How to make work more fun

I often get the question “Do you even work?”. 

A lot of that stems from what I show on Instagram – the highlight reel of most people’s lives. But in all honestly it really doesn’t seem like “work” or what I associated as “work” growing up.  Now I am not implying I do not work, or my life is one big party, but I do not feel the overwhelming sense of having to be tied to a desk, doing some mundane tasks I don’t enjoy and counting down the hours until my break, end of the day or weekend.   

I am continuously learning and developing my skill set to bring as much value to my clients as possible. When you have all that covered, the word “work” doesn’t have the same heavy, unsatisfactory associations I had with the word growing up.  

Now, I am fully aware this probably is my interpretation of the word growing up. Other people may have been around parents, family members and neighbours that loved their jobs and what they did so assumed work would never feel like work, but not for me. So when people often ask me “Do you even work?”, it actually makes me feel like I have solved one of life’s big puzzles because I never knew that was even possible. 

As I have some close friends pondering over their next career moves, it got me assessing my own situation. I love the variety my job gives me, being client-facing I help different people reach their goals which is always varied, I get to attend cool events with my company and don’t actually have set working hours as I work around other people’s schedules. But that is only a small part of it. Most of my workload I am sat in front of my laptop, writing up reports and replying to an endless number of emails. It is when I am not doing what I would class as the “fun” stuff (the clients meetings, events etc) I ensure I add some “fun” into my day.  

Working with friends.  

I do not mean take your laptops to a bar and pretend your working whilst you drink cocktails and have a gossip. But plan to go work from a café, terrace or wherever it may be, with a friend and get our work done. You don’t have to work in the same industry but if you have some laptop work to get done, then why not make it more interesting and get it done with some friends. And once you get it all out the way, you can enjoy a nice drink or grab dinner together. If it is your friends, you can be honest and set boundaries when you need them not to speak to you for an hour and/or bounce some ideas off them as they aren’t in your industry.  

Switching up your location 

If I have a couple of solid days in my office, I know I will need to plan some days in a different space to refresh me a bit. Whether it is going to work from a coworking space, a new café or a different area in town, physically taking myself to a different location can keep work fun and exciting for me. If I need to take private calls, I ensure I am in a space that can facilitate that and bring my airpods if I need to tune out some background noise. Taking myself out to a coffee shop also encourages me to not leave that location until I have completed the tasks I wanted to get done in comparison when I work from home, I often get side-tracked by some mundane household tasks. If you job allows, I would give it a go as it defiantly makes the days I need to sit in front of my laptop for hours more exciting being in a new environment.  

Book in your lunch hour 

Another way I personally create a lot more fun into my day is scheduling in lunch hour activities. This varies wildly for me, but I can give you some of my favourites. Taking myself to the park to read in the sun for an hour. Meeting a friend for a walk and coffee on the go. Scheduling in a Zoom call with family at home. Browse around the shops whilst listening to a podcast. Whatever brings you the small pleasures it is all about taking the time to do it, and away from your desk, which will break up your day ensure you have a little snippet of fun in your workday, whatever your version of fun may be.  

Finally, if are really stuck in the office for the full day and cannot leave to give you that little bit of variety or fun in your day then bring some in with you. Whether it is simply bringing in a tub of biscuits you know will liven up the office, everyone ordering some pizza’s off Deliveroo as you all power through your workload or you and your work buddy take turns in making each other lunch and bringing it in. This means you only need to worry about your lunch half the time and its always fun and exciting to try other people’s food and recipes you may not necessary cook yourself. 

So as much as I do not always feel like I am working in the traditional “I am counting down every second until I can escape out of this office”, I do actively try and add more fun, variety and excitement into the days that are a lot more mundane, and you can too.