You may notice that it’s easier to enjoy a certain situation when in a good mood. You aren’t affected by problems as easily. This occurs because your focus is on something that keeps you happy.

Standing in line behind two young women, probably in their early twenties, at the grocery store and they were complaining about their boyfriends. Their groceries were on the conveyer belt waiting to be wrung up. They had bananas, a mango, strawberries, two types of cheeses and crackers. It looked like they were going to eat an amazing snack. They weren’t excited about this wonderful meal they were soon to make, but only worried about their awful boyfriends.

I was so focused on their conversation that I forgot about myself. I was judging them. I felt like they were whining too much. I was doing the same thing they were. I was judging them for only looking for the negative. I had glorious food about to be purchased too. This made me think about my focus at work. Some days my focus is about knocking the work out, so I can get home. This defeats the purpose of work. We aren’t meant to be robots. We were created to feel and be aware of our experiences.

Losing Focus

Last Sunday… I was so caught up in finishing my drawing of a flower with a human face on it talking to a dog about proper mouth hygiene that I missed the point of the exercise – fun, stress relief, and relaxation. Drawing is an enjoyable hobby, but sometimes I lose focus. I need to remind myself why I’m doing it.

As I was finishing my drawing I slowed down and let the moment sink in, the pure joy of creating a white sheet into a story. That’s when I had a mini revelation. I needed to relax my drive and use my focus to experience the moment and the feeling of being productive.

Relationships, Tasks and Emotions

When we’re mad at a co-worker or family member it’s all we can feel. We are so caught up in the hurricane of emotions that we forget that there are other emotions to be felt. By acknowledging the main emotion that is dominating at the moment we can learn to allow it to only suck so much of our energy. Moving the focus toward other parts of the experience we can process through the emotions faster.

Working on tasks is similar to relationships. A certain task may frustrate us, but it’s because we get too caught up in accomplishing instead of experiencing.

When we push ourselves to finish our task we are losing sight of the larger picture. We make more mistakes because we just want to be done with it. The people who allow themselves to experience the fun in the moment as well as knocking the job out will have an easier time being productive. They understand that they choose how to process the task.

Your Perspective

Most of us have seen two opposite types of people working side by side in a retail store. One is smiling and willing to go the extra mile while the other one wonders why she is tortured by life. They are really not that different, but one learned how to divide her time between finding the joy in the work, while the other one sees and endless sea of people who need, need, need.

Your career happiness will depend on your focus. You can choose to find ways to make the experience enhance your career or you can keep complaining that whatever you try only blows up in your face. Your career is all yours, keep your focus on enjoying the moment for what is, nothing more and nothing less, as well as the joy of being productive. You’ll take your work happiness to a level that will astound you and your co-workers.

Your Turn

When working on an email or finishing a report where is your focus? (i.e. finishing the email or getting to the next project)

How do you make time to enjoy the moment?

* Karl Staib is addicted to throwing Twitter Parties. If you want to learn how Twitter Parties can help your business grow click here. You can also follow Karl on Twitter and learn how to build your business by standing on other people’s shoulders.

* I loved this post, A Dick Tracy lunchbox gave me some decent advice, from Havi Brooks of the Fluent Self. The bonus part is it fits nicely with the theme of my post.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• Coworker Trust – Sometimes It’s Better to Give AND Receive
• What Elephants Have in Common with Gratitude

Image courtesy of Blue Square Thing

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Editor’s note: This is a guest from Lisa H. (aka RunningBear) of Getting to Zen

What makes my boss so great is that he treats his employees like human beings and not like resources that are there just to help him achieve his goals. Although he is my manager, everything that I do for him feels collaborative (even my performance reviews).

As I was scouring the internet to increase my understanding of boss-employee relationships, I came across a hypothetical note a boss wrote to his employees. What I liked most about note was that it provided great insight on how to establish a good relationship with your boss from a boss’s perspective. I liked the idea so much that I decided to write one of my own.

