By Maria Arpa
Most of us believe we have no choice but to work and many people have little choice about what work they do. Education, wealth and environment can dictate the options available – yet we have all heard of people who are ‘self-made’, who rejected the limitations and broke through the barriers. But finding fulfilment at work doesn’t always require a drastic change; sometimes addressing conflicts and relationships in the workplace can make all the difference. Mindfulness at Work is filled with exercises, meditations and a personal two-week plan so you can learn to be mindful about work.
WORKING WITHOUT FULFILMENT
In an ideal world, your work would be a source of fulfilment, providing you with meaning and purpose. Too often, though, this isn’t the case. When the world around you isn’t performing how you would like, your choices are either a change of attitude or a change of direction. Mindfulness will help you choose.
My son, Sam, is home from university and hoping to find work for the summer. It’s tough. Unemployment is high right now. In his words, ‘I’m determined to find a job or I’ll end up spending the whole summer on the PlayStation.’ His first priority is to earn some cash; but that’s not all of it. He wants to do something meaningful, which is not always possible because it depends on what work is available. This creates a dilemma for many young people at the start of their working lives – whether to take any job to earn money, even if the work is joyless or meaningless, or to hold out for meaning and purpose, even if it means being broke. This choice, which most of us have faced, can set a blueprint for how our working life will turn out. Many take whatever work they can get and while they are grateful for having employment, the workplace is a source of a great deal of unhappiness.
While pondering this, I came across the latest Happiness at Work Index findings that stated that one out of four people in the UK is unhappy at work. Even if this is an exaggeration, something must be wrong with our workplaces if even 10 percent of the workforce is unhappy. For that much unhappiness to exist, we must be telling ourselves that we are powerless to change things. I know I thought that once upon a time. Many reasons were given for dissatisfaction – including poor management, low pay and lack of opportunity – but 48 per cent of respondents said their job held no significant meaning for them. Clearly there is a problem that needs confronting.
So What Can Be Done?
If you are one of the many people who are dissatisfied with their lot at work and feel powerless to change it, this book is for you. If you can understand what it is that drives your unhappiness at work, you can address it and plan for change. If you see yourself as powerless, then you are powerless – but that doesn’t mean you have to remain powerless. Spending many hours a day with a group of people you didn’t choose to share this much of your life with, in a job you are not satisfied with, will create a pressure cooker of tension. Left unresolved, it will fester under the surface, creating stress and taking its toll on your emotional and physical well-being.
However, by using the mindfulness techniques explained in the book, you can reduce stress, develop contentment, influence your working environment and make better choices. My aim is to share what I have learned through my passionate desire to turn work into productive play.
