Find More Joy in Your Job Today

What’s my go-to question to quickly assess how well fundraising is going at an organization: do staff like coming to work here?

It might seem like a weird question related to fundraising — but how staff respond to that question, tells me all I need to know about if an organization is fostering an internal culture that allows fundraising to thrive.

I deeply believe that it’s not just about going out there to find donors, but it’s also about creating a culture that attracts donors to want be a part of what you’re doing.

Those of us in nonprofits typically find ourselves in work environments where there is chronic overwork, overwhelm, stress, too few resources, and too little joy and play.  Some of those are systemic issues worthy of our critical analysis and advocacy, but I do believe we can do something right this very minute about turning the dial up on how much we experience joy in our work lives.

And it is not just for your own well-being that you should care about enjoying your job and being happy at work.

Research has shown that

1. Happy people work better with others.
2. Happy people are more creative.
3. Happy people fix problems instead of complaining about them.
4. Happy people have more energy.
5. Happy people are more optimistic.
6. Happy people are more motivated.
7. Happy people get sick less often.
8. Happy people learn faster.
9. Happy people make fewer mistakes.
10. Happy people make better decisions.

Shawn Anchor, author of The Happiness Advantage, has found that the brain works much better when a person is feeling positive – we are more creative, better at solving problems, and better collaborators.

The quality of the relationships you have with your colleagues is the key differentiator to how happy you are at work.  

People find joy and happiness in so many different ways.  Discover your own style and talk to your colleagues about theirs.

And hop on over to the Happiness Institute and check out some of the happiness tips they list.  Or check out these lists of other simple ways to infuse more happiness and joy into your daily work life.

Here’s to more joy in your day to day!