Top up your half empty glass...or mug if you're having a brew
Jenni Morgan, trade marketing manager for Mars Drinks UK highlights the major bugbears for half of the creative industry and how that frown can be turned upside down.
Earlier this year, The Drum published an article based on the Mars Drinks survey which found that even though we’re working longer hours than before (a whopping 40 hours and 8 minutes on average a week!), 50% of creative professionals are happy with their job. So if half of us are happy – what about the other 50%, and what can we do to cheer up?
When we asked creative professionals what their biggest office bugbears were, this is how they responded:
1. Your computer crashing – 38.35%
2. People chatting / gossiping when you’re busy – 26.70%
3. Temperamental printer – 20.74%
4. Irritating colleagues – 20.74%
5. Pens going missing – 18.18%
6. Dirty kitchen area – 17.90%
7. People who arrive late – 14.20%
8. People speaking too loudly on the phone – 13.92%
9. Colleagues who don’t listen – 13.92%
10. Coffee machine on the blink – 13.64%
There are a few reoccurring themes with these – and they are all easily solved.
• Technology: You’re never going to beat it, so don’t let these inanimate objects get the better of you. You’re stronger than that. If it stops working, switch it off and on again. This works 90% of the time* (*not scientifically proven)
• Other people making noise: Invest in some industrial earphones, the type that builders wear when using a pneumatic drill. Or, if you can’t beat them, join them – you never know, partake in a spot of office banter and you might even make some workmates *gasp*
• Refreshments: We drink an average of three cups of tea or coffee a day. A dirty kitchen or broken coffee machine cannot be accepted. If the boss/ops department refuse to fix the problem, go on strike and say you can’t possibly be expected to be creative without your caffeine fix
• Missing pens: Take inspiration from banks and post offices and get a piece of string and sticky tape and connect your pen to your desk
So, for the 50% of you out there who are less than chipper, the glass doesn’t have to be half empty. Take a look around you, sort out the things that are getting you down and top up your happy levels at work.
Images provided courtest of Shutterstock.