Practice a few new strategies to help you feel more satisfied with your job--and your life.

Ever heard the old adage, "If work was fun, they wouldn't pay you to do it"?

But just because work is work doesn't mean you have to wish you were somewhere else. With a few tweaks, American Management Association experts say, you can feel happier during your day and more satisfied when you head home. Here's how.

Phone a Friend
Start building work relationships you can rely on--stat.

A study in the American Psychological Association journal Health Psychology found that good peer support at work made people happier. What's more, it made them much less likely to die during the study period than those without close relationships at work.

Take a Walk
Step outside--even for five minutes. If you can't manage a walk, find your own equivalent for unplugging at least once a day to re-energize and gain perspective.

When you decide you're worth making time for, you start filling your "happiness tank." Eventually, you'll have reserves. Happiness may even spill over into other parts of your life.

Scrap "If Only ..."
"If only I got that (promotion, raise, office), I could be happy." Goals are important. But there's a difference between having a goal and pinning happiness on some magical future point when life will be all better.

Make that distinction. Don't give up your chance at happiness now for an imagined "perfect" future. In the present, you can begin building happiness each and every day, regardless of whether or not certain visions become reality.

Handle Minor Irritants
Here's one place where "if only ..." can work--but only if you act. Take care of yourself at the office. "If only I had a faster laptop ..." Why not get one? "If only I had a shorter chair..." Trade with a willing coworker.

When you invest effort in what works instead of grudgingly accepting what doesn't, you'll be surprised how much more empowered you feel. You may also discover you're better able to let go of what you can't change.

Rewrite Your Story
When you face inevitable setbacks, watch your language, says Liza Siegel, author of Suite Success (AMACOM 2006). Who can feel happy when they automatically think "I'm a failure" or "This always happens to me"?

Remember, you're not a failure. Something didn't work the way you expected. The future is not yet written, so avoid making negative predictions using "always" or "never." Learn from what didn't work, and do something different tomorrow.

Throw It Out
Executive coach and author Gail Blanke has a novel idea for an improved mood: Attack clutter.

How does throwing out old pens, files, and the like lead to happiness? Blanke says getting rid of things that bog you down lets you start working through mental blocks that bog you down, too, like "I mess everything up." You let go of the past and make room for the future.

Build Outside Interests
Finally, many experts agree that interests outside work improve mood. Maybe it's violin lessons, or tennis, or a weekly canasta night with friends. Whatever it is, this interest should give you a sense that your world is OK.

When you discover what engages you outside the office, you'll find yourself better able to adapt to uncertainty inside it. And that's important, because the ability to "go with the flow" has a huge impact on how happy we feel on the job--and everywhere else.

By Stephanie Molnar, a feature writer for Vitality. For more information, visit the American Management Association at www.amanet.org.

© Krames StayWell. Information is the opinion of the sourced authors and organizations. Personal decisions regarding health, diet, and exercise should be made only after consultation with the reader's own medical advisers. This material may not be reproduced for redistribution without written permission from Krames StayWell.