To: (insert your name)

From: Your Boss

RE: Welcome

Hello (insert your name),

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the company. I am looking forward to working you. My hope is that this letter will give you a better understanding of who I am, what I need from you and how we both can effectively work together

1. I am under a lot of pressure from upper management, of which most of it you don’t see. Please, don’t hesitate to do or say something that would make my job easier. Most days I am working a minimum of 10 to 14 hours. And although I am compensated for it, it is a lot of hard work with rewards that don’t always pay off quickly.
2. Your work is important to me but so is everyone else’s. Please remember that I also have the concerns and feelings of other employees both inside and outside of our company.
3. I may not have been given the training I needed before being named to this supervisory position. As a result, I have had to learn through trial and error; sometimes at your expense. Please give me the same understanding that you would like from me when you make mistakes.
4. If I am about to do something that could be harmful to my job, please tell me. I may not see an impending disaster that you do. I would rather hear it from you than in the form of a pink slip from the Human Resource department.
5. Tell me what you need to be happy at work. I am not a mind reader. I want to create an environment in which we both can succeed. Let me know what your career goals are and we can work together to create a plan to achieve them.
6. If you don’t know the answer to something, don’t make one up. I use the information you give me to make decisions that impact our business in ways that you may unaware of. I don’t expect you to know everything, but I do expect the truth.
7. If you were a former co-worker of mine, please understand that as your manager I have to evaluate your performance. I hope that my managerial responsibilities will not change our relationship. Sometimes being a manager is lonely.
8. I would appreciate if you would respect my time by not coming to me at 5:30 PM with a critical issue that could have been discussed at any time during that day. I understand that emergencies happen but when they happen every day it’s not an emergency.
9. I expect you to take initiative. If you keep running things by me, I’m going to wonder why I have you around.
10. Let me know when I am doing a good job. I want to be the best manager that I can and feedback is essential for my improvement.
11. Just because I am your manager doesn’t mean that you can’t invite me to lunch. I have other interests besides work and like to talk about them too.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, my door, in-box and instant messenger is always open. Again, I look forward to working with you.

Your Boss

Now wouldn’t a letter like this be a welcomed edition to the hiring packet? What would you have liked to hear from your boss when you started working at your company?

Lisa H. (aka RunningBear) is the founder of Getting to Zen, a personal development blog featuring articles on productivity, motivation, inspiration and organization. You can sign up for her RSS feed or follow her on Twitter.

* New things are happening at Work Happy Now. We are gearing up for some big changes, so stay tuned. We are trying to align your needs with our own. It’s how businesses are built. Too many people keep doing the same thing that made them successful two years ago. We don’t want to be that kind of company. So we are taking a proactive approach to work happiness.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• 5 Ways to Improve Your Attitude and Productivity
• 10 Common Career Mistakes

Image courtesy of splorp

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Kole McRae of Office Buddha

I used to be a door to door salesman. I would get up around 6am to spend a 10 hour day selling phone services to people who didn’t really need them. I hated the job and dreaded each morning (I got no days off) but for some strange reason I just kept on doing it.

The money was pretty good. It covered rent and food and it let me go out and have fun whenever I felt like it. I reasoned that I only had to do it for a few years and then I could take a 2 year break and just live off my savings. So things sucked right now, the future would rock.

In reality I was lying to myself. Every since I was a kid it had been beaten into me that you have to suffer if you want something good. You suffer through school to get a good job, suffer through 50 or more years of work to get a good retirement. You’re whole life would be suffering just so you could get maybe 20 years of fun.

This is completely wrong. You can be happy now AND in the future. All you have to do is get your priorities right.

Priorities

Chances are your priorities right now center around money. It’s understandable why they would be. Without money you can’t afford a place to stay, food to eat, nights out with the girls, etc. You think that if you work hard all this week you’ll have enough money to have a fun night out on Saturday.

This is an old way of thinking that used to work incredibly well. Back in the olden days you’d get paid every week for the labour you put in. Do manual labour for 40 hours and you’d be able to party all weekend.

Things have changed though, the work we do isn’t manual any more. Most of us work in an office doing what I like to call ‘high’ thinking. We come up with strategies, use creativity and make managerial decisions.

I have an alternative: prioritize based on happiness.

Right Now

What’s going to make you happy right this second? To tell your boss his haircut looks ugly and that he can take your job and stuff it?

Well, you probably shouldn’t do that.

What you can do is start work on making it so you can. Do you have a business idea burning at the back of your head? How about a novel that you know will be an instant best seller? Do you want to rock out on a stage, guitar in hand?

Why aren’t you working on that?

