Thursday, October 21, 2010

Work

This I find very very cool, web cam of the clean lab where NASA is building the Mars Rover.  REALLY neat.

There was an interesting exercise some of my students had to do concerning happiness at work.  The study we had to read stated that people, more than anything else, want to work with great colleagues, friendly and supportive.  The bottom of the list?  Being recognised for your achievements and money were the bottom two of the ten.

I have to say a good boss goes a really long way to number one, charming and supportive colleagues...if everyone is in survival mode, it ain't a pleasant place to be.

Work-life balance didn't make the top of the list either...weirdly.

Who knows.

Judging by my lifestyle, I would say that the money is not the top consideration, and the work-life balance maybe is.  Colleagues and the boss also rank up there fairly high.  Sense that I am making a difference.  Somewhat.

Whatever.

Do you love your work?  I really am curious to know.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting... I think the "work-life balance" is not an issue for most people insofar as for most categories of workers, work time does not go over the "legal time". Factory workers in France, for example, won't have any "work-life" balance problems. Because they seldom will do overtime. Other categories of workers, like teachers whose work doesn't stop when they leave the school, or even in my job which goes way beyond the "9 to 5" routine, will take the "work-life" balance issue more into consideration. My point being that you don't consider it important until you actually work in a place where said work-life balance is disturbed.
Could this study be read as "what people miss the most in their jobs"? :)

Mother Theresa said...

Considering that at the moment my work is being at home and that I am my own boss, I'd have to say I'm pretty happy. And yes, the relationship with your boss is of utmost importance...when my boss (in other words, me) is in a bad mood, watch out! ;)

Nah, just kidding. But I think I'd have to agree with your students. At one point when I was still teaching English, the atmosphere wasn't so great and that had a huge impact on people's performance.

J.G. said...

I have worked in some truly miserable places, some so-so places, and a few I really enjoyed. The people made it great or awful, no question. Right now I am lucky enough to love my job.

That said, work is still, well, work. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd be making some changes.

Helen said...

Pleasant work environment is top - good colleagues and boss make a big chunk of that.

Interest in your work is also crucial. If you have less interest in the job then the money and other things become more important. However enough money to live a reasonable life without getting into debt is critically important too. Money not being important is only for those for whom money is not needed.

I too would leave work if I won the lottery.

oreneta said...

I would also go...maybe not completely, but I'd work a lot less. Then again, I'd probably quit.