It’s important to recognise that work is not the same as employment. Work can often be unpaid and informal. Education, voluntary activities, caring for children, elderly or disabled relatives, as well as domestic chores and DIY can all be considered as work or productive activities.
Work provides people with five categories of experience essential for wellbeing: time structure, social relationships, collective effort or purpose, social identity/status and regular activity.
Fulfilling work can bring ‘flow’ – an absorbing state of psychological engagement, where hours can pass like minutes. Flow occurs when we are challenged in a positive way, when the task is just right for our skill level. When work is beyond our capacity it creates anxiety, alternatively when the task is too easy it can quickly lead to boredom.
By the same token, increasing an employee’s wellbeing often results in an upward spiral: greater wellbeing leads to better job performance, lower absenteeism, reduced probability of leaving an employer and even more work satisfaction.
Interestingly, pay has little to do with job satisfaction, whilst good relationships with colleagues and what you do day-to-day are far more important. To begin with, pay and work conditions can increase your wellbeing, but there quickly comes a point where it can no longer be affected by these factors.
Unemployment, on the other hand, is the biggest source of unhappiness. It affects mental stability, physical health, self-esteem, feeling of control, leisure, social contacts, not to mention the loss of earnings. Research suggests that the emotional effects of unemployment have about three times the detrimental effect on people’s wellbeing as does the loss of income alone.
On the other hand, despite sharing some features with unemployment, retirement is associated with very different outcomes in terms of wellbeing. The wellbeing of the retired is, on average, greater than of those at work. This is especially the case when a retired person is engaged in voluntary work, has a strong social network and maintains an active lifestyle.
Education and learning may not make you much happier in the simple sense of this word, but they do contribute to your fulfilment and personal development. As with work, it is just as easy to become absorbed or go into ‘flow’ whilst learning. One way to achieve flow is to ensure that you are using your strengths and interests to the full. For example, if you like being critical, start any piece of work by finding what you disagree with. If you are a harmoniser, start by identifying what appeals to you.
The Year of Wellbeing could help you assess what type of work/learning most appeals to you.
