Design Yourself: It’s Time to Start Rethinking the Way You Work
How many times do you hear someone shout out “I LOVE MONDAY” as they head to work after the weekend? Probably never, at least not in recent years. The truth is that in today’s world, many people do not enjoy the jobs they spend 50+ hours a week doing.
If you asked the average person under 40 what their dream job was, they would probably answer “I want to start my own business.” And the reason why is because the average person is dissatisfied with their careers in the corporate world. We need to change this mentality. We need to rethink the way we work.
In order to find out more about this subject, I consulted Eric Termuende. Eric is the co-founder of NoW Innovations, a company leading the creation and discovery of best people practices in the workplace. He recently published a new book, Rethink Work: Finding & Keeping the Right Talent, where he takes a deep dive into the many challenges of today’s modern work environment.
Here are 3 of Eric’s top three tips for rethinking the way we work:
1. Rethink purpose
Of course, we all work for money. We all have bills to pay and mouths to feed. But we should be working on a mission at the same time. We should be doing something that we love to do. However, one of the top reasons that people hate their jobs is because their careers were built from external, rather than internal pressure.
In order to be happy at work, you have to be clear on why you are doing what you are doing. You can’t fall into the trap of doing something simply because society or those around you think you should. If you do, you will lose your identity trying to please other people. You will never live a fulfilling life if you live it for someone else.
“Times of transition are strenuous, but I love them. They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and be intentional about new habits. We can make our new normal any way we want.” – Kristin Armstrong
2. Rethink productivity
People are happy when they are productive. People like to do a good job. However, all too often being productive gets confused with being busy in the corporate world. Leaders often have metrics measuring quantity rather than quality. Workers are measured on how much they put out rather than the quality of the product they put out.
In other words, most workers do not have the time to dedicate to doing a great job because they are too worried about getting products out the door quickly, no matter what the cost. This mentality leads to low job satisfaction and high employee turnover.
3. Rethink relationships
With all of the technology in the world today, employees are consistently being expected to “be at work” no matter where they are. No longer can we leave work at work. It follows us home through our mobile phones and laptop computers.
It is common to find people working 14 hours a day or more. It is hard for people to enjoy their jobs when their jobs take over their entire lives. Our identities now revolve more around what we do for a living than who we are as people. We have to achieve balance in order to be happy, which means we have to have boundaries.
We have to have meaningful relationships both inside of work and outside. If we could focus less on technology and more on relationships, the ripple effect would lead us to a more fulfilled life both in our place of work and our homes.
“The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of your relationships.” – Tony Robbins
It is possible to go back to a time when we didn’t dread Mondays. It is possible to look forward to going to work again. We just have to rethink the way we work, and it has to be rethought from the top down.
If you are a leader in the corporate world, take the time to rethink the way you run your team. If you do, you will reap the benefits of healthy and happy employees who will stay with you for the long haul.
Great article, Jennifer!