Work Isn’t Supposed To Be Fun (Except Fun Jobs)

Is work supposed to be fun?

I ask because I really don’t know what is a reasonable expectation to have of work. Does it depend on your industry, your job duties, or your work environment? If you’re working from a cubical, that means you’re not supposed to be having fun, but if you’re a stand-up comedian then your you’re allowed to have fun at work?

I recently overheard a coworker saying “Work is work, it isn’t supposed to be fun. That’s why you’re at work and not at home with your friends and family.” My gut reaction wanted to give her a piece of mind, tell her how miserable she sounds, how work should be fun and that she just needs to change her frame of mind. Maybe that was just the optimistic Gen Y in me though, because when I actually thought about my own situation I realized that I don’t have fun at work every day–not even most days. The truth is, most of us are probably not having fun at work.

But that begs the question: why not?

Sure, I understand that sometimes we have to do things that just aren’t fun because they help us reach our bigger goals (taking Biology Lab in college wasn’t fun, but I really wanted that college diploma). Sometimes we have to do things that aren’t fun just because they have to get done (printing out that FedEx label earlier wasn’t fun, but the letter had to get out). Still, everyone is always telling us that if we do what we love for work, it won’t feel like work. Career coaches, your parents, your friends, are constantly telling us that work should be fun not because they think we should find a job and then make it fun, but exactly the other way around. We should be finding what is fun & what we enjoy doing in our free time and turn that into our work.

Alright so what if you haven’t found a way to turn what you love doing in your free time into work? I still don’t think that society should be living under the impression that work isn’t supposed to be fun. Is that what parents are teaching their children today? Kids won’t ever want to grow up if they’ve been brainwashed into thinking that once they leave school they’re destined for a life of non-fun 40 hours every week.

Can we not instead change the constructs that define our expectations for fun at work? If everyone walks around saying “work shouldn’t be fun” then it won’t be fun. If my coworker thought that she would have fun doing her work alongside her kids, then why not do that?

I know, so many questions. And they’re not rhetorical. I honestly do not have the answers. If you do, please share :) What do you think about the place of fun in the workplace? Do you have a “fun” job or find ways to have fun at work? Do you also think that work isn’t supposed to be fun?