If, like me, you are working for much of the time from home, you may also be missing what I call the ‘watercooler moments.’ The informal exchanges you enjoy with colleagues, catching up on gossip, sharing funny moments and laughing at the ridiculousness of office politics.
In this post, I explore one possible antidote. Something which is both fun and easy to do.
I really miss the humour that’s generated in the workplace. I love to laugh- and making people laugh is something I’ve lacked the opportunity to do while working from home. Making people laugh is my oxygen. It makes me feel good. Hopefully it makes my colleagues feel good too. I feel deprived of comedy moments. Perhaps I’ve missed my vocation as a stand-up comedian.
I’ve therefore been considering what I can do to reintroduce more humour into my working week.
The solution: Feel-good Fridays
The idea for Feel-good Fridays came from a recent conversation with a colleague I’d not spoken with in a long time. He’d wanted to pick my brains about a job he’d seen advertised and was thinking about applying for. We’d originally met some years ago on a course and always chatted when we met up at conferences as we got on so well. Perhaps it’s because we share the same MBTI type (ENFJ, if you’re interested). We enjoyed chatting so much we decided to connect every couple of months, specifically on a Friday. Our conversation had lifted both of us and left us in really good spirits ahead of the weekend.
I then thought: ‘Why not schedule a call every Friday with someone I’d really like to re-connect with?’
I am now in the process of contacting the people I’ve been missing- or perhaps those I’d like to get to know better on LinkedIn. People who sound really interesting and fun, but who I’ve not yet reached out to.
Note: these are not duty calls. It’s interesting to reflect on who you actually miss at work. The people you’d love to chat with may not always be your immediate work colleagues. They may be those you have met on a course or chatted to in the café. Perhaps you have common interests or you may simply have ‘clicked’ on a project you’ve worked on.
Criteria for Feel-good Fridays:
- Hand pick people you genuinely like.
- Choose connections who are positive, who will lift your spirits- and you theirs.
- Go for those who are good fun, where you’ll make each other laugh.
If you don’t work on a Friday, simply pick the last working day of your week.
The health benefits of laughter
On her website verywellmind Elizabeth Scott PhD, outlines some of the health benefits of laughter. These include:
- A good belly laugh, as this exercises the diaphragm, contracts the abs and works out the shoulders.
- Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones and increases health-enhancing hormones such as endorphins.
- It also increases the number of antibody-producing cells leading to a stronger immune system.
Investing time connecting with people who lift one another’s spirits and make each other laugh is clearly good for you and will help to build resilience as well as your mood- a great start to your weekend.
Yesterday I scheduled a call with a former colleague of mine for a Friday. I explained my concept of ‘Feel-good Fridays’ and he immediately said “Oh I really like that idea- I’m going to do that too!”
Just think- if we each made one call every Friday, we could collectively lift our mood and do our bit to contribute to the nation’s wellbeing.
What are you waiting for?
He who laughs, lasts. Mary Pettibone Poole
