How+to+manage+a+good+work-life+balance

As a follow-up to our discussion in class, I am posting here a link to an interesting article about the perks of working at the Google headquarters. If you want to publish your opinion, you may just paste your text below.

//** What makes people happy at work? **// I would like to say that, probably, it is not the best moment to talk about happiness at work when a lot of people would feel fortunate just having a job. Making philosophy about It could seem an extravagance or something a bit frivolous. I can’t help considering our current context, if I have to think about income as a work aspect. Money is not a priority when people earn a fair salary or enough money to keep a reasonable and respectable way of life. However, if wages are so low that they barely let people survive day by day, other factors may be irrelevant. We shouldn’t forget that being a “one-thousand-euro worker “ two years ago was at least, a sad situation, but nowadays is a dream for many people. Having said that, I think that doing a enjoyable work is the most important facet related with happiness. There is a quote from Fernando Savater, the philosopher, that I don’t remember exactly, but whose meaning is: “Do what you enjoy and get being paid for it”. That’s the key, being able to make a living working in something you feel involved and passionate. Having a friendly and supportive atmosphere is another essential point to achieve happiness. Creativity and productivity thrive in this environment. Besides, this aspect is directly related with the fact of being recognized by our achievements. Recognition is a positive feedback at work that boosts our self-esteem providing that you keep a certain distance and don’t become too reliant on it. Finally, there is an additional factor that I consider relevant : being able to keep a suitable work-life balance. Basically, it depends on the different personal priorities and circumstances related with work, family, hobbies, etc. Obviously it is something which will change all through our working life and, of course, a subjective issue. (Joaquín Castro)