At R Systems, beware: you will experience that “I really want to go to work” feeling! You may come across this warning in some of our job ads and many of our colleagues stand to confirm it. Working in a pleasant environment alongside positive people is always a joy so here we are talking about happiness at work with Andrei Vasilescu, R Systems Project Manager and happy colleague. 🙂
How is it possible to be happy at work?
Andrei Vasilescu (AV): This is the question that most people would ask. It’s common knowledge that when you are at work you must feel anything but happy. It’s hard, you have to do your job, you have a boss who doesn’t understand you and some people are mean and… what-not.
On the other hand, the HR departments are working hard to generate happiness at work. Why? Because there is a trend which states that happiness is the way to increase productivity. I don’t know if this is true but I am happy because I choose to be happy. And that is not segregated between work and home. I choose to be happy at work and I choose to be happy at home.
Q: How do you feel about work-life balance? And how can it be achieved?
AV: It puzzles me when people use the term “work-life balance”. Why work-life balance? Why not just life balance? Isn’t it all about our one life? Is the time spent working another life, or is it the same? Why should we divide it only in two? Why not three, or four? Shouldn’t we split it in all the roles that we have? Should it not be: Children-Spouse-Me-Fun-Work-Religion-Community balance? Are there other roles that you have, or should they be in a different order? These are a lot of questions; tough questions, from my point of view. I think that everyone has a unique answer and nobody else can give it to him or her. We’re taught we should be thinking for its purpose, but what about our purpose?
What roles do you fulfill now? What is your objective/vision for each role? What priorities do these roles have? What are you doing each day to reach those objectives? How do you balance your life?
So how can you be happy at work (or in life)?
AV: Let me answer this question with a quick pill to all troubles:
Happiness is a choice. Make it! It is never too late to make happiness your choice.
Be grateful for who you are, for what you have and for what you experience in your life. Stop taking your life for granted. In this infinite universe it’s a miracle you exist. Enjoy the miracle.
Use kindness as much as possible, it’s free. Be kind to yourself, be kind to others.
Meditate. It helps to create space between stimulus and reaction. That space can give you more clarity in what you want to do, not just react to the impulse of the moment.
Make sure you do your job as good as you can so you can always be proud of it. Even if things don’t work out according to expectations (because they rarely do) at least you know you gave it your all.
Don’t stress too much on being happy. It gets exhausting after some time and you actually get the opposite. Let it come to you.
And of course, make sure you understand that work is part of life. Like all other aspects of life, it is likely to make us feel a wide range of emotions.
Live and love life and all its parts.