Work Happiness Has Four Legs
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Chrissy Scivicque of Eat Your Career.
About a month ago, I was out walking my dog (a 15-pound golden yorkie-poodle mix named Mollie) and, from a neighbor’s house a large, black pit bull came bounding out at us. Without any hesitation, the dog attacked. All I could hear were the cries coming from Mollie as she tried frantically to get away. Thankfully, her collar was just loose enough that, in that moment of pure terror, she was able to squeeze her head out and run. That beast of a dog chased her a few streets and then gave up. After running back home, I found Mollie, God love her, waiting for me on our front porch—a little torn up, a lot scared, but 100% alive.
Read the rest of this entry »
10 Comments »
How do You Know if You’ve Contacted Adultitis?
Every now and again, I like to bring you short interviews to give you a new perspective on work happiness. During my study of work happiness I have found that there are many paths to the same goal. Some people believe that loving what you do is a must, while other people believe that relationships are vital to enjoying the work that we do. Interviews are a great way to get out of your own perspective and see what other people are doing to be happy at work.
There are so many amazing people in the blogging world, but one of my more recent finds is Jason of Escape Adulthood. He and Kim (his wife) have created a business out of bringing the fun back into life.
The first impression of Jason was a video that I watched of a water balloon fight between Jason and Kim. They were sitting in chairs and throwing water balloons over their garage to see who had the better aim. It was right then that I was hooked. Having fun in life is a big part of being happy, so I’m glad to bring you an interview with Jason.
Read the rest of this entry »
30 Comments »
Energize Your Workday with a Spiritual Meditation
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Susan C.
I’m a big believer in relaxing with our work. I’m not talking about laziness. I’m talking about finding your rhythm that allows for optimum levels of performance. Knowing when you need a break and knowing when to keep working because you are in the zone. Today we talk about: Using meditation to expand mindfulness.
This mindfulness meditation has its roots in an earth-based (pagan) spiritual path and was inspired by a short morning ritual in Yasmine Galenorn’s book Embracing the Moon. Ideally, it’s great to be able to do this outside, but it works just as well indoors, in which case, looking out a window can help to initially bring our focus to the natural world. One could do this mindfulness meditation at any point in the day, but it’s a nice way to start the day.
Let’s get started
Read the rest of this entry »
28 Comments »
Walk to the Bathroom Very Very Mindfully – Work Happy Tip
Every week I like to bring you a work happiness tip that can help improve your mood, relationships, productivity, or reduce your stress. The idea is to put you back in the driver’s seat. This week’s tip: Walk to the bathroom very very mindfully.
Our minds love to follow distractions. It makes sense.
We like to be distracted. So even when we are walking to use the bathroom, we notice a co-worker’s cough, which makes us think about our own throat, and this leads to a reminder to go to the doctor for a check-up, then we are done.
We finished in the bathroom and we are back at our desk. 99% of our focus is not about enjoying where we are, but rather random thoughts.
I advocate developing your mind at work because it will help you to become happier and more productive. The reason this works is because you are focusing your energy on the part of you that matters the most. Without developing your emotional intelligence, you are flatlining your ability to feel good.
It works like this…
Read the rest of this entry »
12 Comments »
Hard, Fun, and the Beautiful – Before it Gets Cold Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now - Hard Fun and The Beautiful – Before it Gets Cold Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
Whenever I go away I can see time slipping by. I love going back to the place I grew up, but I feel like I fall farther behind on my dream while I am away. Dealing with these feelings is never easy.
So let’s get started.
Read the rest of this entry »
9 Comments »
Hard Fun and Beautiful – Dragonflies Edition
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now – Hard Fun and Beautiful – Dragonflies Edition)
This week I needed to get some stuff off my chest. Working happy is not always about feeling wonderful. Working happy, to me, is about relaxing wherever I am at. That means if I’m pissed off because someone took the last dash of creamer for my coffee then so be it. I have to find a way to relax with whatever emotions are bouncing around in me.
Read the rest of this entry »
Relax at Work
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now - Relax at Work)
Have you ever been in a stressful situation and wondered how you can relax with your work? Many of us try to push to get stuff done only to feel stressed out and exhausted. In this video, I explain how I relax with my work and how you can too.
Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments »
25 Weird Breaks for Stress Relief
When you keep trying to apply the same solutions to old problems all you get is the same results. If you want to develop your emotional strength, you have to be a scientist. Experiment with many different solutions and notice what works and what doesn’t. If the old solutions don’t work, it’s time to try something new.
I recently wrote a guest post for Zen Habits, 6 Amazing Techniques to Staying Happy During a Stressful Project. The feedback was tremendous.
Out of all the techniques, the one that got the best response was “Take a Weird Break.” I wasn’t expecting that.
Here is what I wrote:
Use Your Time Off
(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now)
Your time off from work is probably underutilized. You may use it to run errands or tie up loose ends, but you should be using it for your mental and physical health. A stressed out you won’t be happy and productive at work if you aren’t in a balanced state.
This video post talks about the importance of using your time off to its full advantage.
Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments »
A Work Happy Now Interview on Let It Flow
An interview is a wonderful way of understanding what you believe. You can’t prepare for random questions; you just have to say the first thing that pops in your head. Most of the time. We can’t say everything. Stacey of Let It Flow asked me some very interesting questions, so check out the half hour interview and listen to what we talked about.
Podcast Wednesday: Interview with Karl Staib of Work Happy Now
My favorite technique of Stacey’s was her ability to ask follow up questions that dug deeper into the subject of work happiness. There are millions of staged interviews, but they are always boring. Always! The best ones are when the conversation flows naturally.
Read the rest of this entry »
3 Comments »