Happy at work?

Work takes up a large chunk of our lives. If you're miserable at work because you're overburdened, disrespected, or clash with co-workers, that can take a huge toll.

Here are some tips for feeling happier at work.

1. Know what "a good life" means to you.

Understanding your personal values is crucial in shaping your career. Research shows three types of people: those who prioritize happiness, those who prioritize meaning, and those who enjoy richness. Let's delve into what these terms mean in the context of work.

• Someone who seeks happiness may prioritize a cruisey job. They want it to be low-stress. Whether they like their workmates and have fun at work is likely a high priority. They prefer not to think much about work during their downtime.
• Someone who prioritizes meaning is concerned with the greater good and/or having experiences that feel personally meaningful to them. They want the work they do to closely reflect their values.
• "Richness" is the least intuitive concept. It refers to people who like a variety of experiences, novelty, complex problem-solving, learning new skills, and creative solutions to problems rather than standard ones. They don't want too much sameness or consistency.

Put these concepts in rank order of importance to you. This will help you understand what work will make you most happy. You can then use that self-knowledge to select a work role and craft a job, which we'll discuss next.

2. "Job craft" your way into doing work that has more value.

Job crafting is a powerful concept that allows you to shape your work to better suit your personality, strengths, and preferences. It's about creating a work environment that brings out the best in you.

You can also job craft your way to doing work that's more meaningful and valuable. For example, traditionally, salespeople are judged on how much they can upsell customers. That's not very fulfilling. But here's an example of a salesperson who is creating value. Another example could be a customer service representative who, instead of just resolving complaints, actively seeks to improve the customer experience by suggesting changes to the company's policies.

A guy (with whom I have no affiliation) sells cars at a dealership. He also makes incredibly detailed, passionate YouTube video walkthroughs of different models. The videos overcome a problem most of us have—humans become easily flustered when we must compare multiple complex options, especially with large purchases.

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That can make visiting a dealership feel extremely pressured and stressful. He's removing that stress for people, helping people understand the product, and driving many customers to his dealership. He's achieving more sales but in a valuable way.

In particular, people who value meaning and richness will feel more satisfied when their work feels more valuable. Some of that satisfaction will come from figuring out how to do that creatively. Remember, they like to solve challenging problems.

I will give many more strategies for creative ways to craft jobs in stress-free production. It can take time and requires understanding yourself and what makes you feel calm and happy.

It's time to reject the hustle culture that often dominates our work lives. You don't have to conform to unrealistic overwork standards to succeed. Your well-being should always come first. Many forces shape our behaviour to make us feel pressured to conform to hustle culture. For example, it's primarily seen as the norm in current American corporate life, even though it's not "normal" if you take a broader view of different cultures and periods. When people exist within that bubble, it can be difficult to see outside it and see that it's not normal or acceptable. This happens in any microcosm.

Social pressures contribute, too. For example, when other people tell you they're overworking because they see it as essential to their success. That can make you think you need to do that, too. But you don't. You can reject that assumption.

Pick something memorable that helps you do that. For example, I like to say, "Einstein wasn't trying to 'crush it' at work." Einstein is an example of someone who valued richness. He was inherently motivated to understand the world better. He was motivated by doing good work. Other strategies could include setting boundaries for work hours, prioritizing self-care, and seeking support from colleagues who share your values.

Seeing your work as a craft can propel you to do better and help you build resilience. This can apply to almost anything—teaching, accounting, a plant nursery business, writing, or an Etsy store. When you see your job as a craft, it makes you interested in learning new skills, getting feedback to improve, and interacting with a wide range of people who can help you improve your craft. Again, this will most appeal to meaning and richness seekers.

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What about toxic work environments?

If your work culture is toxic, that's not a self-help problem. Asking how you can change yourself to thrive in a toxic culture isn't the right question to ask. That's like if a battered partner asked me how they could get their spouse to stop hitting them. It's not your responsibility to figure out how to prevent someone from abusing you by reshaping yourself in a way that makes staying in the situation tolerable.

What's a toxic work environment? It's, for example, the kind where your boss sends you emails and expects responses during non-working hours or when you're on vacation.

Self-help articles must acknowledge when problems don't lie within individuals, as this can lead to harmful self-blame.