Welcome to The Joy of Work!
Let's get this thing started...
For the past 4.5 years, I’ve been working as The Joyful Coach - using my expertise as a coach and positive psychologist to help people find more joy in their everyday lives. A big part of that work has involved the topic of work - whether it’s helping people find the work that lights them up via my signature group programme, Find Your Thing, consulting with employers to help them bring the joy back to the workplace, or supporting my 1:1 clients to make work work better for them. Even my Masters research focused on work - I explored how we can use positive psychology interventions to better support career changers (a study that went on to be published in the International Coaching Psychology Review).
And yet, I’ve always shied away from focusing on work too much in the content I share. There’s the odd episode on my podcast, Practical Positivity, and I occasionally share work-related tips over on Instagram. But I’ve been reluctant to pigeon-hole myself as a “work expert” or a career coach - mainly because the stuff that lights me up the most is helping people to seize more joy in their lives, and that doesn’t always involve work.
But for a lot of us, it does. Research conducted by Gallup shows that only 13% of employees in Europe feel like they’re thriving at work - and a whopping 44% of people report experiencing high levels of stress at work. Research for Indeed’s UK Work Wellbeing report for 2023 found that 89% of people report that happiness at work affects their mood at home.
Put simply: it’s hard to feel joyful if you’re experiencing high levels of stress. It’s hard to maintain good wellbeing if you’re feeling worn down and exhausted by work. It’s hard to access joy if you feel like you’re not thriving at the thing that gets most of your time and attention. Finding joy at work is about so much more than enjoying your job - it’s an integral part of building a joyful life.
And so, I’ve decided to talk about work a bit more. I want a place to share the latest research and offer up tips on how you can find more joy at work. A place where we can reflect on the latest workplace wellbeing trends, or explore the practical strategies that actually help us work better. Enter: The Joy of Work.
My aim is to share a post every week, jam-packed with stuff that can help you work in a way that’s aligned with your joy and wellbeing. There will be inspiration and ideas for both those in traditional employment and business owners/freelancers, so whatever your work set up, I hope you’ll subscribe and find value here.
As well as an essay from me, each letter will contain a few regular segments…
What’s working well?
In this segment, I’ll share what’s working well for me that week when it comes to work.
This week, the thing that’s working well is mixing things up. I delivered my first in person workshop in 10 months (I took a step back from in person facilitation after having a baby earlier this year), and it felt amazing to be re-engaging with a skill I haven’t used for a while and doing something different. It’s really re-energised me and I’m feeling full of new ideas - a change is as good as a rest as my Nan used to say!
Helping you to work well
I’d love to have a regular segment where I can offer guidance or advice on a career or work related issue you’re struggling with.
If you’d like to submit a question or issue for me to help you with, you can do so here:
An idea to try
In this section, I’ll be sharing practical ideas on how to find more joy at work. Here’s our first one:
This week, reflect back on what initially attracted you to your current job or work situation. What did you feel excited about when you were getting started? What impact did you hope to make? What were you enthusiastic about?
Our brains have a negativity bias, which means it’s easier to focus on the tricky parts of our jobs, but spending some time reconnecting with the enthusiastic version of yourself who turned up on day one with a brand new notebook and loads of ideas might help you to relocate your spark.
Other good stuff
Finally, I’ll end each letter by sharing some good stuff - resources, articles, podcasts and other stuff that can help you work better. Here’s a few bits to get us started…
How to create the perfect LinkedIn profile.
I recently discovered The Wellbeing Rebellion podcast and particularly enjoyed this episode on wellbeing washing.
Does your life include enough fun?
So, that’s it for the first instalment of The Joy of Work! I’ll be back next Friday with more, and until then, please subscribe if you haven’t already and maybe share The Joy of Work with someone who might need it - let’s start a joyful work revolution.