I Hate My Job

“I hate my job”
If you’ve never whispered this to yourself, how lucky you are!

You know how they say “do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”? Well, not everyone gets that lucky – Some of us do what we don’t love and have to work every single day.  

Is it the days of literally dragging yourself out of bed or the days you wished each second could count as an hour so you can get off work in 8 seconds?

You are stuck somewhere you’d rather not be. It could be very frustrating. So what do you do when you hate your job, but you’re not ready to leave?

We’ve gathered a couple of points on how you can endure or maybe even enjoy the jobs you hate. Here they are:

1. Share your burden

Yes, you hate your job because your boss is a jerk. You feel like you’re not valued and appreciated. You’re a round peg in a square hole, but that’s not all. There’s something killing you even more.

You’ve become a fake.

You pretend to enjoy conversations with your colleagues and laugh at your boss’ boring jokes. Your boss throws you projects that you’d rather shoot yourself in the head than take them, but you do anyway.

This little web of lies is what turns into big frustrations that weigh heavy on your chest until it gets to a stage where you just can’t stand it any longer.

It’s not easy to entirely open up to someone, but you can maybe share some of that burden with a colleague; someone who understands how you feel and gives you reassuring words.

Gradually, the burden on your chest will feel lighter and you’ll feel better at work.

2. Cut your working hours

Getting new opportunities might be a real stretch when you work full time. How else to create more time for these new opportunities and experiences than to request for reduction of working hours?

This may not apply to everyone, but it’s worth a shot. What happens when you ask? Will there be consequences? What if you get a “no”?

Well, you will never know until you gather the courage to ask. You might have more options than you actually think – the outcome might really surprise you.

Reducing your working hours gives you this new feeling of freedom and confidence that if you can cope with less money, then you can do any other thing and pursue more exciting opportunities.

3. Get Connected

When you hate your job, one thing’s for sure – nothing interests you, like none. Simple tasks suddenly become tedious and you take forever to complete them.

We know how that feels, but you should step back and take a look at the bigger picture. The purpose of what you do; the effect it has on your clients.

Maybe being an IT consultant isn’t your favorite thing, but when you see the beautiful smile on client’s faces when you provide them with your services; it somehow makes you feel good and motivates you to connect with the purpose of your job.

4. Develop yourself

If you feel you’re not putting your skills into good use at work, it’s time to turn things around. There has to be something about your work that actually interests you, so focus on that and get better at it. 

As a website developer, maybe the part of your job you genuinely like is designing the page layout. Start to focus on that and do whatever it takes to be the best at it.

The immediate effect of this is your skills will definitely not go unnoticed. For every page layout design, your boss will want you to do it.

Before you know it you start to feel really confident about your abilities and this will help you when you’re finally ready to make a career shift. Plus you’ll possess a skill you’re really good at that will impress potential employers.

5. Connect with your colleagues

Sitting all day behind that computer writing codes will eventually get tiring. Connecting with your colleagues can help ease such boredom. Create time for small talks, crack a joke or two and share a good laugh.

Also, try to help when you notice a colleague is stressed, bring he/she coffee and spend some time talking about your favorite episode of Ozark or Sex Education.

You can even hang out outside of work – ask them if they have plans for the weekend. That way you make new friends and you won’t be so bored and frustrated at work anymore.

6. Kick-start your new plan

If you were able to get a reduction in working hours, you should put that to good use. One of the reasons you’re stuck at that terrible job is because you have no options, but that won’t be the case for long – as long as you dedicate your new spare time to develop a different skill and gain new experiences that will be useful in your future endeavors.

For instance, you can dedicate your spare hours to learning how to code or data analysis online. With that in motion, you won’t feel so stuck at work anymore as you already have a back-up plan.

7. Take charge

Yes, your boss might be a jerk and some of your colleagues may think you’re too vain. At the end of the day, it’s not their responsibility to make you feel good at work.

That is on you.

Stop complaining about how your life sucks and how you’re not living your dreams, it only makes you more miserable.

Accept things are currently not how you want them to be and you’re ready to change that by taking charge.

If there’s something positive that could make a difference about how you feel at work, why don’t you take charge? You would of course have to ask your boss. It could be heading a small team that shares positive feedback from IT clients with your colleagues. Whatever you decide, just take charge!

8. Do something refreshing

Having a job you totally hate drains all the energy out of you – mentally and physically. It may seem impossible at first, but it’s important you engage in refreshing activities to make you feel alive again.

Everyone has their go-to fun activities. It could be visiting the art gallery, engaging in sports, or spending time with family and friends.

Whichever makes you feel alive again, just do it. You don’t want to make a career shift when you’re still mentally and physically drained from your previous job.

So get into some of that action so you can be refreshed and ready to take on new opportunities.

Final Thoughts

All these strategies don’t apply to everybody and it’s almost impossible to put all into play, but you have to at least try.

So pick one or two that you think might work for you or you could even try all and see which ones work best for you.

Your journey to professional freedom and happiness starts now and you’re going to do whatever it takes because you matter.