career satisfaction
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What makes us happy at work?
When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say
to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.
Boredom and Happiness at Work
Results of a PCP poll for the TDA[1]on 2113
graduates aged 21 to 45.
Boredom Rating for Graduates (out of 10):
Administrative/Secretarial jobs 10
Manufacturing jobs 8.1
Sales jobs 7.8
Marketing/Advertising 7.7
IT/Telecommunications 7.5
Science Research & Development 7.3
Media 7.1
Law 6.9
Engineering 6.9
Banking/Finance 6.6
Human Resources 6.6
Accountancy 6.3
The Happiest Professions
According to the City & Guilds
Happiness at Work Index some
of the happiest graduate jobs
were (in order):
doctor
dentist
armed forces
teachers
leisure & tourism jobs
journalistsaccountants
lawyers
marketing
PR & advertising staff
nurses
HR staff
architects,
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Hospitality/Travel 5.3
Healthcare 5.1
Teaching 4.0
This survey was commissioned by a
teaching agency!
Teachers were the least bored. 81 per cent of
teachers questioned said it is the challenge of
the role, 81% because no two days are the
same, and 86% said they enjoy the interaction
with people. 64% also rate the opportunity to
use their creativity.
Employees surveyed say they are mainly bored
because ofthe lack of challengein their jobs
(61%), not using their skills or their knowledge
60% and doing the same things every day(50%)
computing staff
bankers
Some of the least happy
professions were
apparently:
social workers
civil servants
estate agents
secretaries
administrators
I'm not sure how reliable this
survey is but I'd suspect that
some of the factors at work
here would be people contact,
money, job security &
autonomy.
So what do we make of the apparent contradictions here? Of course, such surveys are
never particularly accurate, and boredom and happiness are different measures.Teachers may be the least bored, but this doesn't necessarily mean that they are
particularly happy in their jobs!
Well-being
An excellent survey on the well-being of Plymouth University students and graduates
by Dr. Glen Crust and Dr. Helen Hicks found thatstudents with the highest well-beingwere those on medical, nursing, pharmacy and teaching courses whereas students with
the lowest well-beingwere those on finance, law, management and economics
courses. You can find the full survey results here[2]. Well-being was measured by
amalgamating scores for: "how satisfied you are with your life"; "the extent you feel the
things you do in your life are worthwhile"; "how happy you felt yesterday" and how
anxious you felt yesterday (inverse).
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Occupations with the highest well-beingincluded health professionals such as
physiotherapists, nurses, midwives, podiatrists and paramedics, further education
teachers, surveyors, accountants and management consultants. As you might expect,
graduates who got the type of work they wanted were happier than those who only had
one job offer which they had to accept.
Graduates with first class degrees have on average a higher well-being than thosewith 2:1s, who have a higher well-being than those with 2:2s and thirds. This may well
be because graduates with higher degree classes tend to be in better or more
appropriate jobs. Women graduatesreport slightly higher levels of well-being on
average andwhite graduateswere found to have higher well-being scores than
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British respondents.
Are employees of small businesses and the self-employed more orless satisfied?
A survey by the TUC found that employees in small businesses are more satisfied at
work. They were also found to be the most committed and loyal to their organisations.
They also felt most engaged by their employer and had the most freedom to choose
their working patterns. There were far fewer reports of bullying, lower stress levels
and less complaints about long working hours.
The Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses said "In terms of the way they
treat their staff, small businesses consistently out perform their bigger competitors.
Small business owners know that the greatest asset is their staff and they are more
likely to treat them as individuals and recognise their needs. By having a committed
and loyal workforce that has a say in how the organisation is run, the smallest business
has a bigger advantage."
Having said this larger organisationsdo tend to offer higher initial salaries, bettertraining and more chance to specialise. See our page on Working in smaller
organisations [3]
People who have set up their own business tend to be happier.They take
responsibility for their own future, and take control of their own destiny. Self employed
people are happier about their work-life balance even though they work the longest
hours - because they have more control over their time. See our self employment
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page[4]for more about this.
Research by Sonya Lyubomirsky (University of California) using data for over 250,000
people found that being happy lead to higher incomes, greater productivity and quality
of work, more satisfying and longer marriages, more friends, stronger social support,
and richer social interactions, more activity, energy, and flow, and better physical
health.
