It’s no hidden fact that a majority of people are unhappy and dissatisfied with their workplace. Your work environment cultivated by your colleagues and HR management directly affects your mood, and reasons like lack of appreciation or excessive workload can make it difficult to stay positive.
However, having positivity at the workplace is linked to numerous health benefits along with increased productivity and reduced stress. Employees who are optimistic also tend to perform better and stay more involved during office hours.
Building a positive attitude is definitely a lot more than just plastering a smile on the face – it goes deeper and has an effect beyond surface cheer. And thus, below are some tips and tricks that will help you out.
1. Try to focus more on the good
It doesn’t matter how many things are going downhill on a particular day, there’s always something to be thankful for. When you spend all your time and energy being upset about the bad things, you won’t have any strength left to focus on the positives.
Whether it’s a deadline that you met, a thank you from a colleague, a pat on the back from the manager, or simply extra cheese in your sandwich – you will always find something to appreciate. When you focus on such little moments of happiness, you will be least bothered by the negatives.
2. Surround yourself with positive people
Who you hang around with has a great impact on your mood. Fostering healthy work relationships plays a crucial role in creating a positive work environment. If you’re always stuck with people who are negative and simply keep complaining all the time, you’ll behave the same way.
On the other hand, when you surround yourself with people who are happy with their jobs, who stay cheerful and talk about new things other than work; you will see a positive effect on your mood. We understand that you can’t always choose whom you interact with at the office, but you can always decide how much time to spend with them and when.
3. Create and follow a routine
Routines are seriously underrated. You might think that if you follow a routine at work, you’ll be stuck in a rut. However, the truth is that creating a routine will provide you with a good fall-back structure. It will help you accomplish your goals throughout the day.
A good routine will enable you to get all your important work done, take sufficient breaks, and end each day prepared for the next. As we tend to get tired at the end of the day, a routine will help in completing all the tough tasks at the beginning itself.
4. Appreciate yourself for little wins
Everyone celebrates a major milestone, but celebrating the little steps along the way is the real deal. Achieving any goal requires small steps of action and those small steps that actually make up for the real reason of success are often overlooked.
Remember to always appreciate those wins and give yourself a pat on the back for doing great. If you are the manager, recognizing these little victories of your team will boost up the entire team’s mood.
5. Decide your reaction to known problems ahead of time
There are some things at work that you know are going to happen. You dread dealing with them and you know that they will upset you. But here’s the trick – decide beforehand that they’ll not.
If your boss always asks you to stay late for presentations, expect it. If your client always asks for last-minute changes to a project, expect it. When you choose to be calm about it, it will no longer bother you. Try to look at people in a different way – maybe they are having a bad day and are stressed too.
6. Leave work at the workplace
Okay, let’s get this straight – your job may be a huge part of your life, but it’s not your entire life. It’s absolutely important to take out time for yourself, your family, and friends. You already work for 8 hours or maybe even more at your workplace.
And if you carry that work with you even after clocking out, you’re not going to be excited to go back to work the next day. Thus, make it a habit to leave your work at the workplace itself and not drag it home. In case you are not able to complete a task at the office, make it a priority for the next morning.
7. Don’t beat yourself up over mistakes
To err is human. Whether it’s a small error made in a project or a verbal slip-up in a meeting – let go of the little mistakes you might make every now and then. There’s absolutely no need to beat yourself up over such mistakes because anybody can make them.
Learn from your mistakes and move on. You don’t have to think about it the entire day or two. Know that nobody is going to remember it for long, so keep pushing yourself to do better!
8. Remember that your job doesn’t define you
Almost everyone takes pride in their work. It makes up for a major part of your day so it’s natural to think about it all the time. However, it doesn’t matter whether you love or hate your job, you get to go home to your loved ones at the end of the day.
So reach your workplace on time and leave on time too. And when you start feeling negative, remind yourself that the day will eventually end and you’ll return back to what matters the most.
In a nutshell,
It’s not always easy to keep a positive attitude at work, but it’s also not impossible. And if any of the above points don’t help and you can’t feel happy, recall the golden saying of ‘Fake it till you make it’. Because sitting around and waiting for positivity to come is a sure way to make certain it never comes.
Don’t feel excited about a presentation? Tensed about a coming deadline? Fake it. More often than not, the real emotion will show up.
Drive your emotions, don’t let them drive you!