chaos. He believes there is more use for "humane pessimism".
Barbara Ehrenreich, the American campaigning journalist, blames
American positive thinking for nothing less than the global economic
crisis. Too much optimism can be a dangerous thing, she warns in her
book Smile or Die. But there is a much more personal dimension to her
exploration of this subject. Ehrenreich's experience of cancer made her
examine more closely the reported links between happiness and health.
This works on two levels: health, like money, is part of the big C for
circumstances, and according to positive psychology has much less
impact on our happiness than we would imagine. Then there is the idea
that happy people are healthier.
Ehrenreich agrees that there are scores of studies linking happiness to
good health, but points out that these are rarely causal. It is almost
impossible to establish which comes first – health or happiness. She
also digs out alternative research that seems to show that mild
pessimism can lead to greater longevity, and that optimism can be
dangerous to life and limb. The evidence, she says, just isn't cut and
dried.
It may be that more advanced research refines positive psychology.
Ehrenreich interviewed Martin Seligman for her book, and he told her
that, "New evidence shows that paraplegics and the unemployed 'do not
go back to where they were'" in terms of happiness after they adjust to
their lives being shattered. In other words, the big C for circumstance
in his equation comes in higher than was originally thought. Well, what
a surprise. Next they'll be admitting that millionaires are happier
than the rest of us.
For me, happiness theory belonged to the boom years when people were
bilious with consumption and needed some sort of moral supernanny to
reset the compass. But that's all over now and, like the proud
pessimist I am, I can confidently predict that it is all going to get a
lot worse. Now there's a thought to perk you up.
More about Employment NHS Psychology Unemployment
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > Business > Business News
Yorkshire is the best region in the UK for workplace happiness
London only managed to make it to number five for happiness and came
bottom for work satisfaction
* Ben Chapman @b_c_chapman
* Tuesday 16 May 2017 14:40
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
The Yorkshire Dales National Park ( )
The best region in Britain for workplace happiness and satisfaction is
Yorkshire and the Humber, according to new research.
London only managed to make it to number five for happiness and came
bottom for work satisfaction, according to research commissioned
by recruitment agency Robert Half. The findings may give pause for
thought to many workers in the capital putting up with sky-high
property prices in the hope of landing their dream job.
Seventy-seven per cent of people in Yorkshire and the Humber said they
were happy at work - well above the national average of 63 per cent.
Almost nine in ten said they get on with everyone in their team, in
keeping with the traditional image of Yorkshire residents as affable
types.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* The best place to live in the UK has been revealed
The research also found that people from the region find their work
more interesting, have good friends in the office and suffer lower
levels of stress than the average British worker.
Scotland and the South of England are home to Britain’s most
unsatisfied employees, with 17 per cent saying they are unhappy at work
and one in six saying their work is not interesting.
Over a quarter of those in the South don’t have good friends in the
office or don’t get on with their teams and one in seven in Scotland
feel the same.
Londoners get the most sense of accomplishment from their work - 71 per
cent of respondents compared to a national average of 63 per cent.
However they also reported the highest levels of stress.
Read more
* Five tangible benefits of being single, according to science
* Job satisfaction and career progression – social care is a great
profe
* UK workers' job satisfaction at two-year low
Northerners feel most appreciated, with over half of those in
Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster saying they are valued by their
employers. Those in the East of England feel under-appreciated with 28
per cent of employees in cities like Peterborough, Cambridge and
Norwich not feeling recognised for their efforts.
Yorkshire and the Humber employees think their work is the most
worthwhile - 73 per cent described their job as "meaningful". At the
other end of the spectrum, one in seven southerners surveyed claim they
do nothing significant at work.
East of England comes bottom for fairness and respect – only 59 per
cent of employees in the East feel they are treated fairly, below the
national average of 67 per cent.
Phil Sheridan, senior managing director of Robert Half UK, said that
the research had discovered six “universal” factors that directly
affect employee happiness.
The six factors the create workplace happiness are:
1. Right fit for the job and company
2. A sense of empowerment
3. Feeling appreciated
4. Interesting and meaningful work
5. A sense of fairness
6. Positive workplace relationships
Mr Sheridan said: “Happy employees are more engaged, interested and
committed. All organisations that want to be successful must make it a
priority to introduce policies and initiatives that improve team
rapport, make employees feel fulfilled and improve how happy workers
feel in their job on a day-to-day basis.”
More about happiest workers workplace happiness Yorkshire
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
Working makes British people unhappy, new study finds
'Engaging in paid work comes at a significant psychological cost'
* Serina Sandhu
* Wednesday 3 February 2016 12:50
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Rex
People in Britain are unhappiest when they are ill and confined to bed
followed by being at work, according to a new study.
Being sick reduces a person's level of happiness by around 20 per
cent and being at work, compared with not being there, reduces it by up
to eight per cent.
It comes after researchers from the University of Sussex and the London
School of Economics analysed more than one million responses uploaded
to Mappiness. The phone app asks users at random times of the day how
they are feeling, where they are and what they are doing.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The study, published in The Economic Journal, also found that people
who worked anti-social hours - before 6am, after 6pm, or on the weekend
– were even less happy.
Read more
* 3 lessons about how to be happy according to a Harvard study
* These are the 10 countries with the happiest workers
* Why Korean children rank below England as the worst nation for
child happiness
Dr George MacKerron, an economist at the University of Sussex who
created the app, said it quizzed people about their feelings before
they had “a chance to reach for their rose-tinted glasses”.
“Although we may be positive about our jobs when reflecting on the
meaning and purpose they give us, and the money they provide, actually
engaging in paid work comes at a significant psychological cost.”
In the study, Dr MacKerron and co-author Alex Bryson said the reason
work had such an adverse effect on well-being was partly because it
made people feel anxious or stressed.
However the authors added: “It appears that work per se is negatively
associated with hedonic well-being, such that we would rather be doing
other things. That is to say, work really is disutility.”
Other activities that reduced happiness among Britons was caring for
adults, queuing, doing admin, going to meetings, commuting and
housework.
According to the study people in Britain are happiest during sex or
intimacy, which raises happiness levels by 14 per cent.
Gardening, singing and socialising also ranked highly on the list.
Being on social media, browsing the internet and smoking only raised
happiness by less than one per cent.
More about Happiness University Of Sussex London School of Economics
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Excessive levels of job related stress can lead to mental health
problems ( Shutterstock )
Twenty-two signs your co-workers secretly hate you
'Most co-workers won’t overtly show their disdain for you so as not to
cause trouble or jeopardise their own careers'
* Aine Cain
* Business Insider
* Friday 13 April 2018 17:39
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Haters are going to hate, right?
In our personal lives, it is easier to dismiss people who don’t like
us. But at work, being widely disliked can pose a larger problem.
Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of Tame Your
Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive
in Your Job, said:
Read more
* Employers relabelling low paid jobs as apprenticeships, report says
* Bosses should let workers have lie-ins to stop early death, study
says
* UK employers failing to prepare staff for automation, new study
shows
“Most co-workers won’t overtly show their disdain for you so as not to
cause trouble or jeopardise their own careers. They may make life
difficult for you, but they’ll probably try to stay under the radar.
Still, there are subtle red flags that they’re not out for your best
interests.”
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
You’ll want to know those signs, says Ms Taylor, so you can spot them
when they’re present and turn things around before it’s too late.
“Of course, it is impossible to be liked by everyone in the office,”
she said.
But you should always strive to be sensitive to the needs of your
fellow co-workers, remain upbeat and friendly, communicate openly and
give colleagues the benefit of the doubt.
Employers should let workers have lie-ins to stop them dying early,
research has found
“Those who do this have a far brighter career future,” she said. “Plus,
when [we] have strong, healthy workplace relationships, you will be
more effective and accomplished in your job.”
Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of The Humor
Advantage, agreed.
“When your co-workers like you, everything becomes easier,” he said.
“People have your back when you need it the most, you can ask for and
get favours more easily, people will volunteer to help in times of need
and you can get far better cooperation even across departments.”
Being well-liked will boost your morale, which in turn will make you
more productive, focused, creative and successful in everything you do,
he said.
Here are 22 subtle signs that your co-workers secretly hate you. But
keep in mind that you may just be misreading their body language or
tone – the workplace is certainly not immune to human misunderstanding
and no one’s a mind reader.
Created with Sketch. Tomorrow's workplace: How the world will look like in
2030
Show all 6
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Tomorrow's workplace: How the world will look like in
2030
1/6 Superstructure printer
Inspired by Disrupt to Stabilize: How Youth are Shaping a Fractured
World
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
2/6 Remote robotic surgeon
Inspired by Transforming Healthcare in the 4th Industrial Revolution
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
3/6 Public Technology Ethicist
Inspired by in Technology We Trust?
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
4/6 Landfill Recycler
Inspired by From Linear to Expotential Value Chains
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
5/6 Blockchain Banking Engineer
Inspired by the Remaking of Global Finance
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
6/6 National identify conservationist
Inspired by WPP Best Countries Breakfast
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
1/6 Superstructure printer
Inspired by Disrupt to Stabilize: How Youth are Shaping a Fractured
World
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
2/6 Remote robotic surgeon
Inspired by Transforming Healthcare in the 4th Industrial Revolution
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
3/6 Public Technology Ethicist
Inspired by in Technology We Trust?
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
4/6 Landfill Recycler
Inspired by From Linear to Expotential Value Chains
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
5/6 Blockchain Banking Engineer
Inspired by the Remaking of Global Finance
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
6/6 National identify conservationist
Inspired by WPP Best Countries Breakfast
Florian de Gesincourt /AKQA
Your gut tells you they don’t like you
If you feel like your co-workers don’t like you, then it could just be
in your head, but it could also be true. If they treat you differently
than everyone else, then you’re probably not their favourite person.
Trust your gut and continue looking for other signs if you have a
strong feeling about this.
They don’t smile when you’re around
We’re not talking about the occasional bad day or mood swing. If your
co-workers make a conscious effort not to smile when you’re in the
room, then something isn’t right.
They cannot maintain eye contact with you
It is difficult to look someone straight in the eye when you do not
like or respect them, says Ms Taylor. If you notice that your
colleagues avoid eye contact while speaking with you, then those are
probably the reasons.
“They’re afraid that you may be able to detect hostility, so the path
of least resistance is for them to look away or avoid being around you
wherever possible,” Ms Taylor said.
They constantly stare at you
Alternatively, a prolonged, intense stare can also be a sign of
rudeness, aggression or hostility, CNN reported.
Whether or not someone avoids your gaze or gives you a hostile glare
depends on their personality and whether or not they’re comfortable
with coming across as aggressive.
Then again, it’s possible that the starer is just awkward or zoning
out.
They avoid you
Writing for the Muse, Kat Boogard gave a striking example of the
lengths someone might go to in order to escape the presence of a
disliked co-worker: “When it’s just the two of you waiting for an
elevator, he decides to walk down the stairs – all 14 flights.”
If you notice that your co-workers take the stairs when they see you
waiting for the elevator or they wait until you return from the break
room before they head in, then those are good signs that they’re
avoiding you.
They don’t acknowledge your presence
If your colleagues don’t say “good morning” when you arrive or “have a
great night” on their way out, they may be telling you they don’t like
you, said Ms Taylor.
They feed the rumour mill
Concerns about colleagues bickering about you can lower your morale
(Shutterstock)
This is childish and unprofessional behaviour, but it happens in
workplaces all the time: someone doesn’t like you, so they spread
rumours.
They’re short with you
If you ask “how’s it going?” and they always respond with “OK” or
“fine” – or if their emails always get straight to the point and never
begin with a friendly “hello” or “good afternoon” – then this may be a
sign that they’re not a huge fan of yours.
“If they sound like a moody teenager, then that’s a pretty big red
flag,” said Mr Kerr.
They give off negative body language
Whether it’s a subtle eye roll or constantly assuming a closed-off
position with arms folded across their chest, or they don’t look up
from their computer screen when you enter their office, your
co-workers’ body language will often reveal their true feelings toward
you, Mr Kerr said.
They communicate with you primarily via email, even though you sit close by
If your co-workers don’t like you, they’ll probably try to limit their
in-person communication with you. If you notice a shift toward more
digital correspondence, that’s a sign.
They never ask about your personal life
If you notice that your colleagues speak with each other about their
kids or hobbies, but never bring up these topics with you, they’re
probably just not interested in hearing about your life, says Mr Kerr.
They never invite you to social events
If you never make the cut for lunch, happy hour or project meetings
over coffee, your co-workers may be trying to send you a message.
They constantly disagree with you
Bad relations at work can damage the gratification you get from your
employment (Shutterstock)
Continuously gunning down your ideas is a sign they don’t like you.
“If it feels like someone shoots down every thought before you’ve even
finished a sentence, then it’s often because their dislike is so strong
that they are biased against anything you suggest, even when it’s a
great idea,” said Mr Kerr.
They don’t ever include you in their office bantering or humour
“Joking around is a key way that relationships become cemented in any
workplace and not inviting you into the inner circle of bantering is a
sign your co-workers may not feel comfortable around you enough to
think of you as one of ‘the team,’” said Mr Kerr.
They steal credit for your ideas
Not being credited properly for your work can decrease your
productivity (Shutterstock)
These co-workers could just be “glory hogs,” said Ms Taylor.
But if they go out of their way to steal the limelight from you and
only you, they may be trying to drive you out.
They assume unauthorised power
Sometimes co-workers who want to muscle in on your position will play
boss even when they have no authority, said Ms Taylor.
They create cliques that are reminiscent of high school
If you feel like you’re in a scene from the movie Mean Girls and you’re
not invited to hang out or sit with any of the office cliques, your
colleagues probably don’t like you very much.
There’s a fundamental lack of trust
If you’re questioned excessively about your motives or your co-workers
only dole out information on a need-to-know basis, they may be trying
to sabotage your career, said Ms Taylor.
They try to encourage you to leave the company
If throwing you under the bus doesn’t do the trick, then your
co-workers may try other tactics for getting rid of you.
If they start sending you job postings at other companies, offer to put
you in touch with contacts elsewhere or tell you that they think you’d
be “happier” or “more successful” in another environment – when you’re
perfectly happy and thriving where you are – then it’s probably not
because they’re concerned about your well-being.
Chances are, they just don’t like you and want you gone.
They throw you under the bus
Do your co-workers throw you under the bus when something goes wrong?
Do they tattle on you for saying or doing something against company
policy? Do they run to tell your boss any time you make a mistake?
Then they’re probably trying to get you fired.
They never make you or your work a priority
Another big sign your co-workers despise you: “They never make your
concerns or problems a priority and they don’t treat your work with the
same level of urgency that they do your colleagues”, Kerr said.
