How to Lighten Up at Work (Especially on April Fools' Day!)

You may think you're laid back and easy going especially after you laugh off an innocent April Fools' Day prank at the office but are you really light and breezy? On second thought, don't answer that. The purpose of this piece is to see how we can change our point of view at the office. According to a post on Psychology Today, Nando Pelusi, Ph.D. writes: "Cultivating a humorous mindset helps you see yourself and any situation with a more supple mind so that you are not locked into a negative view. Depression is both caused by and causes the inability to see options and choices we otherwise would." So, let's say at the office you took a stab at creating an out-of-the box social media campaign for a brand new PR client. Maybe it didn't exactly go over as planned at a meeting and now you feel a bit down. Well, you may start briefly withdrawing from social activities like lunch with colleagues. Instead, it's a ripe time to seek a playful perspective and not take life or in this case, a PR strategy, too seriously. As pointed out in the piece, it may begin by seeing life through a different vantage point. Instead of a "distraught drama," the blog post encourages everyone to see it as a romantic comedy instead. We're not done yet! The next action item involves inserting silliness. That's right -- go ahead and be goofy. Not unprofessional, mind you but you can think something goofy without actually expressing it out loud. Perhaps you're terrified of making a speech and yet you need to give a presentation at work. If you're concerned about sweating profusely, Pelusi suggests lightening up and literally picturing yourself spewing enough sweat to "drown the first row of the audience." Okay, we don't want to gross you out but you get the idea. Pelusi writes, "Accept that you sweat like a fountain; imagine it and then think, what is the worst that can happen?"

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How to Lighten Up at Work (Especially on April Fools' Day!)

Vicki Salemi

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Vicki Salemi