Do you have fun at work? We sure hope you do. If work can sometimes be a drag, this episode is for you. This week, Shannon and Janine talking tips and strategies for making work fun. Because, in Oscar Wilde’s words, “Life is far too important to take seriously.”
Discussion topics include:
- How our perception of our work has everything to do with how much fun our work is
- How perfectionism can play a role in making work less fun
- Janine’s experiences with making organizing fun
- The prescient Oscar Wilde quote on Shannon’s high-school yearbook page
- Letting go of perfectionism to try to make work more fun
- Gamifying your work
- Sharing your work achievements to make them more fun
- How working with someone else—even if you’re working on different things—can make boring work more fun
- The importance of setting boundaries at work to create space to have fun
- How fun is in the eye of the fun-maker (and that it’s good to know what your idea of fun is)
- The mean trick played on Shannon’s coworker
- The role of rewards in making work fun
Links:
- One of Janine’s blog posts about To Do List Bingo
- Lifehacker’s classic post about Don’t Break the Chain (which credits the idea to Jerry Seinfeld)
My last job I hated it for five years. I only stayed that long until my pension vested. I worked for the government doing the most boring thing in the world. There was never any variety in my day, and I was totally isolated.
Now I work for an international company in their call center. I love my job even though I get paid a lot less than the government. It doesn’t matter because every day I talk to the nicest people in the world. I have only had two phone calls in over two years that were unpleasant. But these people were angry when they picked up the phone and nothing I could do could appease them or make them happy. I believe that they are just very unhappy individuals, and that is their problem, not mine.
My job is fun when I talk to my Members because I am almost always able to come up with some way to build rapport. The last call I just took? Her UserName was PoopsieMe! Oh, I just roared with laughter when I saw and said that! She and I had such a good time laughing about it. I seem to spend most of my day smiling with the occasional work thrown in. Totally worth earning less money!
You’re a very lucky person, Christy, to enjoy your job so much. Hats off to you!