I have come to believe that the most essential aspects of happiness in the work environment are having respect for the people you work with and excitement or passion for the product. I think this holds true no matter what you do; it doesn’t matter if you work for yourself or for a company of thousands.
If you respect the work ethic of your boss and those around you, this will always motivate you to work harder. While with my writing, I rarely ‘know’ my boss, when I tutor I do work directly for the owner of the company. He has a great work ethic and is the type of boss that always makes sure his employees know he appreciates them. I have worked for plenty of people that have made me feel like I could easily be replaced tomorrow and it is a nice change feeling appreciated. It only motivates me to work harder.
To be happy with your daily work, you truly need to care about the product that you are selling, what ever it may be. For me, it is writing and tutoring. I know that I have a direct impact on the grades and education that my kids get. I take this very seriously and my reward is watching their grades and scores improve. When it comes to my writing, when I get to write about topics that I adore, I am extra motivated. I work extra hours and it doesn’t even feel like work.
I have been working for myself for 9 months now and I have come to the conclusion that these are the two most important aspects of being happy at a job. It isn’t about how much you make, at least not for me. It isn’t about having great hours. It is respecting who I work with and believing in the product I am creating. For me, this is the most important criteria for a happy work life.
To Smile.
When working for yourself, you really need to embrace the days when you are ultra productive. These days may occur weekly or they may be few and far between, but when they occur, you have to recognize them and take advantage of them. In my experience, I have learned that lazy, slow days are much more the norm. Yet, when you are your own boss, being lazy essentially costs you money.
So when the mood hits that you are brimming with productivity, simply let it flow. I have learned that I cannot limit myself to 9-5 hours due to this specific reason. This Sunday I felt driven to work on some projects that I am stewing up and today I had a writing quota that I hit a little before 5. Sure, I could have allowed myself to take it easy, go for a walk, head to yoga or simply veg out on the sofa, but my brain was still motivated to work. Instead of taking the easy road, I decided to harness this motivation and run with it. On Sunday, I spent several hours dedicated to creating a project that may take months to pay off. Today, I decided to keep working until Justin was heading home from work. I managed to get several extra articles written.
All of this gives me a little bit of buffer room for those days when I feel sick or just simply don’t want to work as hard. I have learned that working harder when I am motivated helps to offset those sick days that would usually make me feel guilty for skipping out on work.
Unlike when working for a corporation, when you are your own boss you typically don’t earn the same weekly paycheck week in and week out. But the risk of earning less one week is offset by the reward of earning extra another week.
To Smile.
Ignore that long post. I use my site at times to double check/edit things I write. Typically I put them in a private page but for some reason (I blame it being Friday afternoon), it some how went out on my Google Feed.
Apologies and please ignore!
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