They get defensive around you
“If they often and immediately get defensive around you, it could
indicate that there’s a lack of trust, and possibly deeper dislike,”
said Ms Kerr.
Read more:
• Barnier: Britain has to follow EU regulations forever if it wants a
Brexit trade deal
• Trump is weighing a massive strike on Syria – and it could bring
all-out war with Russia
• Mark Zuckerberg gave his grueling testimony to Congress from a 4-inch
booster seat
Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2018. Follow
Business Insider UK on Twitter.
More about Work Careers Employment jobs Money
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Twenty-two signs your co-workers secretly hate you
1/4
Excessive levels of job related stress can lead to mental health
problems
Shutterstock
2/4
Concerns about colleagues bickering about you can lower your morale
Shutterstock
3/4
Bad relations at work can damage the gratification you get from your
employment
Shutterstock / fizkes
4/4
Not being credited properly for your work can decrease your
productivity
Shutterstock / fizkes
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
Women in Leadership
Happiness at work: what we can learn from the Swiss
Harriet Minter
Switzerland's citizens regularly rank among the world's happiest, so
what makes them so cheerful during their working hours?
Contact author
@harrietminter
Fri 11 Oct 2013 08.00 BST First published on Fri 11 Oct 2013 08.00 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Box of chocolates
[ ] Swiss people are some of the happiest around – maybe it's something
to do with chocolate? Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
It's Friday morning and the weekend is just a few hours away. So are
you feeling happy? Probably not. The Fulfilment@Work report from
Randstad says that while women enjoy their jobs a tiny bit more than
men, only 17% would say they were very fulfilled.
But fear not, there might be a way to make your working week better.
Reports from the OECD and the UN suggest that Switzerland's citizens
regularly rank amongst some of the happiest in the world. So could we
all be happier at work if we were a bit more Swiss?
According to the OECD world happiness rankings, the average Swiss
citizen works 1,632 hours a year, 144 less than the world average. Add
to this an average wage $7,000 more than the world average (although a
complicated tax system and very expensive Starbucks might mean you
don't end up better off) and it seems the first rule of working more
Swiss is do less for more. Which sounds good to me.
Nicola Mendelsohn famously became Facebook vice-president for EMEA on a
four-day week, but can it work for the rest of us?
In a recent article, Andrew Simms argued that a four-day week increases
happiness and could cut carbon emissions. But apart from the banker
Simms found, who does 50% less work for just 20% less pay, the dream of
a better work-life balance looks unlikely.
Especially when you discover that part-time workers earn less and the
UK has some of the longest hours in Europe.
So given that our first option is as likely as being able to find a
tuneful cuckoo clock, we need to turn to another Swiss staple,
neutrality. Could adopting a neutral approach to office politics help
you get ahead? It would certainly be more peaceful and give you more
time to actually get on with your job. Win/win, right? Wrong.
In an article for the Harvard Business Review, the authors of Break
Your Own Rules are clear: "The bottom line is that it's just not
possible to opt out of the political game at work and still win in your
career." So far being Switzerland isn't really working out as a career
strategy.
But there is hope. As well as earning more and working less, the OECD
also ranks Switzerland highly for the connectivity of its citizens,
with 94% of them stating that they know someone they could rely on in a
time of crisis. Feeling connected to each other doesn't just bring
happiness in our social lives, but in our working lives too.
In his book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, author Alain de Botton
explains that a job feels meaningful "whenever it allows us to generate
delight or alleviate suffering in others." Unless you're working in
healthcare or as Lindt chocolatier, this might not seem like a daily
occurrence, but by bringing a little joy to your colleagues you could
also push your own happiness level up to Swiss proportions.
Consulting firm DHW (Delivering Happiness at Work) claims you can bring
a smile to your team's faces by making sure that everyone knows your
company's core values, having an open and accessible CEO and by making
sure you tell people when they're doing a good job.
While shorter hours and a politics-free world might be the dream, if
you're looking to find a little more fulfilment in your workplace you
could do worse than just handing out a compliment or two, noticing when
a colleague is having a bad day, or simply putting the Swiss into
chocolate and sharing it round the office. Who knew being happy was so
easy?
Sign up to become a member of the Women in Leadership community here
for more comment, analysis and best practice direct to your inbox
Topics
* Women in Leadership
* Women in business
* Staff retention
* Management
* Policy
* Work/life
* comment
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Women+in+Leadership%2CWomen+i
n+business%2CStaff+retention%2CManagement%2CPolicy%2CWork%2Flife]
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
photolibrary.com
The secret of happiness: Family, friends and your environment
How do you find contentment in an acquisitive society? By changing the things
you spend your money on, says a US academic
* By Rachel Shields
* Sunday 15 August 2010 00:00
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
We've suffered horrendous job cuts and plummeting investment values,
and watched the high streets grow increasingly pockmarked by empty
shopfronts, even as we face public sector job losses and the
possibility of a double-dip recession. We might be forgiven for
allowing ourselves a moment of misery. And yet, a growing school of
thought believes that we have actually gained something from the last
few years of economic gloom; that we are starting to value the things
that matter: our friends, homes and the world we live in. Even more
remarkably, they suggest that these things are making us happier than
the conspicuous consumption and hedonism of the boom years.
While, arguably, everyone could be forgiven for battening down the
hatches and looking after number one, it seems that across the UK
people are becoming less materialistic and more outward-facing:
volunteering, joining clubs and caring for the environment in record
numbers.
From more Brits spending their weekends involved in wholesome outdoor
pursuits instead of scouring the high street for the latest must-have
item, to the growth in household savings – which rose to 6.9 per cent
of disposable income in the first quarter of 2010, up from less than
zero in the first quarter of 2008 – experts believe there is evidence
that people have realised that happiness may not lie in the relentless
pursuit of more, and better, "stuff".
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show that
retailers selling big-ticket items such as flat-screen TVs, carpets and
kitchens are reporting negative like-for-like sales when compared with
last year, while the number of people who walk for leisure increased by
almost a million, rising 10 per cent between 2006 and 2008, and the
number of recreational cyclists rose by 6.4 per cent between 2008 and
2009.
Although we may be on the cusp of a "new" happiness movement, the quest
for it is as old as mankind, and has preoccupied some of the finest
minds in history, all of whom have had differing theories. While a
definitive answer to the question of what makes us happy might have
eluded everyone from Socrates to Thomas Aquinas, a US academic now
believes she has the answer.
In a new paper, If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably
Aren't Spending it Right, Elizabeth Dunn argues that spending money
wisely is a sure-fire route to happiness. Dunn lays out eight ways to
use money to make you happy: buy
experiences instead of things; lots of small treats instead of a few
big ones; give money to others; pay now and consume later; think about
the negatives of what you want to buy; don't use price comparison sites
as they distract from other attributes a product has; follow other
people when choosing what to buy, as they are a better predictor of how
happy a purchase will make us than our own judgement.
"The situation hopefully encourages people to focus on the key things
in life which, the research says – and, to a large extent, they
intuitively know – really make them happy: relationships with family,
friends, contact with the natural environment, and so on," said George
MacKerron, a researcher at the London School of Economics who
specialises in well-being. "On the other hand, I think there's a slight
risk that those who were sceptical in the first place start decrying
well-being/happiness research as somehow unserious or childish in the
face of the 'important business' of growing GDP and creating jobs."
The evidence, however, suggests the subject is being taken ever more
seriously. Liverpool declared 2010 its year of "health and well-being".
Next January, meanwhile, the "Movement for Happiness", which aims to
increase happiness and decrease misery, will be launched by no lesser
mortals than Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington School, Lord Layard,
dubbed the Government's "Happiness Tsar", and Geoff Mulgan, a former
Downing Street policy head.
The idea that happiness lies not in flashing the cash, but in modest
living and giving something back to society has also been identified as
an emerging trend by The Boston Consulting Group, management
consultants, in a recent report entitled New World Order. An increased
desire to connect with a community is also part of the new movement,
with growing numbers keen to join clubs and churches, or get involved
in volunteer work. These activities are thought to offer a stable
network which in turn promotes happiness. The charity Community Service
Volunteers has reported a rise in all types of volunteering: the number
of people mentoring young people in care doubled from 2007 to 2009,
while the number of people taking part in environmental volunteering
through the charity rose from 17,195 in 2008 to 20,333 in 2009.
However, while people may be keen to give their time to charity they
are less keen to part with their cash. Charitable giving declined in
the recession, from £10.6bn in 2007-08 to £9.9bn in 2008-09. However, a
recent report from Merrill Lynch Capgemini's World Wealth Report showed
that 41 per cent of Europeans planned to increase their charitable
giving in 2010.
Increased interest in caring for the environment and spending more time
outside are also an important part of the "new happiness".
"As a society, we hugely underplay the importance of natural
environments on happiness. Not just the awe at a beautiful view, but
the de-stressing effects," said Jody Aked, a researcher at the New
Economics Foundation's Centre for Well-being.
In an attempt to better understand how people's feelings are affected
by their immediate environment researchers from the London School of
Economics will tomorrow launch a "mappiness" project, which aims to
track British happiness. Using a free iPhone app, researchers will ask
users how they feel at regular intervals, using GPS to pinpoint their
location.
Although experts in the new science seem unified on the subject of what
can help boost happiness – spending more time with friends and family,
in pleasant natural environments, for example – some believe this
change has yet to hit Britain.
"I don't think this has happened here yet," said Alexandra Watson, a
happiness coach. "The culture of money and fame is still peaking here.
There is evidence of people wanting it to change, but we are usually
behind the US by a year or so in terms of trends."
Others argue that Brits are just as preoccupied with spending money in
2010 as we were before the recession, but that changing fashions mean
that the appeal of status symbols such as sports cars and yachts is
waning. Global yacht sales fell 45 per cent in 2009, while Bentley
sales were down 57.2 per year on year for the first six months of 2010.
Additional reporting by Pavan Amara and James Burton
Back to nature: 'Money can't buy that feeling of reward'
Yasco Takahashi, 42, Scotland
"My life was full of material stuff. I lived and worked in financial
services. I had lots of friends, but no deep connection to any. I could
spend £2,000 on clothes in one go. I went on holiday to Hawaii and
Fiji. It all sounds great but I just felt lonely. I bought things to
stop depression creeping in, and focused on the new bag or new dress.
But that meant I couldn't focus on who I really was. I stuffed my
feelings with rich food or by getting drunk. But, at 35, I started
experiencing severe migraines; they wouldn't go away no matter what I
did. I felt I was half-dead. I realised I was living for what my
friends thought of my outfit, or how much pension money I had. It made
no sense, and I came to the Findhorn community in Scotland to escape. I
started growing my own vegetables, appreciating nature and myself.
Before I used money to change myself – how I looked and felt – and to
control my feelings. Now I control my feelings without money, and that
makes you mature and deepen. Money can't buy that feeling of reward. I
live on £200 a month, but I feel better. I wake when I naturally feel
like it, and I do graphic design, which I enjoy. I'm no longer doing
something I don't like. I express myself and can laugh, instead of
burying my feelings. I sleep better than I did when I spent a fortune
on clothes to make me happy."
What makes celebrities happy?
Michael Palin, comedian
"All sorts of things make me happy: getting up in the morning and not
falling over for one. Sitting in a café with a cup of coffee, good
company with friends. It sounds terribly pretentious but it is true."
Jasmine Harman, TV presenter
"The happiest moment in my day is walking my dog. We both enjoy it, and
I'll use any excuse to go. I get out, I get active, and the endorphins
get going which is great because that's the happy hormone."
Sarah Beeny, TV presenter
"The thing that makes me happy is spending time with my husband, four
children, and entire extended family and good friends. Memories will
stay with you for ever."
Antony Worrall-Thompson, chef
"For me, money is not relevant. It's about good friends, good family
and health. It's being grateful and content with your lot. Happiness is
more a frame of mind, I think."
Stuart Semple, artist
"My son makes me truly happy. He's 13 months, and the happiness he
brings me is different from anything else I've ever known. Happiness
from real things and from flash things are worlds apart."
Katharine Hamnett, designer
"Happiness to me is family, good close friends, being in control of my
life, laughter and love. All those are real, and give me a lasting
happiness that handbags don't – and can't – give."
Glenda Jackson, politician
"You are kidding me, aren't you? Happiness? I can't think of anything
that makes me happy. I can't think of anyone or anything. Nothing.
Nothing comes to my mind."
Bill Oddie, comedian
"To be happy you need enough money. Happiness to me would be being able
to help all my kids financially. It's a very strange person... no,
actually... it's a hermit who can live that abstemiously that they
don't need money."
John Humphrys, broadcaster
"You're a bit odd if your family doesn't make you happy, aren't you? So
yes, my family make me happy, but that's about it, and that's because
it's a requirement."
More about Antony Worrall Thompson Economics Financial Crisis John
Humphrys
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Mo Gawdat
One man's mathematical formula for happiness
Mo Gawdat talks to The Independent about how his expertise as an
engineer led him to find an equation for guaranteed happiness
* Olivia Blair
* @livblair
* Monday 10 April 2017 11:01
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
How do you rediscover happiness when a tragic event has happened in
your life?
It's a question that would probably be met with the suggestion of
therapy, or allowing for the passage of time.
However, one man says he has come up with a mathematical solution. Mo
Gawdat was miserable for several years in his twenties and thirties
despite his high-flying job, income and happy family unit. Determined
to turn this around Gawdat, an engineer by trade who is now an
executive at Google, formulated an equation for happiness.
A couple of years later, he put this to the test when his 21-year-old
son Ali died unexpectedly in what should have been a routine operation.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
He has now shared the secrets to his formula for being happy – no
matter what life throws at you – in his new book Solve For Happy.
“My theory was I was born happy and the more I engaged in life the more
unhappy I became,” he told The Independent. "I was very unhappy, I was
complaining about everything and I was constantly trying to control the
world down to a tee,” he says. “I bought cars, spent money and tried to
fill the gap in my soul in any way and it was just not working.”
A trader in the stock market in Dubai where he made a “ton of money”
and became the owner of a “huge house and a big car”, whatever Gawdat
bought was never enough. He later became an engineer, he was also
married to his college sweetheart Nibet (from whom he has since
divorced but calls her his best friend in the world) and with two adult
children, still he was miserable.
Created with Sketch. Health news in pictures
Show all 40
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Health news in pictures
1/40 Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases
On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into
the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of
the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a
better equipped immune system
PA
2/40 Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study
finds
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that
many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail
Getty
3/40 Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds
A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has
found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and
methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users
Reuters
4/40 More children are obese and diabetic
There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since
2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a
leading cause
Reuters
5/40 Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal
thoughts
The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for
children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In
what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed
antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was
more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo.
Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users
engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide
Getty
6/40 Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study
claims
Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused
on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority
groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly
controlled blood sugar
iStock
7/40 Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar
levels since 1992 despite producer claims
A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high
amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for
children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the
last two and a half decades
Getty
8/40 Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns
New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund,
said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to
the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping
active
PA
9/40 New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes
A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able
to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three
quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the
trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which
were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been “sitting
on a shelf unused”, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor
of endocrinology and metabolism
REX
10/40 Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental
health problems, study finds
Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra
people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being
prescribed drugs and criticised “ideological” reasons doctors use to
avoid doing so.
Getty
11/40 Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E
The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to
delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa
Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in
Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month
later.
Just Giving
12/40 Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants
The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where
women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants.
Getty
13/40 Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS
The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients
in its care as part of a “zero suicide ambition” being launched today.
Getty
14/40 Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to
kill off tumours
Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the
immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly
to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny
amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour.
Wikimedia Commons / Nephron
15/40 Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major
study
Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent
more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase
their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues
Getty
16/40 NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women
wrongly given all-clear
Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after
failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the
all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their
doctors following the identification of “procedural issues” in the
service provided by Pathology First Laboratory.
REX
17/40 Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by
scientists
Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but
from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are
able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a
molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high
quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour
cells to gain these migratory properties.
Getty
18/40 NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles
advertised
A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being
advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently
vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent
higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years
ago.
REX
19/40 Cannabis extract could provide ‘new class of treatment’ for psychosis
CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that
causes paranoia and anxiety.
Getty
20/40 Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to
hand settlement money back to NHS
Mr Branson’s company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an
£82m contract to provide children’s health services across Surrey,
citing concerns over “serious flaws” in the way the contract was
awarded
PA
21/40 More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS
bursary scrapped
The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per
cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where
the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent
respectively
Getty
22/40 Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths
The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four
years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding
had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise
to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra
funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year.
Reuters
23/40 Long commutes carry health risks
Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows
that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and
performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant
impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent
more likely to suffer from depression
Shutterstock
24/40 You cannot be fit and fat
It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has
concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even
“metabolically healthy” obese people are still at a higher risk of
heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range
Getty
25/40 Sleep deprivation
When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you
are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this
could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain
to eat itself
Shutterstock
26/40 Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch
David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is
essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness
group was spurred to launch the ‘napercise’ class after research
revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is
therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have
to have children to take part
Getty
27/40 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn
Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such
as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health
professor have said.
Getty
28/40 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects
A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering
medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are
not caused by the drugs themselves
Getty
29/40 Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism
New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25
or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social
disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for
Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are
actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall
behind by the time they hit their teenage years.
Getty
30/40 Cycling to work ‘could halve risk of cancer and heart disease’
Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their
risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new
research suggests – but campaigners have warned there is still an
“urgent need” to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work
is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and
cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a
quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health
benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the
same degree as cycling.
Getty
31/40 Playing Tetris in hospital after a traumatic incident could prevent
PTSD
Scientists conducted the research on 71 car crash victims as they were
waiting for treatment at one hospital’s accident and emergency
department. They asked half of the patients to briefly recall the
incident and then play the classic computer game, the others were given
a written activity to complete. The researchers, from Karolinska
Institute in Sweden and the University of Oxford, found that the
patients who had played Tetris reported fewer intrusive memories,
commonly known as flashbacks, in the week that followed
Rex
32/40 Vaping backed as healthier nicotine alternative to cigarettes after
latest study
Vaping has been given an emphatic thumbs up by health experts after the
first long-term study of its effects in ex-smokers. After six months,
people who switched from real to e-cigarettes had far fewer toxins and
cancer-causing substances in their bodies than continual smokers,
scientists found
Getty
33/40 Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food,
scientists warn
Millions of people are putting themselves at risk by cooking their rice
incorrectly, scientists have warned. Recent experiments show a common
method of cooking rice — simply boiling it in a pan until the water has
steamed out — can expose those who eat it to traces of the poison
arsenic, which contaminates rice while it is growing as a result of
industrial toxins and pesticides
Getty
34/40 Contraceptive gel that creates ‘reversible vasectomy’ shown to be
effective in monkeys
An injectable contraceptive gel that acts as a ‘reversible vasectomy’
is a step closer to being offered to men following successful trials on
monkeys. Vasalgel is injected into the vas deferens, the small duct
between the testicles and the urethra. It has so far been found to
prevent 100 per cent of conceptions
Vasalgel
35/40 Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility, study finds
Women who work at night or do irregular shifts may experience a decline
in fertility, a new study has found. Shift and night workers had fewer
eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who work
regular daytime hours, according to researchers at Harvard University
Getty
36/40 Japanese government tells people to stop overworking
The Japanese government has announced measures to limit the amount of
overtime employees can do – in an attempt to stop people literally
working themselves to death. A fifth of Japan’s workforce are at risk
of death by overwork, known as karoshi, as they work more than 80 hours
of overtime each month, according to a government survey.
Getty
37/40 High blood pressure may protect over 80s from dementia
It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for
dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of
California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that
people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are
less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of
dementia) over the next three years than people of the same age with
normal blood pressure.
Getty
38/40 'Universal cancer vaccine’ breakthrough claimed by experts
Scientists have taken a “very positive step” towards creating a
universal vaccine against cancer that makes the body’s immune system
attack tumours as if they were a virus, experts have said. Writing in
Nature, an international team of researchers described how they had
taken pieces of cancer’s genetic RNA code, put them into tiny
nanoparticles of fat and then injected the mixture into the
bloodstreams of three patients in the advanced stages of the disease.
The patients' immune systems responded by producing "killer" T-cells
designed to attack cancer. The vaccine was also found to be effective
in fighting “aggressively growing” tumours in mice, according to
researchers, who were led by Professor Ugur Sahin from Johannes
Gutenberg University in Germany
Rex
39/40 Research shows that diabetes drug can be used to stop first signs of
Parkinson’s
Scientists in a new study show that the first signs of Parkinson’s can
be stopped. The UCL study is still in its research period but the team
are ‘excited’. Today’s Parkinson’s drugs manage the symptoms of the
disease but ultimately do not stop its progression in the brain.
PA
40/40 Drinking alcohol could reduce risk of diabetes
A new study shows that drinking alcohol three to four days a week could
reduce the risk of diabetes. Wine was found to be most effective in
reducing the risk due to the chemical compounds that balance blood
sugar levels.
Getty
1/40 Breeding with neanderthals helped humans fight diseases
On migrating from Africa around 70,000 years ago, humans bumped into
the neanderthals of Eurasia. While humans were weak to the diseases of
the new lands, breeding with the resident neanderthals made for a
better equipped immune system
PA
2/40 Daily aspirin is unnecessary for older people in good health, study
finds
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that
many elderly people are taking daily aspirin to little or no avail
Getty
3/40 Vaping could lead to cancer, US study finds
A study by the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Centre has
found that the carcinogenic chemicals formaldehyde, acrolein, and
methylglyoxal are present in the saliva of E-cigarette users
Reuters
4/40 More children are obese and diabetic
There has been a 41% increase in children with type 2 diabetes since
2014, the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit has found. Obesity is a
leading cause
Reuters
5/40 Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal
thoughts
The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for
children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In
what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed
antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was
more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo.
Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users
engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide
Getty
6/40 Gay, lesbian and bisexual adults at higher risk of heart disease, study
claims
Researchers at the Baptist Health South Florida Clinic in Miami focused
on seven areas of controllable heart health and found these minority
groups were particularly likely to be smokers and to have poorly
controlled blood sugar
iStock
7/40 Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar
levels since 1992 despite producer claims
A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high
amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for
children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the
last two and a half decades
Getty
8/40 Potholes are making us fat, NHS watchdog warns
New guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE), the body which determines what treatment the NHS should fund,
said lax road repairs and car-dominated streets were contributing to
the obesity epidemic by preventing members of the public from keeping
active
PA
9/40 New menopause drugs offer women relief from 'debilitating' hot flushes
A new class of treatments for women going through the menopause is able
to reduce numbers of debilitating hot flushes by as much as three
quarters in a matter of days, a trial has found. The drug used in the
trial belongs to a group known as NKB antagonists (blockers), which
were developed as a treatment for schizophrenia but have been “sitting
on a shelf unused”, according to Professor Waljit Dhillo, a professor
of endocrinology and metabolism
REX
10/40 Doctors should prescribe more antidepressants for people with mental
health problems, study finds
Research from Oxford University found that more than one million extra
people suffering from mental health problems would benefit from being
prescribed drugs and criticised “ideological” reasons doctors use to
avoid doing so.
Getty
11/40 Student dies of flu after NHS advice to stay at home and avoid A&E
The family of a teenager who died from flu has urged people not to
delay going to A&E if they are worried about their symptoms. Melissa
Whiteley, an 18-year-old engineering student from Hanford in
Stoke-on-Trent, fell ill at Christmas and died in hospital a month
later.
Just Giving
12/40 Government to review thousands of harmful vaginal mesh implants
The Government has pledged to review tens of thousands of cases where
women have been given harmful vaginal mesh implants.
Getty
13/40 Jeremy Hunt announces 'zero suicides ambition' for the NHS
The NHS will be asked to go further to prevent the deaths of patients
in its care as part of a “zero suicide ambition” being launched today.
Getty
14/40 Human trials start with cancer treatment that primes immune system to
kill off tumours
Human trials have begun with a new cancer therapy that can prime the
immune system to eradicate tumours. The treatment, that works similarly
to a vaccine, is a combination of two existing drugs, of which tiny
amounts are injected into the solid bulk of a tumour.
Wikimedia Commons / Nephron
15/40 Babies' health suffers from being born near fracking sites, finds major
study
Mothers living within a kilometre of a fracking site were 25 per cent
more likely to have a child born at low birth weight, which increase
their chances of asthma, ADHD and other issues
Getty
16/40 NHS reviewing thousands of cervical cancer smear tests after women
wrongly given all-clear
Thousands of cervical cancer screening results are under review after
failings at a laboratory meant some women were incorrectly given the
all-clear. A number of women have already been told to contact their
doctors following the identification of “procedural issues” in the
service provided by Pathology First Laboratory.
REX
17/40 Potential key to halting breast cancer's spread discovered by
scientists
Most breast cancer patients do not die from their initial tumour, but
from secondary malignant growths (metastases), where cancer cells are
able to enter the blood and survive to invade new sites. Asparagine, a
molecule named after asparagus where it was first identified in high
quantities, has now been shown to be an essential ingredient for tumour
cells to gain these migratory properties.
Getty
18/40 NHS nursing vacancies at record high with more than 34,000 roles
advertised
A record number of nursing and midwifery positions are currently being
advertised by the NHS, with more than 34,000 positions currently
vacant, according to the latest data. Demand for nurses was 19 per cent
higher between July and September 2017 than the same period two years
ago.
REX
19/40 Cannabis extract could provide ‘new class of treatment’ for psychosis
CBD has a broadly opposite effect to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the main active component in cannabis and the substance that
causes paranoia and anxiety.
Getty
20/40 Over 75,000 sign petition calling for Richard Branson's Virgin Care to
hand settlement money back to NHS
Mr Branson’s company sued the NHS last year after it lost out on an
£82m contract to provide children’s health services across Surrey,
citing concerns over “serious flaws” in the way the contract was
awarded
PA
21/40 More than 700 fewer nurses training in England in first year after NHS
bursary scrapped
The numbers of people accepted to study nursing in England fell 3 per
cent in 2017, while the numbers accepted in Wales and Scotland, where
the bursaries were kept, increased 8.4 per cent and 8 per cent
respectively
Getty
22/40 Landmark study links Tory austerity to 120,000 deaths
The paper found that there were 45,000 more deaths in the first four
years of Tory-led efficiencies than would have been expected if funding
had stayed at pre-election levels. On this trajectory that could rise
to nearly 200,000 excess deaths by the end of 2020, even with the extra
funding that has been earmarked for public sector services this year.
Reuters
23/40 Long commutes carry health risks
Hours of commuting may be mind-numbingly dull, but new research shows
that it might also be having an adverse effect on both your health and
performance at work. Longer commutes also appear to have a significant
impact on mental wellbeing, with those commuting longer 33 per cent
more likely to suffer from depression
Shutterstock
24/40 You cannot be fit and fat
It is not possible to be overweight and healthy, a major new study has
concluded. The study of 3.5 million Britons found that even
“metabolically healthy” obese people are still at a higher risk of
heart disease or a stroke than those with a normal weight range
Getty
25/40 Sleep deprivation
When you feel particularly exhausted, it can definitely feel like you
are also lacking in brain capacity. Now, a new study has suggested this
could be because chronic sleep deprivation can actually cause the brain
to eat itself
Shutterstock
26/40 Exercise classes offering 45 minute naps launch
David Lloyd Gyms have launched a new health and fitness class which is
essentially a bunch of people taking a nap for 45 minutes. The fitness
group was spurred to launch the ‘napercise’ class after research
revealed 86 per cent of parents said they were fatigued. The class is
therefore predominantly aimed at parents but you actually do not have
to have children to take part
Getty
27/40 'Fundamental right to health' to be axed after Brexit, lawyers warn
Tobacco and alcohol companies could win more easily in court cases such
as the recent battle over plain cigarette packaging if the EU Charter
of Fundamental Rights is abandoned, a barrister and public health
professor have said.
Getty
28/40 'Thousands dying' due to fear over non-existent statin side-effects
A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering
medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are
not caused by the drugs themselves
Getty
29/40 Babies born to fathers aged under 25 have higher risk of autism
New research has found that babies born to fathers under the age of 25
or over 51 are at higher risk of developing autism and other social
disorders. The study, conducted by the Seaver Autism Center for
Research and Treatment at Mount Sinai, found that these children are
actually more advanced than their peers as infants, but then fall
behind by the time they hit their teenage years.
Getty
30/40 Cycling to work ‘could halve risk of cancer and heart disease’
Commuters who swap their car or bus pass for a bike could cut their
risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, new
research suggests – but campaigners have warned there is still an
“urgent need” to improve road conditions for cyclists. Cycling to work
is linked to a lower risk of developing cancer by 45 per cent and
cardiovascular disease by 46 per cent, according to a study of a
quarter of a million people. Walking to work also brought health
benefits, the University of Glasgow researchers found, but not to the
same degree as cycling.