These days it’s become incredibly easy to make money doing what you love. Look at all the independent authors making millions. So start writing your business plan, start writing that novel. Go and take those guitar lessons you always wanted to do. You’re happiness is far more important than what your boss may want.

You’ll find as you do this that you are already feeling happier. Stress will melt away and you won’t worry about getting fired any more.

Now here is the fun part. Start having fun every day. Don’t worry about working late or doing your work at home. Instead go to a movie or out to the bar. Do something that makes you smile.

The value of money changes every day. One day an American dollar is worth its weight in gold, the next it could be worth nothing. Happiness on the other hand will always be valuable. Plus, to earn happiness, you don’t have to suffer. You just have to smile.

Full Circle

A few weeks after making this realization I was able to walk into my bosses office and tell him where to shove my job. I’d taken the time to apply to college, figure out all the financing (you know if you look hard enough you can go to college for free and make something of yourself).

Walking into his office with a huge grin on my face was the most exhilarating feeling of my life. I was literally shaking with excitement as I sat down and gave him the ‘bad’ news.

I’m a professional writer now and love every minute of my life. I don’t have to worry about dressing up nice or pretending to like someone I don’t. I now value my happiness above any other thing in existence.

How about your priorities? Is family more important than work? How about your health? You do know stress has been linked with heart disease right? That can’t be good for your health.

My Tip

The best advice I can give is to write down all of your priorities. Make a simple list that you can look at every day. Then when you have to make a decision take a look at the list and use it to help.

When you realign you’re priorities you’ll find life gets far better.

Your Turn

Are you living your priorities?

How can you tweak your career so you can live more of your values?

Kole of Office Buddha is a writer and all round nice guy. He was built by a mad scientist with the parts of lesser writers. He was made to destroy the world but ends up just eating ramen all day and writing. His work has been published in newspapers, national magazines, blogs around the world and even on the radio.

* Follow me on Twitter. Join over 3,700 people who get happiness tips, productivity tips, and thought provoking quotes each day.

* I’ve been doing a lot more audio recently and one of my favorite audio editing tutorials is from Pace Smith of the Connection Revolution.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• 7 Ways to Have a Good Relationship With Your Boss
• 6 Tips on How to Have a Productive Day at Work

Image courtesy of Refracted Moments

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Your internal battery needs to be recharged on a regular basis. You can’t continue at break neck speed and expect to stay happy and keep reaching your goals.

The hard part is making your recharge a daily habit. If as many people meditated as much as they drank beer we would not be so stressed out and exhausted.

Drinking alcohol is fun. I enjoy a good dark beer every so often, but I stopped drinking every day because of the drag on my body.

I also stopped relying on vacations to recharge my battery. Needing a vacation is a myth that I want to crush right here. You don’t need a vacation. Yes, it may be nice, but you don’t really need one.

The Reality

In reality a vacation is nice, but I will say that vacations actually make you feel more tired. Think of the last vacation that you went on. How did you feel after you got home?

Tired?

You probably felt tired because taking a vacation takes you out of your element, which is fun but not usually refreshing. Dealing with the packing, double checking reservations, checking in to your flight online, getting to the airport, sleeping in a weird bed, new noises, more drinking than usual, staying up late, and all the other stuff that comes along with traveling it can be exhausting.

The real reason you go on vacation is for some extra excitement not to recharge your battery.

Your Help

I’m putting together an e-course to help you keep your energy at a high level so you can get more done and feel happier doing your work. I need your help. If you could fill out this online survey right here and let me know what you need in an e-course to help you with your energy at work I would be very appreciative. It should take less than a minute to fill out.

The thing is I don’t want to create something that none of you care about, so if this course doesn’t interest you then that’s cool. I’ll move on to a different project.

Your Need for Relaxation

It all comes done to creating habits that will support your energy level. You have to learn how to develop habits that fit into your day. Your body is giving you a lot of cues that you are probably ignoring. The human body isn’t meant to sit for 8 hours at a time.

You have to move around and keep that blood flowing.

Check in and notice how you feel throughout the day. Is your back getting tight or maybe you are feeling anxious. What are you doing to balance out these feelings?

