Are You Unhappy at Work?
One of the effects of our economic recession is that feeling that if you’ve got a job, you’d better hang onto it! That’s fine if you’re happy with your job, but what if you’re not? What if you’re really unhappy at work but can’t see a way out? There are always bills to pay and very few of us can take the risk of unemployment for any length of time, however tempting it feels on a Sunday night to just chuck it all in!
Research in Happiness at Work
Stephen Wood and L.M. De Menezes of the Cass Business School in London, published some research earlier this year* which supports what I have been saying for some time. When you can’t actually switch jobs, working on making your existing job better, improving your working life, will increase your sense of well being and happiness at work.
They advise trying to make your job as enriching as possible and taking opportunities to be more autonomous and grasp opportunities which may enhance your CV. So no falling into the “I won’t help ‘them’” trap as actually being more co-operative can actually help you!
They also found that knowing what was going on, being kept in the loop, helped employees feel more content with their lot. This is no surprise as in any times of stress and change we need to feel we have a say in what is happening, that we can exert some control somewhere in the process. And one way of doing that is to increase communication with your manager or your HR department. Find out what’s happening in your business, whether it’s your immediate company or your industry as a whole.
Plan Ahead for Next Job
Don’t see this time as ‘dead’ time. Yes, you need to hang in there for a while but there are still opportunities to plan ahead. Don’t wish your life away but a bit of judicious planning for the next step, when it becomes available, is good career planning. Maybe get yourself on a course within work, or invest in one yourself outside of work; (a lot of participants on my Renewyou course are doing exactly this).
If you don’t know what that next step is, but you do know that you don’t like what you’ve got, listen to my free visualisation and see what it comes to mind!
You spend a lot of your life working, so it needs to work for you as well as your employer! Make a start now on enriching your working life!
Photo Credit: Gokan Kohur
* High Involvement management, High Performance Work Systems…Journal of Human Resource Management 2011
If you’ve enjoyed this article, check out these 3 Essential Questions for Women
How To Stay Motivated When You Hate Your Job? Tip 4
It’s really hard to motivate yourself to get out of bed every day when you really hate your job. Yet we all have to pay the bills and at various times in our lives we just have to put up with it until we can find a job we really want.
Here’s a tip to make the putting up with it more bearable.
Complete the exercise given in Tip 3 and try to be specific about what is missing from your current job. For example:
- Is it lack of stimulation?
- Lack of colleagues?
- No challenges for you?
- No prospects of promotion?
- Too little pay?
It’s important to be as honest with yourself as you can, as not only will this help you find the right job for you, but will also help you find something to fill the gap. If you can’t actually change your job at the moment, what can you do to make good the missing bits? Here are a few ideas:
- Join an organisation where you will get company, like a reading group, an amateur dramatics company, a walking group
- Sign up for an evening class which will really stretch you, preferably one which might make a contribution to you getting that dream job in the future
- Take a second job for extra money, maybe bar work, home selling, selling your craft work at fairs etc. You could even try asking for a raise! It has been known to work…
- Ask for some extra responsibility, even if at the moment it’s unpaid
- Consider a sideways move to add to your experience. Depending on your circumstances and aspirations, it may even be worth taking a cut in salary if a job meets all your other requirements. (Honestly, that has worked for some people!)
- Undertake some voluntary work to add to your CV, such as doing the finances for a charity, or running an event
It’s not always realistic to expect a job to meet all your needs; you have to think wider and more creatively, particularly in times of economic downturn when everything is pared back. With a little bit of imagination you could plug the gaps and have fun too!
How to Stay Motivated When You Hate Your Job? Tip 3
In times of economic downturn people are less likely to move jobs and the market becomes stagnant. This can cause motivation issues even if you love your job (no progression etc), but if you really can’t stand your job…it’s hell! There are a lot of people staying in jobs they’d rather leave. So how can you keep yourself motivated?
In tips one and two we looked at managing feelings, and doing some groundwork on CVs. In tip three I am suggesting that you take some time out to really understand what it is about your current role that you don’t like.
WORK OUT WHY YOU DON’T LIKE IT
Ask yourself the following questions and answer as honestly as you can:
- Is it the attitude of other workers?
- Is it too undemanding of you?
- Is it too much of a stretch for you at the moment?
- Do the value of the organisation jar with your own value system?
- Is it the management style?
- Is it lack of prospects?
- Is it poor pay?
- Is it the office environment?
- Is it the geographical location?
It’s important to understand why this job doesn’t do it for you, so you can be more specific about what you actually do want!
There are more exercises like this in ‘When Work Isn’t Working’., a workbook to help you find your perfect job!
What’s Your Perfect Working Day?
I wrote ‘When Work isn’t Working’ for all my coaching clients who came to me dissatisfied with their work. People were unhappy with the job they had, for all sorts of reasons, but just didn’t know what to do instead. They felt stuck.
And so I wrote a creative visualisation especially for them, which is in the book, and is now available for you to listen to right now completely free!
Free Download
Reading a visualisation doesn’t work as well as hearing it. Which is why I have recorded it and it is on the site, entirely free of charge for you! If you have the book already, you will find it enhances all the exercises you have already done. And if you don’t have the book, don’t worry – it works well on its own too!
Simply click on the link to the right of your screen called ‘Your Perfect Day’. You don’t need to enter any details. You can either listen to it directly from your computer, or, (recommended) down load it to a player and take it somewhere calm and relaxing for you, where you won’t be interrupted.
I hope you enjoy listening to it and that it takes you closer to achieving your ideal job! Please do let me know what you think! And if listening to the relaxation has whetted your interest in finding out more about your perfect job, you can download it immediately! It’s available to buy in UK pounds and US Dollars!
Your Career Questions
Your Career Questions
When coaching or running seminars, women frequently tell me they are unhappy with their jobs. One of the first steps in getting to your perfect career is to really understand what you don’t like about your current job.
Here is an extract from a chapter in my book ‘When Work isn’t Working’ designed to help you do just that. You’ll need pen and paper.
What don’t you like about your current job?
Be very specific as this is important. If, when you have answered these questions, it seems that certain people loom large and unpleasant in your working life then you need to consider if a change of career is what you really want. It might just be a change of employer or department!
Your answers to the question, ‘What don’t you like about your job?’ will help you decide your responses to the later questions and exercises in the book, so be as honest as possible.
List as many things as you can in relation to what you don’t like; the following questions may help your thinking:.
Is it the task, the actual work you have to do?
Is it the ethics of the organisation? Do the values of the organisation match your values?
Is it the pay or salary or bonus scheme?
Is it lack of prospects?
Is it too much emphasis on advancement?
Is it lack of encouragement and opportunities for your development in the role?
Is it the attitude of other workers?
Is it your current manager?
Is it the location?
Is it too easy or undemanding for you?
Is it too much of a stretch for you at this point in your life?
On a blank page answer each of these questions in turn, being specific about the role you have now. Give a full answer; you may actually discover some things you really like about your current job! Now you have a much better idea of what it is you want to change. Your next step is to make those changes.