Getty
31/40 Playing Tetris in hospital after a traumatic incident could prevent
PTSD
Scientists conducted the research on 71 car crash victims as they were
waiting for treatment at one hospital’s accident and emergency
department. They asked half of the patients to briefly recall the
incident and then play the classic computer game, the others were given
a written activity to complete. The researchers, from Karolinska
Institute in Sweden and the University of Oxford, found that the
patients who had played Tetris reported fewer intrusive memories,
commonly known as flashbacks, in the week that followed
Rex
32/40 Vaping backed as healthier nicotine alternative to cigarettes after
latest study
Vaping has been given an emphatic thumbs up by health experts after the
first long-term study of its effects in ex-smokers. After six months,
people who switched from real to e-cigarettes had far fewer toxins and
cancer-causing substances in their bodies than continual smokers,
scientists found
Getty
33/40 Common method of cooking rice can leave traces of arsenic in food,
scientists warn
Millions of people are putting themselves at risk by cooking their rice
incorrectly, scientists have warned. Recent experiments show a common
method of cooking rice — simply boiling it in a pan until the water has
steamed out — can expose those who eat it to traces of the poison
arsenic, which contaminates rice while it is growing as a result of
industrial toxins and pesticides
Getty
34/40 Contraceptive gel that creates ‘reversible vasectomy’ shown to be
effective in monkeys
An injectable contraceptive gel that acts as a ‘reversible vasectomy’
is a step closer to being offered to men following successful trials on
monkeys. Vasalgel is injected into the vas deferens, the small duct
between the testicles and the urethra. It has so far been found to
prevent 100 per cent of conceptions
Vasalgel
35/40 Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility, study finds
Women who work at night or do irregular shifts may experience a decline
in fertility, a new study has found. Shift and night workers had fewer
eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who work
regular daytime hours, according to researchers at Harvard University
Getty
36/40 Japanese government tells people to stop overworking
The Japanese government has announced measures to limit the amount of
overtime employees can do – in an attempt to stop people literally
working themselves to death. A fifth of Japan’s workforce are at risk
of death by overwork, known as karoshi, as they work more than 80 hours
of overtime each month, according to a government survey.
Getty
37/40 High blood pressure may protect over 80s from dementia
It is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for
dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of
California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that
people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are
less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of
dementia) over the next three years than people of the same age with
normal blood pressure.
Getty
38/40 'Universal cancer vaccine’ breakthrough claimed by experts
Scientists have taken a “very positive step” towards creating a
universal vaccine against cancer that makes the body’s immune system
attack tumours as if they were a virus, experts have said. Writing in
Nature, an international team of researchers described how they had
taken pieces of cancer’s genetic RNA code, put them into tiny
nanoparticles of fat and then injected the mixture into the
bloodstreams of three patients in the advanced stages of the disease.
The patients' immune systems responded by producing "killer" T-cells
designed to attack cancer. The vaccine was also found to be effective
in fighting “aggressively growing” tumours in mice, according to
researchers, who were led by Professor Ugur Sahin from Johannes
Gutenberg University in Germany
Rex
39/40 Research shows that diabetes drug can be used to stop first signs of
Parkinson’s
Scientists in a new study show that the first signs of Parkinson’s can
be stopped. The UCL study is still in its research period but the team
are ‘excited’. Today’s Parkinson’s drugs manage the symptoms of the
disease but ultimately do not stop its progression in the brain.
PA
40/40 Drinking alcohol could reduce risk of diabetes
A new study shows that drinking alcohol three to four days a week could
reduce the risk of diabetes. Wine was found to be most effective in
reducing the risk due to the chemical compounds that balance blood
sugar levels.
Getty
Deciding to read his way out of the mental rut he was in, this did not
work despite the fact he was an avid reader. As an engineer, Gawdat
prefers to be pragmatic in his approach to finding solutions so he
found it difficult to relate to wellness and self-care manuals.
From this epiphany moment, Gawdat says it took him roughly seven and a
half years before he formulated his solution. The first step was to
define the problem and figure out what happiness was.
He firstly listed “data points” of absolutely everything in life – no
matter how big or small – that makes him happy and then attempted to
find a common trend between them, this could range from a good cup of
coffee to your children smiling to your boss being nice to you at
work.
“The one thing that is common across all those moments, put simply, is
that we are happy when life seems to be going our way,” he explains.
Then came the equation: Happiness is equal to or greater than the
events of your life minus your expectation of how life should be.
Despite acknowledging your happy list, the reason we are then often
unhappy is because we are trained to look at the events of our life in
a way that is not truthful leading Gawdat to determine the '675 model'.
The model states that there are six illusions that blur our view of the
real world: thought (believing you are your thoughts), self (believing
you are your body, emotions, beliefs, name, achievements, family or
possessions), knowledge, time (thinking too much about the past or
future), control and fear.
Next, there are seven blind spots that make us miss the truth when we
look at life: filtering, assuming, hunting, memories, labels, emotion
and exaggerating. When we factor this into the equation, this is often
how we see life events therefore blurring what those events actually
mean.
“Fixing the six and the seven gets you to remove the reasons for your
unhappiness,” he explains. “When you do that long enough, you start to
realise it is silly because life mostly meets our expectations.”
Finally, there are five truths which we must accept: that now , change,
love and death are all real as is the last truth: grand design, the
belief that nothing is random and life generally follows patterns,
laws, rules or science.
By considering the five truths, even if life events are harsh, they are
not unexpected because they are simply the truths of life.
“When you focus on these five truths, you feel happy most of the time,”
Gawdat says.
Death was the fifth truth Gawdat added to his equation after losing Ali
when he experienced a turning point in processing his death.
Due to the circumstances of Ali’s death, senior officials in Dubai that
Gawdat knew asked if he would mind them requesting an autopsy.
Read more
* How to be happy in your home: 5 simple but effective ways
“Nibet said in her own very wise way, as always, ‘Will it bring Ali
back?’’ This question came four hours later [after Ali’s death] and we
were completely anchored in reality. The question made it so clear that
Ali is gone and never coming back, even if we close our doors down and
cry for the rest of our lives Ali is still never coming back.
“That realisation is truly at the core of every happy person you have
ever come across. That, sometimes, life is harsh but in those times
there is nothing you can do to reverse the harshness. The only value
that your incessant value brings is it makes you suffer.”
Gawdat says there is a difference between pain and suffering (and
“losing a child is incredibly painful”). Pain is what protects you from
further suffering and is the “body’s mechanism to keep us alive”.
Suffering, on the other hand, is not useful, instead, it is a cycle
where a thought just causes further suffering by feelings of guilt. It
is not useful thinking. Pain should be enough of a motivation to change
and improve your happiness rather than the endless cycle of suffering,
Gawdat says.
“The minute I feel the pain of Ali’s death, which I feel every time I
miss him, I think what can I do about it? How can I make the world
slightly better even though Ali is not in it?”
Gawdat says everyone can take on this approach, however, acknowledges
for people with depression and mental health problems it is definitely
not that simple.
“Depression and mental health problems are beyond my skill set. We have
to acknowledge that mental health is very real. I don’t think of it as
a defect: It is just a different wiring. If you take a piece of code
written for your iPhone and put it on your Android it will not work.”
For everyone else, part of the problem with achieving happiness comes
down to the fact we spend too much time hung up on the future so we
almost create unhappiness for ourselves.
“If you have the brain power to worry about the future, by definition
that means nothing is bad now and that everything is okay. Most of the
cycles that make us sad are focused on the past and the future.”
One thing to bear in mind when following Gawdat’s formula is that you
have to want to become happier: “If you’re cool with being unhappy
there is nothing I can do for you. You have to make the choice.”
It might be difficult at first but in Gawdat’s optimistic manner he
explains it becomes easier likening it to going to the gym for the
first time in a bid to get fitter. After the muscle pain of the first
few days, you become used to it and soon enough it might just become
part of your daily routine.
Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat is out now, published by Bluebird.
More about Happiness
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Is ikigai the new hygge? The Japanese concept of finding purpose in our lives
You've tried hygge and lagom - but it turns out ikigai is the key to
happiness
* Kashmira Gander
* @kashmiragander
* Tuesday 19 September 2017 16:30
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
We’ve snuggled up in knitted sweaters and filled our rooms with
wood-scented candles in the pursuit of hygge - the Danish concept of
finding contentment in cosiness. When that didn't work, we turned to
the Swedish idea of lagom, or moderate living, and it turns out we’re
still not happy. So maybe it’s ikigai, the lifestyle concept from
Japan, that will help us live our best lives.
In some ways, Ikigai is the antithesis of hygge. Instead of encouraging
us to slow down, it’s about find striving to find purpose in life, or
raison d’etre to use a French equivalent. As such, it is a notion often
adopted by those unhappy at work or who have retired. The word is
composed in Japanese using the characters iki, or life, and kai,
meaning the result of a certain action," explains Hector Garcia, the
co-author of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.
Read more
* The age adults are at their happiest, revealed
This all sounds rather fluffy. But studies show that losing one's
purpose can have a detrimental effect. For instance, those who lose
their raison d'etre when they retire become more prone to contracting
illnesses.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
But Ikigai isn’t an individualistic concept either focused on
self-preservation. The social connections that we form are as important
as any sense of inner peace, according Ken dos Remedios of the Hyper
Japan cultural festival.
Created with Sketch. The top 10 happiest places to live in Britain
Show all 10
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. The top 10 happiest places to live in Britain
1/10 Outer Hebrides
The happiest places to live in Britain according to the latest
well-being analysis released by the Office for National Statistics
(ONS)
Rex/Patrick Dieudonne / Robert Harding
2/10 Mid and East Antrim
3/10 Newark and Sherwood
4/10 Purbeck
5/10 Orkney Islands
Chmee2/Creative Commons
6/10 Winchester
Wikipedia
7/10 Fylde
8/10 Antrim and Newtownabbey
9/10 Lichfield
10/10 Fermanagh
Rex
1/10 Outer Hebrides
The happiest places to live in Britain according to the latest
well-being analysis released by the Office for National Statistics
(ONS)
Rex/Patrick Dieudonne / Robert Harding
2/10 Mid and East Antrim
3/10 Newark and Sherwood
4/10 Purbeck
5/10 Orkney Islands
Chmee2/Creative Commons
6/10 Winchester
Wikipedia
7/10 Fylde
8/10 Antrim and Newtownabbey
9/10 Lichfield
10/10 Fermanagh
Rex
"Although it is not impossible to have ‘ikigai’ without social
connections, it is easier to feel ‘ikigai’ by creating social
connections, perhaps because of the ingrained social connections
Japanese society promotes and Japanese individuals are conditioned to
seek," the Remedios says.
Now we're convinced to try it, how does one go about finding their
ikigai? "Flow" is the first step, says Garcia. "When we enter a state
of 'flow' we lose the sense of time passing. Have you ever been so
absorbed in a task that you forget to drink and eat? What type of task
was it? Notice those moments when you enter flow, and your ikigai might
be embeded in those moments. If you increase the daily time at flow you
will increase your connection with your ikigai.
Read more
* The world's happiest man says one thing is making him unhappy
"Your Ikigai is at the intersection of what you are good at and what
you love doing."
Since incorporating the ideas of ikigai into his life, Garcia says he
has become better at appreciating and understanding what he finds joy
in.
“I stop several times through the day and I ask myself: why am I doing
this?” Which, frankly, sounds exhausting. But Garcia stresses that
“noticing is only the first step.” The next is implementing changes -
and this is where most of us trip up.
“Then I have to learn how to make changes in my lifestyle to tilt
towards more and more meaning. For example I've become stronger at my
daily job when it comes to saying ‘no’ to things I know dislike and I'm
not good at, and putting myself into situations where I'm doing things
that I love and I'm good at.
“I've also put more time and dedication into my hobbies: yoga and
photography, and I'm enjoying them more than ever.”
Still, it's hard not to feel that ikigai - like hygge and lagom - is
another sticking plaster we've reached for to help patch over the
problems in our lives that run deeper than any buzzword word can
solve.
“Although the words might be new, I think all the concepts are not
really new," says the spokesperson for HyperJapan.
"Just as humans have lusted after objects and money since the dawn of
time, other humans have felt dissatisfaction at the relentless pursuit
of money and fame and have instead focused on something bigger than
their own material wealth. This has over the years been described using
many different words and practices, but always hearkening back to the
central core of meaningfulness in life.”
More about Happiness lifestyle well-being Ikigai Hygge Lagom Japan
Raison d'etre
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
Happiest moment in a Briton's day is the minute they get home from work,
survey claims
An impossible workload and sleeping through an alarm were surveyed as
the unhappiest
* Emma Elsworthy
* Wednesday 27 June 2018 11:34
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
The moment Briton's sit down for the evening is in the list of happiest
moments, the survey claims ( Getty Images/Caiaimage )
It’s official – workers are at their happiest at 3:25pm, a survey has
revealed.
Researchers looking into the peaks and troughs of the working
population’s mood found the average day will see eight happy moments –
but five low points.
Employees are likely to experience highs when waking after a brilliant
night’s sleep, receiving appreciation from the boss, and getting a
complement from a client or customer.
Watch more
* Half of Britons ‘would not walk more than a mile’ to get somewhere
But “daily downers” include having to attend a particularly long and
arduous work meeting, over-eating and then regretting it afterwards,
and getting stuck in traffic on the way home.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
The results emerged in a survey by British Cherries, as experts also
claim the food we eat has a direct effect on happiness levels during
the day – with people more likely to hit a slump if they snack on
sugary or fatty treats.
High sugar treats like chocolate and sweets have been identified as the
foods most likely to contribute to a bad mood, but the anthocyanin in
cherries, or the folic acid in spinach can help to combat unhappiness.
Registered nutritionist, Anita Bean says: “We all have times when we
feel down in the dumps, but lifestyle factors such as eating a healthy
diet containing lots of fruit and vegetables, being active, getting
outside in the fresh air as much as possible and spending time with
loved ones can really help to lift our moods.
“Interestingly, cherries help your brain produce the mood-enhancing
hormone serotonin and are also a rich food source of the hormone
melatonin which promotes healthy sleep patterns.
“Half of those surveyed said they feel happier after a good night’s
sleep and so cherries are a great food to eat to make sure we wake up
feeling rested and happy.”
Researchers who polled 2,000 workers found they are at their happiest
when walking through the door after work, kicking off their shoes and
removing their attire.
