We spend a third of our lives at work, but the demands we experience there can be overwhelming; 66% of American employees were dealing with burnout last year according to a Moodle survey conducted by Censuswide.
Knox News asked a Knoxville-based happiness consultant how we can improve our wellbeing in the workplace. The answer, we learned, is simply "to be more human."
Knoxville Happiness Coalition founder Alexia Georghiou has been on a mission to make our jobs happier. Her business, founded in 2019, uses Georghiou's background as a therapist along with scientific research findings to coach others on how to make these improvements. She's helped companies worldwide boost their office culture. Often, the key to that shift isn't one big overhaul,
but instead, small changes throughout the day, she said.
How can we improve our workplace happiness?
One tip Georghiou suggested was taking more frequent breaks, even if they're short. It could be something as simple as looking up from your computer and looking outside for a moment instead. Or maybe it's pausing for lunch or to take a quick walk.
It's also beneficial to recognize that not everyone is navigating the same things at and outside of work. Typically, an office is comprised of people in different life stages. Someone might be caring for an elderly parent, while someone else might be preparing to become a parent themselves. Those are natural, even anticipated moments for many folks, so if work was designed around them, it would be like "permission to be human," Georghiou told Knox News.
Another way we can make work more pleasant is by creating social connection and engaging with others, also part of boosting humanity in the workplace. "Look at that person and say hello," Georghiou said. "I know we say, 'How are you?' We're not going to change that so easy, right? 'I'm good.' We don't want to hear the answer." But a simple tweak could help us feel more seen: "How are you really?" Georghiou said that one word can make all the difference; it tells your colleague, "you matter, and I care."
For more information about Georghiou, visit KnoxvilleHappinessCoalition.com.
Hayden Dunbar Evans is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What's the key to being happier at work? We asked a happiness consultant