Recharge Tip

You need to make time during the day to recharge your body without having to go for a quick fix like coffee. Drinking coffee at 4 in the afternoon so you can make it til 5 is not the healthiest choice. It’s better to have a routine during the day that helps you sustain your energy without too many spikes.

Every time you are done a project take 60 seconds to check in with yourself. Notice where the energy is trapped. My energy usually gets caught in my neck and lower back. Take 60 seconds to do a back twist, neck stretches or whatever else you need to slow down and release that tension.

By using this transition time to slow down and check in with your body you are more apt to make smarter choices.

Your Turn

What do you do to recharge your battery at work?

How do you check in with your body, so not to let irritability take over?

Side note: Party Time

I’m throwing a Twitter Party with Johnny B. Truant and Pace Smith this Wednesday 2-16 at 8pm ET. We are celebrating the launch of Profitable Idealism. You should join us and hopefully win some free prizes. Over $300 in prizes will be given away. Check out the details and sign up at Party Biz Connect.

* Join the Work Happy Now Facebook Page and interact with other people who are trying to improve their superpowers. It’s very basic right now, but it’s a fun place to visit. We ask good questions, support each other, and laugh. Stop by and hang out.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• Holiday Stress Relief Tips that Last All Year Long
• How to Stop Interruptions and Be More Productive

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Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Just be yourself and they will love you. How many moms have said that to their little boys and girls?

What they should really say is just be yourself and screw everyone else because people will find ways to hate you no matter what you do. This is true in business and life.

Happiness

You want to be happy. That means you can’t let other people dictate your decision making process.

I’m trying to be more me, but I find it difficult.

I still remember the first day of school during my 7^th grade year and a popular student telling me to sit down and stop being so annoying. The pain goes deep. I don’t want to be annoying. I want people to like me.

Conundrum

That’s where the conundrum begins. We can’t be ourselves without annoying people along the way.

It really is a catch 22.

If I’m myself then of course I’m going to annoy some people. Even super cool people are hated because they are just too cool. Steve Jobs almost has as many haters as people who love him.

So I’ve decided that it’s either a win-win or a lose-lose. It’s up to you to decide how to look at it.

As a business owner I don’t want to annoy anyone I want them all to like me. This is impossible. I know this, but still have trouble understanding it.

I know not every coaching client won’t click with my coaching style, but that’s my point. I can’t try to be someone I’m not otherwise they aren’t able to use my superpowers. It becomes a waste of both of our times.

Make a Choice and Run with It

The best option is to make choices that aligns with your values and forget everyone else’s reaction. The haters are going to hate. The lovers are going to love. You can’t stop this.

What you can do is not be afraid of annoying anyone.

It’s better to put yourself out there in a way that makes you happy. So if you like to wear a superpower cape to meetings because it helps you get in the consulting zone then go for it.

Your Turn

What do you think?

Are we raised to conform and not annoy?

Can we break out of these social struggles and live our core values?

* Follow me on Twitter. Join over 3,700 people who get happiness tips, productivity tips, and thought provoking quotes each day.

* Plugin ID wrote a solid post about leveling your life up. Click here to check out the awesomeness.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• How to Unlock Brilliant Solutions
• 7 Skills You Need to Develop a Career that You Love

Image courtesy of River Beach

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Michelle of Wicked Whimsy.

At any give time, there are a great amount of people who are working their current job as a “day” job or a “right now” job, while they work on their dream job or passion projects on the side. I know I’ve done my share of this, and sometimes, it’s not easy! If you feel forced into your work arrangement, it can make you resentful, angry, and unproductive at work – which doesn’t do anyone any favors, since you’re spending most of your waking hours there! If this happens to you, try using the following tips to improve your attitude & productivity at your day job.

Set goals

Instead of doing the bare minimum to get by, set aside a few minutes each week to think of ways you can go above and beyond, putting emotional labor into your work and not just “showing up”. If you’re motivated by something intrinsic (like a feeling of accomplishment) instead of extrinsic (money), your satisfaction when you complete your goals is likely to skyrocket. A great book on this topic is Linchpin, by Seth Godin.

Make a list of things your day job provides for you

Karl has written before about the power of gratitude, and this is another great example of it. Instead of thinking “My day job makes me get up early five days a week and spend 40 hours slogging away”, think of the things you couldn’t have without your day job. Try to get creative with your list – instead of saying “my apartment”, say “my two bedroom home in the heart of the art district”, or instead of saying “cat food”, say “the ability to feed my beloved pets”. Make the list as long as you can, and keep it on hand for when you start getting frustrated with work.

