Careers and Work

Your alarm goes off on Monday morning. Do you yawn, stretch, and gently roll out of bed with a refreshed, optimistic view of the week ahead? Or do you groan and hit the snooze button a few times? If the latter sounds familiar, you may be wondering, “Why do I hate my job?” 

While not liking your job is a fairly common experience, that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult to deal with. This post aims to help you gain insight into why you hate your job and offer some tips to handle the stress that comes with it. 

Signs Your Career is Dissatisfying

For most adults, work is a massive part of their lives. Being dissatisfied with your job can significantly impact mental health and overall life satisfaction. But how can you tell if you’re genuinely dissatisfied or just going through a tough time?

Your work is dissatisfying if you:

Feel Increased Stress – You’re stressed on the way to work, at work, and after work. You feel overwhelmed and have a difficult time coping.

Notice Performance Declines – Your performance isn’t as strong as it used to be. You’re not as inspired. Or you don’t find yourself wanting to do the bare necessities.Complain About Work – It’s difficult for you to go a day without complaining about work — whether that be about management, coworkers, or daily tasks.Worry About Work – You can’t leave the stress of work at work. You find yourself worrying about work things when you’re doing other things.Lack of Excitement – What used to inspire you in your job is now taxing. You just don’t feel that spark anymore.

Reasons Why You May Hate Going to Work

It’s helpful to pin down the specific reasons you hate your job. Once you’ve contemplated the reasons, you can work to change your circumstances or identify what you’re looking for in the next work environment.

Compensation – Most people have to work to make money. It’s no surprise that monetary compensation is a significant factor in deciding whether to pursue a job. If you feel your compensation isn’t fair, that contributes to strong feelings toward your position.Culture – Work culture includes the beliefs, norms, and behaviors present in the work environment. These can include workplace policies, amenities, or a lack thereof. Your personal attitudes or behaviors might be different than the ones that your organization promotes. This difference can create tension and feelings of resentment.

Lack of Fulfillment – You may feel empty if the work you do doesn’t have a meaning or purpose to you. Not feeling fulfilled contributes to difficult, complicated feelings about work. These feelings could also include not being challenged anymore. Maybe you came into a job needing to learn specific skills. Now that you’ve mastered those, you don’t feel challenged.Relationship Dynamics – Relationship dynamics don’t just matter in your personal life. If your relationship with your supervisor is filled with tension, or if you simply don’t get along, that affects your feelings and behaviors in the workplace. Overwhelming Workload – Having an overwhelming amount of tasks can make you feel exasperated. This kind of pressure over a long time can cause burnout, which contributes to workplace stress and dissatisfaction with your job.

 

What to Do If You Hate Your Job

You’ve established that you hate your job. What’s next? Is there any way to improve it, or is it time to find employment elsewhere?

Take an Honest Assessment – Take inventory of your current work situation. Are there things you can do to make some of your concerns better? Are you in a place where you can switch to another career if that’s something you want? Do you like your organization but not your position? What resources do you need to better your situation, whether leaving your current job or not? Address Issues When Possible – If you can do something to improve your situation, try it before you quit. Consider asking for that raise. Bring your concerns to the table. Negotiate with the people in power to see if you can make a change to make your environment more healthy. Invest in Non-Work Interests – Remember to invest in your interests outside of work. It helps with your work-life balance. It could be that stress in your personal life is coloring your opinions of your work. Take your favorite hobbies, activities, and interests seriously. Search Before You Quit – Ensure you have a plan in place before leaving your current position. This planning could require searching for jobs online, networking, considering educational pursuits, or acquiring new skills. Take the time necessary to enact your plan. Leave On Good Terms – While you might fantasize about storming out of the office dramatically, keep your composure if you decide to leave your job. There’s no way of knowing who you may run into in the future. Put in your two weeks respectfully and help tie up any loose ends.

