I Love Going on Vacation!

I haven't missed a week of posting on my Happier at Work Blog, so even though it's late on a Friday night, I wanted to create a quick post just to say: I'm going on vacation!!

Yes, next week I probably WILL miss the first week of the year of writing a blog post because I will be enjoying spending time with family in LA and cruising with my son in Mexico! 

I have a list of articles about workplace happiness and a lot of things that I'm grateful for, so I have no shortage of material... just a shortage of time today.

I wanted to share this article from Oprah.com that highlights 8 habits of happy people at work, the first being: the anticipation of an upcoming vacation! Well, that was definitely true for me this week. Though I do love my job, I also have been looking forward to the week off. Today I was able to delegate, complete, and delete a bunch of todos and now with this last item off of my todo, I'm ready to close up shop and enjoy some rest and relaxation! 

Do something worth remembering...

"To do something worth remembering with a photograph or a scar. I feel genuinely lucky to, hand on heart, say I love doing what I do."

I was moved by this video and these words. I,too, feel lucky that I love what I'm doing. And even though it's not an adventure in the traditional sense, I enjoy the challenge and the people.  When I come to the end of my life, I will not regret these days spent solving problems, writing software, and coaching people.

How about you? Do you love what you do?

12 Personality Traits of a Great Boss

I've heard that the biggest factor in our happiness at work is our boss. When we like our boss and our boss likes us, we're happy.  And if it's the opposite... we're usually looking for a new job.  I know this has been true for me... Here's another great infographic from OfficeVibe about personality traits of a great boss:

Infographic crafted with love by Officevibe, the corporate employee engagmement platform that encourages daily team building

I Love No Meetings!

I think this was the first work day I can remember that I didn't have a single meeting! It was a great day! We started a new "no meeting policy" for Wednesday afternoons at my workplace, too, and I love it.  I understand that sometimes meetings are important, but we have so many sometimes, that I feel like it's hard to ever find a solid block of time to get much done.

I'm trying to stick by some of our best practices - have an agenda, stay focused, and keep meetings short. I've also tried a few new things with 1:1's...  doing them while walking when the weather's nice or treating someone to lunch.  It definitely helps me feel like I'm talking to a friend rather than 'working.'

Here's an article from OfficeVibe that talks about how we can make meetings "suck less"! http://www.officevibe.com/blog/making-meetings-suck-less