How to Make Work More Meaningful

The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. That’s nearly a third of the average life. For some, work is just a means to an end. For others, work is life.

John Coleman, author of the HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose and contributor at Harvard Business Review, recently discussed the role that work plays in our lives and how we can all find ways to make work more meaningful.

THE SECRET INGREDIENT TO PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS

Perspective plays a big role in how we view not only work, but also our lives and relationships. Coleman believes having a curiosity is key to unlocking purpose and meaning.

“Curiosity is critical to professional success,” Coleman says. “A curious mind will spot and solve problems, while being unafraid to try something new. It will seek out the insights of others, and open itself to expanded thinking. A curious person will never succumb to apathy, instead pushing consistently for growth, innovation, and improvement. Anyone seeking to build a successful career must embrace curiosity.”

CRAFT YOUR WORK

One of the best ways to make your work more meaningful, Coleman says, is through “job crafting.”

“[It’s] the art of making small changes to your work life to turn the job you have into the job you want,” he says.

To craft your work, Coleman recommends starting with a bit of self-evaluation.

“Ask yourself questions such as what am I good at (really)? What do I love to do? What makes me happy on the job? A thoughtful self-understanding explored deeply and with an open-mind can provide the foundation upon which job-crafting is built,” Coleman says.

COMMIT TO CRAFTSMANSHIP

Making your work a craft is another way to bring more meaning into your everyday work. As history has shown, people often pass down professions throughout the generations—from farming to carpentry.

A commitment to craftsmanship, Coleman says, can offer a sense of purpose to your work.

“This quest for perfection and constant improvement created the most memorable achievements in history — from the murals of the Sistine Chapel to breakthroughs in genetics and the elegant simplicity of the original Mac,” Coleman explains.

While today’s jobs have evolved well beyond agricultural and industrial roles, Coleman says there are opportunities to bring craftsmanship into your everyday office job.

“It’s about self-improvement and a quest to push the limits of our own performance — to take on new challenges and achieve something hard and unique,” he says.

FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIPS

Often times, it’s not so much what our work is but who we’re working with that makes the biggest difference.

Coleman believes that investing in positive relationships can play a large role in how we find meaning in our everyday work.

“Each workday we spend more than 8 hours with work colleagues, whether remotely or in person,” Coleman says. “And trying to navigate work in the absence of meaningful relationships is a recipe for disappointment. Positive relationships at work can help us to flourish, can make others happy, and can create extraordinary corporate cultures.”

Sources: Harvard Business Review, Medium

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