The average person spends over 13 years of their life at work. Spending that much time doing something you don’t like or that stresses you out is a dubious pleasure.
The Last Time You Were Praised Was Last Year
Or never. Negatively the emotional state can affect the total lack of feedback and the constant criticism. But if the latter can stimulate development and improvement for a while, the former will simply keep you in place. Even if you yourself are trying to master new tools and are constantly learning, the lack of feedback and encouragement for work can make you think about the expediency of your efforts.
When the manager prefers to remain silent, you can initiate the conversation yourself and directly communicate that you lack appreciation for your work. And if he scolds you – find out what to do to improve performance. And then write out areas for growth and fill in the gaps. No improvement in communication? Chances are it’s time to browse job search sites.
You Don’t Like What You’re Doing
For a variety of reasons. For example, you find it hard to make yourself do tasks – each one feels like a punishment. Or you think they are a senseless waste of time – you do not see the results of their work. Or the ideals of the company do not coincide with your sense of the world, you have to go over yourself every day. You feel that betting at 20 Bet or writing a post for your Instagram is more meaningful.
The problem may be associated with a particular place, or it may be with the profession as a whole. It’s normal to be disappointed in the direction you once chose. But to stay in it and torture yourself all your life only because of the time spent on training is not worth it. Unloved work can be the cause of constant stress, and this has a negative effect on mental health: it increases the risk of depression and anxiety, and negatively affects self-esteem. The immune system doesn’t benefit from regular dissatisfaction either: short-term stress helps it fight diseases, while long-term stress, on the contrary, weakens it. Moreover, it increases the likelihood of certain diseases, including fibromyalgia and heart problems.
It doesn’t matter whether you realized at 25, 30, 40, or 50 that your job wasn’t right for you. There is time to learn a new profession and start enjoying your work.
You’re Stressed out Even on the Weekends
All week you count the hours until Friday night, but when it comes, the expected relaxation does not happen. Because thoughts of work come up again and again. By Sunday evening, there is even anxiety: you go to bed as late as possible to at least a little delay Monday. And so it goes week after week.
Most likely, it’s a sign of burnout – work-related stress that is accompanied by physical and mental exhaustion and sometimes a loss of personal identity.
Burnout can set in even at a job you love, so don’t immediately think about quitting. To begin with, you should try to strike a balance between work and personal life.
You Don’t Get Along With Your Colleagues
Misunderstandings can also concern the solution to work issues and any other topics. This is a normal situation, but only if colleagues are willing to dialogue. If all your words are perceived as hostility, developing and succeeding will be difficult. Such an environment can make you afraid to propose new ideas and constantly monitor yourself so as not to start an argument. It’s especially difficult if there isn’t just one person against you, but the whole team.
Team tension is one of the triggers of burnout, so you need to take it seriously. Try to talk to your colleagues about it and defuse the situation. If they are adamant, it’s better not to hold on to the position and look for a new team where you can achieve psychological comfort.
You Work Around the Clock
But not because of the peculiarities of the schedule, but because of the avalanche of deadlines. You can’t complete all your tasks in eight hours, so you often have to stay late, come in early, or even take work on weekends. With such a workload, it’s easy to become overworked, even if you like the work and are paid extra for overwork.
Because of this condition, productivity decreases, irritability increases, and your mood become unstable – relationships with colleagues and friends can suffer. To get rid of excessive workload, try to have a conversation with your supervisor and ask him or her to set fewer tasks for a while. Don’t be afraid to say no if you are offered a weekend job or asked for help by your colleagues. Analyze your schedule: there is a chance that overtime work is not a miscalculation of the boss, but a problem with time management.
You Often Feel Unwell
Headaches, insomnia, digestive disorders, skin rashes – all these can also be symptoms of overwork and stress from work if they are neglected. Of course, you need to visit specialists first to make sure that the body’s problems are not caused by any illnesses.
If it turns out that there are no diseases, you should at least take a break from work. Take an unplanned vacation or a couple of days off to recover. During this time, turn off chats and email notifications, remove from sight anything that reminds you of work – tries to relax as much as possible. If a quality vacation doesn’t help and problems arise again when you return to the office, it’s an alarm signal – it’s time to change something.
The Company Isn’t Developing and You Along With It
Within a year, or maybe even a few years, neither the salary, the position, nor the list of responsibilities has changed. And not only you: the company just does not want to grow. Boredom accompanies you every working day, and you realize that you are capable of more.
If you have become attached to your colleagues and see the potential of the team, first try to take the initiative. Think of ways to improve current projects, new potentially successful products, and channels for promotion – make a list of ideas and present them at the next meeting with your manager. If the initiative isn’t appreciated and supported, try to realize the potential in another company.
You Have Reached the Ceiling in Your Profession
The tasks are boring, and the steps of the career ladder are over. Once favorite work became so boring, that even wonderful colleagues and a smart salary don’t save you. There are two ways out. The first is to try to move horizontally: look for work in a related field, maybe even lower rank, but with intriguing tasks. For example, from a copywriter to an SMM specialist or from a Python developer to a web developer. You’ll probably have to learn new tools and software but look at it as an interesting adventure. If something goes wrong, it’s never too late to go back to your old profession.
The second way is to master a completely new field. You don’t have to quit your job to get started: start introducing yourself to the profession through courses – see it as a hobby. This will already dilute the boredom. And when you are sure that you really like it and it turns out well, you can move on to the full-fledged search for a new job.
