1. Work systematically

Make sure to have a goal and purpose with your work. Find out what will make your day great and go and get it. Use checklists to write down stuff you need to do. Look at your day, decide for a period of time and work as hard as you can to reach your goal.

2. Follow the rules (but bend them once in a while)

Find out the rules of the game and follow them. Do not be a troublemaker or argue about the rules. You can talk about the rules in a constructive way. If you need to bend the rules to get your work done please do carefully consider bending the rules, but if you break them there is a consequence, make sure you know what the consequence is. Be on time!

3. Be consciously positive

You might be tempted to talk down on someone or to complain about anything. But if you cannot improve it shut your yapper. If people are complaining, it is your task to help them see how they can fix it. And do brag about your co-workers. Being positive is hard, but the reward is great.

4. Know what is expected of you

Talk to your boss, and know what is expected of you. Get a list if you must, or at least find out what you need to do to be GREAT!

5. Be a friend

Do I really need to write anything to prove my point? Karma baby!

6. Study and Read at your spare time

If you really do want to be GREAT, do not sit around and wait for internal classes or for someone to come around and tell you the secret to success, it is all about hard work, and you need to do a lot on your own. Get books, find an interest in your field and read, read, read and reflect.

7. Could you have done anything differently?

All right it might be Friday, most people are goofing off waiting for the weekend to start. There is a cold beer waiting at home and you are finally outta here! But wait, there is more, take 20 minutes look back at the week and imagine that you just got fired… What would you have done differently? I “mentally” quit my job once a month, because I always had the tendency to look back and think: “I wished I did that differently”… And “if I only”. Fight the if’s and make them happen.

8. Celebrate

If you reach a goal, or succeed even a little, celebrate. Keep a box of your favorite candy or whatever in your drawer and enjoy your little reward. And do feel free to share.

9. Do not become passive!

You are in control of your life. If you are unhappy at work or else in life, you are actually in the driver’s seat. What are you going to do about it? Everybody knows that just sitting in your car day in and day out without actually driving it might be boring. Unless it is brand new.

10. …

Please do feel free to provide my tenth point by leaving a comment…This might become a long list, depending on your input Have a great day!

I understand that Mondays can be a dread. And you might think that the weekend is a far far away place that seems impossible to reach. I am going to provide you with a day to day guide on how to make your week more fun and interesting. Start by looking in the mirror in the morning and decide that this week is going to be great!

Monday

Start the day by writing down two different goals, one goal for Monday and one goal for the entire week. These goals must be measurable. Put them down on a sticky note or on a piece of paper that you can attach to your computer screen or somewhere else your eyes tend to focus. (No! Putting a sticky note on a co-worker’s behind is not acceptable!)

Do not worry too much about reaching the goal. Check your score against the note when the day is over. Maybe you did not reach your goal? Maybe you did? Now write down your “high score” you will keep this number for the rest of your week, and your goal is to beat your own high score during the week.

When you come home on Monday, think about what you can do for your spouse, if you have not bought a gift within the last three months, you should get a small item to show that you care. Or you can plan a picnic, go for a walk or spend some other quality time together.

If you are single, call a friend and plan an event for Thursday. This can be a trip to the movies, get together for dinner or any other activity. Do try to invite five-six people for a nice time. Start by inviting them on Monday evening.

Tuesday

Bring a small bag of candy or some fruit to have on your desk. Look at your note and figure out how to beat your high score. Add one more goal to your note: Try to make two people smile today.

Tuesday is no complaining day, so be aware of negativity and try to stay positive, even try to turn other negative people around, it can be a sport. When you go home today select another route. If you walk, try to walk a longer route.

At home make a list of at least three things you want to do around the house and do it.

If you lack people for your Thursday night event, keep inviting more.

Wednesday

Are you on your way to reach your goal for the week? Evaluate and adjust if necessary. Do something different today, or try something new. Taste something new; get to know someone at work or anything new or different. Maybe you could get something new for your desk like something decorative or any fun attraction. Special assignment of the day: Thank someone for something.

At home select one room to clean. Make the last efforts to your invitations, if you still lack a person or two for the Thursday arrangement.

Start planning your weekend.

Thursday

Are you keeping track of your high score? How are you doing? You have a new chance to set a high score today! How do you feel when beating the high score? It is Thursday today. This day is great for two things; clean your desk so it is tidy on Friday. And get the worst tasks out of the way, leaving the easy or fun tasks for Friday.

If you are going out with friends, relax and know that Friday will be a great day.

Thursdays are also great for housework, a shiny house on Thursday is a great place to be on weekends.

Friday

Finally it is Friday, last chance to beat your high score and last chance to reach the goal of the week. Even if it is Friday, does not mean that you shall not work, so give it everything, in hope of beating your high score and then celebrate.

Bring snacks to work, put it in a bowl at your desk and share with everybody.
Friday is about fun, make people laugh, make them smile.

So did you manage to reach your goals? Did anyone contribute to this victory? Did you get help from anybody? Make sure to thank them. Thank people that made your week great. The day is over, and the week flew away. Now what? Weekend, enjoy and look forward to Monday and read this once more. Your high score is up for a beating. Do you dare to compare high scores with a co-worker next week? Make a race out of it. 

