5 Ways to Make Work Fun

With the economy struggling, more and more people are working for companies that give them persistent stress and anxiety. If the economy was better, these employees would gleefully be searching for work elsewhere, but for now they are stuck at their job.

It's not a great situation, but it doesn't have to be as bad as it feels. When you wake up every day dreading to go to work, it's a sign that you need to look at your workplace as something different – you need to look at your workplace like a place you go to have fun.
It may seem ridiculous, but most jobs can be made into something fun if you know how to look at it with not only the right mindset, but also add in a little bit of your own creativity. Here are some examples of how to make your job a fun place to work, even if you dislike everything about it.

How to Make Work Fun

• Self-Competition
Maybe you played video games when you were younger. Maybe you did not. Either way, there are plenty of ways to turn your work into its own video game, no matter what career path you've chosen. If you are a cashier, for example, you can see if it's possible for you to beat your cashiering high score, checking out as many items as you can. Keep track of your scores if that helps you enjoy it more.
If you work in an office, there are ample ways to turn your tedious work into something competitive. You can see how fast you can finish a project without errors, and see if you can blow the original time out of the water. Competing with yourself is fun, and a great way to avoid caring about the workplace around you.

• Workplace Kindness

Stressful workplaces are often caused by arguments with coworkers or bosses. You don't need to salvage these relationships – you have your good friends already at home, and you don't need to try to make friends with these individuals that have made work worse.
But that doesn't mean you can't create an environment, for fun, that is more pleasant. One of the ways to do that is to bring in cookies or treats, or see if you can decorate various areas during holidays, etc. The goal is not to get your coworkers to like you – indeed, you may not care about that at all. The goal is simply to make your workplace more pleasant, and if you get to bring in treats every week, you'll effectively do that.

• Inside Jokes

Another activity you may want to consider is creating inside jokes with yourself that you engage in at work. The best way to explain this is with an example. Let's say your office takes dress code very seriously. If so, you can create an inside joke with yourself, where you wear some funny shirt or funny underwear pattern beneath your professional attire. No one will see it, but you will know it's there, and you can enjoy the way it makes you feel knowing you are making fun of the workplace without them realizing it.

• Workplace Bingo

Another really enjoyable activity to reduce stress and anxiety is to create a workplace bingo card. Write out a giant list of all of the things that give you stress at the workplace. Angry bosses, bad customers, wasteful meetings, etc. Try to be specific but only choose those things that seem to recur often. Then create a bingo card with all of those items listed on each space (don't forget the free space too!). When each one occurs, cross it off, and see if you can get a Bingo. If you do, treat yourself to something nice. That will help turn all of those negative feelings into something positive, and in many ways you may start to hope that one of the activities occurs. No cheating though!

• Organize Events That You Want

Lots of workplaces are looking for people to improve company culture, but rarely do employees want to take the initiative to schedule workplace sponsored events. Do you have a list of activities that you have always wanted to do, but never really wanted to spend your own money doing? Take advantage of that list by becoming the event organizer. See if your managers will agree to have work reimburse various events. Then schedule regular event activities that you have always wanted to do, under the guise of pretending that it was for your work.

Even though you may not want to spend more time with these coworkers, you can make it so the company will allow you a plus one, and you can take a friend or loved one and take advantage of a free activity on the company's dime. All of this will help act as a natural anxiety treatment and make work a place you can appreciate.

Have Fun At Work

Many people see a job they dislike as a stressful situation. But it also represents an opportunity, because once you accept that you may not enjoy your job any more, you can look for ways to make it more fun overall. Be creative (within reason) and try to have fun at work. After a while, no matter how tense the environment, you'll find that your work becomes something you look forward to.