Corporate Idealist

photo credit: alexik

Do you have friends at work? Studies show that people are generally much happier in their jobs when they have friends at their workplace.

This week, it might be worthwhile to try to strengthen your relationships at work: have a laugh with a friend at work, and plant the seeds of friendship with a casual coworker.

Penelope Trunk wrote an excellent blog post about having friends at work a few summers ago with a list of steps to go through to make it happen. One of my favorites in the list is this:

Find coworkers with shared vision and values.

This situation is probably most common at a nonprofit like Project: Think Different: “Everyone is linked together based on a passion for what we’re doing,” says, Raipal. “We all have a strong desire to change messages in pop culture.”

CareerBuilder on CNN.com has a great breakdown of “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of friendships at work, and it includes this should-be-obvious note:

Don’t, however mistake these initiatives as an open invitation to socialize all day. Keep your friendships in check and remember… you are at work to work!

(Socialize a bit, of course, but turning the average workday into an excuse for an office party is simply not sustainable — silly picture I chose for this post notwithstanding.)

Perhaps you’re even luckier than most, and you not only have a friend at work, you have a best friend at work. USAToday.com has an article on the advantages for business when coworkers are best friends.

Best friendships are good for business. Companies are coming to discover that, yet are at a loss at what to do about it. Group-hug Tuesdays? That idea sends chills down managers’ spines.

As well it should. No one wants to be required to befriend coworkers. Yet there certainly are management tactics that can promote the environment needed for coworkers to find like-minded peers and become friends. From the same article:

Brian Le Gette, CEO of Baltimore company 180s, is a believer in workplace friendships. The maker of sunglasses, ear warmers and gloves has a young, active workforce, and the company sponsors employees in Frisbee golf tournaments and a charitable rowing competition called dragon boat races that had 22 co-workers practicing for long hours after work.

Is all of this old hat for you? Are you a natural at making friends in the workplace? Leave us a note in the comments and let us know your tips for establishing workplace friendships.

photo credit: DerrickT

Many people think that work/life balance is all about what appears on either side of the vs. in any given scenario. For example:

• Then vs. Now
• Work vs. Life
• Passion vs. Profession

Or better yet:

• Doing what I have to do vs. Doing what I want to do
• Making money vs. Having fun
• Playing it safe vs. Living your dreams

Of course, all of the above matchups are limiting, and even unfair. But that’s the point. Neither work nor life always have to come down to a 1 vs. 2 choice. It doesn’t have to be Either vs. Or. Believe it or not, it can be This AND That. Work AND Life. Passion AND Profession.

And maybe that’s the center around which work/life balance rotates. It’s finding that sweet spot where what we want to do and what we have to do collide. It’s finding the gooey center of happiness in the middle of the Tootie Roll Pop we call life.

So, don’t merely try to justify your 8-hour workday. Find an 8-hour workday that makes you happy, proud, and fulfilled. Don’t buy into the modern mantra that it can only be one or the other. Don’t defer life – live a whole one.

To get a better glimpse into what I mean by that, spend time this weekend with The Monk and the Riddle. This quick read is a quasi-fictional account of a Web-based entrepreneur who thinks he needs to strike it rich with a business plan he’s not very crazy about in order to live the life he’s always wanted. After several conversations with a Silicon Valley veteran, he finally realizes that work is about more than a paycheck, and that value is measured in more places than on a balance sheet.

An excerpt:

Work hard, work passionately, but apply your most precious asset – time – to what is most meaningful to you. What are you willing to do for the rest of your life? does not mean, literally, what will you do for the rest of your life? That question would be absurd, given the inevitability of change. No, what the question really asks is, if your life were to end suddenly and unexpectedly tomorrow, would you be able to say you’ve been doing what you truly care about today? What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life? What would it take to do it right now?

Whether you read a book this weekend, or whether you finally break free from the versus mentality, understand that balancing between work and life might be as simple as re-understanding the meaning of the word life.

photo credit: Shyald

So often, it’s one little word that defines what we are doing.

For about a year now I’ve been thinking about adding a small structure to my property– such as the ones found here — so I can go from working at home to working from home. The distinction is significant.

My existing house is not very big, and my family uses every square inch for pure living. I want to do two things: 1) Carve out my own work space and really define it as an environment for creativity and productivity; and 2) Preserve my home as the place where we gather and eat and sleep and play as a family. I’ve always cringed at the home offices where someone is still physically in the house, but unavailable to be engaged in the business of family life.

More and more of us need to be able to work from home. Employers are cutting costs by reducing office space and requiring employees to be off-site. In addition, many people no longer have a traditional employer, but work for themselves on a contract basis with multiple clients.

The idea of working from home has a legendary appeal. The key is to recognize that it may turn out to be just a legend unless you honor the important differences between work and home as spaces with unique requirements and functions. Be honest with yourself about what you need to get work done, and be purposeful about creating both that space and time.

Being successful in the new world of work is about more than a wireless connection and bunny slippers. It’s about being able to perform well in alternative settings, and it is a big advantage to acknowledge that those spaces still need to be conducive to work/life balance as well as getting the job done.

photo credit: jhoc

What was the last task that truly had your undivided atttention? Almost all of us struggle with having too many things to do and too little time, and the consequence is generally that we treat all our tasks, important and trivial, as if we have no time for any of them.

Wouldn’t it be nice this week if we can carve out some time for genuine focus? There’s probably at least one project or task you need to tackle this week that would benefit greatly from considered, careful efforts rather than the rushed frenzy it might ordinarily receive. In my case, it seems more like three or four tasks, and maybe that’s true for you too.

Because if we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it 43 times: the point of all the time management and task management methodologies and “getting things done” and all the rest of it isn’t simply to make us faster. It’s to free us up to focus on the things that matter.

That’s my goal for this week. I hope you’ll consider it, too. Or if you’ve already got this one nailed down, tell me in the comments what your goal for this week is. Either way, I hope it’s a great week!