Peace Out: 5 Signs You've Had Enough At Work
Be honest. While sitting around with your friends at happy hour talking about your job, you've become more and more annoyed. You've found yourself getting louder and have started to complain about things and people that they have no idea about — and finally, you've taken a deep breath and said: "Well my job isn't THAT bad. I don't know why I am complaining."
Stop it. Just stop.
You're complaining because you don't like it.
You'll hear me talk about paying attention to "the little things" quite a bit. I've put together a list of 5 signs you should be paying attention to when thinking about your job.
1. Sunday night blues. OK, the fact is that no one wants the weekend to end. I don't care if you're obsessed with your job and love the work you're doing; weekends are necessary. Period. However, if you notice you feel very anxious, irritable and restless, then that is something to pay attention to. Listen to your body. Nodding your head while reading all of the anti-Sunday material on Instagram? That's something. You shouldn't dread work so badly that your Sunday is consumed by anxiety and sadness for the week ahead.
2. You look at other job postings (at work). Have you ever done this? I have. I was a recruiter, so I always saw job postings. When you are ballsy enough to start opening those job postings and reading about the fabulous life you could have while at work, consider this your sign. Don't give me that, "I was just curious about it, I'm not going to apply." Be honest with yourself. Something sparked that curiosity, and maybe you need to explore what that is. There's no shame in your game.
3. Things that used to excite you annoy you. Ha, this one is so classic. Whether it's an event, project, or even working with a colleague that you enjoy collaborating with — it means less when you aren't engaged. Think about a time when you were so excited to take on that extra project or attend the holiday party and throw back a few glasses of champagne with your fave work fam. When you aren't happy at work, those things aren't as exciting. You find yourself clockwatching or packing up just minutes before quitting time, to escape the vortex of corporate hell. Again, pay attention. You know when you're engaged and when you aren't.
4. You aren't inspired by leadership anymore. When you join an organization, a big draw to the organization is who your boss is, or many times even who runs the company. We've all been there — watching inspirational CEO speeches on our first week in the new gig, thinking all sorts of Whitney Houston "Moment in Time" thoughts. However, when you feel really stagnant, the mission doesn't matter to you. You aren't thinking about how you are apart of the wider strategy and how you can help influence it. You are thinking about when the meeting will be over so you can go grab a coffee and kill another 20 minutes. You literally don't care. You don't believe in it anymore.
5. You don't want to talk about your day. This one is big for me. I want you to think back to a time when you loved what you were doing (hopefully, you have a moment or two like that) and all you wanted to do was talk about it with people. Your friends, partner, family, whoever. When you don't love what you do anymore, talking about your day is another platform to complain. You have nothing to say. And then, when probed, you fall down the rabbit hole complaining about a project you were put on. You complain about this for at least 30 minutes, and it makes the person who asked feel like they are the subject of some horribly bad karma.
If you nodded your head to this while listening to "Lose Yourself" on repeat, then you're ready to make some changes. It's important to trust your gut and listen to your body (and how it responds to certain environments). Everyone deserves to be happy in what they do, and that includes you.
PS: If you’re reading this while you're working — then you know what to do. ;)