Jadie Ruminates about Work and Happiness

When does work stop being work really?

My obvious answer would be: when it starts being something you do for fun and you happen to be paid to do it.

But what if it never gets to be that way? What if you’re in limbo with soul-sucking corporate machine?

I make it a point to enjoy anything I do; I quickly lose interest if I don’t. I am, by nature, hedonistic and injecting fun in work helps me live up to this hedonism I’ve spent years to cultivate. Enjoyment relieves you of the mundane and saves from the downward spiral that is the predictableness and repetitiveness of daily work life. That’s why, in my opinion, it’s good to change things up every day by reserving something creative to do that is not tied to work. We hedonistic and creative people derive nourishment from such things, you see.

Yet there are times when efforts for your own joy is not enough to keep the ugly truth at bay – that you are working in less than desirable circumstances and there is not much you can do about it, short of something drastic.

A daunting word creeps into the recesses of your mind: “UNDERAPPRECIATED.” Then its sidekick joins the party: “UNMOTIVATED.” People need varying degrees of incentives to go to work in the morning. It usually is money. “I can’t be late (or absent) today. That’s gonna put a dent on my paycheck” – a common rejoinder in the face of the wee hours of work week morning. But there comes a time when monetary motivation is not enough. I would venture to say that it may come as a surprise to some employers but there is such a thing as emotional incentive. Employees need encouragement to love their work and employers should ensure that their company is a place people would want to work for and with. I think if employers exact an effort to an Emotional Incentive Plan and an Employee Appreciation Program, a big difference will be seen in their employees. Simply put, human worker bees aren’t so shallow as to stay for just the money. Money will perhaps interest them at first but happiness will make them stay. 

So, APPRECIATION + EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION = HAPPINESS AT WORK. Isn’t that enough of a simple equation to follow through?


This has been a Tuesday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.