Enjoying your work is
crucial for happiness

I began the column with Sigmund Freud's advice in mind: To have happiness in life, find work that you enjoy and people who you can love and who can love you in return. Work and love are often related since problems in the workplace often affect people's interpersonal relationships at home and in their communities.

In addition, some people bring their interpersonal difficulties into their workplaces, causing problems for coworkers.

Enjoying one's work is essential for happiness in life. With the possible exception of sleeping, most people will spend more time working than they will spend on any other activity. People can get up in the morning and be pleased about going to work because of the interesting challenges they will face and the cooperative colleagues with whom they will interact. If people travel during a three-week vacation, they can look forward to coming back to work on the 18th or 19th day of their trips. They can view their work as central to their identity and can be proud of their answers when people ask, "What do you do?"

I have great sympathy for people who do not like their work. I meet such people when I interact with others in various community volunteer groups. Some people I know despise their work. They get up in the morning and dread getting into their cars and commuting to their workplaces. They can generate no enthusiasm for the tasks that face them on a given day. They talk about changing jobs but often cannot because they do not have the qualifications called for in other job announcements.

Further, they often have family commitments that affect their career mobility. They cannot afford to take time off from their jobs to further their education and obtain the skills necessary for more attractive work.

A key to lifetime happiness, then, is finding work that one enjoys.

Parents and educators often guide adolescents and young adults into intelligent choices concerning work. Parents advise their children to volunteer for different types of community activities to see what aspects of work they enjoy. Educators advise students to undertake internships in companies to determine if certain types of jobs are suitable to their personalities, abilities, and values.

I have tried to contribute to people's enjoyment of their work by discussing various issues that leads to a greater understanding of leadership, power, motivation, group dynamics, social skills, and other topics central to understanding human behavior in organizations.

Many times, people cannot change any of these aspects of their organizations. Certain superiors have an irritating leadership style, certain groups seem to exclude newcomers, and some coworkers seem to become intoxicated whenever they are given a little power.

However, workplace tensions will often decrease if people increase their understanding of why these concepts are important, how different individuals apply them with greater and less amounts of success, and what long term outcomes are likely to be. I will try to cover various workplace issues in future columns that I feel will be helpful to readers. Suggestions for topics that might be covered are always welcome.