January can feel so glum. The excitement of the holidays are over, and the weather feels so cold, dull and gray. For most, there isn't much excitement again until the Super Bowl (which is also Valentine's Day weekend this year, so that's going to make for interesting compromises for couples). So what is there to do to brighten up such a slow month?

Well, wouldn't you know, tomorrow, January 28th is National Fun at Work Day! Many people spend a good portion of their lives at work, so they might as well find a way to make it fun! Co-authors of the book 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work Dave Hemseth and Leslie Yerkes say, "Organizations that integrate fun into work have lower levels of absenteeism, greater job satisfaction, increased productivity, and less downtime."

National Day Calendar offers a few ideas on how to celebrate the day:

  • Host a look-alike contest. This could be as one of your bosses, or maybe its to look like a celebrity. A good idea here at the radio station could be to look like one of the artists we play.
  • Organize a cook-off of some kind. Whether it be chili, mac and cheese, wings, whatever, a cook-off gets everyone involved whether they make it or they are sampling it.
  • Speaking of food, simply having a potluck or luncheon of some kind could be nice. Even having the day catered could be a nice treat. We here at Townsquare had an awesome Thanksgiving potluck and then a sweet Christmas Secret Santa party with food. I just joined in November, so those parties were a quick and easy way to meet a bunch of people.
  • Set up a yard game like corn hole in a break room or somewhere with enough space.
    • That reminds me of when I was working for Exit 97.7/106.1 WEXT. One day, we had an impromptu Kan Jam tournament in one of our larger conference areas.
    • When I worked as a sound technician for Massry Center for the Performing Arts, we would ball up all the gaff tape that we laid earlier to conceal cords, and use it to play either baseball or golf in the auditorium. We would have competitions with each other like home run derbies or closest to the pin. What did our boss think? He thought he was going to beat our asses in competition because he was always involved!
    • While I was working as a camp counselor at Gold's Gym Summer Camp in LaGrange, every day was a fun day! Working with the kids, playing sports and games, doing crafts, holding lip sync contests, and water fights were common occurrences.

A couple other ideas I have heard of that the site didn't mention include:

  • Hosting trivia games of some kind. People can do office trivia and use information about the job itself, and their coworkers. You can find templates online so that you could even do a Jeopardy theme, or something along the lines of a game show.
  • Hosting brackets. I've heard of many jobs holding sports brackets for football, basketball, baseball, and more. If you want something quicker and in-house, make it a bracket for something that everyone competes/votes on.

I've got plenty more crazy work memories to go off of, but these are some of the highlights. See, it is moments like these that make a lasting impression. These are things that shouldn't be limited to just one day. These activities can be implemented any time of the year to help boost morale. Is your job celebrating at all this year? Let us know how you did here on the app. That, or text us what other good ideas should be added to this list.

10 Best Happy Hours in the Mid-Hudson Region

This list is compromised of the top-rated restaurants/bars/taprooms with the most reviews on Yelp located in the Mid-Hudson Region. Each of these locations has a rating no lower than 3.5 out of 5 stars with no less than 150 reviews. 

8 Song References to the Hudson Valley by Famous Artists

Spanning several decades and various styles of music, here is a list of songs that make some reference to the Hudson Valley region.

24 Best Hudson Valley Restaurants for Chicken Wings

With the Super Bowl coming up, get your wing order ready! These Hudson Valley restaurants have a rating of no less than 4-stars on Tripadvisor.

8 of the Best Skiing Hotspots Around the Hudson Valley

These 8 ski resorts are the highest rated locations in and around the Hudson Valley according to Yelp, with no less than 20 reviews. Start packing those snow shows, parkas, and more because your next winter weekend getaway can be found right here.

More From WRRV-WRRB