Have a fantastic week!

(Short comment from me: I needed to re-post this as I managed to delete it, do not ask me how…)
I can’t say it too often. You are hired to provide value at work. You are not hired to make money or to have an relaxing life. You are hired because the top management can’t make all the money by them selves. So here is the deal. I will pay you to make more money for me. At least make more value than I invest in you. That is the basic reason why anyone hire anybody.

So this brings me to how you can provide value at work.
I do believe that most people like to work hard, feel appreciated and they like to feel like a part of something bigger. The problem is that you will not be part of anything unless you give something in return. I have two small illustrations that I use over and over again when I try to make people understand how to provide value at work.

As you can see from this illustration even doing a good job, might not provide value to the company, or growth for you and your fellow co-workers. A lot of people work in this way today. “I won’t work harder until I get more pay”. “I do a lot more around here than Pete, why is he making more money?” “Finally five of clock. I am going home” – Sorry lads, I am not impressed.

How to really make a difference
So what is a hard working Homo Cubicle Sapiens need to do around here to get some attention? To be adding some value you need to add and share. Take a look at the illustration below

You need to refuel with new knowledge, new abilities and skills, you need to get inspiration from somewhere. You need to insert some goals into your “mind-drive”. When you have learned something you will be able to do one of the most meaningful things in the world, you can share and teach others. You can mentor, you can inspire. You have the power to influence other people. Imagine that you learn how to motivate people to increase productivity, and you increase productivity 5 % among all your 20-40 co-workers? You can produce 10 % less, and still make more money for the company because you increase the productivity among the others. That is why Pete gets more pay than you. Yes he completes less tasks, but he makes everybody else produce more. And when you do share, teach, inspire and want to make the best out of people, you suddenly care about others.

The best way to lose weight is to help other people lose weight. You might fail to diet on your own, but if you decide to help someone else diet, you will feel more committed. You will more likely succeed. At work it is just as simple, become an engaged employee, help others and experience that you will start to love your job.

Do you want to read more posts like this? I want to invite you to subscribe to my blog so that I can send you a copy of my next article after I write it. Subscribing to my blog is completely free, and it only takes a second. After you subscribe, you’ll immediately start to receive copies of my articles sent to you by email. Your email address is never shared and you can unsubscribe anytime.

So you have read part one and two, and feel ready to chase the job of your dreams? You know your values and you know what jobs to apply to. Great for you, here is a reality check that you need to do first. Is your dream job right under your nose? Have you done whatever you can do to create the dream job right where you are? I once heard about a ball point pen tester, writing the letter L all day long, and have done this job for several years. – The staying power is based on the fact that someday someone important needs to sign an important contract, and their pens should work when that happens.

Do you have the right perspective?
I am writing legal stuff – I am helping people get legal support.
I am digging – I am making infrastructure so transportation can be more effective in this country.
I am a salesman – I am helping people communicate with each other.
I am a hairdresser – I am creating self esteem.
I am a coach – I am helping other people to grow and achieve their dreams.
I work at a call center – I am helping people to solve their problems.
I am a baker – I am creating an experience in tasting. Making people feel good.What do you really do? What impact does your job have on other people? What have you done so far to create your own dream job? I believe that most people are capable of changing perspective, creating their dream just where they are without the hassle of changing jobs.

Think about it, are you participating in creating a good work environment? Do you make other people happy at work? Why not? Are you sure that you’re not a part of the problem? Do you contribute to employee engagement? Ask yourself; what can you do to create your dream right where you are?

Example:
What do you do? – I work at a call center
What do you really do? – I answer calls from our customers
What impact do you have on other people? – I help them to communicate with the world, I help my customers to make money and I create opportunities. I fix their problems.

Still not happy?
Many people do make a great effort to be happy at work, but can’t quite achieve happiness anyway. Most likely you will have mismatch in either values or skills you like to use. Know that you have done your part, and read part two again, as it might be job hunting season.

My opinion: I do believe that employees are responsible for creating a good work atmosphere. You should be able to be positive or at least constructive when negative. As I manager I am obligated to help you grow, and to allow you to be happy. If you want to have personal items on your desk, I should allow it. As a manager I should be a positive yes person. But when the day starts it is your choice if you want a good or a bad day, each day. As a leader I should do my best to make sure that you have a great day. As an employee you should do your best to protect a healthy work environment. Take care of yourself, your fellow co-workers, and find ways to make your day GREAT! The grass is greener on the side of the fence that you fertilize.

Further reading:

• http://craigalan.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/personal-strategy-and-self-alignment/
• http://humanresources.about.com/od/success/tp/happy_work.htm
• http://positivesharing.com/happyhouris9to5/
• http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/05/7_ways_to_be_happier_at_work.html
• http://www.workhappynow.com/happy-at-work-project/
• Dissatisfied at work? Perhaps it’s you?

Further looking and listening:

• Malcolm O. Munro on youtube about finding your dream job part 1.
• Malcolm O. Munro on youtube about finding your dream job part 2.
• Simon Sinek Podcast about finding your dream job