Today is Thursday, and as I drink my coffee and check email I allow myself the joy of anticipating the weekend ahead. Full disclosure, my favorite two days of the week are Saturday and Sunday. I love the weekend! I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that. I also love my job and I appreciate the fact that I am in a business where I support amazing marketing professionals who are devoted to helping consumers create memories in a new home. What makes me happy about supporting our clients is that in addition to a more than full-time job, most of them are managing a more than full family life at home. They are professional and personal rock stars to us. I genuinely like working for our clients which makes me content with Monday-Friday. But let’s talk about weekends and how the joy of the weekend can infuse our work week and reduce stress. First we have to talk about the latest trend in "sparking joy". I promise this is NOT a blog post about tidying or organizing your home. Stay with me.
Everyone knows about “sparking joy” an idea introduced by home tidying and organizing celebrity, Marie Kondo. Marie Kondo has introduced the idea that you can clear physical clutter for a better and more harmonic life at home. Her system includes going through all your “stuff” and asking yourself, “does this spark joy?” and then recycling anything that does not. A friend of mine tried this and told me 100% of her shoes sparked joy and thus she could not part with them. In spite of that, evidently the thrift stores in the U.S. are under siege from a tidal wave of people testing this theory and using her system to clear out their clutter at home. I have noticed that “Spark Joy" is now a brand and probably being trademarked. But I believe that no one can or should claim "joy" for their own or for their company. It’s one of the most abundant renewable resources we have. And sharing it usually multiplies its impact.
So that got me thinking about “moments that spark joy”……..small things that give me a little boost in the work week, especially. Yesterday, I was thinking about the “Thursday lift” and the little spark of joy I feel when I allow myself to think of Thursday as a soft entry into the weekend. Most weekends I have plans to be outside hiking with my friends. The combination of the great outdoors and connections with people who are important to me, is a source of joy. The act of thinking about my weekend actually “sparks joy” for me and can carry me through even the most intense work day. When I share that with someone it doubles down on the joy I feel anticipating it. It's a happy moment that seems to infuse my work week and sustain me.
If you feel that Thursday lift, we'd love to know? What weekend moments spark joy for you? Whether it’s the anticipation of pancakes with little ones, a long bike ride with friends, Yoga, a delicious long sleep, time for a home improvement project, space to immerse yourself in a good book, time to do nothing, cheering for your kids' team or that 30 minutes you claim for yourself at a local coffee shop, we all have those things that bring joy and the anticipation can have a positive effect in the workplace.
We are trying an experiment and devoting our brand Facebook page to “Moments that Spark Joy” as a way to accumulate moments of joy, and add a “lift” to your work week. We hope you will take a moment to share your weekend moments of joy on our Facebook page as part of the Builder Promotions Community. You can write a short post or share an image with a few words. There’s something about Joy that’s completely infectious when you share it.
Thanks for stopping by! We'd love to hear from you at www.facebook.com/builderpromotions
Leslie Bridges, Chief Blogger
CXO, Builder Promotions, Inc.