Make it a game

This doesn’t mean, don’t take your day job seriously – just maybe not quite as seriously. If you’re finding it impossible to have fun at your day job, make an effort to make it fun. Give yourself points for handling a customer or coworker successfully & professionally, subtract points if you don’t. At the end of the day, add up your total. If your points are above a certain number, treat yourself to your favorite meal.

Work to improve your environment

If you have control over a small amount of space, improve it. Add pictures of things that make you happy or your list of things your job provides for you. Any time you start feeling frustrated, take a deep breath and look at these things to remind yourself of the positive things your work brings into your life. Make an effort to improve your work environment in other ways as well – try instituting a no gossip rule for yourself when talking to coworkers. Gretchen Rubin recounts a tale in the Happiness Project of a friend who worked under a notoriously difficult boss. Gretchen’s friend made a rule for herself that she wasn’t going to say anything negative about her boss or his habits, and that if others were saying negative things, she’d walk away. Not surprisingly, the friend turned out much happier with her job than her coworkers, and even found herself liking her boss.

Watch your labels

This can be one of the toughest tips to follow. If you’re constantly referring to yourself – out loud or in your head – as a “wage slave”, that’s going to be reflected in your attitude and the way you act at work. Remind yourself that the place you work for is renting your time, and that your time is valuable. If you feel like the title your place of employment gives you isn’t very empowering – say, secretary, or sales associate – think of a spin on it that does make you feel good (instead of secretary, try administrative assistant).

There’s five ways to start improving your attitude & productivity at your job right away. What are your favorite ways to flip a negative work attitude around?

Michelle is a rainbow haired freelance writer & blogger located in Austin, TX. She writes about life creation for thoughtful renegades at Wicked Whimsy. You can sign up for her free e-course, Finding Yourself 101, here.

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* You may want to check out How to Discover Your Superpowers over at my marketing blog Super Power Coach. It’s a lot easier to have a great attitude and stay productive when you are doing work you enjoy, gets you in the zone, and plays to your strengths.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• Your Attitude and How it Affects Your Career
• How Transitions Can Dramatically Improve Your Productivity

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Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

People love the idea of living life by their own rules. It’s a beautiful thought. We all want to create the life that we need to be happy. Some of us are better at it than others.

Creating a great career is a lot harder than it seems. It’s why we need to learn from other people. We can’t be blindly shooting for career happiness. We have to plan, learn, mess up, and adjust. It’s a process.

It’s why I recommend the book Art of Nonconformity (Amazon affiliate link) from Chris Guillebeau. It’s a well thought out book that helps a person create a more flexible and much happier life.

My favorite part about this book is Chris doesn’t sugar coat the concept of creating a career of your dreams. It’s hard work. It’s a beautiful process, but not easy.

* Join over 1,300 people who have already subscribed to the FREE 10 part E-Course on Leveraging Your Superpowers. Learn how to discover and leverage your superpowers so you can do amazing work. (Sign up is in the top left corner)

* My favorite trait of Chris Guillebeau’s is his ability to care so deeply. He is not one of those big bloggers that writes to hear himself think. He writes to connect. One of my most recent posts was about him asking his tribe what was the bravest thing that they’ve done. Click here to check out some of the cool responses.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• 10 Common Career Mistakes
• 19 Reasons to Buy Zappos’ Delivering Happiness Book

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

As my 1 Sentence Journal fills up I’m beginning to see my happiness patterns. For example when I start writing early in the day I can get my thoughts on this track that allows me to write in large quantities. I plant the seed early and I can’t let go. I almost always end up surprising myself with my productivity levels.

I never would have discovered this if I hadn’t taken the time to contemplate my workday. You don’t need to meditate in the typical sense to enjoy the benefits of contemplation. The idea is to find a way to relax your thoughts and be in the now, so you can improve just a little bit each day.

Habits

A big portion of my happiness felt anchored to how much I could write/create, especially on the weekends when I needed to get a bulk of my writing accomplished. Understanding my process allowed me to bring clarity to what made me happy.

Adding the one sentence journal helped me expose some hidden happiness that I hadn’t expected.

