Do you ever feel guilty about taking time away from your desk to joke around with your coworkers, take a walk outside in the fresh air, or enjoy a non-work-related activity? Well, if you do, you should stop. Because having fun at work is a good thing! Not only does it generally make you feel happier, it can also help you to be more innovative, collaborative, and productive.
Here are just a few of the benefits of having fun at work:
- Enhanced creativity – People often get some of their most innovative ideas while they’re playing around and letting their minds wander. It gives their brains a chance to make new connections and see problems in a new light.
- Stronger bonds with coworkers – Playing around at the office helps people to form closer, stronger relationships with their coworkers. And that makes teamwork easier and more productive.
- Improved health – Being happy is good for people’s physical and mental health. Happy employees get more done, and are less likely to get sick and miss work.
Overall, employees who goof around and have fun at the office are more likely to feel satisfied in their jobs and do better work. That’s probably one of the reasons why big tech companies install Ping-Pong and foosball tables in their offices. But there’s no need for a department to spend a lot of money on things like that. Just taking a walk together in the middle of the day, having an impromptu office party, or enjoying a sweet treat together can be enough to bring coworkers together and make the workday more fun.
Wagner, V. (2013, December 18). 3 reasons why goofing off at work is a good thing. Open Forum. Retrieved from https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/3-reasons-why-goofing-off-at-work-is-a-good-thing/