Created with Sketch. Britons top 10 sources of worry
Show all 19
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Britons top 10 sources of worry
1/19 1. Getting old in general
Getty
2/19 2. Worried about my savings/ financial future
Rex
3/19 3. Low energy levels
Rex
4/19 4. My diet
Creative Commons
5/19 5. Financial/credit card debts
Peter Macdiarmid | Getty Images
6/19 6. Job security
Corbis
7/19 7. Wrinkles or ageing appearance
Getty
8/19 8. Worried about my physique
Getty
9/19 9. Paying rent/mortgage
Getty Images
10/19 10. I seem to be generally unhappy
Angelika Schwarz/Getty Creative
11/19 11. I need to find a new job
Corbis
12/19 12. Whether or not I am attractive
Getty
13/19 13. Whether my partner still loves me
AFP/Getty Images
14/19 14. Whether I'll find the right partner/ whether my current partner is
right
(Image from Jennifer Aniston film 'The Break-Up')
REX/Moviestore Collection
15/19 15. A friend or family member I've fallen out with
16/19 16. Whether I'm a good parent/ raising kids right
17/19 18. If my dress sense is good
Getty
18/19 19. Pet's health
BBC
19/19 20. Worried about the area I live in/ crime levels
Getty
1/19 1. Getting old in general
Getty
2/19 2. Worried about my savings/ financial future
Rex
3/19 3. Low energy levels
Rex
4/19 4. My diet
Creative Commons
5/19 5. Financial/credit card debts
Peter Macdiarmid | Getty Images
6/19 6. Job security
Corbis
7/19 7. Wrinkles or ageing appearance
Getty
8/19 8. Worried about my physique
Getty
9/19 9. Paying rent/mortgage
Getty Images
10/19 10. I seem to be generally unhappy
Angelika Schwarz/Getty Creative
11/19 11. I need to find a new job
Corbis
12/19 12. Whether or not I am attractive
Getty
13/19 13. Whether my partner still loves me
AFP/Getty Images
14/19 14. Whether I'll find the right partner/ whether my current partner is
right
(Image from Jennifer Aniston film 'The Break-Up')
REX/Moviestore Collection
15/19 15. A friend or family member I've fallen out with
16/19 16. Whether I'm a good parent/ raising kids right
17/19 18. If my dress sense is good
Getty
18/19 19. Pet's health
BBC
19/19 20. Worried about the area I live in/ crime levels
Getty
Getting a hug from a child, and sitting down in front of the TV for the
evening are also identified among the positive peaks experienced during
the day.
But realising there is no feasible way you can get through your
mounting workload, having a client complain about something and
sleeping through an alarm are the points at which the bad mood starts
to creep in.
The study also found the food consumed during the day can have a direct
effect on overall happiness levels.
Seven in 10 workers are generally in a better mood if they opt for
healthier foods, and 35 per cent have noticed a correlation between
eating particularly sugary or fatty foods and their glumness.
More than half of those polled say if they overindulge in too much
food, or in unhealthy food, they will feel down in the dumps a few
hours later.
In contrast, a 25 per cent firmly believe they are happier half an hour
after eating fruit such as cherries or berries, than they are after
eating a chocolate bar.
But despite knowing unhealthy foods can be the cause of further bad
moods, four in 10 adults will still reach for crisps or chocolate when
they are feeling hungry.
Top 10 happiest moments
1. Waking up after a brilliant night’s sleep
2. While eating a delicious evening meal
3. The moment you sit down in front of the TV for the evening
4. Your boss showing you appreciation from something you have done
5. Walking through the door after work
6. Receiving a complement from a client or customer
7. Getting a hug from your child
8. After an evening treat, such as something sweet
9. The moment you take off your work wear
10. The moment you kick your shoes off after a busy day
Top 10 unhappiest moments
1. Getting stuck in traffic on the way to work
2. Not having any time to yourself
3. A disagreement with a client, customer or colleague
4. Getting stuck in traffic on the way home from work
5. Sleeping through an alarm
6. Over-eating, and regretting it afterwards
7. Your children misbehaving
8. Having a particularly long meeting at work
9. An impossible workload
10. Spilling food down yourself
South West News Service
More about Britons work life balance UK
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
To help you reach the seven-figure mark, we rounded up nine pieces of
advice from people who became millionaires at a young age. ( Monkey
Business Images/REX Shutterstock )
The science of happiness: Everything you need to know about the feeling we
all crave
* Jodie Tyley
* Thursday 31 December 2015 16:12
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
The prospect of a new year inspires many people to make resolutions and
transform their lives. In doing so, we are all essentially chasing
happiness.
But what causes this emotion, and others, and could this help us
capture the emotion we all crave?
Human emotions are governed by a complex mixture of chemicals and
electricity.
The human brain weighs over a kilogram (2.2 pounds) and has an
estimated 86 billion neurons. Signals are transmitted along each nerve
electrically, by gradients of charged ions, and each neuron makes
hundreds of connections to those around it.
At each of the 300 trillion synapses in the human brain, chemicals
known as neurotransmitters relay messages from one nerve to another.
Each neurotransmitter has a set of corresponding receptors, which can
be activatory or inhibitory, helping nerves to fire, or preventing them
from working. This enormous chemical and electrical network provides
the complexity that enables us to feel emotion, from the all-consuming
addiction of love, to the raw devastation of grief.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* Harvard psychiatrist says three things are secret to real happiness
* These are the 10 countries with the happiest workers
* Neurologists have worked out the key to finding happiness
* Happiness is fulfilling your career goals by 27, suggests new study
Imaging techniques have helped to reveal the areas of the brain
involved in processing different emotional responses. This data, in
combination with case studies of patients with damage to certain areas
of their brains, and information gathered from investigations in
animals, has enabled us to draw up a rough map of the emotional
connections in the brain.
A notable area of the brain when it comes to our mood is the limbic
system, a small cluster of interconnected regions involved in memory
processing and decision-making. It also has a role in motivation and
the processing of emotion. The limbic system is directly connected to
the olfactory bulb, which processes incoming smell signals from the
nose, providing the biological link that allows smells to bring back a
memory. Recent research at the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience
in Norway suggests smell-based memories are triggered with
corresponding brain waves.
The nucleus accumbens links the limbic system to other areas of the
brain also known to have an involvement in the processing of emotion.
For instance, the basal ganglia, at the base of the forebrain, has been
well studied for its role in the planning and co-ordination of
movement, but certain areas also light up in response to positive
emotional stimuli, and are thought to be involved in reward and
reinforcement. Damage to part of the basal ganglia, known as the
ventral pallidum, causes anhedonia – the inability to experience
pleasure.
The orbitofrontal cortex, meanwhile, located just above the eyes, also
lights up in response to positive experiences, and is thought to play a
role in evaluating reward versus punishment.
Created with Sketch. Happiest places in the UK - in pictures
Show all 10
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Happiest places in the UK - in pictures
1/10 Harrogate
The north Yorkshire spa town has topped the list
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
2/10 Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury in Shropshire is the second happiest place to live
Creative Commons/Gnesener1900
3/10 Ipswich
Ipswich in Suffolk, one of England's oldest towns, came in third
Mkonikkara / Creative Commons
4/10 York
York, with its stunning cathedral, came fourth
andyspicturesurl/Creative Commons
5/10 Chester
A view of the Eastgate clock in Chester. The Cheshire city is the fifth
happiest place to live
Neil Kennedy/Creative Commons
6/10 Inverness
A woman stretches over a fruit stall at Inverness market. The Scottish
town came in sixth
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
7/10 Llandrindod Wells
The lake at Llandrindod Wells - the Welsh town voted seventh happiest
in the UK
Andrew Hill/Creative Commons
8/10 Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire came eighth
Creative Commons
9/10 Watford
The second Hertfordshire town on the list, Watford came ninth
Creative Commons
10/10 Blackpool
The Lancashire town of Blackpool - famous for its tower and beach
donkey rides - was number 10
Creative Commons
1/10 Harrogate
The north Yorkshire spa town has topped the list
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
2/10 Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury in Shropshire is the second happiest place to live
Creative Commons/Gnesener1900
3/10 Ipswich
Ipswich in Suffolk, one of England's oldest towns, came in third
Mkonikkara / Creative Commons
4/10 York
York, with its stunning cathedral, came fourth
andyspicturesurl/Creative Commons
5/10 Chester
A view of the Eastgate clock in Chester. The Cheshire city is the fifth
happiest place to live
Neil Kennedy/Creative Commons
6/10 Inverness
A woman stretches over a fruit stall at Inverness market. The Scottish
town came in sixth
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
7/10 Llandrindod Wells
The lake at Llandrindod Wells - the Welsh town voted seventh happiest
in the UK
Andrew Hill/Creative Commons
8/10 Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire came eighth
Creative Commons
9/10 Watford
The second Hertfordshire town on the list, Watford came ninth
Creative Commons
10/10 Blackpool
The Lancashire town of Blackpool - famous for its tower and beach
donkey rides - was number 10
Creative Commons
Another approach to the study of complex emotions, like happiness, is
to break them down into smaller parts. Pleasure is evolutionarily
ancient and is based on a chemical reward system that acts as a
biological incentive to repeat beneficial behaviour. There are several
‘reward pathways’ in the brain, but the best studied is the mesolimbic
pathway.
The pathway transmits dopamine signals from nerves in the middle of the
brain, upward and forward, to the limbic system and the prefrontal
cortex, both of which are involved in emotional processing. Under
normal conditions, this pathway serves as a motivator for positive
actions, producing pleasurable feelings that reinforce evolutionarily
beneficial behaviour like eating high-calorie food, social interaction
and reproduction.
Activation of the pathway also aids in memory storage, increasing the
likelihood that the action will be repeated in the future.
It’s not all about the brain though. The feelings associated with
emotions are the result of a complex mixture of incoming sensory
messages from all over the body.
A natural high - Six major hormones and chemicals associated with emotion
• Dopamine
This neurotransmitter feeds the reward pathway in the brain, and is
involved in motivation, drive, pleasure and addiction. Abnormally high
levels of dopamine are linked to loss of contact with reality,
delusions and lack of emotion, while low levels have been associated
with addictive behaviour and risk taking.
• Noradrenaline
Chemically related to adrenaline, this neurotransmitter is a stress
hormone that co-ordinates the fight-or-flight response. It mediates
many of the physical components of emotion, including raised heart
rate, and also acts in the brain enhancing alertness, cognition and
decision-making behaviour.
• GABA
Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter
in the brain – it decreases nerve transmission, allowing neurons time
to recover. Increased GABA activity in the brain relieves anxiety and
reduces stress.
• Serotonin
First recognised for its ability to constrict blood vessels, serotonin
has become widely known as the "happiness hormone." Chemically known as
5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), increasing the available serotonin level in
the brain is the main target of the most commonly used antidepressants.
• Beta-endorphin
Endorphins are natural opioids, produced by the body in response to
pain, excitement and even exercise. Beta-endorphin binds to the same mu
receptors as the pain-relieving drug morphine. These receptors, present
on nerves in the brain and spinal cord, modulate the activity of
nerves, causing mild sedation, relieving pain and giving a sense of
wellbeing.
• Oxytocin
Often described as the "bonding hormone", the "trust hormone", or
sometimes even the "love hormone", oxytocin is unique to mammals.
Although research is still in its infancy, oxytocin is thought to play
an important role in human intimacy, childbirth, sexual arousal, trust
and pair bonding.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the subconscious arm of the
peripheral nervous system, and controls bodily functions that are not
under voluntary control, such as heart rate, digestion and sweating,
and it is connected to the limbic system.
The ANS has two distinct components with opposing functions. The
sympathetic nervous system uses the neurotransmitters adrenaline and
noradrenaline to prepare the body for "fight or flight", raising the
heart rate and mobilising resources to fuel the muscles. The
parasympathetic nervous system uses acetylcholine to allow the body to
rest and digest, slowing the heart and breathing, and diverting the
blood supply to the gut.
Sensory feedback produced by the effects of the ANS contribute to many
of the familiar feelings associated with emotions. Stimulation of the
heart by adrenaline and noradrenaline as part of the fight-or-flight
response produces the rapid palpitations associated with anger, fear
and embarrassment. Its actions on the digestive system cause
"butterflies in the stomach", and activity at the glands on the hands,
feet and in the armpits, leads to nervous sweating.
More passive emotions, like sadness or contentment, on the other hand,
require little physical response, and the parasympathetic nervous
system takes control of the heart, decreasing its rate. Feelings of
contentment and relief are often accompanied by deep, slow breathing –
another indicator of parasympathetic activity.
The limbic system is also connected to the body via the hypothalamus.
This small region, located on the underside of the brain, links the
nervous system to the endocrine system – which produces hormones, some
of which are key mediators of mood and emotion. For example,
corticotropin-releasing hormone is produced in response to stress, and
leads to the release of the stress-hormone cortisol from the adrenal
glands above the kidneys.
The regulation of emotion is not just restricted to one area of the
brain – it involves almost the entire body. Reducing the bewildering
complexity of human emotion down to anatomy, physiology, and
ultimately, brain chemistry, might seem cold and clinical, but in
reality, the fact that humans are capable of experiencing such an
extraordinary range of abstract feelings is one of the greatest wonders
of biology, with many chemical puzzles waiting to be solved.
Jodie Tyley is the Editor of How It Works Magazine. Issue 79 out now,
RRP £4.25. Follow the magazine on Twitter: @HowItWorksmag
More about Psychology Brain Explainer Happiness Science
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Voices > Comment
David Cameron wasted money on his well-being programme – we already know what
makes us happy
Research in happiness economics now increasingly looks like medicine,
where policy impacts are measured
* David Blanchflower @D_Blanchflower
* Sunday 2 March 2014 17:20
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent Voices
Getty Images
It hasn’t been a great week for my personal well-being. Lots of snow
and ice and cabin fever was taking hold so the wife and I decided it
was time to take our two dogs for a walk. Big mistake: I went flying on
the ice and heard that terrible crack and immediately knew what had
happened as my foot stuck out sideways.
My volunteer neighbours from the local fire department showed up in the
town’s old ambulance and drove me to the Dartmouth Hitchcock where I
stayed for four days. I now know the inside workings of an X-ray
machine really well.
To cut a long story short I have a cast on my ankle the size of a
coconut along with a full collection of bolts and plates attached
variously to my leg, which is going to take some explaining at
airports. I am supposed to be non-weight bearing for ten weeks, that is
70 days or 1,680 hours or 100,800 minutes but who is counting. Not me,
well not much. Only 107,543 minutes left now.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
All of that set me thinking about well-being and despite the fact that
we get horrid injuries like broken legs, we do get over them. People
are very adaptable. The truth is if you asked me last week how happy my
life is on a scale of 1 through 10 as many happiness surveys do, I
would have said 7. Today I am probably also a seven despite being on
crutches and in some pain.
Some surveys ask for responses in a very narrow time window, which make
little sense. If you asked me in the 15-minute period when I was lying
on the ground waiting for the ambulance to come the answer was zero.
