One word for fun at work

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   Set real goals for yourself, not just metrics to follow. One way to have more fun at work is to set tangible goals for yourself whenever you head into the office. Though metrics — believing you can write X amount of reports or talk to Y amount of clients in one week — can be a short-term motivator, having more meaningful goals, such as developing your communication skills or writing the most comprehensive report you’ve ever written on a certain subject can help you think of your job in terms of a big picture. Having long term goals that feel meaningful instead of just like you’re crunching numbers can definitely help make your workplace more fun for you.

   • Write down your weekly work goals before you get to work on Monday, and work on setting monthly or even yearly goals. The more you have to strive toward, the more motivated you will feel.
   • Believe it or not, setting goals and meeting them actually will make your work week much more fun!

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   Generate positive energy. If you want your workplace to be more fun, then you have to work on being more positive. Sure, everyone loves to complain about work, but if you get into the habit of constantly complaining about work with all of your co-workers, then you’ll be heading in a downward spiral. Though it can help to vent about the things that bother you, try talking about a new innovation or co-worker you like at work for a change, and see how much this improves your level of happiness and your overall mood.

   • Work on genuinely complimenting at least one of your coworkers each day. This can help set a positive tone to your day.
   • If you catch yourself making a negative comment, try to compensate with at least two positive comments.
   • When your coworkers complain about work, you don’t have to tell them to stop, but you can try to naturally change the subject to something more positive.
   • Spend time with positive coworkers so you don’t have to deal with any negativity.^[1]
     

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   Have a sense of humor. If you want to have fun at work, then you have to stop thinking that being professional means being serious all the time. If you take a moment to laugh at the funny things that happen at the office, to occasionally share a funny story with a coworker, or just to read a funny comic someone put on the fridge, you’ll begin to see how much more fun you’re capable of having in the workplace. If you stop seeing work as a “no fun” zone, then you’ll open yourself to endless possibilities.^[2]
   

   • If your office environment is pretty fun and open, you can even play harmless pranks on your co-workers, like placing a rubber spider on their desks, once in a while. Just make sure you know them well enough for this to not send the wrong message.
   • Learn to laugh at yourself, too. If you take yourself less seriously, you’ll be able to relax and have more fun.

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   Be motivated to do your job. Being motivated to succeed can really help you have fun in the workplace. In order to be motivated, you have to not only set personal goals but to really believe in the good that your company does. (Of course, it can be a little trickier if you can’t find the good — then you may need a new strategy!) Focus on the fact that you’re helping people and producing something meaningful, and you’ll feel more motivated to work hard while having fun in the process.

   • Being motivated may be easier than staying motivated. One way to stay motivated is to write a to-do list at the beginning of your work day or work week and to take satisfaction in crossing each item off the list.
   • Talk to your coworkers about projects you’re really excited about. This will help you be motivated and to get excited about your work. You can even share your results with your coworkers, which will also make your job more fun.

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   Have a sense of purpose. Generating a sense of purpose isn’t always easy. If you feel like you’re just doing the same thing day after day or just crunching numbers, then it can be difficult to have fun with what you’re doing. To have a sense of purpose, you have to think that no one can do your job as well as you can and that the work you do is meaningful and that you should get it done as well as you can. If you walk into the office counting down the moments until you leave instead of focusing on having a sense of meaning from the work you do, then you won’t be able to have fun at the office.^[3]
   

   • Your job should help you make the most of your skills and interests. If you feel like you’re not using your interests or your best talents in the workplace, then it may be harder to have fun at work.
   • Your sense of purpose can lie in helping people. Whether you’re a lifestyle blogger or a grief counsellor, you can have a sense of purpose in the fact that you’re making a person’s life better and that this couldn’t happen without you.

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   Don’t try too hard to have fun. Though it’s important to have fun at work, some studies show that if you try too hard to have fun, you’ll actually be making yourself miserable. One study in Australia found that workers in an environment where they felt pressured to smile, look happy all the time, and participate in “fun” events actually felt stifled and stressed out by having to look happy all the time. That is to say, you should try to have more fun, but not so much that you feel like you’re putting too much pressure on yourself.^[4]
   

   • If you’re having a really bad day and just want to be left alone, then don’t force yourself to plaster a fake grin on your face. Be kind but quiet to your co-workers and do your own thing until you feel better. Forcing it too much can actually make you feel worse.
   • Also, you shouldn’t try too hard to make everyone in the office have fun. Not everyone in the office will get wrapped up in the spirit of having fun, and you have to respect that, too.

