In 2011, a multinational survey of 14 countries ranked Singapore employees as the least happy. 42% of those who were surveyed indicated that they were dissatisfied or more than dissatisfied with their jobs. With rapidly changing marketplaces, job demands have been struggling to keep pace.

So can we be happy at work?

The answer is an unequivocal yes. But how you might wonder? Here are the steps:

1) Engage Your Work

For years, HR professionals have introduced various ways of increasing the engagement levels of their organisations’ employees, so as to improve their productivity in the face of global changes. But what exactly is employee engagement?

University of Chicago psychologist Mihalyi Csikzentmihalyi, who has studied the psychology of engaged workers at all levels, found that they create a hyperfocused state of mind. He calls it “flow.” People in flow are exhilarated and are remarkably unstressed even when doing challenging work. They lose themselves in a task they love and feel “out of time.” Their brains work efficiently and precisely. Interestingly, Csikzentmihalyi discovered that people are much more likely to be in flow while working than while involved in leisure activities.

One way that organisations can engage their employees better is to ensure that an employee’s key performance indicators are clearly defined, because flow occurs most often when tasks are tightly aligned with the person’s goals. This would allow the individual to be better engaged in his or her work. Also, a work station with the most minimal of distractions would encourage flow. From simple actions like switching phones to silent mode to temporarily removing any IM notifications, flow levels can be heightened. Sometimes, even pouring and losing oneself in a project, especially one that you are passionate about, can allow you to enjoy work more. Employees must be encouraged to practice such behaviours.

2) Reframe Your Perspectives

Is work good or bad?

Essentially, whether it is good or bad, this is ultimately a choice. Many of us choose to entrench our minds in a negative perspective of work simply because it is often easier to do so. Reframing is essentially a technique that allows us to adopt different ways or perspectives of looking at the same thing or situation. Often unwanted stress happens and worries creep in when we let ourselves be seduced by an easily-framed meaning of a situation when we should also be looking at the same situation with another frame as well.

If you have any trouble reframing the meaning of work, you may wish to apply a simple theory known as the Pain-Pleasure Principle. In everything we do in life, we would always attribute either a “pain” or “pleasure” meaning to an activity. There are always occasions where we are intrinsically motivated to perform a task or we could do it out of fear. If we use as work as an example, it would, most probably, be labeled as “pain”, where the motivation to complete it is generally extrinsic.

However, by doing so, an emotional snowball might erupt. Thoughts and feelings start to get negative and even if a pleasurable moment appeared in the day, it may still be labeled as negative. Thus, for example, you could view the dreaded situation of communicating with a difficult customer as an opportunity for professional growth rather than an undesired chore. So if you could identify the part or parts of your job that could be enjoyable, focus your attention on them and reframe the entire perspective, it may be your salvation for workplace happiness.

3) Exercise Your Body

It is a well-known fact that health and happiness are fundamentally linked. When you exercise, your brain releases “feel-good” chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline and endorphins. These neurotransmitters combine to improve our moods and emotions. It is suggested that a 30-minute workout at the gym or brisk walking on a daily basis would suffice in stimulating these chemicals and thus promote happiness. Organisations are recommended to also contribute to the physical and psychological well-being of their employees. HP, for example, has over 30 fitness centers in 12 countries and regularly promotes healthy lifestyles to its employees.

Conversely, happiness can influence our health. Years ago, in a groundbreaking finding, Carnegie Mellon University Psychology Professor, Sheldon Cohen, discovered that people who are happy, lively, calm or exhibit other positive emotions are less likely to become ill when they are exposed to a cold virus than those who report few of these emotions. Hence, with this positive cycle of health and happiness, both organisations and employees benefit.

Happiness at work is not a myth. In order for this reality to be actualised, both organisations and the individual employee must understand the benefits that this notion brings and work towards it. If both parties can see each other as equal stakeholders for mutual gains, job dissatisfaction would be a thing of the past and productivity would increase. Then perhaps, happy work may no longer be a pipe dream after all.

Article by Andy Pan, the Director of Training at Right Impact Training
Published in ST Recruit on 21 September 2013 

A few days before my big interview, my heart lit up! I was preparing for the interview when I came across four riveting interview questions that changed my life forever. Today, I start every day by asking myself these four questions. They act as a guide, giving me insights about my present and future. They guide my decisions and help me make better choices.

When I see people preparing for interviews, I see them searching for answers to these questions outside, googling for witty replies to common interview questions, yet not getting the right job! But the irony is that when people genuinely search for the answers to these four questions, they will find the right job, right mate, right social circle, and the right direction. But where to search! The answers to these questions are not available outside of yourself, but rather within. So here are the four questions that changed my life forever. They can change yours too, if you ask them every day –

1. “How well do you know yourself?”
What you know and do not know about yourself impacts the quality of results you get in life. During goal setting workshops that I conduct, I frequently ask these questions to the participants: What’s your purpose? What is your most important value? What makes you get up in the morning every day? What do you live for? A majority of people begin to think before replying, as if they are not sure, and that is okay! The question is not how much time you took to come up with an answer, but it is about how well you know yourself and how well you can communicate it to others. Everyday be clear about who you are becoming in the process of living your life.

2. “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
Where you are right now is dependent on the life you lived five years ago and how you live today will decide where you will be five years from now. To live your dream life you must start from the end. Define how you see yourself financially, socially, physically and professionally. Now is the time to start crafting your future. Everyday, ask yourself “Is my to-do list aligned to my five year goal?” Let your daily actions take you towards your ultimate life.

3. “What do you do in your free time?”
Time is a limited resource. You have exactly 86,400 seconds in a day – the rich and the poor both have the same amount of time. Yet only a few are able to draw out more from the time available. This is because they choose to use it wisely. Successful people equate time with money and they choose to invest their time in productive pursuits. Free time is a bonus given to us; we may choose to use it either to make progress toward our goals, or waste it and stay where we are. Discipline is regarded as the number one quality of all successful leaders. When you invest time in the right pursuits you begin disciplining your life and hence develop self-esteem and self-respect.

4. “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
A self-audit helps you know the areas of yourself you can use to make a difference and the areas you must work on. To develop yourself professionally you must do this audit every day, not only once in a year (during performance reviews). Reflect on the day gone by and notice subtle performance improvements and gaps. Ask yourself, “What could I have done better and how?” Doing a post mortem of your performance helps you plug leakages that are derailing you from the path of your ultimate destiny. Knowing thyself is the recipe to personal success.

Be your best self every day!

–Article by Nishit Lal, Facilitator and Author, Dance to the 7 Tunes of Success.

Originally published on Focus Adventure :  4 Interview Questions You Must Ask Yourself Daily.