The Importance of Being Funny

We all know office professionals who are consummate employees. They arrive early and stay late. They are diligent, creative and motivated. They are organized, intelligent and supportive. However, there is one intangible quality that we all love in coworkers: humor. People who can make others laugh at work are invaluable.

Work is stressful, and nothing relieves stress better than laughter. Just as some offices have a resident chef on board to ensure employees eat healthy, fresh meals and don’t need to waste time preparing their own food, in an ideal world offices would have an on-site comedian whose sole job is to make employees laugh. For now, however, most of us must rely on the funny people in ours offices. Fortunately, we all have them.

But there are times when we’re all alone in our stress, and during these times office professionals can lean on the Internet for a much-needed laugh. This article explains, “A quick hit of humor can undo the negative impact of stress—it actually improves vascular function. What this means for you: YouTube at work. ‘Look for humorous videos like laughing babies or bloopers,’ says [life coach and author Caroline Adams] Miller. ‘Just a few minutes at your desk tickling your funny bone can make a huge difference in your emotional flourishing.’”

What makes you laugh at work—colleagues or the Internet, or both? Are you the class clown at your office? Or is your office class clown more obnoxious than funny? Let us know how you use humor to mitigate stress at the office.

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