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   Bring fun activities to your workplace. One way to make your work environment more fun is to bring some more fun activities to the workplace. Though you want to clear this with your boss and make sure it doesn’t lead to too much slacking off, just having some more fun things in your office can lead you and everyone else to have more fun. It’ll give you more to look forward to when you walk into the office and will allow you take short breaks that lead to higher happiness and productivity. Here are some other fun activities you can bring:

   • Stick some magnetic poetry on the fridge and have fun creating unique phrases with your coworkers.
   • As corny as it sounds, a little basketball and basketball hoop can lead to some fun activity and conversation during breaks, as would a little Koosh ball that you and your coworkers can bring around.
   • If you just came back from vacation, bring back some trinkets as gifts for your coworkers or some photographs to show what you’ve been up to.
   • Bring board games that you can play during your lunch break.

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   Try a change of scenery. If your workplace allows it, having a change of scenery can sometimes have a major impact on your level of happiness. Try having a walking meeting outside with one of your co-workers instead of meeting in your office. If you’re giving an informal presentation, try doing it outdoors or in a new part of the office. If you always eat lunch in the cafeteria, walk across the street to get your sandwich fix. These little changes can make a big difference to how much fun you’re having.

   • Of course, you should talk to your boss first to make sure this is okay. You can argue that it’ll lead to higher happiness and productivity.

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   Spruce up your workplace. Another way to have more fun at the office is to spruce up your workplace. This can mean bringing in flowers every week, hoping that someone else will follow suit, placing funny magnets on the fridge, bringing snacks for breakfast, or even seeing if you can bring your dog to work once in a while. As long as it’s okay with your boss, making an effort to make your work environment more fun, cheery, and sunny can really make a big difference on the fun factor of going to work.

   • You can even ask if you can spruce up the common area in your workplace. Adding some funny posters, some gorgeous paintings, or some potted plants can make the workplace seem more homey and fun.
   • Bring in activities that can make your office feel more communal. Bake cookies or bring in a partially-completed crossword puzzle and ask for help with it.

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   Participate in fun activities with your coworkers outside of work. If you want to have a more fun work environment, then you should participate in more events with your coworkers so that your work environment feels more fun because you’ll all be getting to know each other better. You can go to a weekly happy hour or trivia night to have some laughs with your co-workers, join a book club with some of them, or be part of a softball league. All of these activities will lead to more fun and friendly work environment.^[5]
   

   • Another fun thing you can do with your coworkers is to join a volunteering organization together. This can help you contribute toward a good cause while bonding.
   • If people in your office seem to like each other but are hesitant to start anything, then you can take the initiative to organize some social events. You’ll be the center of the fun and your co-workers will be grateful.

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   Look up from your computer. This sounds like a small thing, but it can make a huge difference. At some workplaces, people feel locked in to their computers, as if a magnetic force field is keeping them from looking up, even if Jennifer Lawrence or Ryan Gosling walked in to the office. Though it’s important to get your work done, you’ve got to get out of the mentality that you can’t give the people and things around you a moment of your time. Once you loosen up and take the time to smile at people or to look at the croissants someone brought in to the office, you’ll be on your way to having more fun.

   • When someone passes by, make a habit of looking up and saying hello and even having a quick conversation some of the time. This will make your work day more fun and exciting for sure.
   • If you start looking up from your computer more, then other co-workers will follow suit. You can start a trend of more fun and sociability in the workplace.

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   Be kind instead of gossiping. Another way to make your work environment more fun is to develop positive relationships in the workplace. Though everyone loves some good office gossip, starting a trend to actually say positive things about the people you work with and to develop strong connections with them instead of bringing them down can make you much more excited to come to work. You’ll have much more fun at work if you come to think of your coworkers as your friends instead of your frenemies.

   • If one of your co-workers hears that you’ve been praising him or her, then he’ll like you even more for it. Everybody wins.
   • If you’re in a conversation that is filled with gossip, you don’t have to castigate people for it, but you can try to kindly excuse yourself, even if you just say you have to make a phone call real quick. Alternately, you can try to change the subject to something more positive.

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   Make more of an effort to interact with your coworkers. One of the easiest ways to have more fun at work is to make more of an effort to talk to your colleagues. Instead of rushing to your desk and spending all day hanging out with your computer, make an effort to stop and chat with your co-workers every once in a while, even if it’s a quick talk in the kitchen or in the hallway. Taking just a few minutes a day to talk to your co-workers won’t really slow down your productivity and it’ll actually make you have more fun when you come in to the office.

   • The more you talk to people, the more you’ll look forward to seeing friendly faces, and the more fun you’ll have in the workplace.
   • You don’t have to be best friends with your co-workers to laugh and joke around with them a bit.
   • Instead of sending an email or a Skype message to a co-worker who is working just a few feet away from you, make an effort to get up and talk to him or her in person. These small daily interactions will make for a more fun work day.

