How To Be Happy At Work

According to Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, work offers many elements needed to achieve the kind of happiness that he calls "flow": a sense of mastery, satisfaction, and total involvement. Here are some ways to help you get into YOUR zone at work.

Step 1: Find Hidden Challenges

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi mentions a man who slices raw salmon for a living- an unenviable job to most. But by attuning himself to the challenges and differences in each fish, and by pushing to perfect his technique, he was able to get satisfaction and happiness out of a mundane job. By striving for challenge even in tedious work, we begin to enjoy it more.

Step 2: Perfect Your Skills

Sharpen your expertise until it becomes innate. Most people who enjoy their work have sharpened their skills to the point that they can forget the rules and instead improvise and use their own judgment. This puts you in a creative rather than repetitive position.

Step 3: Focus

A key element of happiness on the job involves "losing" yourself in your work. And sharp focus can generate this feeling. Many people do the opposite- try to distract themselves from or rush through the boring parts of their job, making these tasks seem more dreaded and tedious than they need to be.