My birthday used to be a huge deal to me.

I would plan for months and think through elaborate plans. It had to be memorable and adventurous. I planned Ferris Bueller days, days at the horse race track, flavor tripping pot lucks, and food crawls.

But last year something changed.

With other projects taking over my schedule, I ended up having a long dinner with my wife at one of my favorite restaurants. We took a long walk home, stopping for a huge piece of cake at one of my favorite bakeries.

It was simple. It was small. And it was fun.

Maybe like you, I realized that my definition of fun had changed since I was in college. Fun used to be about risk and adventure– crashing weddings and story-worthy nights out. I define fun as:

1. quality time with quality people
2. learning something unexpected 
3. immersing into a state of flow

With this new definition, we can come to see our work as places to have fun.

We can find ways to integrate coworkers into our rituals– getting coffee, taking a break, going for a walk, eating lunch– can help us connect with the quality people around us.

We can create sessions at work to learn new things. Weekly lunch and learns, show and teach, and slack channels for learning can help foster that environment.

And of course blocking off time for deep work, distraction-free, can help us immerse ourselves more in our work and find that flow.

Having fun at work is an important part of the job. We’ll likely be working for 50+ years of our life. Finding ways to have fun keeps things interesting and worth doing. Fun at work doesn’t have to be loud music, foosball and drinking. Instead, we can surround ourselves with good people, spend time building deeper relationships, and investing in our work and its outcome.

Have fun out there.

Reference: 
Science Daily, Inc, Quartz

Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.