Day 52 – 20 March 2014
Today is International Happiness Day, so happy happy day. I set out to enjoy every day at work this year but is that the same thing? Can you enjoy yourself without being happy? Are happiness and enjoyment variable measures of the same thing? I don’t know and what’s more I don’t know why I let myself worry about such things. I get so tied up in the English language sometimes.
Apparently, according to Gregory Ciotti, there are 7 habits of incredibly happy people. (Why do habits always come in sevens?). They are busy but not rushed; have 5 close relationships; don’t tie happiness to external events; exercise; embrace discomfort for mastery (eh?); spend more money on experiences and; don’t ignore their itches. I’m not sure how many of these I live up to but I like the one about external events. As for exercise, let’s just leave it.
I tweeted the article in case you are interested.
Overnight I got into a paperless fight. I’d agreed with Paul in audit that an email confirmation for an internal process was as good as my written signature and so duly sent off ‘Please accept this email as authorisation’. Oh dear, I’d forgotten that hornets make their nests out of paper and I’ve just opened one. This time it was legal who got the blame which was refreshing as it is usually ICT, HR or Audit (in that order).
I’m not going to let this one go. If we are to live in the brave new world of less resource then we cannot waste our time on needless bureaucracy. I wrote, by email, to legal.
I see the Chancellor mentioned Big Data in the budget yesterday. I hadn’t realised how far the ten things I’m going to achieve this year had got.
This morning started with another one of our Customer Service Workshops, this time at County Hall. There was a good gender balance with 8 men and 6 women but for some reason all the men sat at one end and the women at the other. Fortunately there were several exercises to mix the group up and clearly some work still to do.
The session was due to last all morning but somehow a CRM meeting was dropped right in the middle. Diary management when there are so many conflicting priorities is always going to be difficult but I ended up having to get someone to cover for me. My boss said to me once that he usually puts meetings requested by directors first. Sound advice but I get into trouble sometimes as I would put customer meetings first.
Anyway the bit I attended went very well with lots of good interaction and honesty and Neil stepped in to cover for me admirably. The CRM meeting was useful as well.
In the afternoon there was a planning meeting for an upcoming North East Chamber of Commerce event and a one-to-one with the injured Bob. (He’s getting better thanks to the love and sympathy of his compatriots.)
Learning points for today: Traditions die hard; honesty is a good word; we have a couple of coffee connoisseurs in ICT Services; CRM is an ethos not an application; interject is a polite way of interrupting and; we could do with some calendar management training.
Today’s enjoyment rating 8/10 – Trying to cram too much in?
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 
Thanks to the A-Z listing, I have just come across your blog. I shall need to go back to the beginning of the year and follow it through.
Having stopped work more than eight years ago, much of your content seems to represent an upgraded version of my last few years at work (which explains why I took early retirement), so I’m not really qualified to comment in too much detail; however, I do have a view on happiness.
I like happiness, who doesn’t? But happiness is not something I seek. Happiness is fleeting; it is a momentary reaction to events, internal or external. It can be generated in a moment, by a smile, a child’s laughter, a pleasant conversation; but it can be destroyed just as quickly.
Religious people tell me that what I should seek is joy; specifically, the joy that comes from a personal relationship with their god. That didn’t work out for me. My goal now is contentment – the general feeling that all is (acceptably) well. Contentment can enjoy moments of happiness, and cope with moments of unhappiness. Contentment is when the trace line representing the median point between the highs and lows is above zero. Contentment is okay, and it’s okay to be okay
I feel a post coming on.
Thanks, looking forward to the challenge. I’m setting out to enjoy myself which I don’t think means being happy all the time. I’m sure I can lose my temper, feel frustrated, curse and swear while still enjoying myself. I think above all I want to be fulfilled. I love my job, I turn up and do what I think is right. That’s what fulfills me.