Work As Play

If you get this, you'll improve your game, be more valuable to your employer, and frankly, be a lot happier in the long run.

Human beings have an infinite capacity to find ways of entertaining themselves. I recently heard about a South African sport called Kudu Spitting. A Kudu is a kind of antelope and participants collect the cherry-sized kudu droppings and see how far they can spit them. Yes, we are talking about kudu poop and yes, they spit it with their mouths.

Play is magic. It makes time seem to pass more quickly. No matter how strenuous or challenging the play is, we are motivated, energized and rejuvenated by it. Play inspires us to improve our performance. We strive to get better and better and when we are done, we look forward to the next opportunity to play.

Wouldn’t it be nice if work could be as much fun as our favorite games? Imagine having fun at work all day long and coming home afterwards filled with energy and looking forward to going back the next day!

Play can be as physically challenging and mentally stressful as work. Yet, we thrive on play while work can be soul destroying. Why is that?

Philosopher Alan Watts identified the critical difference for us. When we feel compelled or obligated to perform a task, it feels like work. When there is no sense of obligation, whatever we are doing feels more like play. When we treat everything we do, including work, as play, a sort of miracle happens. It all becomes rather fun.

Now, among mundane and boring jobs, bagging groceries has to be in the top ten. A few years ago, I took a job at the local grocery store while recovering from two spinal surgeries. I just needed to get out of the house and do something physical. In order to inure myself to the lack of mental challenge, I created a number of little games. I mentally evaluated how healthy each order was and devised a ranking system. I also challenged myself to see how quickly and efficiently I could bag large orders using fewer bags. As I collected shopping cars from the parking lot, I worked toward increasing the number of carts I could manage and navigate without losing control of them.

According to Watts, the key to my ability to convert bagging groceries into pure play was the fact that I didn’t feel obligated to do it. I was in that job because I had specifically chosen to do that work for my own reasons. But, it is not difficult for me to apply the same standard to anything that I do. I have chosen my career. I choose my clients. When I commit myself to a particular project, I voluntarily sign the contract. I may make that choice because I want or need the money but the choice is mine all the same.

According to an on-going work-life balance survey by Integrity HPI, 24% of survey participants feel trapped in their current job. Trapped, stuck, unable to break away, in other words, they feel obligated to continue. It might be difficult for those people to convert their jobs into play but they are the ones who would benefit most from doing so. It is possible that they are in the wrong job yet I suspect that they are more likely in the wrong mind-set.

If a hunter working in the South African bush could think up Kudu spitting, you can creatively find ways to make your job fun and exciting. Give it a shot. Have a go. You’re it!

Joseph Onesta is a Speaker, Trainer and Coach. The focus of his practice, Integrity HPI is making life and work better for people and for companies. Visit his website, http://www.integrityhpi.com for more information or to invite him to speak at your event.

The Balanced Life

For years we have been talking about work-life balance. Corporations have spent millions of dollars, often demonstrating solid return on their investment, on establishing work/life balance programs. Yet that balance seems to elude us.

Just the other day, I was speaking with a coaching client who recently became unemployed and she was telling me about how she is spending her days. "I thought I'd have some time to do a decent job search and maybe even catch up on some of my reading but honestly, I don't know how I got anything done at all when I was working. I barely have enough time to just do the chores!"

She's not the first person to experience how busy life can be even without work. How much time is enough? Forget the question. It the wrong question to ask.

People don't naturally balance their lives if given sufficient time. It is true that balance is highly individual but there are some general principals we can all apply to achieve a greater sense of balance in our lives.

Balance happens both internally and externally. The working world looks at the external factors in a person's life and tries to accommodate it. Responsibilities, Obligations and commitments take up hours in a day and work/life balance programs try to accommodate them. Got to pick up the kids, go to the grocery store for Mom, take Dad to the doctor's office, then go to the dry-cleaners, order dinner from the restaurant, take Daughter to her soccer game and Son to his Scout meeting. But without internal balance, you really don't have a chance at balancing the external.

Internal balance is composed of five aspects: physical; intellectual; social; emotional and spiritual. (Order doesn't intend significance.) Each has their place and if we can accommodate them, find our internal balance, we are very likely to be able to more effectively cope with and balance the external factors in our lives.

Over the next five weeks, I'll be talking about each of these aspects individually and I hope to get some real input from you. So subscribe to the blog if you want to be reminded of new entries or send me an email and I'll put you on my update list.

Hate your job?

"I don't really have a job, but I can understand why one would hate it if they were so burdened." --Oscar Wilde (supposedly but I don't know for sure)

The number of people who are absolutely unhappy at work is astounding! Nearly every day some article or news story crosses my screen encouraging me to find a new job, learn how to cope with an nut-case boss or negotiate a raise.