Reach Out if You Need Help

Do you feel stuck in the job you used to love and uncertain about what’s next for you? It may be time to get help from a professional. There are many therapist specialties so spend some time browsing for your specific needs. Some counselors specialize in workplace stress and anxiety that comes with a career. If you or someone you know is struggling with being satisfied at work, All Counseling can help you find a therapist.
Careers and Work

Coping with job burnout can feel like fighting an uphill battle. You’re more tired than you’ve ever been, you don’t feel fulfilled, you’re irritable, and you have a certain cynicism regarding work that won’t ease up. While not a medical diagnosis, job burnout can negatively affect both the people dealing with it and those around them.

What is Job Burnout?

The World Health Organization identified burnout in 2019 as an official diagnosis related to ongoing workplace stress. Coping with job burnout isn’t just the stress of a big project, a hard-to-please boss, or bothersome coworkers. While these things can be a factor contributing to job burnout, the overall impact of burnout is more significant than one or two aggravating factors of your work. It involves cynicism about your position, organization, and job as a whole.

You may be more at risk job burnout if you:

Have a sense of having lost control in your work, day-to-day activities, or job environmentWork in a helping professionLack the proper resources you need to do your job wellHave an off-kilter work-life balance (where work is tipping the scale)Experience dysfunctional dynamics in the workplace

These are just some risk factors for the development of job burnout. Let’s go a little deeper into what job burnout entails.

Defining Job Burnout

Job burnout encompasses a prolonged experience of stress and exhaustion related to work. Prolonged stress contributes to a range of mental and physical health conditions that can decrease satisfaction in life. Learning how to cope with job burnout can directly affect your health.

Christina Maslach, a sociologist specializing in burnout in various career disciplines, introduced the idea of the three dimensions of burnout.

The three dimensions of burnout are:

Feelings of Energy Depletion or Exhaustion – You’re tired at work every day. You’re thinking of ways to get out of work. You desperately want to be home and in bed. These feelings happen every day of the workweek, not just once in a while.Increased Mental Distance From One’s Job – You feel negative or cynical about your job. You feel like what you do doesn’t matter. You show up every day and do the bare minimum.Reduced Professional Efficacy – You’re not accomplishing what you need to because you don’t care to go above and beyond. There’s not as much meaning in your work. Your task list is long, but you have no motivation to work on it.

These feelings are disheartening. Where work once inspired and excited you, now you’re uninterested.

Signs of Job Burnout

You may have experienced some of Maslach’s three dimensions before. But before you label yourself as burned out, take a look at more of the signs.

Signs of job burnout include:

Increased Negativity – You can’t find the positives in your day-to-day.Declining Performance – Your work isn’t as good as it could be or as it once was.Ongoing Exhaustion – Your tiredness is evident every day at work.Avoidant Behavior – You do your best to avoid taking on extra tasks. You no longer choose to go “the extra mile.” And you’d rather not talk to many people during the workday.Persistent Apathy – Things don’t feel like they’re going to get better.

Look out for these signs in yourself. Don’t diminish any of these feelings. But if you experience one or two of these signs for a short period, it may be a sign of a rough patch at work. But it might not equate to full-on job burnout.

Causes of Job Burnout

What causes job burnout? This list details some potential causes, but there isn’t one specific thing that’s the ultimate cause of burnout.

Burnout can be a combination of the following factors:

Poor Boundaries – Many people have begun working from home in the past few years. With remote work comes a sense of living at work. Where are the lines between work and home when your living room also serves as your office? Cell phones also mean there’s always an itch to check work emails or respond to messages from coworkers or supervisors.Boredom or Monotony – Doing the same thing day in and day out can lead to burnout. Repetitiveness can become dull quickly. And doing dull work every day can lead to negative feelings.Compounding Stressors – If a few things occasionally stress you out about work, that’s mostly manageable with some planning, collaborating, and negotiating. But if there are compounding stressors or stress that continues to build up, that contributes to feelings of burnout.Workplace Dynamics – Shifts in management or changes in leadership alter workplace dynamics. Even new coworkers, a change in the workplace, or different policies can change your everyday environment, leading to stress and burnout.Limited Agency – Having no control of what your job entails is frustrating and potentially stressful. If you feel like you don’t have much agency and are disappointed in how things are going, it can lead to stress and burnout.