The older I get and the closer to death I get less likely I am to fool myself into sticking with the same old patterns. My fear just doesn’t have a strangle hold on my emotions like they used to. I’m much more willing to expose the lies that I hold on to, so I can make positive changes.

Excerpts from my one sentence journal:

3-20-10 – I had trouble staying focused, still need to work on relaxing with my work.

4-12-10 – My mind was scattered trying to focus my energy on how to reach my right people. I was grumpy and frustrated. My mind was focused on my mistakes instead of the possibilities that I could create.

5-25-10 – Planning my day each morning is very important. Helps me stay focused.

6-15-10 – Called out sick because I had Saturday hours, got some good work done. Nice to have the house to myself so I could stay focused.

10-19-10 – Got some little stuff done. Need to stay focused on big picture.

12-11-10 – I was a little disappointed in myself this Saturday. I need to get my work done so I can hang out with the family on Sunday. I putzed around and when I did work I wasn’t very focused. I don’t think the two beers and green helped very much.

This is only a small portion of my 1 Sentence Journal. There were many patterns that I found and improved. To help me keep my focus I’ve implemented the technique I talked about, Doing the Important Stuff Early.

I also implemented two other techniques:

• Review big picture each week and each month. This helps me get my focus back on track. I use my 1 Sentence Journal to do this as well. (Macro)
• When doing singular tasks I use an egg timer to stay on task. As long as my egg timer is counting down I refuse to check out my Twitter account or my email. (Micro)

I know myself. When I’m productive I’m happy. I love knocking out an ebook, e-course or interviewing someone. It makes me proud. That’s time well spent.

You

You probably hold back from happiness to placate others or because of your fear. It’s natural. I still do it. The thing is – what are you doing to expose these lies you are telling yourself?

If you love getting your creative work done early why are you putting it off until the afternoon? If you hate doing to Sunday Brunch with the Stewarts and their annoying kid then why do you do it? If you hate cold calling why do you do it?

We know what we need to do to be happy, but for some reason we don’t do it until we see the patterns for ourselves and feel enough pain to take action.

You have to find a way to stimulate yourself to ask yourself these tough questions. It’s the only way you will expose your willingness to accept the unhappiness. No one likes to ask and answer these tough questions. I understand that, but what is the alternative? You can’t go on living in unhappiness.

I couldn’t do it any longer. I had to expose the lies I was telling myself so I could open myself to changing my bad habits.

What things do you do now that makes you happy? (i.g. Eat fried food during lunch or cold calling customers.)

What changes have you made to improve your happiness? (i.g. You go to the gym during lunch or you only make warm calls to people who already know you.)

* Need a boost to your work happiness? Then check out the Happy at Work Project and start one yourself.

* I’m co-hosting the Book Yourself Solid Twitter Party this Thursday with Michael Port. Come check it out and win some cool prizes. Did I mention it’s free.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• Is Work Stress Hurting Your Family Life?
• What You and a Hermit Crab have in Common

Image courtesy of Policardo

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Lisa of Getting to Zen. I want to add that this post can also be used for small business owners who need to improve their relationships with their clients. A happy client is just like a happy boss.

I always knew that having a good relationship with my managers was important, however, I didn’t realize how important it was until four years into my career. Looking back on my working life, I could have had many more opportunities for advancement had I worked on building strong relationships with those I reported to.

You see, just keeping your head down (like I did), staying out of the way and getting your job done is not a relationship. Yes, ultimately you want to complete your job duties, but it is equally important to be seen, especially if you are interested in taking on additional job responsibilities or advancing in the organization.

Having a good relationship with your manager is also key to being happy at work. So let’s look at some ways that you can improve your relationship with your manager and increase your work happiness.

1. Perform the basics

One of the most basic but important things that you can do is to show up for work on time. This action alone can count for a large part of having a good working relationship with not only your manager, but also with your co-workers. Punctuality and dependability show respect and trust. Your manager and your co-workers need to know whether they can count on you.

2. Know your manager’s communication style

Some bosses passively sit back and listen while others probe you with one question after another; some want lots of information while others only want the essential details; some bosses relate in a casual relaxed style while others are all business. Part of your job is to figure out how your manager operates and relate to him or her accordingly.

