There are many reasons that you might hate your job, but no matter what they are, you’re not the first person to have gone through this. I woke up crying just knowing I would be sitting in a tiny, windowless closet working desperately to find documents for workers who often did not put them back. Or carefully spooning coleslaw into single-serve containers, slipping on the greasy fast-food floor, decorating the ceiling with that colesaw when I accidentally tripped trying to make my way to the cooler. When you think that things at work cannot possibly get any better, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. If you are dealing with a job that you absolutely hate, here are a few tips that can help.
- Can you turn I hate this job into … what can I learn from this job? Every job I’ve ever had taught me lessons that later helped me form my career. What can you take from your job with when you walk out the door? Can you learn better how do deal with different personality types? How can you be a better leader? How to value people? What you will put up with and what you won’t?
- Seek advice for wise people who have been through the same thing, maybe at the same type of job.
- Find healthy ways to let the stress go through you and not live in you.
- Keep an open mind about positive solutions for your problem. Think it through, communicate, check to see if there is anything that can be done to resolve at least one of your work issues.
- Can you divide your day into sections finding something to be grateful for when you start work and each couple of hours? Record them on your phone. It only takes a few seconds, but it resets your mind to the positive. A trick that works for me is to lift my chin a little higher, when I encounter a stressful work situation. That mental trigger tells the rest of me: “I can do this well,” and I define what the “well” is. Adjustment really does start with you … your attitude. You’ve probably heard it said before, but it’s more than true. Your attitude may very well be the ONLY thing you CAN change. Learn to look for the positive in each situation instead of the negative.
- The Perfection of Patience. I remember writing recommendation letters; most of the people got hired, moved up, moved on, etc., but I didn’t, although I thought I had prepared myself with degrees, experience, and grind-it-out-hard work. I began to doubt my abilities, growing more frustrated that good things were not happening for me on the schedule I had set for myself. But over time, with lots of bruises, I realized I had what I needed most – flexibility – the ability to somewhat set my own schedule. That flexibility has proven itself to be invaluable over time.
- Recognize that if you can’t leave your job, fill up your life outside work with things you enjoy and people who make you happy, who make a positive difference in your life.
These seeds I am sharing with you, if you water them … sometimes with your own tears, will grow magnificently in not only your life, but in the lives of others as well.
Expand your thinking and your possibilities.
Double Blessings!
Does your life have more problems than solutions? Learn more about prioritizing your problems.