A study in 2007 by Nattavudh Powdthavee[5]found that meeting regularly with
friends, relatives and neighbours had the same effect on your happiness as a large
increase in salary. Being married or living together was also highly beneficial.
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Commuting
Some new research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).has found that people
who spend between an hour and 90 minutes getting to work each day are more
miserable than their colleagues. and people travelling by bus are even more unhappy.
Commuters have on average lower life satisfaction, a lower sense that daily activitiesare worthwhile, lower levels of happiness and higher anxiety than non-commuters.
People who worked from homehad higher personal well-being even compared to
those who commute for less than a quarter of an hour.
HR Grapevine Article: Commuters want to cry by the time they get to work
Other factors reducing happiness at work include:Long working hours
Having to relocateto a new area to get a job (as you lose some contact with friends
and relatives)
Tight deadlines
Lack of control
Being unemployed.
Green spaces
Researchers at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health [6]found that
living in an urban area with green spaces has a long term positive impact on people's
mental well-being. Moving to an area with green spaces had a sustained positive
effect, whereas pay rises or promotions, only gave a short-term boost to happiness.
People living in greener urban areas show less signs of depression or stress.[7]
How important is money?
The Easterlin Paradox
The economist Richard Easterlin found a paradox: high incomes do correlate with
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23613211http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23613211http://www.hrgrapevine.com/markets/hr/article/2014-01-13-commuters-want-to-cry-by-the-time-they-arrive-at-work/?utm_source=Sign-Up.to&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7962-310427-HRM+-+13%25252F01%25252F14#.UtZtQvRdUg4 -
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happiness, but long term, increased income doesnt correlate with increased
happiness.
Researchers examined 37 countries over the long term (measurements were made over
22 years) and found that happiness ratings within a country didn't increase with
income. In China, S. Korea, and Chile, per capitaincome doubled is less than two
decades yet all these countries showed slight declines in happiness. Easterlin
said[8]"We may need to focus policy on urgent personal concerns such as health and
family life, rather than on the mere escalation of material goods."
Money is surprisingly not particularly important once you have enough to meet all
your basic requirements. Extra money doesn't make you much happier. A pay risedoes make you happy but only for a short while as you quickly become adapted to it.
This is because we rapidly get used to what we have (see the hedonic treadmill below).
In the UK, life satisfaction has decreased since the 1970s despite a 60% rise in Gross
Domestic Product in that time, again showing that buying and
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owning consumer goods makes no difference to well being. In 1998 Bhutan allowed in
television and the Internet into the country for the first time (previously they had been
banned). This lead to an almost immediately increased craving for a Western lifestyleand products and an increased dissatisfaction with life - see the hedonic treadmill
below.
A new job, house or car gives a short term boost, but quickly get accustomed to it.
Having your finances under control (e.g. not being in debt) is more important than a
large wage, although earning less than most of the people you know also affects your
happiness (keeping up with the Joneses). There is a higher occurrence of depression in
those who think happiness comes via money, fame, and beauty.
After several years lottery winners revert to their previous levels of happiness.[9]
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Winning 1M doesn't add to self esteem, in fact, after a short term boost in happiness
most lottery winners go back to their old levels of happiness and sometimes even lower
as they no longer have their old goals to aim for. They feel a sense of hollowness that
may make them want to work again.
Some recent research[10]found that mice preferred treats that they had to work harder
to get suggesting that the old adage; The harder you work for something, the more you
appreciate it.is true for animals as well as humans!
The real value of money lies in it's power to buy you freedom and security. By
saving money you also partially insulate yourself from stress.
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Money DOES buy:
security ( = greater freedom from stress)
autonomy
more time to enjoy life
greater freedom to do what you want
the chance to educate yourself and to enrich your life, for example, by travel
the ability to help others who have less than you have.
If however after reading this, you do still wish tobecome a millionaire, according to a
survey by Spears and Wealth Insight[11]the most common degrees to achieve this are,
in order:
1. Engineering
2. Economics
3. Business Administration
4. Commerce
5. Accounting
6. Computer Science
7. Finance
8. Politics
The best universities to attend to become a millionaire were in order: Harvard,
Stanford, California, Columbia, Oxford, MIT, New York, Cambridge, Pennsylvania and
Cornell. The universities which dominateare exactly the ones youd expect, not just
because of the quality of the education but because of the self-confidence they instill in
their students. They also havestrong alumni networks.