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   Build meaningful relationships with your coworkers. Having strong relationships with your coworkers can not only help you advance in your career, but it can also help you have more fun at work.^[6]
   If you make a real effort to get to know your coworkers, to socialize with them outside of work, and to consider some of them your friends, you’ll be able to have a lot more fun in the workplace because you’ll be more excited to come in to work if you know your friends are there.^[7]
   Give your co-workers a chance and see which ones can be your real friends; as for the rest of them, work on building a friendly, healthy rapport with them.

   • Don’t make excuses for why you can’t be friends with your co-workers; if you think that one person is too old, too young, or too wrapped up in family to be your friend, then you’ll be missing out on some great friendships.
   • Of course, this doesn’t mean you should try to date your co-workers; romantic relationships in the office may lead to some fun initially, but will definitely lead to discomfort and awkwardness down the line.
   • Make an extra effort to be friendly. Your co-workers may be wishing for a more friendly relationship but they be afraid to take the first step.

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   Get some activity during your lunch break or day. Instead of eating lunch with your coworkers, you can also try taking a yoga or a ballet class during your lunch break a few times a week. If you don’t have time to schedule this much physical activity, then just try to be as active as possible throughout your day. This can help your body feel energized while leaving your mind feeling happier. Here are some other ways to get activity during work:

   • Take the stairs instead of the elevator
   • Walk to a co-worker’s desk to have a conversation instead of sending an email
   • Do five minutes of basic stretching or exercising at your desk
   • Take breaks to walk outside, even if it’s just to get lunch or coffee

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   Enjoy your commute. One way to have more fun during your work day is to turn your commute into something you look forward to instead of something that you dread. A lot of people spend their commute listening to music and either dreading the workday or decompressing from it. You can do better than that. Doing something that you actually want to do on your commute will make you look forward to it instead of dreading it, which will make for a more fun day.

   • If you’re driving, listen to a book on tape, make a phone date with your best friend (as long as you have a headpiece), or even listen to a lecture about the fall of the Roman empire.
   • If you’re on a train, read a magazine, set up fun plans for your weekend, or write in a journal.

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   Eat communal lunch. Though a lot of people use lunch as a time to decompress, make phone calls to the repairman, or just to be left alone, making a habit of having communal lunch can make you feel more bonded to your co-workers and to have more fun during this time of the day. While you don’t have to do it every day, spending time with your coworkers at least a few times a week during lunch will help you have more fun than you would when you were alone. As long as you find time to decompress, having lunch with your coworkers will lead to a more positive work day.

   • Try to relax during lunch and to enjoy talking to your co-workers instead of rushing through your food to get back to your work. This social time is important for regaining your energy and it will actually allow you to have more fun when you get back to work, not to mention to have more fun while you eat.
   • Another way to have fun during lunch is to mix it up. If you’re in the habit of grabbing lunch with your coworkers a few times a week, try having Mexican, Indian, Italian, or Thai food throughout the week so you don’t get bored with the same old food.

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   Take breaks. Another important thing to do if you want to have more fun at work is to take breaks from your work at least once an hour. Ideally, you should take a 10-15 minute break after an hour to an hour and a half of solid work so that you can regroup, rest your mind, and give your body a break, too. A break can mean taking a 15-minute walk, reading your favorite gossip site, closely reading a poem from a book you keep in your desk, or even drawing a quick sketch. If you get too locked into your work, you won’t be having any fun.^[8]
   

   • Breaks also give you something to look forward to and keep you motivated. If you tell yourself, “Once I finish this report, I’ll check if Josh and Andi from the bachelorette are still together,” you’ll be much more motivated than if you think, “Once I finish this report…I’ll start the next report.”
   • Even a short break to rest your eyes to meditate, rake your Zen garden, or just to stare outside the window for a few minutes can have a big impact on your productivity as well as how much fun you’re having.

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• Try not to think of how bad your job is. Think of why you are working and your benefits.

• Keep an open mind on what activities you fill your time with. Learn a new language, magic, or even try yoga or meditation (this also helps calm and relax your self).

• If you want to go to sleep, put on some music or have a comfortable space and time where you will not be woken suddenly.

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• Never take a nap with an alarm clock. The worst thing to happen is to waste 2 hours sleeping. Have a coworker wake you up after 30 minutes.

• Not all jobs allow this kind of activity. Check with a boss or co-worker first

• An employer may give you more regular work to do when they see you not working productively. They are not paying you to play games, sleep or learn magic tricks.

• It’s best not to do any of these things if you have tight or close deadlines!

Things You’ll Need

• Puzzle (such as a crossword, Sudoku, word search, etc…)
• Small pillow
• Book or literature to read.
• An activity where you learn a new activity (the best kind of activity)
• A travel board game (easy to pack away and if moved won’t ruin the game)

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