Similarly, the answer would be 10 one minute after a respondent had an
orgasm. But they aren’t representative moments and are broadly
worthless in working out the big picture. I will get over this. It
turns out that the determinants of happiness are basically the same
everywhere, no matter which question is asked or when. The Swedes and
Danes are happy while the Bulgarians and Romanians are unhappy. I am
still pretty happy despite the change in my middle name to Hopalong as
in Cassidy.
David Cameron’s Big Society idea was to set up a well-being programme
at the Office for National Statistics. This has been a total waste of
money as it really hasn’t taught us happiness researchers much of
anything we didn’t already know.
Here are the basic facts. Women are happier than men. Unemployment
makes people unhappy while work makes them happy. Happiness is U-shaped
in age and there is a mid-life crisis. Depression is highest in
mid-life and people disproportionately take anti-depressants and pain
medication in their forties and fifties. Marriage makes people happy.
Second marriages are less happy than first marriages and there is
adaptation. People get over divorce. Separated people are least happy.
Happiness tends to be broadly flat over time. The educated are happier
than the least educated. Money does buy happiness and relative things
matter a lot.
My Dartmouth colleague Erzo Luttmer has shown people care about their
relative position and lagging behind the Joneses the McTavishes or the
Cameroons, depending on where you live, diminishes well-being. He finds
that an increase in neighbour’s earnings and a similarly sized decrease
in one’s own income each have roughly the same negative effects on
well-being.
Behavioural economics has taught us a lot about patterns in well-being
data, not least that people adapt and we get over broken legs and child
birth. Worries that answers to happiness questions differ by culture
and language have slipped away given the large literature that is now
emerging that subjective happiness measures are well correlated with
objective measures. These include heart rate and blood-pressure
measures of response to stress. They include the risk of coronary heart
disease and the duration of authentic or so-called “Duchenne” smiles.
A Duchenne smile occurs when both the zygomatic major and obicularus
orus facial muscles fire, and human beings identify these as “genuine”
smiles, so happy people smile more.
Other objective measures include skin-resistance measures of response
to stress and electroencephelogram measures of prefrontal brain
activity. Happy people live longer and heal faster ( I am hoping this
really is true).
Research in happiness economics now increasingly looks like medicine,
where the impacts of treatments are measured in controlled lab settings
with treatment and placebo and the results seem to go through.
A new experimental paper by MIT Graduate students Johannes Haushofer
and Jeremy Shapiro studied the response of poor rural households in
rural Kenya to large temporary income changes and they found money buys
happiness.
What they also found was that the results were essentially the same
whether they used subjective measures of well-being or an objective
measure of stress such as the level of cortisol.
Using a controlled trial, Haushofer and Shapiro randomly assigned
households to receive unconditional cash transfers of at least $404.
This is a large amount of money in Kenya – enough to help build a roof.
The authors designed the experiment to address examine the effects of
transfers on psychological well-being and levels of the stress hormone
cortisol. They randomised at both the village and household levels.
Further, within the treatment group, they randomised recipient gender
(wife vs. husband), and transfer magnitude ($404 vs. $1,520).
Interestingly, they found a strong consumption response to transfers,
with an increase in monthly consumption from $157 to $194 four months
after the transfer ended.
Intriguingly, recipient gender did not affect the household response to
the program. Transfer recipients experience large increases in
psychological well-being, and several types of transfers resulted in
reductions in the levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Together, these results suggest that unconditional cash transfers have
significant impacts on consumption and psychological well-being. Good
stuff.
Only 107,443 minutes left until I can stand on my own two feet. I just
hope I don’t get hit by lightning when I am next out on the golf
course.
__________________________________________________________________
The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that
voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.
Sign our petition here
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
Employees at the Innocent headquarters in west London ( Kalpesh
Lathigra )
British workers want friends not money, according to new study
Workplace happiness is more about the people you work with than the
amount you earn — also a convenient commute
* Zachary Davies Boren
* @zdboren
* Monday 22 December 2014 16:38
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Britons consider working with people they like to be more important
than the amount they earn, a new study on workplace happiness has
revealed.
According to a survey of 2,000 people by the Association of Accounting
Technicians, eight in ten Brits would choose a job which they enjoy
over one for which they would receive better pay.
Respondents ranked job responsibility, recognition and companionship
above a sizeable salary, and said there are five better reasons to stay
in a job than money — including a more manageable commute.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
In fact, a third of those polled said they had already left a job
despite good pay, because the stress wasn't worth it; three quarters
claimed they wouldn't accept a more stressful job for more money.
Created with Sketch. What Brits want in a job
Show all 10
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. What Brits want in a job
1/10 1. Responsibility
PA
2/10 2. Recognition
Getty
3/10 3. My colleagues
Getty Images
4/10 4. Pay
GETTY IMAGES
5/10 5. Making a difference
Aliya Gulamani (left) and Disability worker Sophie Goddard
Micha Theiner
6/10 6. Achievement
Rex
7/10 7. The job itself
Rex
8/10 8. Learning new things
Getty
9/10 9. Being challenged
Dave Willis / www.golakes.co.uk
10/10 10. The work environment
REUTERS
1/10 1. Responsibility
PA
2/10 2. Recognition
Getty
3/10 3. My colleagues
Getty Images
4/10 4. Pay
GETTY IMAGES
5/10 5. Making a difference
Aliya Gulamani (left) and Disability worker Sophie Goddard
Micha Theiner
6/10 6. Achievement
Rex
7/10 7. The job itself
Rex
8/10 8. Learning new things
Getty
9/10 9. Being challenged
Dave Willis / www.golakes.co.uk
10/10 10. The work environment
REUTERS
A pay-review scheme came in at number 11 for what Britons want from
their place of work.
The poll also found that most Britons actually like their job, with
only 15 percent saying they were unhappy.
AAT Chief Executive Mark Farrar said: "The results show that, when it
comes to working happiness, money is far from the driving factor for
most of us.
"Of course, life dictates that we earn as much as we can to maintain or
improve our circumstances, but most deemed working with good people or
in a role they feel valued in as more important than the salary."
Read more:
Brits happier than they've been in years, finds ONS
He added: "It’s interesting how much status and recognition play a big
part in happiness at work alongside the promise of progression and
building towards something more."
Why Brits stay at their current job
1. I have a good relationship with my colleagues
2. I enjoy the job role
3. I have a good relationship with my boss
4. I don't have another job to go to
5. The commute is manageable
6. The pay
7. I have a good relationship with my clients
8. I feel I have the chance to develop my career
9. I'm good at the job
10. I am not under much stress
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > Business > Business News
One third of UK employees are miserable at work
Better salaries and a good relationship with management are key to
happiness in the workplace
* Zlata Rodionova
* Friday 20 November 2015 10:45
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
Some 28 per cent of people in management positions said they are
stressed all the time while at the office ( John Moore/Getty Images )
A third of employees in the UK have admitted to being miserable at
work, according to a new survey.
Nearly 40 per cent of the UK workforce feels unhappy in their workplace
, in a survey of over 1,020 UK employees by Workwear Express. While
only 22 per cent declared never feeling miserable in the office.
“It’s come as a surprise to find out that only a third of the UK feel
happy with their career choice,” said Simon Maw, sales and marketing
director of workwearexpress.com. “From the findings we believe this is
down to poor management and a lack of pay rises.”
Better salaries and a good relationship with management are key to
happiness in the workplace, according to the results. Over half of UK
workers say support from management is important to them, while 55 per
cent of employees said pay rises keep them motivated in their roles.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* The 30 best and worst paid jobs in the UK
* 29 words you should never say in a job interview
* One chart that shows UK jobs pay less than they did a decade ago
* The 13 best jobs for people who hate people
Ironically, while employers rank poor management as the most important
issue in their work place, managers rank stress as the biggest factors
that’s affecting their mood in the workplace.
Some 28 per cent of people in management positions said they are
stressed all the time while at the office. While nearly 25 per cent
confessed that this could also affect their mood.
Therapists, on the other hand are the happiest employees in the UK,
with over half of therapists saying they are very happy with their
career choice.
Miserable employees are also less likely to stay in their jobs very
long, with 14 per cent of UK workers planning to stay in their current
job for a year if they feel unhappy.
More about Job search jobs UK employment Happiness
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
40 signs you're part of the furniture at work
* Emma Elsworthy
* Monday 26 February 2018 14:49
* {{#singleComment}}{{value}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{value}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
Indy/Life
Realising most other employees are younger than you, being able to poke
fun at your boss and having your own mug are all signs you’ve become
‘part of the furniture’ at work.
A study of 2,000 office workers has revealed the top 40 indicators that
you’ve been in your job too long, including being able to tell if
someone has fiddled with your chair settings and colleagues knowing
exactly how you like your tea.
For a third of employees, being the one new people come to with
questions is the point at which you know you’re in a job for life.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
It also emerged it takes an average of four and a half years to become
'part of the furniture', with 56 per cent of those polled believing
they have achieved that status.
Geoffrey Dennis, Chief Executive of international animal charity SPANA,
which provides free veterinary treatment to working animals in
developing countries, said: “The days of a job for life may
increasingly be a thing of the past in this country, but it’s clear
many British workers feel comfortable and secure in their roles and
will stay with the right company for a number of years.
“Sadly, it’s a very different situation for working animals in
developing countries.
"These horses, donkeys and camels often carry out the same gruelling
work, day-in, day-out, for their entire lives.
"Far from feeling in a comfort zone, they haul back-breaking loads in
dangerous conditions, with little rest and no holidays or retirement at
the end of it.
"That’s why this forgotten workforce urgently needs our help.”
Other signs you’ve been in the job for too long include repeating the
same phrases day after day and not making as much effort with your
workplace attire.
And one in five people can remember their office going through several
redesigns and redecorations during the years they have been in post.
Fifteen per cent of respondents believe being older than your boss is a
sure-fire sign you’re a fixture in the workplace.
And the same number do their best to dodge company nights out, having
been on dozens of them already.
A tenth of employees also reckon they’ve been working in the same place
for such a long time, they don’t feel like they could ever work
anywhere else – even if they don’t get the respect they deserve.
Certainly not all inclusions in the list are positive – as feeling a
sense of dread on a Sunday night, everyone ‘assuming’ you are happy in
your work and feeling disillusioned with changes in the workplace also
feature in the list.
Half of British office workers admit they struggle with change, and two
thirds don’t think they’ll ever have another job apart from the one
they’re doing now.
But for 81 per cent of respondents, there was no specific moment that
made them feel like they’d become a workplace institution, with the
feeling creeping up gradually.
Eight in 10 office workers also say that, despite everything, they
enjoy feeling like part of the furniture at work, although 68 per cent
believe their working conditions – including pay, their job description
and job title – should be updated.
Geoffrey Dennis, Chief Executive for SPANA, added: “Many workers in the
UK might start to feel like part of the furniture after several years
in the same workplace – with a favourite mug and their own daily
routines and rituals.
“Thankfully, long service at a company is, in most cases, a choice and
a sign that employees are content in their roles and have job security.
"However, many people in the UK aren’t aware about the relentlessly
tough working lives endured by working animals around the world.
“These animals play a vital role in supporting the livelihoods of the
world’s poorest families.
"Yet, despite their importance, they often lead short, painful lives
and their welfare is neglected. SPANA is working to ensure that working
animals have access to veterinary care when they are sick or injured,
as well as educating owners about how to best care for their animals.”
THE TOP 40 SIGNS YOU’RE ‘PART OF THE FURNITURE’ AT WORK
1. New people come to you with questions
2. Noticing that most other employees are younger than you
3. People value your opinion
4. You can 'banter' with the boss
5. You have your own mug
6. Everyone knows how you like your tea/coffee
7. You can remember the office going through several redesigns and
redecorations
8. You find yourself repeating the same phrases
9. You can tell immediately if someone has messed with your chair
settings
10. Not being asked where you’ve been if you’re a few minutes late in
the morning
11. You don't want to attend work nights out
12. You’re older than your boss
13. Clients ask you how your family is doing
14. You don't make as much effort with your fashion choices
15. You don't feel able to look for another job
16. Everyone assumes you are happy in your work
17. You are territorial about your desk and workspace
18. You know every single company procedure inside out
19. A desk fully decorated with pictures of friends and family
20. You are pigeon-holed in your position
21. Panicking when the company introduces new technology
22. You feel a sense of dread on a Sunday night
23. You haven’t had a pay rise in years
24. You feel disillusioned by changes at work
25. You don’t feel like you could ever work anywhere else
26. You race through tasks
27. People always come to you when they want to identify someone in the
office
28. Colleagues refer to you as the "mum" or "dad" of the office
29. You feel like you don’t get the respect you deserve
30. You have reached your full holiday allowance, having accumulated
extra days due to long service
31. Having a nickname
32. You have a favourite toilet
33. You have your own parking space
34. You look ahead at projects and realise you've done them all before
35. You had babies who have now left school, all in the time you’ve
worked in the same place
36. Offering to get people lunch when you’re out
37. You have a fully stacked 'snack drawer'
38. None on the colleagues are still at the company from when you
started
39. You can’t remember the names of many colleagues as you’ve seen so
many comings and goings
40. You have spare shoes/ties/clothes at the office for whatever reason
SWNS
More about Work Happiness
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
IM Subscribe register IM Subscribe
Login
Created with Sketch.
* IM Join us? Subscribe register IM Join us? Subscribe
* Login
* Please wait....
*
* News
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ UK Politics
+ Brexit
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Education
+ Tech
+ Business
+ InFact
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Final Say
+ Drop The Target
+ Editorials
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Chuka Umunna
+ Mary Dejevsky
+ Matthew Norman
+ John Rentoul
* Final Say
+ Sign the petition
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ F1
+ Boxing
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ Golf
+ Jonathan Liew
+ Miguel Delaney
+ Podcast
* Culture
+ Film
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Books
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
+ Crosswords & puzzles
* Video
* Indy/Life
+ Travel
+ Women
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Dating & relationships
+ Health & fitness
+ Tech
+ Money
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
* IndyBest
+ Home & garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Travel & outdoors
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Tech
+ Sports & fitness
* Long Reads
* AIDSFREE
* indy100
* Vouchers
+ TUI
+ Groupon
+ Argos
+ Mobiles.co.uk
+ Just Eat
+ Currys
+ Gymshark
+ Clarks
+ Myprotein
+ boohoo
* Please wait....
