20 short rules for better days at work
Having fun at work is an act of rebellion in a world that sees us as “human resources”
Hi! My name is Bree, and I write about how to have better days at work (and in life). Subscribe for writing on everything from Grandpa Mornings to being Ugly Healthy. You’ll also be the first to know about book launch events and giveaways—Today Was Fun will hit bookstores July 2025. Pre-order here!
Shall we?
Value presence over purpose. “Changing the world through storytelling” is nice, but to have a better day today, share the clever marketing copy you just wrote with a colleague and enjoy the moment laughing together.
Get your dopamine the old fashioned way. Tempted to scroll when you have a break? Instead, scroll the pavement with your feet. Scroll the horizon with your eyes. Scroll a fluffy animal with your hands. (I really tried to make those work…)
Say “Happy Monday/ Tuesday/ Wednesday/ Thursday” instead of just Happy Friday. Are you alive? It’s a happy day.
Send a love bubble to a colleague. These are little DMs where you say something you appreciate about them. Like, “You made our team look so good in that last meeting. You’re the best frontman/woman for our work band.”
Be mischievous. Go on, make the deck in Papyrus font. Rearrange the furniture in the office so you can better hang out with your work friends and deny it when facilities comes by. Send your client a haiku.
Forego zippers. Zippers never made anyone smarter. Literally no one. Wear sweat pants, yoga pants, hell a ballgown or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi works too. Dress for joy and comfort.
Sit and think. How weird is it that sitting and thinking is such a taboo way to spend working time as a… ahem… KNOWLEDGE worker. Stop making. Sit with a hot beverage and let yourself muse on your work.
Play music that came out the year you turned 18. If you work in an office it’ll be a conversation starter and might even defang ageism by normalizing BEING AN AGE, any age. Plus, there’s no music that’ll brighten your day faster than your teenage music.
Have a 10-minute workday. Pretend you only have 10 minutes to work today. Pick what you’ll do. It’s likely your highest leverage activity, and/or the thing only you on the team could do given your expertise/position. Don’t do anything else until you finish that thing.
Arrive early. To everything. The Japanese concept of “yutori” means “arrive with enough time, and then look around slowly.” It will give an otherwise harried day a sense of peace. And your best ideas might just meet you there.
Move. Duh. Go get yourself a snack. And while you’re at it, have an “exercise snack” too. 30-seconds of burpees or squats. Or climb some stairs. Working from home with your significant other? You’ve got options there too…
Compliment a colleague’s humanity. Tell them you liked seeing their cat in the Zoom; that they showed up with wet hair; that they snorted when they laughed; that they like to eat the same thing for lunch everyday. Humans like to be seen as humans.
Defend those you love from your overwork. Tempted to take the late meeting? Your partner, your friend, your parent—they can’t decline the meeting, even though they’d love to spend that time with you. As they say, “The only people who will remember you worked late 20 years from now are your kids.”
Decide that your days matter. People shouldn’t work for businesses. Businesses should work for people. Businesses are the structures that allow people to jam with others and create stuff of value and not have it be all Lord of the Flies. It is possible to run a healthy business this way.
If changing your business’s philosophy of work is asking a lot, smoothie day at the office is good too. Just wash the blender for god’s sake. (White Lotus looking at you…)
Fill your figurative ice trays. Do one thing today that will make future-you happy. Tidy your digital folders. Prepare a draft of the email. Think about the agenda now.
Make your work friend’s task disappear. You know, like in those political thrillers when a fixer says, “Consider it handled.” Wouldn’t you love it if someone did this for you? Take on the first draft. Send the email on behalf of you both. Create a pay-it-forward team vibe.
Make today’s success metric “minutes laughing.” Show your team the funny video you saw. Do a 15-minute “what’s the most hilarious solution to our problem” brainstorm. Note: this is not a bad metric for life either.
Talk like a human. Forget the jargon and swear a little. Use the word “stuff” even though your middle school English teacher feels it in their soul like a voodoo doll. And shoutout others when they have really good ideas, regardless of whether the idea included the words “leverage strategic capabilities.”
Remember, when you wish away the workweek, you wish away your life. You can learn to enjoy even the bad days if you thin-slice your joy. You don’t need to love every minute, but you must love at least one. If all else fails, get yourself a fucking croissant.
Because we deserve to love our days.
Even Monday-Friday.
Nodding my head all the way through this. Love, love, love!
Love this!