Bonuses
Rewards such as bonusesprovide a short term boost to performance but ultimately
reduce long term motivation. Performance related pay and the carrot and stick
approach have little or no long term value in motivating staff[12].
Research from the Institute of Leadership & Management[13]found that few employees
said that bonuses motivated them to work harder.
According to those surveyed the most important motivators were:59% felt enjoyment of the jobwas the most important motivator
https://www.i-l-m.com/Why-ILM/Research-reports/Beyond-the-bonushttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/184767769X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292324315&sr=1-4http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131104231507-17970806-most-popular-college-degrees-earned-by-millionaires -
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49% how much they are paid.
42% getting on with colleagueswas the best motivator
22%being treated fairly by their managers
22% autonomy: how much control they have over their work
Only 13% of employees said thatbonusesmotivated them to work harder.
Getting regular feedback, allowing staff autonomy in their role, the opportunity toinnovate and improved office environmentsalso helped
Good managers are key motivators who can make a real difference to their teams. The
five fundamentals of good management: coaching, giving feedback, listening,
rewarding and recognising success and performance management. Something as
simple as hearing you've done a really good job on .... can strongly boost to an
employees confidence, deliver a sense of pride and satisfaction and encourage them to
put more into their work.
Part-time workersare more motivated (76%) at work than full-time workers (68%),
despite being paid less pro rata (10,793 a year, less than half of the average salary for a
full time employee at 22,328). They are more likely to have a higher level of respect for
their manager (57%) than full time colleagues (52%) and a more positive attitude
towards their employer (57%) than full time staff (49%).
Women were significantly more motivated than men.For women, enjoying their jobis the most important motivator (64% chose it as one of their top three), followed by
how well I get on with people (44%) and base salary (41%), while men chose base
salary and benefits (58%) as the most important factor, then enjoying their job (53%)
and how well they get on with colleagues (41%).
Those under 30 are more financially motivatedthan their older colleagues, and are
more likely to currently be in a job where they receive financial incentives for work.
Some 55% of under 30s indicated that money was either very or pretty important to
them, compared to 43% of over 30s. 12% of under 30s said that money is the root of all
happiness compared to 9% of over 30s.
Two thirds (61%) of employees said their workplace had an appraisal system,but a
quarter of respondents (25%) think that appraisals are performed poorly by their
manager. Appraisals are less effective at driving the performance and motivation among
female employees.
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Sensory pleasures
Many people confuse happiness with sensual or sensory pleasures:those obtained
from alcohol, food, sex, drugs, money and sun drenched beaches! Sensual pleasures are
highly enjoyable whilst they last but tend to be short lived. They are a quick hit. They
produce a temporary, ephemeral lift: instant but transient and superficial
gratification.The high doesn't last and eventually becomes unfulfilling: rather likeeating chocolate but nothing else: wonderful at first, but ultimately unsustainable. It
has also been called "Hollywood happiness".
A study by researchers at McGill University[14]found that dopamine (a neurotransmitter
in the brain
responsible for good moods) is released when you listen to music you enjoy. Even when
you have listened to it many times, it can still arouse feelings of euphoria and craving.
The Hedonic Treadmill Problem
Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although
Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it
which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.
The problem with sensual pleasures is something called the Hedonic treadmill[15].
The high you get via sensual pleasures is produced by dopamine;a brain
neurotransmitter associated with addiction: the pleasure you get is rapid but
unfortunately doesn't last long - you need more and bigger hits to achieve same
effect: more alcohol, drugs or whatever. It's called this because it's similar to a
treadmill where you have to keep running just to stay in the same place. If you
experience a constant sound, smell or image it eventually disappears from your
awareness. We quickly become familiar with new sources of pleasure and so the
pleasure lessens:enjoyment quickly fades as we get same experience every day.
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This leads to avicious circle of desirewith a negative comedown afterwards: the
bigger stomach you get or the increased bills can lead to you despising yourself. You
therefore need to increase the dose or move to a new source.
Advertisers have a vested interest in keeping the treadmill in place.Our consumer
society constantly encourages us to spend leading to increased materialism. We keep
comparing ourselves with others to reinforce our identity.
