Psychologies Magazine No.98 Have a great day at work Back Issue

Work can be a hotbed of unmet emotional needs, where you can often feel under-valued and underappreciated. Throw in a bully boss or political power-play that makes your heart and soul ache, or simply a moaning colleague who gets on your nerves, and you can begin to dread your Monday morning. The latest figures show that we are working the longest hours in Europe and, everywhere I turn, I talk to friends and readers who are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of demands on their time and energy. In tough economic times, we can often feel we have no choice but to grit our teeth and get on with it. That’s why we’ve dedicated our 18-page dossier this month to encouraging you to have a great day at work – no matter what your circumstances. From the
latest coaching techniques on how to deal with feeling overwhelmed to inspired ideas on how to create a vibrant social community at work – be it singing in a choir or cooking each other lunch – we hope to give you the tools and ideas to change the way you feel about your work. If that feels like too much of a tall order just now, then you can always use those frustrated feelings to help you grow by reading Rosie Ifould’s inspiring article on radical acceptance on page 70. Perhaps the first step in transforming how we feel is simply allowing ourselves to feel miserable, before we can even begin to work out how to change things. In a world that champions positive thinking, it is a radical approach, but one that I believe can gently transform your whole world view. And we have new world views aplenty this month, with interviews and articles with two globally respected thought leaders who turn previous thinking on its head and invite us to see the world in a completely new way. The wonderful philosopher Alain de Botton challenges us to visit an art gallery when we next need a dose of support and enlightenment (see page 64).