I fully appreciate the role the company plays in this mass discontent but is it possible that everywhere is so bad that everyone who works there wants to change jobs? How much am I responsible for my own bliss at work?

There are lots of things I can't control in my life. No matter how much they frustrate me, the only real thing I can do is control my reaction to them. There is no doubt that some people find themselves in jobs that are a bad fit and that they stay in them for reasons that make them feel trapped. But running away and changing jobs is not usually where we are going to find bliss at work.

There are some concrete strategies you can employ to achieve a greater sense of bliss at work. No one seems to be talking about them, so I will.

Understand how your job affects the jobs of others. Usually what we do either feeds off of or into the work of someone else in the organization. If we understand this process flow, we will understand the importance of what we do.

Don't feed the gossip mill. Gossip behind the backs of others and I guarantee there will be people talking after you leave the room and you probably wouldn't like what they are saying.
Cut the complaining. Negativity only breeds negativity. Look at the positives and if you can't see any, make them happen. I'm not saying that you need to be Pollyanna on a rainy day but most of what you hate about your job is in the way you look at it, not in the job itself. If you have suggestions for improvement, write them up and take them to your boss. Save them for evaluation time.

Be likable and friendly to your coworkers and to your superiors. I hate to admit it but much of life is a popularity contest. When we were in high-school, there were popular people and the rest of us. The secret of popularity is being likable, non-judgemental and positive with integrity. If your coworkers like you, they won't be jealous or resentful of your success. If your bosses and supervisors like you, they will more likely champion your advancement in the organziation when promotions are on the horizon.

Mentor AND be mentored. Older folks on the job have a lot to offer. Younger folks do to. It's just that they have differences. If you are one of the people who can bridge the gap between the baby boomers and the milenials, work will be more fulfilling. Instead of judging how "they" are, why not learn about them and share experiences in a non-judgmental way. Milenials, you might be able to learn from the experience of those boomers and boomers, you could probably use a little help keeping up with the changes that seem to be everywhere.

Help others do better and feel better about being there. Whether you simply hold the door for someone or you offer to help with with some of their tasks, working collaboratively, smiling, contributing and appreciating your coworkers will not only make their day better, it will do as much for yours.

Document your achievements and successes. Keep a working journal that indicates progress and/or completion of projects, special accomplishments, and achievements. Set improvement goals every day and comment on your successes. Also comment on special things that make your day seem lighter and more pleasant. "Stella was really glad about getting her vacation request approved." "John seemed to really appreciate my comments on the report he made." Not only will you feel better about the job you do, you'll also have useful information that you can use to contribute to your evaluation.

Establish your own IDP. (Individual Development Plan) Look at the positions of those people who are one or two rungs above you on the ladder. Look at others who perform similar jobs better than you do. What goals and practical steps can you set and take to be more successful and more promotable at work?

Even if you are in a job that is a bad fit, it is your job for now. Success in it will better your chances of finding a position that is more suited to you.

Do You Look Forward to Going to Work

I can't tell you how many people I've interviewed who have said that the thing they like best about their jobs is going home at the end of the day. Why do they hate their job? And, if they hate their job so much, why do they do it?

Let's face it. Some people just like to complain. It's the way they live. But that can't be everybody! What's going on? Here are a few ideas to help you feel a bit more postive during your commute.

Everything is boring once in a while. Just because doing your job seems a little tedious or repetitive, it doesn't mean it's time to walk away. Life has its ups and downs. There is a certain amount of repitition in everything and boredom is really in the eye of the beholder. You have to get past both of these obstacles and when you do, you may be glad you stuck around.

Consider inovation. If your job is boring and repetitive, look for ways of making the work easier or smarter or converting what you do you into a game. I knew a customer service rep in California who kept a tally of kinds of people she spoke to. Now her classifications weren't the most kind in the world but she actually saw a pattern of problems and when she discussed it, the pattern--not the game, with her boss, it resulted in process changes that made their jobs easier.

On the other hand, it might be time for a change. It may be time to find a new job, set your eyes on new horizons and do something about your own discontent. There are many people who have buried themselvs deep into jobs that mean little more than a paycheck to them. They don't value what they do at all.

These are the first to complain about being underpaid. These complainers are in a sense, correct. They are not paid appropriately for the amount of discomfort their jobs cause them even if the salary is appropriate for the position. If what the complainers are saying is, "You can't pay me enough to do this," they are certainly in the wrong job. On the other hand, if they complain about everything, perhaps the problem isn't the job.

Sometimes other causes of our discontent are spilling over into our jobs. Maybe I argued with my spouse or bounced a check or got a flat tire. If I spend most of my working time thinking about all the difficulties I have at home, my emotions will affect my job and I won't be happy there. In fact, I won't be happy anywhere. I need to make some internal changes before I start searching for a new job.