A new study by researchers at McGill University[16]found that dopamine is also
released when you listen to musicyou enjoy. Even when you have listened to it many
times, it can still arouse feelings of euphoria and craving!
The hole of wanting can never be filled, except momentarily, by the objects of its wanting.
As soon as an aspiration or object is gained, I learn quickly to discount its importance and
another replaces it.
David Brandon
How to break the treadmill
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1. You've already made the first step: just understanding the treadmilland how it
works is an important start.
2. Try to avoid sources of temptation: turn off the adverts on TV for example, or
watch them analytically to see how they work on you.3. Try to separate what you want(desire)from what you really need(essentials).
You may find that well over half of the things you buy are in the first group!
Also see the BBC article Shopping: The new tactics to get you spending[17]
Those three things - autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward -
are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is
not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It'swhether our work fulfills us.
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers
What motivates us at work?
Happy people tend to be successful at work, but surprisingly it's not your success that
causes you to be happy, conversely it's your being happy which tends to cause your
success.
Research has identified the following factors which make us happy at
work:
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Autonomy
Autonomy means having some control over your work: managing your own
time[18]and making decisions[19]on what you do when. Employees who have control
over the tasks they have to do have greater job satisfaction and lead more fulfilling
lives. People really dislike being told what to do!
Self employed people[20]are happier about their work-life balanceeven though
they work the longest hours - because they have more control over their time.They
take responsibility for their own future, and take control of their own destiny.
People working for smaller organisationsalso tend to be happier.
Studies have suggested that autonomy is twenty times better at predicting
happiness than income.People with high income but little autonomy are usually
much less happy than people with a low income but control over what they do, so if
you can find ways of controlling your life, you can be happy even on a low income.
Autonomy is also related to health: the Whitehall Study[21]study found that Civil
Servants at lower grades had much poorer health than those at higher grades who had
more control over their work.
Mastery
Masterymeans being able to use and improve the skills that you enjoy using: see our
Strengths page[22]for more about this.
Peop le find it gra tifying to exercise control.Our brains want to control the
experiences we are about to have. Being effective - changing things, influencing things,
making things happen - is one of the fundamental needs; with which human brains
seem to be naturally endowed. Our desire for control is so powerful and the feeling ofbeing in control so rewarding that people often act as though they can control the
uncontrollable. The feeling of control. is one of the wellsprings of mental health.
Professor Daniel Gilbert[23]
This is related to being involved in "Flow" activities(see below) where we feel
completely immersed in the activity.
http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/strength-based-interviews.htmhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/whitehallII/pdf/Whitehallbooklet_1_.pdfhttp://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sme.htm#WHYSMEhttps://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/selfemployment.htmhttps://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/decisionmaking.htmhttps://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/time.htm -
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Purpose
Purposeinvolves making a difference, understanding that what you do has value and
having goals that you believe in (see below).
Other factors which contribute to happiness and motivationHaving avarietyof tasks to do.
Getting positive feedback on your performance.
Having challenges which stretch you(but not to the point where you get highly
stressed!).
Being able to work on a product or service from start to finishe.g. a builder who
builds a house.
Having friends at work[24]
.Working in an environment that allows you to focus on your workwithout
being distracted.
Living close to where you work. The longer your commute to work, the less happy
you are likely to be, and people who are able towalk or cycle to workare likely to
be even happier: the exercise they get will have an impact but also the lack of stress
of sitting in traffic jams or waiting for a late train. In short, they are in control of
their journey to work.
Purpose: pursuing a cause that contributes to the greatergood.
Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread"Studs Terkel
"Alfredo Moser is a modern-day Thomas Edison, whose invention is lighting up the world. In
2002, the Brazilian mechanic had his own light-bulb moment and came up with way of
illuminating his house during the day without electricity - using nothing more than plastic
bottles filled with water and a tiny bit of bleach. In the last two years his idea has spread
throughout the world. It is expected to be in one million homes by early next year."See
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914[25]for the full story.
A study by Bruce Headey ( University of Melbourne)[26]found that people who placed a
higher priority on altruistic behaviours and family goalshad a long-term increase
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at work was the belief that the job had a positive impact on others.
Doing something for those less well of than yourself is also an excellent cure for self
pity. "By making someone else happy you secure your own happiness".