*
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Join us? Subscribe / register Join us? Subscribe
* News
+ InFact
+ UK
+ US
+ World
+ Politics
+ Final Say
+ Science
+ Education
+ Environment
+ Health
+ Long reads
+ Business
+ Obituaries
* Politics
+ Brexit
+ Conservatives
+ Labour
+ Lib Dems
+ SNP
+ DUP
+ Ukip
+ US Politics
+ Theresa May
+ Jeremy Corbyn
* Voices
+ Robert Fisk
+ Mark Steel
+ Janet Street-Porter
+ John Rentoul
+ Jenny Éclair
+ Chuka Ummuna
+ Shappi Khorsandi
+ Editorials
+ Letters
* Final Say
+ Gina Miller
+ Our view
+ Sign the petition
+ Spread the word
+ Steve Coogan
* Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby Union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Golf
+ Motor racing
+ Cycling
+ US sports
+ Rugby League
* Culture
+ Books
+ Film
+ TV
+ Music
+ Art
+ Theatre & dance
+ Geoffrey Macnab
+ Podcast
* Indy/life
+ Travel
+ Fashion & beauty
+ Food & drink
+ Health & fitness
+ Love & relationships
+ Tech
o iPhone
o Tech news
o Tech culture
o Gaming
o Cryptocurrency
+ Design & home
+ Motoring
+ Women
* Video
+ News videos
+ Explainer videos
+ Sport videos
+ People + culture videos
* IndyBest
+ Sports & Fitness
+ Home & Garden
+ Kids
+ Books
+ Fashion & Beauty
+ Food & Drink
+ Travel & Outdoors
+ Tech
* Money
+ Mortgages
+ Loans
+ Savings
+ Pensions
+ Money transfers
+ Health insurance
+ Money Deals
* indy100
* Extras
+ Corrections
+ Competitions & offers
+ Puzzles
+ Crosswords
+ Apps
+ The Independent Books
+ Jobs
+ Voucher Codes
* Subscribe
+ Subscription offers
+ Subscription sign in
+ Read latest edition
* UK Edition
+ UK Edition
+ US Edition
Please wait....
Log in using your social
network account
OR
Log in directly with
The Independent
{{message}}
____________________ Please enter an email address Please enter a valid
email address Please enter a valid email address
____________________ Please enter a valid password
[ ] Keep me logged in
(BUTTON) Submit
Forgotten your password?
Try Independent Minds
free for 14 days
See the options
Hi {{fullName}}
* My Independent Minds
* Account details
* Help centre
* Logout
News > UK > Home News
Why we should get three-day weekends all the time
The idea of working less is feasible and the basis for a better
standard of life
* David Spencer
* Sunday 30 August 2015 12:38
* {{#singleComment}}{{total}}
comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComment}}{{total}}
comments{{/singleComment}}
*
Click to follow
The Independent
What if the majority of the week could be given over to activities
other than work? ( Getty Images )
As we enjoy the August bank holiday and a three-day weekend, it is
worth reassessing the amount of time we devote to work. What if all
weekends could last for three or even four days? What if the majority
of the week could be given over to activities other than work? What if
most of our time could be devoted to non-work activities of our own
choosing?
To even pose these questions is to invite the criticism of Utopian
thinking. While a fine idea in principle, working fewer hours is not
feasible in practice. Indeed, its achievement would come at the expense
of lower consumption and increased economic hardship.
For some advocates of the work ethic, the route to health and happiness
lies with the perpetuation of work, not with its reduction. Work makes
us healthier and happier. Such pro-work ideology is used to legitimate
welfare reforms that seek to coerce the non-employed into work,
whatever its rates of pay and qualitative features. It also offers an
ideological barrier to the case for spending less time at work. Working
less is presented as a threat to our health and happiness, not a means
to improve it.
Join Indpendent Minds
For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just
£5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a
month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Get the best of The Independent
Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month
(BUTTON) Start your free trial
Read more
* Bank holiday days out: Cornwall to the Clyde
* Hotels fear for 2016 bookings after washout summer
* Thundery downpours, wind and lightning will blight events
Yet, the idea of working less is not only feasible, it is also the
basis for a better standard of life. It is a mark of how we have come
to accept work and its dominant influence in our lives that we do not
grasp this idea more readily.
The costs of working more
A growing number of studies show the human costs of longer working
hours. These include lower physical and mental health. Working long
hours can add to the risk of having a stroke, coronary heart disease
and developing type 2 diabetes.
By working most of the time, we also lose time with family and friends.
And more than this we lose the ability to be and do things that make
life valuable and worth living. Our lives are often too much tied up in
the work we do that we have little time and energy to find alternative
ways of living – in short, our capacity to realise our talents and
potential is curtailed by the work we do. Work does not set us free,
rather it hems us in and makes it more difficult to realise ourselves.
All this speaks to the need to work less. We should challenge the work
ethic and promote alternative ways of living that are less work
centred. And, if this reduction of time spent at work is focused on
eliminating drudge work then we can also better realise the internal
benefits of work itself. Working less may be a means not only to work
better but also to enjoy life more.
Barriers to less work
Technological progress has advanced continuously over the past century,
pushing up productivity. But not all the gains in productivity have fed
through to shorter work hours. At least in modern times, these gains
have been used to increase the returns of the owners of capital, often
at the cost of flatlining pay for workers.
The lack of progress in reducing time spent at work in modern
capitalist economies reflects instead the influence of ideology as well
as of power. On the one hand, the effects of consumerism have created
powerful forces in favour of longer working hours. Workers are
constantly persuaded to buy more and in turn are drawn into working
more, to keep up with the latest fad or fashion and to stay ahead of
their peers.
Created with Sketch. Cheapest UK cities for a short break
Show all 20
Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
(BUTTON)
Created with Sketch. Cheapest UK cities for a short break
1/20 1. Sheffield (£154)
Bs0u10e01/Wiki Commons
2/20 2. Birmingham (£166)
Getty
3/20 3. Cardiff (£173)
Getty
4/20 4. Newcastle upon Tyne (£176)
5/20 5. Bristol (£180)
Adrian Pingstone/Wikicommon
6/20 6. Leeds (£184)
Jungpionier/Wikimedia Creative Commons
7/20 7. Liverpool (£190)
PA
8/20 8. Nottingham (£199)
PA
9/20 9. Manchester (£200)
10/20 10. Belfast (£204)
Chris Downer/Geograph
11/20 11. Southampton (£205)
12/20 12. Chester (£205)
13/20 13. Glasgow (£218)
14/20 14. Brighton (£237)
15/20 15. York (£238)
16/20 16. Bath (£256)
17/20 17. Oxford (£256)
18/20 18. London (£267)
Diliff/Wiki Commons
19/20 19. Cambridge (£277)
20/20 20. Edinburgh (£331)
Kim Traynor/Wiki Commons
1/20 1. Sheffield (£154)
Bs0u10e01/Wiki Commons
2/20 2. Birmingham (£166)
Getty
3/20 3. Cardiff (£173)
Getty
4/20 4. Newcastle upon Tyne (£176)
5/20 5. Bristol (£180)
Adrian Pingstone/Wikicommon
6/20 6. Leeds (£184)
Jungpionier/Wikimedia Creative Commons
7/20 7. Liverpool (£190)
PA
8/20 8. Nottingham (£199)
PA
9/20 9. Manchester (£200)
10/20 10. Belfast (£204)
Chris Downer/Geograph
11/20 11. Southampton (£205)
12/20 12. Chester (£205)
13/20 13. Glasgow (£218)
14/20 14. Brighton (£237)
15/20 15. York (£238)
16/20 16. Bath (£256)
17/20 17. Oxford (£256)
18/20 18. London (£267)
Diliff/Wiki Commons
19/20 19. Cambridge (£277)
20/20 20. Edinburgh (£331)
Kim Traynor/Wiki Commons
On the other hand, the weakened power of labour relative to capital has
created an environment that has suited the extension of work time. The
recent exposé of work practices at Amazon speaks to the power of
capital in imposing poor working conditions, including excessive work
hours, on workers. The effects of rising inequality has also fed a long
work hours culture by increasing the economic necessity to work more.
David Graeber makes the provocative claim that technology has advanced
at the same time as what he calls “bullshit” or pointless jobs have
multiplied. This is why we have not realised Keynes' prediction that
we’d all be working 15-hour weeks in the 21st century, as a result of
technological progress.
Instead, we are living in a society where work gets created that is of
no social value. The reason for this, according to Graeber, is the need
of the ruling class to keep workers in work. While technology with the
potential to reduce work time exists, the political challenge of a
working population with time on its hands makes the ruling class
unwilling to realise this potential. Working less, while feasible and
desirable, is blocked by political factors.
Working for change
The costs of long work hours, as mentioned above, are poorer health and
lower well-being for workers. But for employers too there are costs in
terms of lower productivity and lower profitability. Yet these costs
seem to go unnoticed despite evidence pointing to their existence. Here
again politics may explain why shorter work time has not been embraced
by many employers.
Experiments in shorter working exist, to be sure. Uniqlo, a Japanese
clothing retailer, is to allow its employees to work a four day week.
This has been widely reported in a positive way. Workers will benefit
from a better work-life balance, while the firm will reap the benefits
of lower labour costs due to lower turnover costs.
Yet, on closer inspection, the new scheme to be introduced by Uniqlo
has its downsides. In return for a four-day working week, workers will
be expected to work ten-hour shifts during the days they work (a
40-hour working week will be squeezed into four days).
Read more
* Bank holiday in Berlin
* HSBC customers hit with payday delays ahead of holiday
* Road works, train delays and rain expected during Carnival
This is not only an extension to the normal length of the working day;
it also puts at risk the potential rewards of working four days in the
week. Workers may be so exhausted after working a four-day work week
they need a full day to recover from their previous exertions. In this
case, their quality of work and life may not be enhanced at all; indeed
it may be diminished, if they suffer the ill-effects of overwork.
Ironically, schemes such as the one to be introduced by Uniqlo
illustrate the obstacles that remain in achieving less work. Only a
reduction in the working week to 30 hours or less can be seen as
genuine progress in the achievement of shorter work time.
For us to reach – and enjoy – a three or ideally a four-day weekend, we
need to reimagine society in ways that subvert the prevailing work
ethic. We need to embrace the idea of working less as a means to a life
well lived. We need to reject the way of living that sees work as the
be all and end all of life.
So enjoy the bank holiday while you can. See it as a reminder of a life
that could be – a life that we should seek to achieve, by resolving to
overcome the barriers, economic as well as ideological and political,
to working less.
David Spencer is Professor of Economics and Political Economy at
University of Leeds
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the
original article.
Reuse content
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Learn more
(BUTTON) {{value_p}} Independent Minds comments (BUTTON) {{value}} open
comments
Open Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts
{{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
Minds Comments
Join the discussion
(BUTTON)
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community
Guidelines.
Community Guidelines
* You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please
respond to them respectfully
* Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other
discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable
* Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about
third parties
* We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban
offending users without notification
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Posting...
* Newest first
* Oldest first
* Most liked
* Least liked
Loading comments...
{{^comments}}
There are no Independent Minds comments yet - be the first to add your
thoughts {{/comments}} {{#comments}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
Reply {{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{#replies}}
{{sender.name}} {{dateTime}}
{{{commentText}}}
{{#sender.isSelf}} Delete {{/sender.isSelf}}
{{posVotes}} {{negVotes}}
{{/replies}}
{{/replies}}
{{/comments}}
{{#showMore_p}} (BUTTON) Load all comments {{/showMore}}
(BUTTON)
Follow comments
Enter your email to follow new comments on this article.
____________________ (BUTTON) Subscribe
Thanks for subscribing!
{{errorMessage}}
(BUTTON)
Vote
Are you sure you want to submit this vote?
(BUTTON) Submit vote (BUTTON) Cancel
You must be logged in to vote.
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
(BUTTON)
Report Comment
Are you sure you want to mark this comment as inappropriate?
(BUTTON) Flag comment (BUTTON) Cancel
This comment has been flagged.
This comment has been flagged.
(BUTTON)
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
(BUTTON) Delete comment (BUTTON) Cancel
Deleting comment...
This comment has been deleted.
This comment has been deleted.
(BUTTON)
Register to The Independent to comment
Anyone can post in open comments. Please continue to respect all
commenters and create constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Register Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging
discussions and hear from the journalists? Try Independent Minds free
for 14 days.
(BUTTON) Try for free Already registered? Log in
Reply
(BUTTON)
...
{{^nickname}}
Create a commenting name to join the debate
____________________ (BUTTON) Submit
Please try again, the name must be unique
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}} {{#nickname}}
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
{{/nickname}}
{{^nickname}} (BUTTON) Post {{/nickname}} {{#nickname}} (BUTTON) Post
{{/nickname}} (BUTTON) Cancel
Comment posted!
{{errorMessage}}
Posting comment...
(BUTTON)
About The Independent commenting
Independent Minds Comments can be posted by members of our membership
scheme, Independent Minds. It allows our most engaged readers to debate
the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world
solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the
threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent minds.
The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in
dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone
replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who
do not subscribe to Independent Minds. Due to the sheer scale of this
comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of
attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open
debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create
constructive debates.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
{{shortHeadline}}
Most popular
{{title}}
Sponsored features
{{title}}
Popular videos
{{title}}
(BUTTON)
Subscribe to Independent Minds to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or
reference later? Try Independent Minds free for 14 days to access this
feature.
(BUTTON) Try for free
Already registered? Log in
Article bookmarked
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Minds section, under my profile
[ ] Don't show me this message again
* Get in touch
+ Contact us
+ Jobs
+ Created with Sketch. Created with Sketch.
* Our products
+ Subscriptions
+ Install our apps
+ Archive
* Other publications
+ Evening Standard
+ Novaya Gazeta
* Extras
+ All topics
+ Voucher codes
+ Advertising guide
+ Syndication
* Legal
+ Code of conduct and complaints
+ Contributors
+ Cookie policy
+ Privacy notice
+ User policies
#publisher alternate
Skip to main content
The Guardian - Back to home
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe Contribute
Search jobs
Sign in (BUTTON) My account
* Comments & replies
* Public profile
* Account details
* Emails & marketing
______________________________________________________________
* Membership
* Contributions
* Digital Pack
______________________________________________________________
* Sign out
Search
[ ]
* switch to the International edition
* switch to the UK edition
* switch to the US edition
* switch to the Australia edition
current edition: International edition
* News
* Opinion
* Sport
* Culture
* Lifestyle
[ ] Show More
* (BUTTON) News
+ World news
+ UK news
+ Science
+ Cities
+ Global development
+ Football
+ Tech
+ Business
+ Environment
+ Obituaries
* (BUTTON) Opinion
+ The Guardian view
+ Columnists
+ Cartoons
+ Opinion videos
+ Letters
* (BUTTON) Sport
+ Football
+ Rugby union
+ Cricket
+ Tennis
+ Cycling
+ F1
+ Golf
+ US sports
* (BUTTON) Culture
+ Books
+ Music
+ TV & radio
+ Art & design
+ Film
+ Games
+ Classical
+ Stage
* (BUTTON) Lifestyle
+ Fashion
+ Food
+ Recipes
+ Love & sex
+ Health & fitness
+ Home & garden
+ Women
+ Family
+ Travel
+ Money
____________________ What term do you want to search? (BUTTON) Search
with google
* Make a contribution
* Subscribe
* (BUTTON) International edition
+ switch to the UK edition
+ switch to the US edition
+ switch to the Australia edition
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* The Guardian app
* Video
* Podcasts
* Pictures
* Newsletters
* Today's paper
* Inside the Guardian
* The Observer
* Guardian Weekly
* Crosswords
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Search jobs
* Dating
* Holidays
* Digital Archive
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
(BUTTON) More
Craft
Interview
Working with your hands: the secret to happiness?
