Ask HN: What does it mean to be happy at work? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What does it mean to be happy at work?

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I have a background that includes working at small businesses, my own startup and most recently, F500 companies. I feel like I'm always on a roller-coaster of highs and lows, things that I need to accept or risk getting into political trouble, and the inability to call out failures, when we run into them. So, I thought I'd ask you all how others feel at work and what's considered good / bad / normal.

What does it mean to be happy at work? Is it basically tuning out, punching a clock in exchange for a pay check? Is it doing everything possible or just meeting expectations? Are you truly vested in your work and the company's success? Or, do you just make sure you always have a lifeboat in case things go wrong?

Thanks,

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I think it boils down to one thing. How would you feel during your speech announcing that you're leaving?

I recently thought about how this speech would go for me, and I actually started getting a little emotional. There is such a strong feeling of community at my job (and this is after a mere 6 months of working there), and I've made some really strong friendships here.

One think I feel is important is that being happy at your job doesn't mean enjoying every second of it. I have to do stuff every day that makes me moan and groan. Supporting IE8 isn't fun times - but when you can manage at least 3 honest belly laughs a day at work, you've found a home.

What an interesting thought. I feel like my speech would be an analysis of the things that I couldn't change, but think the company would need to figure out if it's goal is to be the kind of place that attracts people like me...or ideally a lot smarter than me.

Then, they'd probably agree and do nothing about it. Which is what led to the speech in the first place.

I find I go through ups and downs as well. My ups generally occur when I accomplish something, when I work on something meaningful, when I help others, when hard work gets acknowledged, when I learn something new, when I influence change, when a complaint or a concern doesn't go unnoticed, etc. The downs on the other hand are primarily connected with feeling of helplessness, often due to restrictive hierarchy and bureaucracy, staleness (same work every day), status quo, frustrations that go unaddressed, etc.

edit: tuning out, punching in/out (ass in a seat), meeting expectations for me are all signs that point to me being stuck at a job without much enjoyment. Not being vested in the company is a tricky one though - I am ready to make certain sacrifices for a company, however I will always ensure I have a backup strategy. The same should hold true for companies as well.

That's almost verbatim where I am. The ups come with progress, little accomplishments or whatnot. But, every time I hit an arbitrary wall, it's a huge downer.

I'm just glad it's not just me.

When your work is what you want to be doing, where you want to be, and the people around you are the people you want to be around, you're happy at work.

Unfortunately, I'm not even sure that's enough for me, b/c it's such a mixed bag. I love my work, but hate the bureaucracy when it works against me. I like the people I work with directly, but the org is big and wide...and I don't care for all of them.

Growth. Have you learned something new today? Are you around people who can teach you a thing or two? Are you pushing yourself? The best jobs change you. Make you better.

I get to learn a lot. I play with new and cutting edge technology, applying it to solve current business problems. However, it's unclear to me whether or not what I'm learning is the environment isn't 100% conducive to me being happy.

Maybe it'll always ebb and flow. Or maybe I'm doing it wrong. That's why I asked the question.

Plus a reasonably comfortable work environment. Where 'reasonable' is defined completely by the individual.

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