Past few weeks I have been struggling to enjoy my job. It’s happened in patches over the years, but since support from my illustrious leader has gone (he’s busy building a different section of the company) lots of us have been left to our own! Struggling to enjoy the whole of my job, and it’s definitely time to move on. I was chatting briefly to some fellow co workers if it’s just me! But it’s not, and with bills never ending, they staying not because they want to.
Do people enjoy working for someone else? While we slog our guts, while the bosses lord it up (as mine does).
Sometimes its not just hating the job… its that the job is all encompassing making it very difficult to job search or to do personal/professional development to unlock other job opportunities. In our situation, we are currently both well paid so we’re saving a significant emergency fund to allow us the privilege of taking time away from work if we need to.
[Little bit of ambiguity intentionally injected into this post…]
I literally just watch a lot of TV every day, whilst looking at Slack thinking F you and F that to be fair I did that in the office too but instead of TV it was music.
I have a plan in place to escape hopefully within the next 12 months, for now I’ll just milk what I’m doing even though it’s
I’m left to my own devices to be fair, after all this time I’ve perfected the art of making it look like I’ve done loads.
I was about to say the same that everyone already has.
Apply for lots of places, scope out working for yourself and then lay all your options on the table and make a decision. Also have a chat with your current employer about if you can do something else within the company if that’s an option too.
Time to move on if you don’t like it. You owe them nothing, so think of yourself
I don’t hate my job, in fact at times I can quite enjoy it. But sometimes it gets difficult and stressful, which happens in almost every job I’m sure.
Fairly recently I had a promotion which now means I oversee the type of work I used to do, rather than doing it myself (apart from urgent cases when I need to step in). It has meant a pay rise, which is obviously a positive, but because I’ve been so used to getting on with my own work it can be draining at times.
I chatted about it with my boss and he told me I have to stop trying to own all the work I oversee, and give the people on it more autonomy. I’ll get there, but until I do, I think my stress levels will remain at the higher end.
A few times I’ve considered looking elsewhere, but then I think it won’t necessarily be any better - plus there’s nothing that close to me at the moment anyway. I would like a change at some point, but it takes courage to make that leap when you’ve got a secure job.
I once got to the point of hating my job (more so I really detested my line manager who made my life a working hell to be quite honest) and so I just quit. No plan, just quit.
Job took me all over the world. Friends thought I was insane giving up flying business class to far away and wonderful countries. But it’s honestly not everything.
I was terrified. I took up a temporary job (it was at a Pret for a few months and I actually genuinely loved my brief time there) until I started in my new job. Still working for someone but public sector and now I feel like I at least make a difference to people every single day of my working life.
Point is that it might be scary, but don’t waste your life doing something you don’t enjoy or get something out of.
I can understand enjoying working somewhere like Pret when you’ve had a stressful job. After Uni I went back to the supermarket job that I always did as a summer job between Uni years. This was because I didn’t really want to sign onto the dole if I could help it – in my mind it was better to have a job while looking for a permanent job – and it also gave me something to do while I decided what I wanted to do with my life.
A lot of my friends who’d graduated at the same time thought I was crazy (in retrospect they were probably a bit snobby and saw retail work as ‘beneath them’ now they had a degree) but I really enjoyed it. There were no deadlines and no exams… just going to work, doing my shift and coming home. Plus I had my regular customers who I enjoyed seeing and my co workers were decent, too. I did it for the best part of a year and was actually quite sorry to leave when I finally found a permanent ‘professional’ job.
I still use the skills I acquired in retail in my job today because you deal with people in pretty much every job.
Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) did a commencement address to Stamford University graduates in 2005 and it really made me think about what I wanted out of my work life and tried to follow it since I heard it.
It ensured I used work as a means to an end to find the job I love. That being said, I have come to the point in my career where leadership responsibilities are making me question that love of work. What made me come into the profession.
As I did, use your current work (or temporary new job) as a stepping stone to what job you want to love doing. Do a course to get the right qualifications or volunteer work in the right sector while you have this stepping stone job. I did that, it got me on post graduate university training and I moved forward.
Here is the part of the commencement address:
[…] Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. […]
and this also rings true
[…] When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. […]
I can really relate to this. I used to love my job, but as is so often the case, the more you’re paid, the less of your job you actually do (as you end up managing other people etc, which is a whole different skill).
Sometimes I dream of quitting, working at Pret, or becoming a postman. But then you remember you live in London and have a mortgage…
I’d love to do the same and always think similar with my car. Once paid off I’ll love life not paying for it every month.
In reality I last a few month and then get a new car I fear I’d do the same with property and want a more secluded house in a nice little village area perhaps… one with a large garden to get into gardening when I retire etc
to be fair I did that in the office too but instead of TV it was music.
I fear I’d do the same with property and want a more secluded house in a nice little village area perhaps… one with a large garden to get into gardening when I retire etc