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36. Enjoy yourself

"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work." Richard Bach

I'm going to be blunt now. If you're not enjoying what you do, then get the hell out and make room for someone who is going to enjoy it. Rule 38 may put things into context, but for the moment we need to get you feeling good about what you're doing. Enjoying work is about taking pleasure in a job well done, having an inner smile, finding something to laugh about and not taking it too seriously (no, this does not mean you laugh at people or fail to do your job to the very highest standards).

Enjoying work is about seeing your job, your role, in a much bigger context- You can be hardworking and you can enjoy yourself - you can do both. You can be productive, effective, efficient, industrious, sober and reliable and responsible - and yet still be having fun. It's your choice. No one told you that you had to be grave and uptight. All you were hired to do was your job.

The best bit is that if you learn when to be serious and when to let up and find humour in a situation it will have a magical effect on those around you.

And if you work in a place where serious and uptight is the norm, here is a secret just for you: no one knows what is going on inside your head. No one. Just so long as the exterior is what they want, the inside can be whatever you want.

37. Don't let it get to you

"We have pictures of you so-called mooners. And just because the pictures aren't of your faces doesn't mean we can't identify you. At this very moment those pictures are on their way to Washington where the FBI has experts in this type of identification. If you turn yourselves in now, you may escape a Federal charge." Eve Arden in Grease

If it all gets too much, remember it's just a job. Sure, one we care about and try to do to the very best of our ability. One we worry about and think about when we're not at work. One we would like to make better and improve and be more effective at.

But it is only a job when all is said and done.

Look around you. You'll see the ones who think that what they do is central to the Earth's movement or vital to the well-being of the entire planet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Enjoy it by all means. Take it seriously and give it all you've got, but remember it is just a job and it can be replaced, you can be replaced, the world will go on.

Not letting it get to you doesn't mean not caring or not taking pride and pleasure in what you do. No, it means putting things into context so you can go home and switch off. Don't let it eat away at you, make you unhealthily stressed or overwrought.

38. Know what you are supposed to be doing

"You'll excuse me, gentlemen. Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon."

Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

So what are you supposed to be doing? It's very easy to think you know, but do you really? It's like when your boss says, 'I want this done as soon as possible'. Now that's really easy isn't it? Well, actually no. As soon as whose idea of possible? Yours? The boss's? And does 'want' imply a wish or a need? And 'done' is open to all sorts of interpretation. I know I'm being picky and pedantic but I'm illustrating a point here. You know you have a team and you have to manage it. You know you have budgets and figures and targets and they all have to be met. You know you have a forward looking strategy and you would like to implement that. You know you have a contract and a job description.

But what are you supposed to be doing? What's your priority? What's the end point? What's the goal? Has anything changed recently (senior management sometimes have a way of changing their minds and expecting you to know telepathically).

I once worked for a senior manager who, to all outward appear­ances, wanted my team to be successful and productive but who seemed to be hampering my every move. Whenever I wanted to make changes that would drastically improve our figures he hesitated and delayed and wouldn't make a decision. I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing. I wanted to run the department for him as well as I could, but he seemed to be putting obstacles in my path. Eventually I discovered that another department - run by a relative of his - was supposed to be the winning team. I wasn't allowed to be the golden boy because that was the role for his young nephew. He wanted me to fail so young Sam could look good. I was supposed to be useless. Once I had that info - what I was supposed to be doing - I could work effec­tively with it. You've got to know what you're supposed to be doing.

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