Strategies for Coping

You’re confident that you are, indeed, coping with job burnout. Is there anything that can help? What are some strategies that can alleviate some of the negative feelings that come with burnout?

Get to the Root of the issue – What’s the main source of your stress or upset at work? Take some time to identify what the causes are. Is there a group of coworkers or a team that, after you have meetings with them, you feel that stress creeping in? Are you disappointed in your compensation? Have your duties shifted in such a way that this is not the career you want anymore? Notice how you feel during your day-to-day activities, and make note.Take Action – What changes can you make now? Can you meet with management? Or if management is part of the issue, can you meet with the human resources department? If you feel you’re not being compensated fairly, ask for a raise. If you’re struggling with your schedule, can you work on a different one that fits your needs?Talk It Out – Whether with your boss or therapist, it’s helpful to talk about it. If you feel comfortable speaking with your boss about your concerns, they may be able to help ease some of your stress. All Counseling can help you find counselors in your area that specialize in job stress and coping with job burnout.Set Clear Boundaries – If you find your work blurring the boundaries of your personal life, try setting more firm boundaries. These boundaries could include turning off notifications for your work email from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., taking more leave, or creating a work-from-home area that separates the physical boundaries of work and home time.Find Support – Make sure you’re giving yourself enough social support. Without social support, the stresses you’re facing at work will be even more challenging. This support does not mean dumping all of your stress onto your partner or family. But it does mean making time for connecting over lunch, having an enjoyable day with friends where you don’t talk about work, or finding a supportive network elsewhere that you can unwind with. If this social support isn’t available to you or you need a different type of support, consider seeking a counselor. There is a whole range of counselors that can help you with various issues, including career counselors that specialize in helping you find your path.Practice Self-Care – You know that you need to take care of yourself, but be honest, are you doing it? Check your sleep schedule, make sure you’re getting exercise that makes you feel good, and eat food that nourishes your body. Taking care of yourself allows you to spend more energy figuring out how to cope with job burnout.Take a Vacation – You have paid time off for a reason! Use it. There are psychological benefits related to taking vacations, including improved mental and physical health, lowered stress, improved relationships, and boosted happiness. Allow yourself that time away!Engage Your Interests – Maintaining hobbies outside of work is part of caring for yourself. What are things you enjoy doing that don’t relate to work? Are you a fan of film, but haven’t watched the latest award-winner? Are you a passionate crocheter but haven’t tried that new pattern? Make time for your interests because doing so can help remind you that you matter.

How All Counseling Can Help

Job burnout is a real and growing issue for many people. You deserve the support a counselor provides in dealing with a stressful job, whether you’ve reached complete burnout or you want help adjusting to a new role. Use All Counseling’s online therapist directory to help you find a therapist to give you the tools for coping with job burnout.

Related Resources:  Therapists Who Specialize in Job Stress, Therapists Who Specialize in Burnout
Careers and Work

You may be familiar with this experience. You’re uninspired at your current job, coming to work every day is difficult, and you’re itching for something new. You’re unhappy with your circumstances, but the thought of changing careers makes your palms sweat and your heart race.

Why is it so hard to change careers? How can you cope with the decision to change careers? This post will explain aspects of changing careers that have the potential to make it difficult, as well as provide tips for coping with career change.

Why a Career Change is Difficult

We know that change is a constant in life. But, that doesn’t always make the experience of change any easier!

There are numerous reasons changing careers is difficult:

