Your sense of humor — Joyce’s Career Tip of the Week
During these challenging end-of-the-semester days, you are doing all you can to maximize your time and performance. You are following strict schedules, juggling demands, prioritizing and re-prioritizing tasks and responsibilities, trying to eat healthy meals and get enough sleep. All of this can be overwhelming! Don’t get so busy that you lose your sense of humor.
A sense of humor can be a stress buster. Did you know that an appropriate sense of humor can be advantageous to one’s career? Co-workers enjoy working with you. Having a sense of humor can make you more approachable to others, help to build trust and increase creativity as well as productivity.
As I’ve been reading articles, reflecting on my thoughts and attempting to write this article, I’ve had some challenges. Humor is subjective. Not everyone finds the same things funny. Humor can also be hurtful and inappropriate. I want to make sure that I am presenting this topic in the most positive manner.
The most important point I want to make is that you should not get too busy to find time to laugh. Share your humor with your friends and appreciate theirs. Keeping yourself and teammates upbeat, while working through challenges, is a valuable skill. Even when the work is serious and the tensions are high, it is not only acceptable, but important, to have fun.
Articles about the advantages of humor:
10 reasons why humor is a key to success at work
The importance of sense of humor
Joyce Donahue is a career counselor in the Fulton Schools Career Center. She is a nationally certified career counselor and holds “Master Career Counselor” membership status in the National Career Development Association.