19: Rewriting the rules of work, with Beth Stallwood

What if work didn’t have to be miserable? What if the memes people shared to help them get through the week weren’t needed? Beth Stallwood began asking these questions through her work as a coach, and during lockdown started putting her ideas down on paper. Beth is a coach, facilitator, speaker, consultant, and author who has spent 20 years developing her approach to helping individuals and organisations with their people challenges. Her book on finding joy in work is a practical guide to creating a balance between work and life. She believes that work is a part of life and not the other way around, and that boundaries between work and leisure have been disappearing for the past 20 years. The book provides a step-by-step process to help readers identify areas of their work life that can be improved and create a plan for achieving balance and joy. She emphasises that work should not be a source of stress, but rather a source of satisfaction and fulfilment. Beth’s five tips for creating work joy Take control and take action. You're accountable for your job satisfaction. It's your responsibility, not your boss's, organisation's, or colleagues'. Choose your workmates wisely. When job hunting, interview bosses too. Get an idea of the boss-employee relationship. Understand what brings you joy. Your brain will unconsciously seek out joy, so take the time to figure out what sparks it and what brings gloom. Engage your squad. Turn to your network and rely on them for help, challenge, and motivation. Understand who they are and use them to your advantage. Define boundaries and communicate to others. Hold some firm, flexibly adjust others. Eg: if you don't want to work after 6 PM, let people know. Open conversation can follow. Links Connect with Beth on LinkedIn WorkJoy: A Toolkit for a Better Working Life – Beth’s book The Bournville Story (Cadbury factory and housing for workers) “Computer says no” – Little Britain Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do, by Daniel M Cable Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work, and What We Can Do About it, by David Graeber (ABeth’s website Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workshop, by Ricardo Semler The Long Win: The Search for a Better Way to Succeed, by Cath Bishop Download Beth’s WorkJoy worksheet WorkJoy Jam – Beth’s podcast