This could involve:
Improving yourself:getting fit, losing weight or improving your mind by studying.
Helping others:supporting your family and friends. It's not what you take out of
relationships that counts, it's what you put in. People who try to help friends,
family and community tend to live longer.
Improving the world:this could be a social or an environmental[29]goal such as
voluntary work at a nature reserve: fundraising for a charity
[30]
or helping thehomeless or starving people in a developing country[31],
See our voluntary work page[32]for lots of ideas on how to get involved.
Flow activities
Flow is the state reached when we are so immersed in an activity that we cease to
notice the passage of time and have deep, effortless involvement.Time seems tostop. Our happiness is greatest at such times. Sports people call this "being in the zone"
and mystics as being in an ecstatic state. It is the full involvement in flow, rather than
happiness achieved from sensory pleasures that makes for excellence in life. It produces
deep, long lasting satisfaction, rather than temporary cheerfulness.
Activities where we use and improve our skills produce flow
Enjoying doing something you are good at:you feelyou are doing exactly what you
most enjoy doingand don't want it to finish. Identifying your strengths[33]and
skills[34]and then using and improving these in your work, relationships and leisure
interests gives a deep and lasting source of satisfaction. It makes you forget all your
worries, and gives you a great sense of control and the satisfaction of a job well done.
there may be a rapid learning curve.
it involve concentration.
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It involves a challenge: it will stretch our mind or body.
Activities where we set and achieve goals produce flow
This involves becoming immersed in trying to reach a challenging goal. See our action
planning[35]page for tips on setting and achieving goals.
The secret is to have goals that are
clear and require appropriate responses
broken down into clearly defined steps.
compatible with what we want
you get feedbackon your performance: for example in a game you know
immediately whether you've won or lost orbeing thankedfor what you have done.
which require effort and stretch us,so they keep us engaged and allow us to
improve our skills: joining a new club, starting a hobby, sport or career.
problems need to be solved[36]but not so difficult that we give up in despair: you
have a good chance of success. If the challenge exceeds our skill level, we simply
become more anxious.
effort and discipline are required: you may need to learn how to persist when
things get tough.
skill is required:you may need to develop your skills to be successful. Choose
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activities that fit your personality, values, abilities. Think of what you already enjoy
doing and do something similar.
you feel a sense of control
The learninginvolved means that your brain is fed with constantly changing
positive experiences that prevent the hedonic treadmill from turning.
Life satisfaction is greatest for those involved in short term goals which are
enjoyable, not too difficult; and done in cooperation with others. Focus on one
objective at a time and always have the next goal in mind. To accomplish more
difficult tasks, break them down into components.[37]The most satisfaction comes
from pursuing an objective, not simply from achieving it. - Ari Kiev
Zig Ziglar quotes
Money won't make you happy: but everybody wants to find out for themselves.
Unless you have a definite, precise, clearly set goals, you are not going to
realize your maximum potential.
You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other
people get what they want.
Its almost easier to come second because then you still have something to aim for. When youwin, you suddenly feel lost. You buy a shiny car, only to glimpse its superficiality. You win a
promotion, only to find the job was not all you dreamed of. Even Olympic winners fall victim
to an echoing sense of anticlimax: they have nothing more to aim for. Evolution makes us feel
miserable after triumph, so we can disengage and focus on the next challenge. If goal
fulfillment induced indefinite periods of contentment, we would be robbed of all future
motivation.
Taken from "Bounce", by Michael Syed[38]
Surprisingly flow is more likely to occur at work than in your free time.A job that
ticks the following boxes is usually called a Career!.
The work has clear goals and rules of performance.
You get feedback on your performance: increased sales or feedback from customers
or your manager.
A good work environment should encourage concentration and minimise
distractions
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The difficulty of the work should match your skills (unless you've been over or
under-promoted!).
Research at Massachusetts Hospital [39]found that an 8 week course of half an hour a
day in mindfulness meditation[40]led to structural changes in the brain.
Mindfulness meditation focuses on non-judgmental awareness of sensations &feelings.
Brain scans were taken of 16 participants before & after the training. Increases in
density in the hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory) were found &
decreased density in the amygdala (responsible for anxiety & stress responses),
showing that the way we feel (calm or anxious) can be correlated with real structural
indicators in the brain.
