7 ways to make work more fun

Today I want to talk about having more fun. That is something that seems to be hard when you're working from home and you have so much to do. And the last thing that you think is that you can make this more fun. There is no point in being self-employed if it's not just a little bit fun.  So if you work from home, I'm going to share seven ways to make work more fun. 

1. Add background noise to make work more fun

The first one is to add some background noise. Maybe some music or a comedy album. Something that is going to either keep you in a good mood or make you laugh. You don't want something too stimulating though. I want you to listen to something that's going to be fun. So find something that is fun and something that you don't have to focus on too much. Because sometimes you get frustrated or you feel like you're missing something.

2. Gamify to make your work more fun

Tip number two is to make it a game. How can you gamify your work?  Let's say if your goal is to reach out to 10 prospects today, set a reward for yourself when you've reached your goal.  If you get three things done, then you're done for the day and will take the rest of it off. So what can you do to make it a game and add rewards?

3. Work with friends to make your work more fun

The third thing that you can do is work with friends. And I know what you're thinking. COVID is still going on. Your kids are at home, so how are you going to do that?

You can use Zoom, Google Meets, or Microsoft teams. Any system where you can hop on a call.  The way that I've done this in the past is that your reward for having a productive hour is getting to goof off with each other for 10 minutes at the end of every hour.  We would mute our mics for 50 minutes, and then 10 minutes before the top of the hour, we would unmute, check-in with each other, and see how things are going.

So if you're self-employed and you're missing that comradery with other people, that is a great way to do that. And if you don't have any friends and work from home, go jump into a group on Facebook that you're in and say, "Hey, I'm looking for three or four other women who want to do some co-working."

If you're in Bookkeeper Training School, reach out to the folks in there and see if anybody wants to do this.

4. Take fun breaks

Number four, take fun breaks. Sometimes you get so involved with work that you don't take breaks. But don't take a break and go do laundry.

What I did the other day was take a 20-minute break where I just sat outside and closed my eyes.  It was so restorative. I felt so much better afterward.

You can go for a short walk, play a game. Just do something fun. And make sure you take those frequent fun breaks. Greg McKeown says that you should try to do three 60 to 90-minute working sessions throughout the day. And that's kind of the limit of your productivity. If you tried to do any more than that, you're not going to get much done. So you might as well stick with that

5. Break your task down into small pieces

Number five. I want you to take your tasks and break them up into small pieces. Because when you do that, you can check them off faster. You'll get a hit of dopamine in your brain because you're like, boom, I checked that off. And it's really good for your mental health.

6. Work somewhere else

Number six is to work somewhere else. Now, this could be somewhere else in your house, or it could be going to Starbucks or working outside.

This could be just changing up your environment. I have flowers that I put on my desk. I usually have a diffuser going, and my salt lamp. But the more things you can do to change up your environment, it will help you have something new to look at. It can be as simple as changing your desktop wallpaper.

One of the great things about working from home is that you don't need a lot of equipment.  You can just take your laptop and work from wherever to get a different perspective.

7. Write down your wins

Number seven, write down your win. This is so important. At the end of every day, during my shutdown period, I write down my wins for the day. I also write down what I'm grateful for too, but we'll talk about that next week.

What does this do for you? It gives you some perspective. You realized that you did accomplish something today. And also it's another one of those dopamine hits. When you write it down, it just clicks in your brain. It makes your brain happy and it helps you out.

I'd love to know is how are you adding fun to your work time. Let me know your suggestions and ideas because I'm always looking for more. You can comment below, or you can comment on YouTube if you're watching there or in our Facebook group, the Small Biz Mama community.

This group is full of women who are just starting a business, want to start a business, or have had a business for a while check in and just want to help other people out. We'd love to have you in that group.