2. Make your manager look good

Your job is to make your manager look good. Avoid falling into the trap of not wanting to perform a particular task because it does not fit your job description. If you are unhappy with the tasks you are performing, set up a meeting and discuss your concerns with your manager. If changes in your job duties cannot be made, you may need to accept that or look for another place of employment. As a side note, I don’t know too many people whose job duties haven’t changed over time.

3. Know your manager’s communication methods

Do you know your bosses favorite communication method? Is it via email, mobile phone or an organized meeting? Find out what works best for him or her and mostly do that. Limit impromptu visits to his or her office. Unannounced visits can take the focus away from what your boss is currently working on. It wastes time as your boss has to then regroup and shift his focus back to his prior engagement after you have left. (Karl’s note: Like Lisa said earlier this also depends on your boss’s needs. She may like that you take time to talk to her. just pick the right moments, not when she is all stressed out over a big project.)

4. Avoid making excuses

Not only does your manager not care about your excuses, he or she doesn’t want to hear them. It is your job to get your tasks done and to meet the deadlines set by him or her. Your manager does not have the time to continue to prod you to do your job—a job that you are being paid for. Managers already have enough to deal with without additional work being created for them.

5. Do more than expected

Just doing what is expected of you does not set you apart from other employees. Managers value employees who not only do their jobs, but look for and carry out new and better ways of accomplishing tasks. Be proactive, come up with solutions and schedule time to present them to your manager. This will reflect wonderfully on you. Also, volunteering yourself for projects can be a great way to show your initiative and interest in going above and beyond.

6. Ask for feedback

Asking for feedback is a big one for me. Because my boss travels so much, we don’t have too many chances to meet face to face. I will often schedule what I call a “catch-up” meeting to inform him about what I have been working on. I also submit bi-monthly status reports which I am happy to do because I want him to know exactly what I am doing.

Avoid waiting for your six month or annual performance appraisal to get feedback on your performance from your manager, actively solicit it throughout the year. It is through feedback that you will get to know how well of a job your manager thinks you are doing. If your manager thinks you are doing well, there is more of a chance of you keeping your job and getting more job responsibility, raises and promotions.

All relationships take work, including the one that you have with your boss. Communicate often, be respectful, ask questions when you are not clear about what is expected of you and you will be well on your way to working happy.

Your Turn

What do you do on a regular basis to improve your relationship with your boss? How do you make her happy when things aren’t going quite right? What tips can you share that will help us improve our relationships and get that raise we need?

Lisa H. (aka RunningBear) is the founder of Getting to Zen – a personal development blog dedicated to those in pursuit of authentic happiness through purposeful living. You can follow her on Twitter.

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* You should probably check out my post over at Super Power Coach – How to Discover Your Superpowers. It explains how you can create more value at work to earn your boss’s respect.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• 7 Ways Your Boss Can Mess Up Your Evaluation
• 4 Techniques to Help You Deal With a Difficult Boss

Image courtesy of baldheretic

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!

Today:

There is someone out there who needs you. They expect you to help them with their problems.

Their pain is great. They sit at their computer, staring at their screen, worried what to do next. They step away from their work wishing that they had you in their life.

You have powers to change peoples’ lives.

People need your skills, love and attention. It’s time you unleashed them.

There is a business out there that would grow exponentially if you found a way to make them listen.

There are people who wish they had a small portion of your superpowers.

The first step is simple:

DO WORK YOU LOVE.

The second step is harder:

DO WORK YOU LOVE EVEN WHEN PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND.

The third step is even harder:

DO WORK THAT SCARES YOU BECAUSE YOU CARE SO MUCH.

I never said that using your superpowers was easy, but it’s so worth the pain to grow to new heights.

You deserve to wake up every day excited to get to work.

Your move.

What are you doing to leverage your superpowers to change people’s lives?

* Follow me on Twitter. Join over 3,600 people who get happiness tips, productivity tips, and thought provoking quotes each day.

* Where I got inspiration for this manifesto is from Danielle of White Hot Truth. She wrote a brilliant post called – The Manifesto of Encouragement.

If you found this post insightful, you will probably like these too:

• How to Discover Your Superpowers
• What do I do if I’m unhappy at Work?

Download the Free eBook Work Happy the Google Way * Post from: Work Happy Now!