20+ Ways to Stay Positive at Work

Having a positive attitude at work not only promotes a positive working environment, but can impact everything from sick days to career progression, stronger relationships and more.

As a HR professional, it may seem like you always have a positive attitude and help to spread that cheer across the workplace. Wait – what’s that? You’re not always in a good mood? Sometimes you feel overwhelmed and stressed? Okay, we hear you.

No one can have a high level of positivity at work 100% of the time, of course. But in HR, your attitude is contagious. Because you interact with everyone from the executive team to the newest hire, your good or bad moods can impact the entire company. It’s important for you and your team to set the right example and maintain a positive attitude at work as much as possible. Doing so can help your whole team perform better, not to mention there are many physical and mental benefits as well.

We’re going to take a look at a number of ways you, and other team members, can maintain a positive attitude at work. But first, let’s start by identifying what a positive attitude in the workplace looks like.

What is a Positive Attitude at the Workplace?

Having a positive attitude at work isn’t as simple as ignoring negativity and gritting your teeth with a smile. That can come off as inauthentic or even naive. Plus, it can actually end up creating more trouble – as these issues don’t just go away when we ignore them.

Positivity in the workplace is more like optimistic realism. This is when you recognize the negative in a situation but still focus on the positive. You’re not just going to sit there and take it – you’re going to find a solution to the problem.

What Does a Positive Attitude at Work Look Like to Others?

People with positive attitudes are easy to spot – they’re the ones you like to spend time with. These employees are focused and not distracted by menial inconveniences. They don’t cry over spilled milk, literally or metaphorically. They’re also not ones to engage in water-cooler gossip because they have other people’s best interests at heart.

Doesn’t that sound like a person you’d like to know? With that in mind, here are some ideas for how to stay positive at work.

15 Ways To Have A Positive Attitude At Work

1. Develop a Solid Morning Routine

You don’t have to be a morning person to get the day off to a good start. You may not want to go jogging for an hour while listening to upbeat music or cook a large three-course breakfast before work, and that’s okay. Maybe the routine that works for you is a warm shower, Pop-Tarts, and your favorite podcast. Whatever puts you in a good mood, do that thing every day.

At the same time, try cutting out morning habits that cause stress or set the wrong tone for the day – like checking your phone first thing in the morning. Weed out the negative and replace it with the positive to make your morning routine serve you. Maybe the key to having a positive attitude at the workplace starts from the minute you wake up.

2. Practice Gratitude

Whether you keep a gratitude journal or make a point to acknowledge things you’re thankful for each day, staying positive at work is easier when you lead with gratitude. Try expressing it verbally on a regular basis or performing random acts of kindness to pay it forward. You’ll feel good about yourself and others (and you just might live a little longer).

3. Live Healthily

Make your health a priority – physical and mental health. Exercise regularly, and couple that with relaxation and meditation. Among regular exercises, make sure to smile and laugh as often as possible. As with most exercises, you may not be in the mood to do either sometimes, but the more you smile and laugh, the better you’ll be at it (and the better you’ll feel).

Also, maintain a healthy diet, stay properly hydrated, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Health and positivity go hand-in hand, so the more you look after yourself physically, the better you will feel mentally too.

4. Celebrate Often

You don’t have to organize a party every day, but recognizing the excellent performance of your coworkers and celebrating their successes (big and small) can help everyone spread more positivity at work. And this recognition doesn’t have to be expensive, either. While bonuses and raises are the preferred way of receiving reward and recognition, 25% of employees said they’d be happiest with a simple “thank you.”

When you begin to offer more frequent, sincere recognition, many people will respond in kind. Soon, your whole organization can embrace a culture of positivity and recognition that will carry them forward to the next success.

5. Keep Learning

It could be a personal interest or a skill at work, but whatever it is, continuing to learn can help breed positivity. This comes to embracing new things and experience – and we may forget the world’s brilliance when we stop learning new things.

6. Take Breaks

It’s too bad people don’t actually come with batteries included. Because that way, we would know when we absolutely must recharge. As it is, far too often we keep going until we’re burned out. At this point, trying to stay positive at work (and everywhere else for that matter) is almost impossible.

Take breaks throughout your workday, and when you’re really lagging, go on a vacation. Giving yourself a chance to rest and recover will make you more productive and happier.

7. Maintain Balance

Make time for the most important people in your life, namely your family and loved ones. If your personal life is in order and your relationships outside of your workplace are healthy, it’ll spill over to your job in a good way (and the opposite is also true). Never overlook the importance of a solid work-life balance.

8. Build Friendships with Coworkers

It’s always easier to stay in a good mood among friends. Make sure you start off every office friendship on a positive note – don’t try to relate with someone over something you hate. Look for similarities in your interests outside of work, and go out of your way to be nice to them.

When you approach your coworkers with kindness and generosity, they’ll likely do the same. Workplace friendships can not only help maintain work positivity, but can help with employee engagement, too.

9. Avoid Negative People

As you’re developing friendships with coworkers, gravitate towards positive people. Of course, you should be friendly with everyone—but be careful that you don’t spend most of your time with those who are gossipy or disgruntled. They may start to wear off on you, sending you into a spiral of negativity. And negativity and a positive attitude at work have never seen eye to eye.

10. Add A Personal Touch To Your Workspace

It may only be a small touch, but your environment has an effect on you. So, don’t be afraid to personalize your workspace. Surround yourself with things that make you happy – whether it’s family photos or movie memorabilia – as this can help promote that workplace positivity.

