Think As Inc

THE FUN FACTOR

August 23, 2009 on 2:00 am | In life coaching | No Comments

People have different ideas of what is fun:  skydiving, performing on stage, or reading a dense book can all be fun to the right person.  Understanding what is fun for you is useful for career management.  If you can keep the fun in your life, you’re more likely to stick to your goals, to have energy for your work, and to be a good colleague.

The first step to exploiting your fun factor for maximum career advantage is to identify it.  Is there something in your job that is particularly fun (e.g., meeting with clients, giving presentations, crunching numbers)?  Can you do more of what is fun?  If there is nothing at work, is there something you can do outside of work to have your fun?  There will still be indirect benefits to your career in terms of increased fulfillment and the passion and energy that comes from that.  If there is nothing at work and you decide that there needs to be, then use your fun factor to help guide your next job search.

Secondly, make a commitment of time, energy and money for your fun.  At work, use your most productive hours for the things you enjoy.  You might think that your extra productivity should be spent on the tasks you don’t like so you can muscle through them.  But you need to work on your strengths as well as your weaknesses.  Doing your fun work when you’re energized means you’ll throw that much more passion and interest behind your work.

It’s okay to look for the fun in the work.  Fun is not a superficial need.  Having fun increases your focus, your energy and your connection to what you’re doing.  Fun people are nice to be around.  The benefits of fun yield career benefits as well.