Work is often thought of as “paid employment.” According to a US study, a better definition “work” is “an activity that produces something of value for other people.”

The late Albert Camus, French Writer who won the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature, once said: “Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles, life stifles and dies.”

If the opportunity to work is absent, or if the nature of work is dissatisfying (or worse), severe repercussions are likely to be experienced in together parts of the social system. These repercussions can include a decline in physical and mental health or a breakdown in family relationships. Some dissatisfied workers become apathetic, others even antisocial in their behavior. Such factors can lead to excessive drinking, drug abuse, aggressiveness and crime.

The importance of Attitude

It is unwise to pigeonhole types of work into superior and inferior, and ignoble, or prestigious and non prestigious. Unless it is morally objectionable, all work is equally honorable and noble. In actual fact, however, most people do not view work in that way.

Types of work are often judged as to relative importance on a monetary scale. The US study on Work in America concludes that no one is “worth a hundred times more than another merely because he is paid a hundred times as much.”

It is also unwise to judge work satisfaction on the basis of the prestige a certain type of work may seem to offer. What is important is accomplishment. Work should be seen within the framework of what it accomplishes for others, not just in the light of what it does for us in the way of salary or prestige. Learning to recognize this will increase your work contentment.

How to increase Work Enjoyment

• Strive for quality

Good work habits include setting goals of performance and then striving to reach them. But goals should be practical and attainable. Otherwise, failure to achieve them will lead to discouragement and dissatisfaction. Be determined to give your best, but not expect perfection.

People can lay a foundation for doing high-quality work by getting a good education. This does not mean going to college. Rather, mastering the arts of reading, studying and learning will enable you to develop new skills later in life. Remember the better your work, the greater the benefits for yourself and others. So keep up-to-date with new developments in your field of work and practice them when occasion calls for it.

• Be conscientious

Work done well and completed on time promotes the satisfying feeling of accomplishment and is something to be proud of. It is also blessing to others. On the other hand, work done in a negligent way can cost you your self-esteem, frayed nerves or possibly worse. For example, think of the potential damage that mechanics, doctors or’ nurses can do if they are negligent at their work!

• Avoid getting into a rut.

In time, everyone falls into a certain pattern of doing things. To prevent routinary work, some find it helpful to change their work pattern from time to time. Perhaps the order in which certain tasks are performed can be changed. After all, there is no law that says Monday must be wash day, is there?

Of course, not everyone can make big changes in his work pattern. But many an office worker has found that simply moving his desk to a new position has given him a new start and had added freshness to his work. Surely housewives with the reputation of being constant furniture movers discovered the same thing.

• Keep Physically fit

This is a must for a person to enjoy his work. Get enough sleep at night. Spend your weekends wisely so that you come back revitalized and not too pooped. That always-tired feeling can turn you into a clock-watcher or an I-can’t-wait-until-the-weekend worker. Why then, you may feel like nothing more than an inmate serving time in a prison.

• Contribute to a cheerful atmosphere

Keep your own working space as clean and neat as possible. You might be permitted to cheer things up with a potted plant or a tasteful picture. By trying to improve the environment, your example may catch on and give management the necessary push to make other desirable changes.

Be pleasant and friendly. Do not allow differences of opinion or personality clashes to disrupt the work flow. Avoid confrontation. Keep a positive spirit. Why should you be miserable just because others look it?

• Keep alert.

So-called dull jobs are generally those that require little or no mental effort. If your work is in this category, then it may be a real challenge to keep your mind active. Try meditating on previous learned material. Of course, this is no encouragement to daydream in the job or to create hazards by thinking about other things while doing work that does not fully occupy the mind. Keep it alert by giving it something to do.

• Persevere.

Do not allow problems that may arise at work to derail you. Either solve them or learn to live with them.

• Be balanced.

Hard work is good thing. But too much of a good thing does not automatically make it better. Persons whose work is everything (more important than friends or family) or called workaholics, lack balance. Although their extremely heavy work schedule may make them happy, it seldom makes those who must work or live with them happy.

A workaholic should not be deceived into thinking he is being driven by sheer love for work. The underlying cause may very well be a feeling of insecurity or a spirit of ambition, even greed. It may be a vain “striving after the wind” that can lead to serious personal problems and even to an early grave. Work can only be enjoyed to the full when it is kept in proper balance with other activities.

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