11. Control Your Thoughts and Emotions

It’s pretty hard for some people to manage, but a huge part of becoming a more positive person is controlling your thoughts and emotions. This comes down to how you perceive things. Thinking about how much you have to do first thing can make you feel exhausted and overwhelmed before you’ve even started. Instead, think of it as having plenty of opportunities to prove yourself in your workplace.

Try and find a positive way to spin any situation. Additionally, decide how you’re going to react to a situation ahead of time. There will always be meetings or clients who will upset you. But if you decide ahead of time to keep a positive attitude and not let them get to you, you’re more likely to achieve that. Put yourself in the driver’s seat – not your emotions.

12. Set Realistic Goals

One way to constantly feel accomplished in yourself is to set achievable goals. But if your goals aren’t realistic, you’ll always feel behind, like you’re failing. Unrealistic “stretch” goals may motivate you for a time, but eventually, they will lead to negative feelings and attitudes. So, make sure you’re being realistic with your expectations for yourself.

13. Focus on Your Strengths

You were hired for your job because there are certain things you do really well. As much as possible, focus on those things, and keep your head up. From that place of confidence, you should select one or two weaknesses at a time to work on. Trying to tackle the whole list at once is a quick way to burn out, lose confidence, and become pessimistic.

On the other hand, making small improvements over time as you lean on your strengths is a great way to stay positive at work.

14. Be Creative

Creating something – whether it be a piece of art or an innovative HR solution – can help you feel satisfied in yourself. When you’re creating something that improves the wider organization, too, everyone will benefit. Others will be grateful for you, you’ll be grateful for their accolades, they’ll be grateful for your gratitude, and so forth and so on. It’s a circle of goodness.

15. Look For the Positive

Here at BambooHR, one of our values is to “assume the best”. This means keeping a positive, optimistic outlook towards other people and things. When negative thoughts come, or people appear to be acting poorly, look for the positive. Assume that people are trying their best and want to work with you to find the best solution.

7 Ways Businesses Can Promote a Positive Attitude at Work

1. Offer Flexibility

Giving employees the flexibility and autonomy they desire goes a long way towards creating a culture of positivity at work. By giving employees the benefit of the doubt, we encourage them to do the same with coworkers and employers.

But be careful not to confuse kindness for flexibility. It’s become increasingly popular for employers to enforce shorter workweeks with the intent to ensure work-life balance. Sometimes employers enforce these (seemingly kind) rules a little too harshly by forcing their people to leave (even if they’re not ready). Doing so can lead to employee anxiety – creating the very problem the policy is meant to overcome.

2. Give Frequent Feedback

Employees need feedback, and they need it frequently. Up to 94% of employees who receive positive recognition each day feel satisfied or very satisfied with their company.

On the flip side, when employees feel left in the dark at work, they’re left to their own imagination, which can lead to worry and dissatisfaction.

Giving employees feedback and help regularly not only gives them the confidence they need to do good work. It can also help avoid potential pitfalls which could lead to serious individual and team-wide problems.

3. Provide Variety

Every employee, no matter how rigid the routine of their job, needs the occasional diversion from the norm. To paraphrase an old line, all work and no variety make for dull employees. Or as the Italian scholar, Petrarch, actually said, “sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure.”

Managers should take this into consideration as they assign projects. Whenever possible, give employees a variety of projects that fit reasonably into the job duties. The amount of variety you can provide an employee will obviously depend on their role, but the principle remains and employees will be in better spirits when you keep things fresh.

4. Encourage Collaboration

There are plenty of benefits to collaboration, but one of the most obvious is that it allows employees to work together. Working alone all day, whatever the activity, can lead to boredom and general malaise. However, interacting with employees forces us to open up and break out of any funk we may find ourselves in.

Not to mention, when employees collaborate with people they like, they’re quick to lift each other when down – sometimes they lift, and sometimes they’re lifted. This is especially true when managers intentionally team up employees they know are good influences on each other.

5. Allow Religious Self-Expression

Studies suggest it may be beneficial to let employees express their religious identity. Among other reasons, it’s a part of who they are. Stifling anybody’s ability to be themselves may lead to negative feelings and resentment. This is true of any self-expression, but religious self-expression is mistakenly discouraged more often than others.

It’s important for management and HR to be proactive on the topic of religion and encourage all employees to maintain a healthy respect for other religions and beliefs. This happens by encouraging religious expression, while strictly discouraging religious debate and persecution.

6. Have Lunch Together

It can be easy to only view coworkers as just that: workers. But when we share our breaks and lunches with each other, we see each other in a different light. We see each other as regular people. We have fun together, strengthen bonds, and become friends.

That way, for example, when we return to work after a lunch break, we’re not just helping one of our coworkers get an assignment done. We might also be helping a parent of two complete a project they’ve put a lot of sweat and tears into, so that they can make it to their child’s basketball game.

See what we mean? By adding context to the lives of our coworkers, it’s much easier to have positive attitudes towards them.

7. Take Sickness Seriously

Encourage employees to take care of illnesses responsibly. This means that you take illnesses – and all their side effects – seriously. When employees are sick, encourage them to take the day off or let them work from home whenever possible. Never push employees too hard when they’re feeling under the weather, for several reasons:

• Their work may suffer
• They’ll stay sicker for longer
• They may begin to resent you

When you’re sympathetic to sick employees, they’ll be grateful, and their attitudes towards their colleagues and organization will be more positive.

It’s important for HR to ensure that positivity prevails in the workplace all year long. During the winter months, when moods are naturally down, it’s nothing short of vital. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of how to stay positive at work, or at least what a positive attitude in the workplace looks like. There’s so much to like in this world – it’s just a matter of finding it every day. Now, go spread some positivity!