How to Stay Happy at Work | Online Executive and Admin Assistant Training

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Some tips for happiness @ Work

Submitted by Ethan on June 08, 2009 at 06:12 PM

Gretchen Rubin over at Slate.com is on a mission called “The Happiness Project” where she writes about happiness and how to be happy… isn’t that just peachy?

Anyway, last week her post focused on 16 Tips for Feeling Happier at Work and four of them jumped out at me as being perfect for current and future assistants so I’m going to highlight them below but if you want to view Gretchen’s full list, click on over to her article via the link above.

OK… so, where were we? Oh yeah, happiness at work. Here are the four points out of Gretchen’s list that jumped out at me and why:

#5 - Get (and use) a phone headset. I know, they look funny and you don’t like how they feel on your head but with the advent of Bluetooth, headsets for the phone have become very lite AND wireless. Trust me when I say that after using one for a couple weeks, you won’t know how you ever lived without one. Now, IF you assist someone who doesn’t get more than 10 calls per day, count yourself lucky and yes, you may forgo the phone headset.

#8 - Never say “yes” on the phone. This may sound weird but our brains are hard-wired to please people as soon as we can when instead we should think things through and “run it by our boss” before committing to anything… especially when you’re just starting to work for someone. By taking this time, you’ll cut down on your mistakes and won’t take on more than you can chew at one time.

#9 - Take care of difficult calls or emails as quickly as possible. We all get emails and calls that we cringe at having to deal with but the sooner we do deal with it, the sooner it’ll be in our rear view mirror and not stressing us out. Even if it is just starting a difficult project or writing a draft of an email, you will partially de-stress the situation by getting the ball rolling.

#16 - Let yourself stay ignorant of the things you don’t need to know. Another tip that might seem counterintuitive at first but as an assistant, for example, if you are asked to package up a picture to be sent to someone and you have a mailroom that handles packaging, delegate the task to them; the professional packers. Same with getting a printer to work on your boss’s computer; call the IT department… this tip basically advises you to delegate when you can and we agree.

Any tips of your own? Please share them in the comment section below. Photo credit: D. Storey

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