Oliver Burkeman
Do you sometimes feel empty and unfulfilled? Are you tired all the
time? Do you sit at your desk and wonder what use your job is to
anyone? Maybe you should start doing something practical...
Oliver Burkeman
@oliverburkeman
Sat 8 May 2010 00.05 BST First published on Sat 8 May 2010 00.05 BST
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
Stone cutting: Oliver Burkeman
[ ] 'I thought I'd have to hammer with all my strength to make the
tiniest indentation; instead, great slices of stone are flaking off,
threatening to ruin all hopes of the flat surface I'm aiming for.'
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
Until I spent a day learning stonemasonry (or, to be more accurate,
failing to learn stonemasonry), I'd never given much thought to the
fact that walls are flat. But after a few hours in a boiler suit and
safety goggles, hacking incompetently at a block of Portland limestone,
the flatness of walls – especially stone ones, in churches and stately
homes and suchlike – suddenly struck me as completely astonishing.
Consider three facts: first, stone comes out of the ground in massive,
irregular, knobbly hunks. Second, by the time it ends up as part of a
wall, it's almost perfectly flat. And third: most of those walls were
built long before the invention of enormous motorised buzz saws that
slice cleanly through stone in minutes. Instead, that flatness was
achieved by masons chipping away, precisely and patiently, with chisels
and mallets. If you ever think about the art of stonemasonry at all,
you probably think of intricate carvings, or elegant columns, or
gargoyles. Yet those vast expanses of flatness are actually pretty
amazing. You don't tend to notice them – but to make them unnoticeable
takes a great deal of skill.
Which, as it turns out, I don't have. "This is the first thing you do
on your masonry apprenticeship – they give you a big rough block of
stone and say, right, make it into a square block," says Oli Clack, the
frighteningly accomplished 21-year-old who has been assigned as my
tutor at CWO Stonemasons in Chichester. There's one such block on a
table before us; the floor is deep in stone dust. Clack, demonstrating
the task, does it without really concentrating: light taps of his
mallet on the chisel cause large chunks of soft stone to fall away in
exactly the right places, leaving a flat surface that looks like it's
been there all along, waiting for someone to reveal it. CWO's
stonecarvers are some of the most talented in the country, which is
why, when I arrive at their 100-person headquarters, they're midway
through a multimillion-pound project to replace decaying windowsills at
Buckingham Palace. "You just have to forget it's the Queen's house and
get on with it," says Bernard Burns, the managing director. Even so, I
can't help noticing that a certain amount of effort is expended to make
sure my erratically wielded chisel never gets anywhere near stone
destined for the monarch's windows.
I've travelled to Chichester to test the argument made by the American
philosopher Matthew Crawford in his book, The Case For Working With
Your Hands: Or Why Office Work Is Bad For Us And Fixing Things Feels
Good. Crawford has a doctorate in political philosophy and used to work
for a thinktank; now he runs a motorbike repair shop in Richmond,
Virginia, and he knows which life he prefers. His short, passionate
book is an effort to show that this doesn't just apply to him: the way
we've come to devalue manual competence, he argues, explains why so
much modern work feels empty and unfulfilling. He's not really
suggesting that we white-collar workers should all abandon our desk
jobs in favour of rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty.
But his firm conviction is that the skilled trades – car repair,
plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, stonemasonry – offer a way of
thinking about life, and relating to the world, that we could all do
with adopting. "The important thing," he says, "is whether a job
entails using your own judgment or not."
Proudly clutching his new PhD, Crawford's first job was for an outfit
called the Information Access Company, where his task was to condense
academic papers into short summaries at the rate of 28 a day. It left
him feeling exhausted, and weirdly detached: the 28-per-day quota made
it impossible really to engage with anything he was reading. Later, he
became director of a rightwing Washington thinktank — where, he writes,
"I was always tired, and honestly could not see the rationale for my
being paid at all – what tangible goods or useful services was
I providing to anyone? This sense of uselessness was dispiriting."
After all that, turning his motorbike hobby into a job felt like a
rebirth. It was physical and concrete, with clear criteria of success
and failure: the bike was there in front of him, successfully fixed or
not. It was more intellectually challenging than the thinktank, too,
and the overall effect was energising: "Seeing a motorcycle about to
leave my shop under its own power, several days after arriving in the
back of a pickup truck, I suddenly don't feel tired, even though I've
been standing on a concrete floor all day," the now 44-year-old
Crawford writes. As the owner drives the bike away, "I can hear his
salute in the exuberant 'bwaaAAAAP! blum-blum' of a crisp throttle,
gratuitously revved. That sound pleases me, as I know it does him."
Matthew Crawford
Manual competence makes you feel better, and behave better, argues
Matthew Crawford. Electricians are not your equals, they are your
superiors Photograph: Robert Adamo
Conventional wisdom, of course, usually frowns on career transitions
like this, or dismisses them as self-indulgent, middle-class
romanticism. The ethos of the new economy is "upskilling", pushing more
and more people to get university degrees and become "knowledge
workers" as manufacturing jobs disappear, or are outsourced to China.
Web programming skills might save you; joinery skills probably won't.
Yet, as Crawford notes, "blue-collar" and "white-collar" no longer mean
much. Assembly-line workers and car mechanics are both blue-collar,
while call-centre workers are white-collar, but it's arguably the
mechanic who has the most job security: when your car breaks down, you
need him here. You can't fix cars over the internet.
Crawford's main perspective isn't economic, though: it's that manual
competence makes you feel better, and behave better. It gives you
a sense of autonomy, a feeling of responsibility for your work and for
the material world, and ultimately makes for better citizens. This is,
he admits, an "aristocratic" vision. If you're a manager who spends all
day manipulating spreadsheets, or a marketing executive who toils in
the intangible world of brands, Crawford's point isn't that you should
try to think of an electrician as your equal. His point is that the
electrician is a better person than you.
The first thing I learn, as I touch the chisel to the block and take an
initial, tentative swing with the mallet, is that stone – especially
limestone – isn't the impenetrable material I'd imagined. I thought I'd
have to hammer with all my strength to make the tiniest indentation;
instead, great slices of stone are flaking off, threatening to ruin all
hopes of the flat surface I'm aiming for.
Apprentice masons soon learn, Clack explains, that stone is a
temperamental substance that needs to be coaxed and cajoled into the
right shape, not dominated with brute force. It has its eccentricities.
It can fall apart under its own weight while you're carrying it. Or
water can seep in, freezing and leaving air-pockets, so that you'll be
chiselling away when suddenly you hit one, and the delicate patterns
you've spent the last week carving fracture into pieces and fall to the
floor.
What emerges from my chiselling isn't what most people would call flat.
But for someone who's famous among friends for a lack of hand-eye
coordination, it's surprisingly non-terrible: you could certainly tell,
by looking at it, that flatness was what I was aiming for. "That's not
too bad, actually," is Clack's verdict, and though I know he's being
polite, this makes me feel great. Unlike an office performance review,
where nothing's really measurable, and where blandly content-free
praise is the norm, there's a clear, indisputable goal here. I haven't
met it, but that's the curious thing: it feels better to know exactly
what you're aiming for, even if you miss.
Crawford sees the dwindling of manual skills as part of something
bigger and more alarming: a fundamental change in how we relate to our
physical stuff. As consumers, most of us no longer make things, but buy
them instead; we no longer fix things, but replace them. Appliances
used to be manufactured in the expectation that customers might want to
tinker with them – detailed parts diagrams were often included – but
these days designers try to "hide the works". Gadgets feature strange
screws that can't be unscrewed using normal screwdrivers. Some cars are
designed so that all you can see once you lift the bonnet is a smooth,
impenetrable surface: effectively, another bonnet. We become passive
and dependent, and more easily manipulable. Our physical surroundings
no longer hold our attention, and we start to succumb to what Crawford
calls "virtualism" – "a vision of the future in which we somehow take
leave of material reality and glide about in a pure information
economy." This is the vision peddled by numerous commentators on the
future of the internet: an ethereal, anchorless world in which all we
do is exchange ideas, where everything is funded by advertisements for
everything else, and in which all that matters is the production of
knowledge – not the sewers and electricity networks and kitchen tables
and washing machines on which the knowledge-producers will still
presumably rely.
This is turning us into narcissists, Crawford claims: we believe that
reality is what we make it. Marketers and advertisers focus on building
brands, and "telling compelling stories". Managers, lacking clear
yardsticks to assess the work of their subordinates or themselves, turn
into therapists, concerning themselves with boosting morale or
unleashing "creativity", which is spoken of like some mystical force,
waiting to be tapped by brainstorming sessions and bonding weekends.
Confronting the material world brings us back to the realisation that
there is an undeniable reality, and grappling with it requires us to
get over our self-absorption. What you need instead is honesty and
humility, and even a kind of submission. "Getting it right demands that
you be attentive in the way of a conversation, rather than assertive in
the way of a demonstration," is how Crawford puts it. Instead of
imagining ourselves to be all-powerful, yet all the while feeling
strangely powerless, making and fixing things instils both a sense of
power over what you can control and honesty about what you can't.
Crucial to all this is actually experiencing failure, something
white-collar workers are often buffered from. "There are people who'll
say, 'Oh, I'm not mechanical,' " Crawford says, "but often much of what
distinguishes people who are is that they're willing to undergo the
experience of unambiguous failure."
"Unambiguous failure" is a pretty good way to describe what happens
when Oli Clack introduces me to the next stage of my masonry training,
which involves an electrically powered chisel that causes my entire
body to vibrate painfully, yet somehow fails to remove any stone
whatsoever. As I should have guessed, the reason is that brute force
isn't the answer: clutching the chisel with both hands and driving it
into the stone just drives its vibrations back into your bones; the
trick is barely to hold it at all.
I never quite get the hang of this – but even so, a few hours in, I can
begin to appreciate something of the pleasing exhaustion that's
characteristic of the work. As early as lunchtime, a deep sense of
peacefulness has settled over the workshop.
Oliver Burkeman cutting stone
'What emerges from my chiselling isn’t what most people would call
flat, but it’s surprisingly non-terrible,' says Oliver Burkeman
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
"You do feel good at the end of the day, because you're knackered,"
says Clack, whose own current project is an elaborate restoration of
the St Lawrence Jewry Fountain near St Paul's Cathedral in London, part
of which sits on the table in front of him. "You've been concentrating,
but you've probably also been doing a lot of heavy lifting, and also,
you know, you've done your work, and you're like, yeah, I did that.
It's done. Proud of that."
There is, of course, a simpler way to explain the thrill Crawford felt
when he set up in business as a motorcycle mechanic: that he just
really, really likes bikes. And tinkering in workshops. And vehicles
with roaring engines that travel at terrific speeds – that he is, in
other words, a fairly stereotypical youngish American male. (There's
plenty of shopfloor horseplay in the book: "I smelled something
burning, and discovered my pants were on fire...") There's nothing
wrong with that, of course, a theory that, perhaps reflecting
Crawford's thinktank days, has a certain conservative flavour. After a
while, wrote the New York Times reviewer Dwight Garner, The Case For
Working With Your Hands "begins to read like a long, self-satisfied
defence of the life choices Mr Crawford has made – quitting the dreary
thinktank where the girly men are, and working on bikes. The book
suddenly has a small but detectable chip on its shoulder." Crawford
makes some effort to defend his ideas as universal, but he also
concedes that he's preoccupied with "a kind of discontent that is
perhaps peculiarly male. I think young men, when they look at the
palette of possibilities presented to them... there's something missing
from the official picture of what they're supposed to want." Office
work, he comes very close to saying, is effeminising, with its focus on
teamwork and groups. Real men want to be independent and self-directed,
preferably with a wrench in their hand. There's an additional risk of
wallowing in nostalgia for some golden age of artisans, or of idolising
those with dangerous or poorly paid jobs who themselves might far
rather the comforts of desk work.
By the end of my time at CWO Stonemasons in Chichester, though, I
confess I wasn't thinking much about these criticisms. I was getting
better – just very slightly – at chiselling a flat surface from a block
of Portland limestone. I'd been deeply absorbed, I was happily tired
and, if the stone I'd been working on had been destined for some
real-life monument or building, I'd have been able to say: look, there,
that's what I did, and it's going to last.
Topics
* Craft
* Health & wellbeing
* Work & careers
* All sectors
* interviews
* Share on Facebook
* Share on Twitter
* Share via Email
* Share on LinkedIn
* Share on Pinterest
* Share on Google+
* Share on WhatsApp
* Share on Messenger
* Reuse this content
View all comments >
(BUTTON) Order by
* (BUTTON) newest
* (BUTTON) oldest
* (BUTTON) recommendations
(BUTTON) Show 25
* (BUTTON) 25
* (BUTTON) 50
* (BUTTON) 100
* (BUTTON) All
(BUTTON) Threads
* (BUTTON) collapsed
* (BUTTON) expanded
* (BUTTON) unthreaded
Loading comments… Trouble loading?
(BUTTON) View more comments
Most popular
* Fashion
* Food
* Recipes
* Love & sex
* Health & fitness
* Home & garden
* Women
* Family
* Travel
* Money
IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk
* Contact us
* Complaints & corrections
* Secure Drop
* Work for us
* Privacy policy
* Cookie policy
* Terms & conditions
* Help
* All topics
* All writers
* Digital newspaper archive
* Facebook
* Twitter
* Advertise with us
* Search UK jobs
Support The Guardian
Contribute Subscribe
Back to top
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
(BUTTON) Close
[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Craft%2CHealth+%26+wellbeing%
2CWork+%26+careers%2CMoney%2CGuardian+Careers%2CAll+sectors]