I hate Mondays! – Strategies & Solutions for managing a job you hate

It’s Monday morning and the beginning of your working week. As you get out of bed and start getting ready, a familiar knot of tension starts building in your stomach. You continue with your daily routine; but now strong feelings of resentment or dread are coming to the surface and you aren’t able to shift them. Perhaps you feel slightly nauseous or you can’t stop clenching your jaw. The closer the clock gets to the time you have to leave home to get to your job, the worse you feel.

You keep telling yourself that you have to just get on with it – although like many people you really do not enjoy you job. In fact, if you are honest, you have been dissatisfied for some time, but at the end of the day it pays the bills, the mortgage, the car, holidays and so the list goes on.

Are you sick of your job or is your job making you sick?

Perhaps it is security or status that motivates you to go to the office or some other reason – but deep down you know that your job is causing stress, emotional pain and probably a lot of different physical symptoms. If you are getting regular headaches, feel faint, short-tempered, overwhelmed, or anxious while you are at work or when you think about your job – then it’s time to take action before you end up with a more serious stress-related illness.

So what can you do if you feel trapped and unhappy at your job?

Of course, in an ideal world, you could just not bother going back and send off a one-line email saying: “I quit” or stronger words to that effect! But it actually more productive and less stressful to take a deep breath and some time to figure out firstly, why you dislike your job and secondly, what you can do about it.

Simply getting another job could be a solution, but it’s a good idea to take a look at what isn’t working in your current employment before you jump ship – or you may end up in the same position with your new job six months down the line.

What don’t you like about your current job?

The first thing that I would recommend is to identify what exactly what it is that you dislike or that you think causes you stress. Is it the work culture, a specific task or a particular person? Or perhaps it is a combination of many things related to your job?

Writing it down can be incredibly useful – not only to gain clarity but also to release stress. Go ahead and give yourself a free rein to jot down whatever comes up, even if it is something like “I hate my boss!”

The next part of this exercise is to describe why you don’t like this task, person or environment. Being clearer about the “whys” is going to help you identify solutions and find out what you really want at work. If you want to delve a little further, you could add how it makes you feel.

For Example (summarized version):

What? I have too much paperwork

Why? I never have enough time to do it and end up having to stay late in the office and this means that when I arrive home the children are already in bed.

How do I feel? Resentful and angry with my boss. Guilty about not being there to put the children to bed.

Remember you can write a few lines or pages…there are no limits here.

If you need a little extra guidance for this exercise then please feel free to download our free printable.

After you have answered these questions as honestly and fully as possible, it will be clear whether it is the job itself, the working environment, specific tasks or something to do with relationships. In some cases, it could be a combination all of them!

What is it that you do want?

When you have written down what you don’t like then it’s easier to know what you do like. This is because you can simply note down the opposite of your dislikes and use what you have written as a kick-off point. It is also useful here to add anything that you do like in your current job. Again give yourself permission to write down whatever comes up.

So now you should have some insight into why you are unhappy at work and also some info about what would/does help you to feel good in a working environment.

What is the next step?

The next stage is towards positive change depends on the answers you have given. It could be that you don’t need to get a new job, but simply to move department or teams within your company or maybe you recognize the need to resolve a long-standing conflict with a one of your colleagues or boss.

Please note, however, if you have had, for example, communication problems with colleagues in your last three jobs and recognize a repeating pattern, you may need to look at things more deeply with help from an appropriate professional.

It is also useful to check out your beliefs in relation work and self-worth to see if there are any negative ones which could be holding you back from enjoying your current job or finding one that you love.

If your conclusion is that you enjoy the actual role/job but have issues within the company that are not possible to resolve, then it’s time to look elsewhere for the same type of job but different company.

On the other hand, your answers may make it clear that it`s time to change careers and start looking at other options – maybe even starting your own business.

How can you take the process further?

There is a myriad of books, online resources and courses to help you make a career change or discover what you would love to do (some recommendations are listed below) and, hopefully, this article has already got you unstuck and on the way to being happier at work.

With that in mind, here are some ideas – whether you are looking for a new type of job, the same job in a different place or considering self-employment.

To start with, it is important to do your research and investigate before making any big decisions. Check out potential employers and specific jobs or look at businesses that are already doing what you would like to do. However, remember that having a look at a website is just the beginning…

1. Connect with people who already work in the company/are doing the kind of job you would like to do or who are running the type of business you are considering. Nowadays there are multiple ways to get in touch and not just by the more obvious social network route. What about training courses, events (i.e. Meetup), conferences, or even the lunchtime restaurant that company staff frequent? You never know who knows who! Once you have found someone who is comfortable to answer your questions, get some insider information about what it is like to work for the company you are researching or to do a particular job/be a business owner in a specific sector. In general, you will find that most people are more than willing to chat about what they do.

2. Look into areas that are important to you. i.e. work culture, management style, training, client relations, work schedule.

3. Check out their reputation. If you are researching a particular company, it’s worth considering their brand, public image and history through websites, social networks and general online presence.

4. Customer feedback, opinions, and ratings can be insightful too and give you some idea about staff and management or demands on a small business.

5. If relevant, find out about any wellness programmes or any awards and schemes that demonstrate they value their staff. Low staff turnover could be a good sign too.

Once you have identified the companies you would like to work for, you can start looking for any suitable job opportunities. Even if there are no current vacancies, go ahead and get in contact – many great jobs are never formally advertised – you never know what can happen!

If you have discovered your ideal job or business, start asking yourself some questions to get some clear ideas about how you can move towards it.

• Why do I want to have this particular job/business?
• What skills and experience (past & present ) do I have that are relevant to this type of job/business?
• Do I have any type of natural ability/hobby/habit that would make me good at this job/running this business?
• Do I need more training and if the answer is yes, how can I make that happen?
• What are the obstacles and can I think of possible solutions?

   

Getting professional help

As I said before there are lots of books and videos around to help you find happiness in your career. However, if you feel stuck or confused about what direction to take, why not consider hiring someone to work with you through potentially challenging changes?

There are a variety of great services on offer these days with coaching experts and career consultants ready to work with you to reach your objectives. Many of them offer free initial consultations, so you have an opportunity to make contact without a commitment. Investing in your career & personal development could make a big difference – not only to your job satisfaction but also to your health and relationships outside work.

With the average person spending 90,000 hours at work during their lifetime….don’t you think it is worth making sure that when the alarm goes off on Monday morning, you jump out of bed with a smile on your face?

Recommended Resources

• What Color is Your Parachute? – Richard N. Bolles
• Screw Work Let’s Play – John Williams
• The Pathfinder – Nick Lore
• The Art of Work – Jeff Goins
• The 100 Start Up – Chris Guillebeau

Do what you love and get paid for it:

• www.screwworkletsplay.com

Quiz – what kind of career is right for you:

• https://www.whatcareerisrightforme.com/

Find out what skills you already have:

• https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/get-started.htm

Special thank you to Michael Loiser for his Clarity through Contrast process – an idea which was adapted to create the free printable available here.