Face it, there comes a time when the shine and luster of a job eventually fades away. It is common for you to feel a bit wearied by the 8-hour work day routine: dragging yourself out of bed, lining up to commute, dealing with the traffic jam at rush hour, stressing over the possibility of coming in late (again), and of course, the pile of work that awaits you on your desk. You find that you have surrendered yourself to office life.

I have found myself in the same situation a couple of times, feeling restless and antsy all the time. Now, if you haven’t mustered up the courage to throw in the towel and pursue your dreams relentlessly (by this I mean your original dreams– before “reality” spat in your face and labeled them as impractical), sheer patience might just do the trick to help you get by. It would be great, however, to do yourself a favor by having a good laugh once in a while, don’t you think so? Laughter is the best medicine, they say. It might just be the only thing we can cling onto as we surrender to the corporate ruin. 

Don’t get the wrong impression, though, I have always been efficient at work. I respect my peers as well as my superiors, and I always deliver on time (I’m writing this in case my supervisor comes across this article and starts wondering what the hell I did with my time). Let’s just say that I like to add some color to my environment and spread the joy around by having a good laugh once in a while.

#1: Are you sleepy? Go exercise!

Sometimes afternoons at your desk are the worst. The hours go by like years (except of course, when you’re chasing deadlines, which is when you almost become convinced that the damn clock is making fun of you by moving its hands faster). Most people find their energy dwindling between the 1:00PM and 3:00PM, causing them to feel very sleepy. What should you do, then, when this happens?

Go jog in the kitchen

You have to fight to stay awake. Get up from your desk, get a co-worker who also suffers from the midday snoozies and go to the kitchen. There are several exercise routines that you can do in limited spaces. I’m sure that you can come up with a lot more if you’re creative enough, although I’ve listed down some that I’ve alreayd tried:

1. Jogging in place
2. Jumping jacks
3. Hopping on one foot
4. Imaginary hoola hoop
5. Contortionism
6. Chair dancing
7. Doing the Running Man
8. Shadowboxing

Please, avoid sexual harassment charges by misinterpreting your exercise routines as acts of lewdness (I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a fine line between pole dancing and gymnastics).

Obsess over something silly and stupid.

If the time comes when Mozart and Chillout music can no longer calm you down from the debilitating rage and stress, you have to come to a decision to take it to the next level and play dirty.

Start listening to ridiculous, viral, mind-numbing pop songs.

It doesn’t matter which era they come from, as long as they have that head-bobbing effect on you. This is a great way to renew your fighting spirit. Somehow the positivity of their lyrics (no matter how senseless and cliche) tends rubs off on you. Listed below are song songs that helped me get by:

Jesse McCartney – Leaving

Kylie Minogue – Locomotion

Ashlee Simpson – Outta My Head (Ay ya ya)
 

Leave anonymous messages for people

I used to leave post-it notes on people’s computer monitors all the time. I’d draw a a flattering stick figure of them, depending on how I want to compliment them on that day. One time I drew a stick figure of one of my closest friends, Sheila, with X’s for eyes, because she was so stressed it was as though she was about to stick a pen in her neck and fall to the floor any minute. I also drew a stick figure of the New Guy in the office with chewing gum hanging from his open mouth. He always seems to look that way at any time of the day. Here are other examples:

It’s time to get creative, folks! Don’t fret about office life! There’s a lot more that you can do as long as you get that brain of yours working. Always stay positive because there is always, ALWAYS something to laugh and feel light about in every situation. Make the most out of it and of course, spread the joy, because there’s nothing better than happiness than to share it with others.