Meditating doesn't just give a sense of peace & relaxation, but appears to give benefits
in mental & emotional well-being, memory, sense of self, empathy & reduced stress
that persist long term. Regular meditators have reduced levels of negative emotion,
increased well being and contentment and improved immune responses. reductions
in reactivity, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Mindfulness-based treatments appear
to provide antidepressant and antianxiety effects, as well as decreases in
psychological distress.
Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the
things you can't hear, & not bothering.
Winnie the Pooh!
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Gandhi
Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.
Natalie Goldberg
Flow is often experienced in games such as chess or football because they have goals
and rules that make it possible for the player to act without questioning what
should be done, and how.For the duration of the game the player lives in a self-
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contained universe where everything is black and white.
Flow is rarely experienced in passive leisure activities, such as watching television
or relaxing. Reading booksleads to a lot of flow experiences whereas watching
television rarely produces flow.
Flow activities need an initial investment of effort before they start to becomeenjoyable. If you are tired, anxious, or lack the self discipline to overcome that hurdle,
you may go for relaxation rather than flow activities. You need some time to do
nothing; relax on a sunny beach reading a novel, or just watching TV but it should be
in proportion.
Holidayscan help to clear your mind & to look at your situation from a new
perspective. Getting rid of all the unused junk in your home to produce a tidy,
uncluttered environment, can also help.
Relationshipscan of course also have a profound effect on your happiness but this is
dependent on the whims of your partner. Flow happiness is of our own making.
Flow can also be achieved via prayer or meditation -being in the moment. Flow can
even be achieved when doing routine tasks: doing the washing up or peeling potatoes,
if we approach these tasks with a state of mindfulness(total absorption in the task to
do it as well as we possibly can). See the Zen saying "Chop wood, carry water![41]"
(see box on right.)
Lower blood pressure which is related to your state of relaxationis also correlated
with happiness. Average blood pressure is lower in Ireland, Holland, Denmark and
Sweden than in Germany and Portugal and people have been found to be happier in
the first group of countries than the latter.
Blanchflower and Oswald, Journal of Health Economics
[42]
Flow is not always positive. Gambling can put you into a flow state, and if not
controlled it can have addictive tendencies: for example, a workaholic may neglect
other aspects of their lives such as their families
For more on flow see the research done by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi[43]
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Flow usually occurs
when you are doing
your favorite things
playing team games or
sports
games such as chess,
tennis, or poker or
computer games
playing a musical
instrument or listening
to music
painting, pottery,
writing poetry, music or
a computer program
collecting coins or
stamps
making
clothes
growing
plants
inventing
something
religiousritual
climbing a
mountain
watching
a sunset
cooking a
nice meal
drivingdown a
country
lane
feeding
birds or
fish
talking to
friendsreading a
good book
Research in the US found that
teenagers experienced flow in
sports & games 44% of time spent
hobbies 34%
watching television 13%
Yet these teenagers spent four times
more of their free time watching TV
than involved in hobbies or sports.
Similar ratios are true for adults.
What can you do if you can't change your job?
Sometimes you can't change your job, especially in the short term and with fewer jobsavailable due to the economy, so how do you make it more meaningful? Sometimes our
jobs have an impact on others, but were too distant from the customers or end users to
see this. For example when university telephone callers responsible for getting
donations from alumni[44]spent 10 minutes talking to just one beneficiary of their
work they increased their weekly revenue by over 400%. When we see the direct
consequences of our jobs for other people, we find more meaning in our work.
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An exercise called job craftingcan help to reenergise your work. It involves redefining
your job to incorporate your motives, strengths, and passions. You to visualize the job,
map its elements, and reorganize them to better suit you. You can put personal touches
on how you see and do your job, and youll gain a greater sense of control at work
becoming happier and more effective.
You can change the boundaries of your job by taking on more or fewer tasks, expandingor diminishing their scope, or changing how they are performed. A graduate in sales for
example might take on additional event planning because he likes the challenge of
organizing people and logistics. You can also change the nature or extent of your
interactions with others, for example hospital cleaners who lacked patient
contact provided emotional support to patients and their families[45]and how you
think about the purpose of certain aspects of your job. For more about job crafting,
see"Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want".[46]
If you can't change your work in the above ways, another solution is to find meaning
outside your work byvolunteering[47]in evenings or weekends or taking an evening or
online course[48]. I remember one drama graduate who wasn't talented enough to
become an actress and eventually ended up in a rather boring job as an administrator
for an airline, but she gained great satisfaction by becoming a leading light in her local
amateur theatre company.
