There may come a point in your career where you are not enjoying your work. If you are waking up feeling unenthusiastic or dreading the idea of going to work, then it may be time to reevaluate and consider how to make a positive change.
What are some common reasons that you may not be enjoying work?
- You may be feeling burned out, due to large quantities of work and feeling pressure to bring it to completion.
- You may lack motivation or feel uninspired; the projects or day-to-day responsibilities may not be of interest or exciting.
- The workplace environment is not enjoyable; you may feel that you don’t work well with your team, or you don’t feel you fit in with the culture.
- Your work may not align with your career prospects, and you would like to explore a different challenge, learn a new skill or redefine what work you would like to do.
- You may feel underappreciated or undervalued, because of lack of career progression or lack of opportunities to expand responsibility and gain pay increases.
Here are some useful ways you can overcome these barriers, to ensure you have the best outcome that works for you and your career.
Discover the reason(s)
The first step to making a positive change is taking the time to reflect and understand why you may not be enjoying work. Within your role explore the day-to-day activities, types of projects, your team, management and the overall workplace environment. Is there anything that stands out to you that causes unenjoyment? It might even be beneficial to make a list of advantages and disadvantages to break it down.
Once you have understood what the issue may be, you can decide what the next step needs to be, especially if it's something that you can influence.
Explore your career goals
In a similar way, take a moment to reflect if your current role is in line with your career aspirations. Alongside this, explore if the role is progressing in a direction you want it to. When you don’t enjoy your role, it may be down to the position itself not being in line with your goals, causing feelings of demotivation and lack of drive. This will give you a great chance to investigate what you want out of your future, which could reengage some motivation on how to achieve it.
Find guidance on how you can plan your next career move here.
Be honest with your manager
It may be worth exploring the issue directly with your manager to see if they can help you. Being honest and discussing with them can help bring the issue to the table and show you are proactively wanting it to work; the last thing a manager should want is for their team members to not be enjoying what they are doing. For example, if you are feeling stressed due to workload or there is a lack of project progress from other teams, your manager may be in a good position to see if they can bring a solution to this.
Professional development
If you are lacking enjoyment due to disinterest in what you are doing, you can potentially bring more excitement into the role in line with your own professional development. Are there new skills or software that you could put time into learning to then implement into your role? Bringing in new skills can benefit in not only improving your skillset but introduce a new interest and new joy into your work.
Personal development
On the other hand, is it personal development you need to explore? Sometimes the way we feel may be down to our mindset and attitude. Make sure you have practices in place for wellbeing and stress management. Giving yourself time to relax, considering how you could manage your time more effectively and keeping organised could help alleviate stress.
Have some time off
Feelings of burn out include stress, anxiety and frustration. Is there a possibility you are feeling the way you are due to overworking yourself and causing burn out? A solution to this is booking some time off to truly relax and take a step back from your working life. It might just be what you need! If you do come back feel the same, then this may be a sign to look at other solutions or job opportunities.
Explore other opportunities
After evaluating your role and trying what you can to turn around how you might feel; it may come down to the role itself not bringing you fulfilment.
It might be time to consider looking job and all the exciting opportunities that come with that. You don’t need to do this alone either. Send your up-to-date CV to a specialist recruiter, so they can help find you a role that suits your aspirations.
Whilst this can be an anxious time, keep your head up! Finding new opportunities and having a fresh start can relight a new drive in you. Finding something that is in line with your career aspirations, a work environment that you find fulfilling, and responsibilities that you will enjoy, could be just the change you need to wake up on a Monday morning with a smile on your face.
Read our blog for guidance on staying focused on your job hunt.
Key takeaways
- Discover why you are feeling the way you are. By exploring the reasons why you can make a better judgement on what to do to overcome it.
- Explore what you really want out of your career and if the role or its progression gives you the prospects to do so. This will also allow you to evaluate what you want your future to look like and how you might achieve it.
- Take a chance to communicate how you feel to your manager. They may be in a position to positively influence what the issue is and provide a solution.
- Bring some excitement into your role with some learning and development, such as working towards certifications or qualifications.
- Reflect on your own attitude and mindset, sometimes we can manage stress and frustration by putting the right practices in place to ensure we keep calm and relaxed.
- Have some time off, you may just need some time to relax.
- Explore other opportunities - it may be a good time to find a position that better suits your development and ambitions.
Learn more about Gravitas Recruitment Group
We are an award-winning recruitment agency, helping businesses to hire top talent in the Technology and Insurance sector. If you are a job seeker considering new opportunities and are unsure where to start, then you can have a conversation with one of our trusted consultants!
Start by registering your CV here.
About the author
Tom Morgan, Principal Consultant with our Gravitas JavaScript team, is highly experienced with over 9 years’ experience helping talented, specialist candidates to find their next position. Tom works across Front End, Full Stack & Back End roles, helping to build engineering teams for startups through to well-established companies that are looking to scale. Visit his LinkedIn profile and connect here.