Finding a New Job – There’s a difference between browsing job listings for fun as you daydream about a different career and applying to some of those listings. The job search is a struggle! During COVID, many people questioned their career choices and looked for other options. You may spend hours looking for positions that intrigue you, only to find the details on the job description are unsuitable for you.The Stress of the Change – Any time you’re faced with the unknown, you question your ability to adjust. A new job is certainly an adjustment, especially if you’re moving locations, making an industry change, or taking on more responsibility.Pondering Your Choices – You may wonder if it’s wise to change jobs or industries given your age or place in life. If you’ve spent the majority of your life working in a particular career, you could fear losing the progress you’ve made.Competition – Now more than ever, there is more access to job applications. With increased technology, people can apply for jobs from around the world. This access means that the labor market is more diverse and skilled than ever before. You might be nervous about competing against people with more experience.Uncertainty – Anytime you step into the unknown, you can feel nervous due to the possibility of unforeseen circumstances. You may question the stability of the new job and wonder if you will be successful at it. This uncertainty can cause hesitancy.Fear of Fit – If you’ve gone through the steps to get a new job, you may worry that you won’t even like it! Being a new person in a workplace or new career can be frightening. You may wonder if you’ll get along with your coworkers, if you’ll like your boss, or if you’ll be good at the new job.

The decision to change careers can be a difficult one. But if you’re reading this post, you’re most likely in a place where you’ve thought about changing careers for a reason.

How to Know When It’s Time to Change Jobs

You’ve browsed job postings, and some of them pique your interest. They sound fulfilling and challenging, which doesn’t describe your current job experience. How do you know when you hate your job, and it’s time to change careers versus when you’re experiencing a rough patch?

Check in with yourself and see if any of these apply to you:

You feel undervaluedYou work in an unhealthy environmentYour current work is not your passionThere are no opportunities for growthStress from your job is affecting your health and personal lifeYou’re underpaid, or, conversely, you’re sticking around for the money onlyYou’re unhappyYou’re daydreaming about a new career

Any reason you come up with to change careers is worthy of your consideration. Still, those listed above are some of the common experiences people deal with before they decide to initiate the change.

Coping With Career Change

Being able to cope with career change requires some preparation. To be fully present in a new career path, what are some things you can do to prepare? Do you need to relocate or go back to school? Should you meet with a career specialist or a mental health professional specializing in career counseling? Do you need to allow yourself to experience the joy of the excitement of beginning a new job?

Tips for coping with the stress that career change can bring:

Embrace New Opportunities – Allow yourself to experience the anticipation and excitement of this new opportunity. You might feel nervous, which is expected. If, at any time, you become overwhelmed by your feelings of nervousness, consider reaching out to a mental health professional that specializes in your situation.Communicate More – During times of uncertainty, make more effort to communicate your needs to those around you, including your support system and your new employer. Being transparent in your experiences as you cope with career change may have you thinking you’ll come off as unknowledgeable. But honesty and detailed communication will only help you in the long run as it builds trust with new coworkers and employers.Accept More Than You Resist – Try to practice patience with yourself and others as you navigate career changes. Accept challenges with the knowledge that you won’t necessarily know all the answers.Practice Positive Thinking – As you take on new responsibilities, shift your daily tasks, and get used to a new role, remember to keep your thoughts about yourself and your abilities positive. It’s easy to list the things about yourself that you want to change, specifically when taking on a new challenge. Consider adding positive affirmations to your daily routine to challenge negative thinking patterns.Reach Out for Support – Your support system will continuously remind you of your strengths and support you when your weaknesses cause challenges. Lean on your friends and family during this transition.Speak to a Counselor – If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your emotional experience during your career transition, seek support from a mental health professional, like a career counselor. There are therapists specializing in job-related stress, anxiety, and confidence-building.

How Counseling Can Help

Counseling and therapy can help you in many aspects of your life, but major life changes are cause for professional mental health support if you feel you need it.

Your counselor will work with you to address any issues in thinking, communication, or behavior that might make your work more difficult. Your specific challenges may stem from past trauma, which mental health professionals can help you address and work through.

Your therapists can also help you assess your interests, skills, and values that assist you in making the right choices for you regarding your career path. If there’s a specific skill you need to work on or a resource you need, your counselor can help you.

Ultimately, your therapist is there to support you. They serve as a supportive connection to make sure you have the tools to be confident in your life. This continuing support can help you manage challenges as they arise.

Use All Counseling for Help

If you or someone you know is having difficulty considering a career change, All Counseling can help you connect with a therapist. Our easy-to-use directory can help you find a counselor in your area to help you reach your potential and cope with the change that a new career brings.
Careers and Work