101 Tips to Make Work More Fun

Too often we forget this simple rule:

Fun is a necessary part of life.

When work is fun, you are doing great work and, you don’t dread work, you look forward to it. You look forward to laughing, sharing, and growing. Now that’s motivating! So let’s look at a lot of different ways to make your work more fun.

1. Blast your favorite song. (Put on your headphones first if you need to be considerate of others.)
2. Make a game out of doing a tedious task. (Make it a race against the clock or someone else, or the fewest mistakes and the winner gets a free lunch.)
3. Find one super small reason to be excited about a boring project.
4. Write in your gratitude journal.
5. Invite a new co-worker out to lunch.
6. Bring a dessert for your boss or a co-worker.
7. Go out and buy a perfectly ripened piece of fruit and eat it at lunch.
8. Give a small gift to all your co-workers.
9. Write an email to a co-worker explaining how awesome they are and why you think they are the greatest person in the company.
10. Come up with a wild idea for the advertising department even if you aren’t in their department.
11. Buy donuts for everyone.
12. Share your favorite moment from childhood with a friend.
13. Bring in apple juice for everyone.
14. Find an awesome joke online, memorize it and tell it to everyone.
15. Don’t wear any underwear.
16. Offer to help organize your boss’ or a co-worker’s office.
17. Bring in freshly brewed sun tea.
18. Make 10 people a copy of your favorite music.
19. Have a paper airplane contest. Whoever’s plane goes the farthest gets an extra 15 minute break.
20. Make today the day where you say “yes” to everything.
21. Find one project you truly love working on and do it for at least an hour a day (even if you have to create a new project).
22. Take 10 deep breaths.
23. Pick a day where you won’t complain.
24. Wear two different colored socks and see if anyone notices (step farther – different shoes).
25. Give a friendly wave to someone that you like.
26. Bake cupcakes for the office.
27. Improve the recycling program.
28. Go above and beyond everyone’s expectations.
29. Set-up a happy hour to allow people to relax and connect with each other (alcohol usually helps).
30. Offer a co-worker help on a project that fits your strengths.
31. Write a poem during lunch and print out a copy for everyone.
32. Ask someone what they enjoy about their job.
33. Make everyone gather for a group photo.
34. Compliment the first person you talk to today.
35. Ask five people how they are feeling. Then ask them how they are “really” feeling (and just listen).
36. Bring in a plant for your desk or workspace.
37. Bring in stickers that a third grade teacher would have e.g. “You are Great,” and pass them out when someone does something good.

38. Ask all your co-workers for their best joke. The best one gets a cup of coffee on you.
39. Find 10 simple things to be thankful for (your soft chair, your computer turning on and working, your co-worker who helped you avoid a mistake, your lunch, your desk holding everything up, your breath for keeping you alive, etc.)
40. Do something kid like and create a “show and tell” Friday.
41. Answer the question, “Why do I enjoy this job?”
42. Start a book club that meets once a month.
43. Take a 5 minute break to move around every hour.
44. Have a child paint a picture to take into the office.
45. Ask your boss for positive feedback.
46. Stretch at your desk for five minutes.
47. Bring in your old magazines and put them in the lunchroom for someone else to read.
48. Laugh at yourself.
49. Give a copy of your favorite book to the employee who annoys you the most.
50. Celebrate everyone’s birthday – tailor it to their likes.
51. Dress up like it’s a special day.
52. Celebrate a big contract or completion of a project by having music, dancing and a prize of a dinner for two.
53. Announce to your team/office that you are giving away a prize to the most creative solution to a specific problem that you are having. (Prize could be a giftcard, lunch, or your favorite book.)
54. Move a friend’s objects around on their desk as a fun little joke. (Make sure that you are good friends, so they don’t see it as mean-spirited.)
55. Wash a co-worker’s car during your lunch.
56. Have a dress-up day on a random day (besides Halloween).
57. Switch jobs with someone in your department for a day.
58. Have a 15 minute exercise break for the whole office.
59. Write a letter to the most famous person in your industry asking for one piece of advice.
60. Do a 1 minute relaxation exercise that makes you look weird (like yoga nostril breathing), but you don’t care because you’re relieving stress.
61. Have a coloring contest – it brings back the “kid in school” feeling.
62. Make a cup of hot tea for a co-worker.
63. Offer to let someone else borrow your lucky “object” for the day (figurine, photo, etc.).
64. Bring in a carved design in a piece of fruit (what type of fruit depends on the season).
65. Ask to switch desks with someone for a day.
66. Set-up a team meeting with donuts to share ideas.
67. Wear all white.
68. Watch a YouTube video on “Office Pranks”.
69. Give every co-worker a special rock or flower that you picked for them and tell them why they got the rock that you gave them.
70. Bring in a board game and play it during lunch.
71. Write a “thank you” note to your favorite client, customer, or business.
72. Ask someone if you can decorate their desk.
73. Do your boss’s or co-worker’s most hated task.
74. Throw a party for everyone in the office. Give one reason why you appreciate each person and that’s why you are throwing a party for everyone.
75. Decorate your desk with things you care about.
76. Bring in face paints and paint employees’ and customers’ faces.
77. Bring in a cool piece of original art from home and display it in the office.
78. Create a company song.
79. Ask one person what their favorite animal is and why.
80. Bring in Trivial Pursuit cards and ask people questions. If they get it right, they win a piece of candy.
81. Do a 2 minute meditation in a quiet spot.
82. Walk up to your nearest co-worker and give them an honest compliment.
83. On your way home, plan a route that will take you by your favorite local landmark.
84. Ask a co-worker to teach you a skill of theirs that you’ve admired.
85. Make a list of 10 things that make you happy at work.
86. Allow yourself to start fresh at this moment. Nothing that happened earlier in the day matters any more.
87. Ask a co-worker who has admired your skill if they want you to teach them how to do it themselves.
88. Use the phrase “I choose…” whenever you catch yourself saying “I need…”
89. Make your tomorrow’s “to do” list at the end of today.
90. Ask yourself, “How would my favorite person in all of history handle this situation and go do it.”
91. Ask someone to share a story about their favorite career moment.
92. Ask someone to be your mentor for the month. (Extend it if you both enjoy the experience.)
93. Show up to work 10 minutes early so you can ease into your day.
94. Admit to a co-worker that you made a mistake and that you were sorry. A clear conscious can do wonders for your happiness.
95. Organize your desk.
96. Draw a silly picture for a co-worker just for fun.
97. Bring in a ten pack of bubbles to the office and give them away.
98. Ask someone if they could be a part of any moment in history, what would it be.
99. Smile at everyone and keep doing it for the whole day.
100. Create an email meme that compliments 3 of your co-workers and/or customers and ask them to compliment 3 people.
101. Just be in this moment and realize how lucky you are to be alive, breathing, helping, sharing, eating, drinking, laughing, crying, screaming, loving, and being you.

What would you add to make this list even better? 102 tips would be awesome. Just leave your tip in the comments below, either something you've been wanting to try or have tried in the past.

If you would like to be happier and more productive at work, you probably should check out the Unlock Your Passions free e-course. It takes you step by step through what you need to bring more passion into your career.