Inspiration to help you love your work

Take control
Recognise that your happiness is your responsibility and focus on the positives in your job. Organisational psychologist Dr Ben Palmer says happy people take time for things that up their feel-good factor. So build at least one activity you love into every day, whether it’s having lunch with a friend or heading outdoors with your book at lunchtime.

Open up and talk to your boss
This relationship is key to your happiness at work, so take the lead if necessary. Make sure you understand what’s expected of you and ask for regular feedback. Make your personal boundaries clear and let him or her know what makes you tick. Maybe you can negotiate taking on more of the work you like and losing some of the tasks you enjoy least.

Say no to negativity
Whether it’s whining about the workload or grumbling about the boss, negativity drags you down. If your work mates want to wallow, leave them to it and hook up with more positive thinkers. Research published in the British Medical Journal shows that happiness is contagious – hanging out with the happy gang lifts your mood, making time fly.