How to Make Work More Satisfying
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.5 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Finding ways to bend tasks toward your strengths and passions can make you happier, more productive and find more meaning in your life—no matter your job.
Summary: On this episode of The Science of Happiness, we explore a research-backed practice in Job Crafting, where you take stock of the tasks that fill your day, how much time and energy they require, what really lights you up, and what changes you can make to better align your efforts at work with your genuine strengths and passions. We learn how Job Crafting doesn’t just benefit your own well-being and help to guard against burnout, it can also boost your whole team’s productivity and morale.
How To Do This Practice:
- Take a “Before” Snapshot: Write down everything you regularly do in a typical week, from major responsibilities to small recurring tasks.
- Label Time and Energy: Next to each activity, mark whether it requires low, medium, or high time and energy so you can see where your resources are going.
- Notice How It Feels: Pay attention to what drains, stresses, or creates guilt—and what energizes or uplifts you.
- Reconnect with What Matters: Ask yourself what you most care about right now and what activities make you feel most alive.
- Sketch an “After” Version: Imagine how you’d ideally spend your time and where you might reduce, release, or expand commitments.
- Make One Small Change: Choose one realistic shift you can try this week to better align your days with what brings meaning and joy.
Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Guests:
SUSAN GLASS is a retired English professor and visually impaired, Bay Area-based poet. She’s the author of the poetry book “The Wild Language of Deer.”
Read Susan’s book here: https://tinyurl.com/2jn3jutt
MARIA TIMS is a professor of Management and Organization at the University of Amsterdam School of Business and Economics.
Learn more about her work here: https://tinyurl.com/mtp7tpy3
Related The Science of Happiness episodes:
How To Show Up For Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/56ktb9xc
How To Feel Better About Yourself: https://tinyurl.com/42fn62a2
How to Feel More Hopeful: https://tinyurl.com/4tfwhbpb
Related Happiness Breaks:
A Self-Compassion Meditation For Burnout: https://tinyurl.com/485y3b4y
5 Minutes of Gratitude: https://tinyurl.com/r6pkw2xx
A Meditation to Connect With Your Roots: https://tinyurl.com/ycy9xazc
Tell us about your experience with this practice. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or follow on Instagram @HappinessPod.
Help us share The Science of Happiness! Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap
Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/568punx8
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I am going to be 68 in a couple months. |
| 0:04.0 | I have more earthly time behind me than ahead of me. |
| 0:08.0 | How can I live most gently and most happily? |
| 0:12.0 | And what would that mean? And what would that look like? |
| 0:15.0 | After the initial relief of retirement, I was, well, I've got this bucket list. |
| 0:20.0 | I've got to get it all done. |
| 0:21.6 | And so I was looking at, do I want to go become a harp therapist? Do I want to go back to school and get a degree? |
| 0:27.3 | And I also went to every volunteer organization I knew, the California Council of the Blind and |
| 0:33.0 | others, and I said, put me to work, put me to work, put me to work. And guess what happened? |
| 0:37.7 | I found myself with 60-hour weeks busier than when I was working, and I was not happy. |
| 0:44.9 | It's time to move from the practice of working to the practice of living. |
| 0:52.2 | And it's going to be a battle for me always to feel that if I haven't structured |
| 0:59.3 | everything, I'm in trouble. Because I have little guilt whips. They're everywhere, you know, |
| 1:05.3 | and they pop out. They become problematic if you're trying to be a happy person. |
| 1:13.7 | I want to feel more deeply about everything. |
| 1:17.2 | And if I can't feel something, I'm not sure I want to spend my time doing it. |
| 1:26.9 | Welcome to the Science of Happiness. |
| 1:30.1 | I'm Dacker Keltener. And our guest today is Susan Glass, |
| 1:36.0 | a visually impaired poet who's 10 years retired from being an English professor. But she's been treating retirement like many do, like a job. So for our show, Susan tried a lab-tested practice |
| 1:42.5 | to make her retirement feel more fulfilling. It's called |
| 1:46.5 | job crafting, and essentially it gives you prompts to reflect on what would create more |
| 1:52.5 | meaning and joy in your work. Studies show this practice helps us feel happier, and like |
... |
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