I Think I Hate My Job-What Do I Do?

There is probably one thing that we have all experienced, whether we work for ourselves or someone else. At some point, we will have questioned why we do the job that we do. The feeling of dread when it comes to walking the office. Feeling annoyed by having to do any work at all. The ever-increasing feeling that if you don’t leave what you’re doing, you will never feel happiness again. And let’s not forget that feeling about wasting precious time.

There’s no need to take drastic action, however. By that, I mean suddenly shutting down your business, starting another business or handing in your notice to your employer…well, unless you are being bullied out of your job, but we’ll talk about that another time. Instead, start with these three things, Reflection, Curiosity and Experimentation.

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Starting with reflection. Has anything changed in your life that’s made you rethink what’s important? Have your priorities or values changed? Have your personal commitments or recent experiences made you think about how you need to work another way? Understand what might have caused you to feel differently and if the feeling is genuinely attached to your work.

Then it’s time to get curious. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want, you’ll likely know what you don’t want! Is it that you don’t want to work certain hours, want a different level of responsibility, or want more control, more stability or less routine? Are you thinking about going from self-employed to employed or vice versa? Try to imagine what your ideal working day would look like, where you would be, and who you would be working with.

When getting curious, it helps to speak to others to understand other ways of working. Talking to people to find out how they work. If you want to understand more about different ways of working and different work environments, you have to start widening your network and consider expanding your circle.

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How will you know what career or business options feel good if you aren’t curious about what others do for their work? Networking might send you running for the hills, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare.

Start using social media (LinkedIn, Instagram) to network with people outside your current work/business circle. Plus, there are loads of local networking groups as well. When it comes to online or face-to-face networking, you’ll inevitably come away with at least one helpful contact. Networking doesn’t have to be horrendous, I promise! And remember, most people feel the same about networking, so you’re not alone.

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Now is the bit that I enjoy most…experimenting. Testing out different work options. This is the part where you think about how to start making small changes to your current work life. Can you experience working different hours or in a change of location? Can you start spending a small amount of time each week in a different department or volunteering in a different industry? And if you’re running your own business, can you integrate more support to allow you to explore other avenues, or can you start working with different clients who may challenge and excite you more?

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Doing all the above doesn’t mean you’ll end up working in a way you love immediately. These things don’t happen overnight, but taking time to reflect, getting curious and starting to experiment can help you explore how to work better for yourself. And remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.

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