For further information see
Also see our pages on Coping with being unemployed/Maintaining your morale[49]
and Striving for excellence[50]
A King was going to his palace after his rounds in the city when he met a beggar. He asked
the beggar, What would you like?
The beggar laughed and said, You are asking me as though you can fulfill my desire!
The king was offended. He said, Of course I can fulfil your desire. What is it? Just tell me.
And the beggar said, Think twice before you promise anything.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/excellence.htmhttp://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/copingWithRejection.htmhttp://www.hotcourses.com/https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/voluntaryWork.htmhttp://hbr.org/2010/06/managing-yourself-turn-the-job-you-have-into-the-job-you-want/ar/1http://amr.aom.org/content/26/2/179.short -
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1. http://www.tda.gov.uk/about/mediarelations/2006/20060727.aspx?keywords=boredom
2. http://issuu.com/glencrust/docs/graduate_wellbeing_initial_results__8c57ebe7c945bc/1
3. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sme.htm
4. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/selfemployment.htm
5. http://www.unisi.it/eventi/happiness/curriculum/nattavudh.pdf6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23613211
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23613211
8. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/12/08/1015962107.full.pdf+html
9. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/forbes/P95294.asp
10. http://tiny.cc/pp5oy
I will fulfill anything you ask. I am a powerful king, what can you possibly desire that I can
not give to you?
The beggar said, It is a very simple desire. You see this begging bowl? Can you fill it with
something?
The king said, Of course! He called his vizier and told him, Fill this man's begging bowlwith money. The vizier went and got some money and poured it into the bowl, and it
disappeared. And he poured more and more, and the moment he would pour it, it would
disappear. And the begging bowl remained always empty.
The whole palace gathered. By and by the rumour went throughout the city, and a huge
crowd gathered. The prestige of the king was at stake. He said to his vizier, If the whole
kingdom is lost, I am ready to lose it, but I cannot be defeated by this beggar.
Diamonds and pearls and emeralds, his treasuries were becoming empty. The begging bowl
seemed to be bottomless. Everything that was put into it immediately disappeared, went out
of existence. Finally it was the evening, and the people were standing there in utter silence.
The king dropped at the feet of the beggar and admitted his defeat. He said, Just tell me
one thing. You are victorious but before you leave, just fulfil my curiosity. What is the
begging bowl made of?
The beggar laughed and said, There is no secret. It is simply made of human desire.
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11. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131104231507-17970806-most-popular-college-
degrees-earned-by-millionaires
12. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/184767769X/ref=sr_1_4?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292324315&sr=1-4
13. https://www.i-l-m.com/Why-ILM/Research-reports/Beyond-the-bonus
14. http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nn.2726.html
15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill
16. http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nn.2726.html
17. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21537359
18. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/time.htm
19. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/decisionmaking.htm
20. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/selfemployment.htm21. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/whitehallII/pdf/Whitehallbooklet_1_.pdf
22. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/strength-based-interviews.htm
23. http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/
24. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/teamwork.htm
25. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914
26. http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/77545/dp753.pdf
27. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/values.htm
28. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/92/5/1332/
29. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Environment.htm
30. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/charity.htm
31. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/developing.htm
32. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/voluntaryWork.htm
33. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/personalstyles.htm
34. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsmap.htm
35. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsactionplanning.htm
36. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/decisionmaking.htm
37. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsactionplanning.htm
38. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bounce-How-Champions-are-Made/dp/000735052X
-
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39. http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~lazar/
40. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016/full
41. http://www.interluderetreat.com/meditate/chop.htm
42. http://imechanica.org/files/andrew_oswald_presentation_071129.pdf
43. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199707/finding-flow
44. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597806000641
45. http://amr.aom.org/content/26/2/179.short
46. http://hbr.org/2010/06/managing-yourself-turn-the-job-you-have-into-the-job-you-want/ar/1
47. https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin/voluntaryWork.htm
48. http://www.hotcourses.com/
49. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/copingWithRejection.htm
50. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/excellence.htm
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