Finding This One Thing Can Make You Happier At Work

Most jobs — even the dream ones — can become tiresome after a while. Whether someone works a traditional 9-to-5 or was able to ditch the office to become a full-time social media influencer (check out how much influencers make for sponsorships), nobody is immune from burnout. According to the American Psychological Association's 2021 Work and Well-being Survey, which polled 1,501 adult workers in the United States, almost three in five respondents reported feeling mental and physical fatigue, lack of motivation, and more due to work-related stress.

While such feelings can seem heavy and daunting in the moment, there's good news — burnout doesn't have to last forever. However, it takes effort on the part of the worker to pull themselves out of that cycle of negativity and monotony, and look forward to, rather than dread, the beginning of a new work day. Ultimately, in order to be happier at work, research suggests they need to find one thing: meaning in what they do.

If a worker can find significance in each task they're completing throughout the day, no matter how mundane it may seem, chances are, they will be much happier in their role. According to research by Adam Grant, a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, one must look at the big picture and recognize how their work has a positive impact on others. Of course, this is easier to do in some jobs. A frontline health care worker, for example, is able to see firsthand how their work helps people, while someone in a traditional office setting may need to look a little harder. Still, there's always a beneficiary.

As part of his research, Grant conducted an experiment on call-center workers tasked with securing donations to a public university. Cold calling can be difficult — these employees are often subjected to getting hung up on, yelled at, and more for little pay (here's what to do if your employer doesn't pay you, by the way), making it easy to lose sight of things beyond hitting a quota and surviving the day. Yet, after Grant arranged for some of the workers to interact with students who were scholarship recipients thanks to donations secured during those calls, they ended up speaking to potential donors twice as long on the phone and garnering a weekly average of $503.22 (previously $185.94). They were able to find both value and significance in their work, which resulted in happier, motivated employees.

Not every employee is going to have their own Adam Grant on hand to help them see the value of their work, however. Oftentimes, it's up to individuals themselves to take a step back and look at the big picture. This is true for everyone, from blue-collar workers to the biggest Hollywood names. One example of the latter came in 2013, when future "Barbie" (are any of your old Barbies valuable?) actor Ryan Gosling announced a brief hiatus from film. He said in an interview with The Associated Press' Jack Coyle, "I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and reassess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it" (via CBS News).

Meanwhile, a few years back, a question posted to the Reddit subreddit r/AskReddit read "People who actually love their jobs: how and why?" It received over 2,600 replies before being archived. In the positive thread, workers shared their stories of how they had found significance — and, therefore, happiness — in their daily tasks, from the baker who gets to make pies for excited customers to a science teacher who helps students comprehend difficult concepts.

Of course, not every baker and science teacher is going to share the same sentiment. Burnout can happen to anyone if they lose sight of the "why." As pointed out by u/bluemooncalhoun, "You can't just find a job you love, you have to find what you love WITHIN your job ... The kind of people who love their jobs actively try to make it an enjoyable experience by connecting with their coworkers or putting value into the things they do, and this applies across every single job you could have."