Yes, work. And, fun.

How to find more joy in the work we do.

You know the saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? In many cases it may be true, but I met a farmer who would argue there can be fun amidst work. 

It seems like we’ve accepted the idea that work is something we have to do so we can afford to have fun when we’re not working. In some ways, this can be meaningful; free time is usually more rewarding when we don’t have it all the time. Working hard during the week makes the weekends sweeter. Yet, I think we can easily be burnt out by the mentality that we can only have fun outside of our work. What if we could truly love what we do, and even look for ways to make it more rewarding in the moment? 

Sitting in the corner of a large conference room at a hotel event center, drinking subpar coffee out of a cheap styrofoam cup, I watched a seasoned farmer stand on the stage and tell the story of how his farm has become more successful as he pursues innovative practices every year. By taking actions such as reducing tillage on his farm ground and growing cover crops to protect the soil in the winter, he’s found more business success. It wasn’t without its challenges, though; as he shared the ups and downs of farming, it was abundantly clear the man worked hard, and probably put in more hours than most professionals in other industries. Yet, what stuck out to me most was a comment he made about growing cover crops. 

“Harvest corn with a green cover crop already growing and you just sit there in the combine with a smile on your face.” 

It might not seem like there’s anything significant about these words on their own, but there’s a subtle hint. This farmer had seen business hardship and business success through many decades of working in the agriculture industry, yet something as simple as a new crop growing in the field brought a smile to his face. It was clear, just by watching him speak from the stage, he was genuine; his face lit up as he spoke those words. 

It’s easy to struggle with the balance of work and fun, and I think some of it is because we’re not intentional about finding the fun in the work. Our natural tendency is to see the negative aspects of what we do. I’ve noticed it’s not particularly popular to look on the bright side these days, so we usually choose to fit in instead and find things to complain about. But I’d rather enjoy my life than be popular, so I want to be more like that farmer from the conference. Once we start to shift our attitude, it’s not as hard as it seems to find the small joys in our seemingly mundane tasks. 

Mindset shifts

I’ve learned often we find what we look for, so here’s a couple things I’m learning to spot to help me enjoy my work:

1) Gratitude

What’s something about your work that you take for granted and other people wish they had? Maybe it’s simply that you have meaningful work to do, or that you like your coworkers, or that you have homework to do because you have the privilege of an education. Recognize it, and be consciously grateful for it. You’ll probably find yourself smiling a little more when you embrace gratitude. 

2) Beauty

Look for beauty, and not just in the material sense. That’s part of what the farmer was talking about—there’s something beautiful about a new green crop growing amidst an old brown crop that’s completed its growing season. But, maybe it’s not beauty in nature; maybe it’s the beauty of someone doing a small, but meaningful gesture. There’s always beauty in the world, but we’ll find more of it if we’re searching for it. 

As John Maxwell says, what we focus on expands. Focus on gratitude and beauty, and you’ll find more to be grateful for and more beauty to appreciate. 

It’s not like work becomes a walk in the park just because we decide to be grateful and see beauty; it simply brings our lives more into balance. Work will still often be hard, but we don’t have to wait till five o’clock (or the weekend, or the end of the semester or school year) to have some fun. It may still be true that all work and no play makes us dull, but our work in and of itself certainly doesn’t have to be. Do the work, have the fun, and take heart in knowing sometimes those can happen at the same time.

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How do you make your work more fun? Drop your thoughts in the comments below or tag @miriamrosah on Twitter or Instagram. I’d love to learn from you.

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Fun fact… the farmer who finds joy in cover crops just so happens to be the farmer in this meme you’ll probably recognize. His name is Dave Brandt and he absolutely embodies the idea of being proud of the work he does, but humbled and grateful he gets to do it.