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Somewhere between anxiety and boredom lies enjoyment.

Sometimes enjoyment happens at work. In my twenty years of speaking and travelling, I can only remember a handful of people and workplaces that were really enjoying themselves. To help people clarify their purpose, I occasionally ask people if they would quit work if they won $10 million. Most would.

Since we spend so much time and energy at work, wouldn’t it be better to enjoy ourselves as well and take the pressure off our leisure hours to recharge us. If you really enjoyed your work, you wouldn’t have to work again. Retirement wouldn’t look so attractive. I remember a colleague who used to drop in to see me after retirement. He was happy with his freedom...for a while. He then became very bored. His retirement was empty compared to the responsible job he had done for thirty years.

So what is the difference between work time and free time? What is the difference between a weekday and a weekend? Research indicates that people underestimate the importance of work in their lives. They also overestimate how much pleasure their leisure activities bring them.

Let’s make your work more enjoyable so you don’t have to look forward to the weekends, holidays or retirement.

Here are the ingredients to making work enjoyable. Incidentally, these same ingredients also make your leisure time more enjoyable.

Challenge
We need to stretch our abilities to feel satisfaction with our achievements. Same old...same old, won’t bring satisfaction or contentment. We need to try new activities that seem just out of our reach. Some people jeopardize their lives looking for these challenges. Does your work provide you with a challenge? If it doesn’t, create one for yourself. If you aren’t doing any formal study, choose an area and stretch your knowledge. Raise the bar for yourself. Not too high but just out of reach.

Goals
No goal is a sure way to apathy. Doing nothing is a sure way of getting bored. Watching the clock and hoping Friday comes around quicker is like waiting for death to come around quicker. Set yourself some clear goals, particularly ones related to your personal development, performance or education. Make the goals specific so you can measure your progress. Set a goal about your personal efficiency at work. What could you be doing better?

Rules
Work provides rules, sometimes too many. Too many rules stifle creativity. Set yourself some rules. If you are in a team, create some rules around supporting others or not criticizing the organization or people as much. I am amazed at how many people are critical of the organization that provides them with an income and an opportunity to remain in the workforce. Imagine a game with too few or too many rules. Chess or achieving best practice - both need rules.

Risk
Risk is the flip side of challenge. If there is no risk, there is no challenge. We all manage risk in our lives. Too much risk leads to anxiety, too little leads to boredom. You need to decide how much risk you are willing to take in pursuit of a challenge and then add a little. Some organizations live in the shadow of disaster. Others take the smallest incremental risks. You decide what is good for you. You are really staring fear in the face and mostly it is an illusion. Pity to be intimidated or domesticated by a fear that may never happen. Have a plan in place but don’t be housebound by a false fear.

Feedback
Work provides feedback. Leisure doesn’t offer the same opportunities unless our leisure is structured. We get feedback from the management, our peers and the environment. Make sure that you are getting sufficient feedback. If you aren’t getting enough, ask for more and ask for positives. Negative reinforcement works better with animals than humans. If you give positive feedback to others you will subtly influence them to do the same for you. The quality of relationships in the Australian workplace is vital for creating an enjoyable environment. Honest feedback is a building block for these relationships.

So if you want to make your work more enjoyable make sure you have just the right amount of challenge, goals, rules, risk and feedback. Strangely, these all apply to your leisure activities. If you really enjoy your work you won’t put as much pressure on your weekends to recharge your batteries. A fulfilling week will leave you free on the weekends. A workplace that you are desperate to leave will force you to cram the weekend with activities that help you forget. Mind numbing is very different from mind expanding.

Wouldn’t you like to think ‘I enjoy my work so much that I don’t look forward to Fridays. I enjoy every day’?

Work rocks if you let it.

Let me know if you have any ideas on how to make a workplace a stimulating and enjoyable environment. Your relationships at work add greatly to your enjoyment. My CD will help you to make an excellent first impression. You can order it at ‘How to make an excellent first impression’. Also most of my work comes from referrals, so please feel free to pass on my contact details to the person in your organization who might decide to hire me.........