THERE are days when work needs to be jolted with a cup of coffee or two to get you going. But when your workday is no different from the one yesterday, or even weeks or months before that, you might want to think hard if you really are where you want to be. Some people are fine doing the same thing every day for the rest of their lives. But if you find yourself constantly dissatisfied at the end of your workday, you need to seriously consider what is causing your misery.
There are fortunate people who make a living out of their hobbies. But most people will find themselves employed for the most part of their lives and deal with their workload, their coworkers, their manager, and the inevitable office politics. And since we spend most of our waking moments at work, it is important that you find employment where you feel most fulfilled. And when you start becoming dissatisfied with your work, you need to address the main cause. Otherwise, it might snowball into burnout or aggressive behavior. Below are reasons why you might be miserable at work and what you can do when it happens.
You might be miserable because you do not believe in the work you do or the vision of your organization. Just like the coffee commercial asking your reason for getting up in the morning, your sense of purpose is a significant factor in being satisfied with what you do. If you are miserable at work, start with asking yourself if your work now serves your life purpose. When you do not find meaning in what you do, you will end up working for people who do.
You might be miserable because of the work you do. As a neophyte in whatever industry, you will have to start at the bottom because you need to know the fundamentals of your craft and most of the time, you will have to do grunt work. However, if you have been in the basics for too long without any foreseeable improvements in the immediate future, you might have to look for opportunities in other teams, a different organization, or even another industry. Especially so if there is no professional growth, career path, or a chance to improve your earnings. While your personal purpose serves as your motivation, your career goals will serve as your compass.
You might even be miserable because of your mindset or attitude. There are some people who think that everyone and everything is always going against them, when in fact these people do not look for opportunities to help themselves and improve. And what is more, they blame events, people, and just about everything else except themselves. So, examine yourself carefully and focus your efforts on what you can improve about yourself to effectively do your work. You may not have any influence on how people think or even on some events, but you can influence how you react to them.
You might also be miserable because of your working environment. There are workspaces where people are not appreciated at all because everyone is expected to work as hard as they can. There are even workplaces where there are hostile coworkers who gossip and malign you. And then there are those that do not fit your personality such that you do not have any friends at all. If you find yourself in any of these workspaces, chances are you will find it difficult to work. Weigh those working conditions against your purpose and your career plans so you can focus on the skills you need to develop before you look for your preferred working environment. Focus on learning as much as you can and develop the skills you need for your professional growth.
A top reason for being miserable at work is excessive overtime and being overworked unnecessarily. Add to that is being underpaid and being asked to take more responsibilities without the commensurate compensation. If your organization keeps looking for ways to increase productivity and profit without any improvement in your earnings, you might need to start looking for other organizations which know how to appreciate their employees. But in the meantime, you can look for ways to lessen overtime or being overworked by looking at your internal processes and analyzing which can be improved or shortened.
You might also be miserable because of your boss. Your direct supervisor has a significant impact on your job satisfaction. If you do not get along with your manager, analyze where the disconnect is. You can start by managing how you react by being professional and doing the best you can. This way, you can rule out inefficiency as a reason why your manager does not like you. If the issue is your personality, you may want to adjust your attitude toward them because you may be at fault, or you simply cannot work with how they behave. Remember, they will be the one to evaluate you in your performance, so you need to understand how to manage your manager. If you cannot work with your manager for whatever reason, you may want to talk to them or their manager. If the issues between the two of you cannot be resolved, start looking for another team to join.
But before starting to look for greener pastures, make sure you have exhausted all possible remedies to address your job dissatisfaction. If the problem is your skills or mindset and you do not do anything to address them, you will end up in an endless cycle of dissatisfaction where you go from job to job. You need to start with what drives you, and then focus on improving yourself every day. As author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek once said, “Working hard for something we do not care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.”
Image credits: Rostyslav Savchyn on Unsplash