"Time flies whether you're having fun or not. It's best to have fun!" - Avis Ward
The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their Work and Employment Findings from a 2006 survey. The results, stated below, may or may not surprise you.
- Employed persons worked 7.6 hours on average on the days that they worked. They worked longer on weekdays than on weekend days-8.0 versus 5.4 hours.
- Many more people worked on weekdays than on weekend days: 84 percent of employed persons worked on an average weekday compared with 35 percent on an average weekend day.
- On the days they worked, employed men worked about an hour more than employed women. This difference partly reflects women's greater likelihood of working part time. However, even among full-time workers (those usually working 35 hours or more per week), men worked somewhat longer than women-8.4 versus 7.7 hours.
- On the days they worked, 21 percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home and 86 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace. Hours worked at home averaged 2.6 hours per day while hours worked at a workplace averaged 7.9 hours per day. Men and women were equally likely to do some of all of their work at home.
- Employed women, ages 25 to 54, who lived with a child under age 6 spent about an hour less per day on average working than employed women living in households without children. On the other hand, employed men living with a child under age 6 worked about the same amount of time as those living in households without children.
- Self-employed workers were more likely to work on an average weekend day (49 percent) than were wage and salary workers (39 percent). Self-employed workers were also more likely than wage and salary workers to have done some work at home-56 versus 17 percent.
Why did I share the findings of last year's Work and Employment survey from the BLS by the U.S. Department of Labor? Do I think you needed it to convince you of the amount of time you spend working? Most certainly not! Since we spend a magnanimous amount of quality time during our day working, I have a question for each of us, 'Are we having fun yet?'
Fun is an important trait of a highly effective and successful organization. Studies have shown a direct link between fun at work and an employee's creativity, productivity, morale, satisfaction and retention; as well as, customer service and many other factors that determine business success.
Every performance evaluation I have received commented on my ability to have fun while at work. I'm much more productive when I am having fun. The work flows. Perhaps being voted ‘Class Clown' among the girls in high school is the reason but I also received academic honors, won several of those beauty pageants and talent shows. I am unable to function at my absolute best if humor is excluded from my day to day living, especially while working.
I have read fun has become an integral part of corporate culture. It's an organizational strategy - a strategic weapon to achieve extraordinary results in areas of corporate life ranging from training sessions to meetings to hiring practices. That's fantastic!
As a consultant and trainer, my clients are encouraged to hire people who not only meet the job requirements but people who are fun. My sister, a recently retired school principal, told me of a candidate who was clearly intelligent and qualified for the position being applied for; but the candidate was ‘extremely boring and no fun at all.' She said to me, "I knew I would regret bringing this person on board because the candidate was too serious and did not know how to laugh and loosen up."
C.W. Metcalf, a Humor Consultant and bestselling author said: "Humor is a vital, critical element for human survival and we often forget about it and set it aside. We are told that laughter, fun and play are unadult, unintelligent and nonprofessional. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first indicators of the onset of mental illness is a loss of the sense of joy of being alive."
That's it! When you're having fun, you feel alive! If you want a work environment filled with high self-esteem, positive energy and team spirit, let your people have fun!
Fun and humor helps us through trials, tribulations, uncertainties and change. If we are to have fun, we must not take ourselves too seriously. This can be deadly. It is also suggested that we seize any opportunity to have fun. Sure, we'll move out of our comfort zone and perhaps even look silly or foolish but that beats an ulcerated stomach, hypertension or sleepless nights because of being uptight all the time, especially while working.
Do the unexpected. Do what's expected, also. The most challenging work should be fun and not stressful. Perform at your top level best. Interject humor in your workday and see how much more fun you will have while at work. You'll bring about a change in others, too. Remember, there is a time and place for everything. The worse thing anyone can do is trying to be funny at an inappropriate time.
Some of us spend over 2000 hours and more than 250 days a year working. The venue doesn't matter. What matters is the time given to a very necessary and hopefully, enjoyable task. It's important to have balance. Laughter fits perfectly into that equation. Have fun and be merry while at work. Everyone close to you will be happy for you!
© 2007 by Avis Ward of AWard Consulting, LLC
