9 warning signs you hate your job – and what to do about it
No matter how long you’ve been in your job, everyone can get stagnant. You get into a routine with your job, and before you know it, you realize it might not be the job for you anymore.
Here are nine warning signs that you’re starting to feel this way:
That Sunday night feeling.
It’s easy to forget what day it is during the weekend. You’re having a great time with your friends and family, and you have the full day to enjoy whatever activities you’d like. But around late afternoon Sunday, that same feeling always returns. It’s that dread about having to return to work on Monday.
Having that feeling isn’t a bad thing in itself. You’ve had a great weekend with your friends and family, and you don’t want to give up time with them to go back to work. But when the feeling comes because of what you actually have to experience on Monday morning in the office, that’s a problem.
You want to do everything except your job at work.
You’ll do anything to put off what you should be doing. You leave an important meeting with new action items for the company’s latest project, but deep down, you’re barely interested.
Suddenly, that Netflix app on your phone starts to look lonely and you’re overcome with a feeling of panic. How are you going to know what happens in the latest season of Stranger Things if you don’t ignore that important project and find out immediately? Or there’s that Words With Friends game waiting hours for you to show off your vocabulary. Who are you to keep your knowledge of the word “sesquipedalian” from your friends?
Your kid never invites you to career day.
Career day is an exciting one for every elementary student. While they’re already set on growing up to be an astronaut or a professional athlete, they get to hear about interesting careers from parents of their classmates. Did you miss the invite? Is it crammed at the bottom of your child’s backpack or did you not hear them ask you about attending?
Or do they think what you do is boring? We can’t all be Tim Allen’s character in The Santa Clause who stuns the class with an admission of how he spends his late December nights, but you can receive assistance on your pursuit of a job that everyone wants to hear more about.
You’re not growing. And neither is your paycheck.
You know you’re talented and capable in your current role, but that doesn’t mean your professional growth should stop. When you aren’t being challenged or learning new skills in your current role, it’s not a bad idea to consider a change.
Maybe you’ve tried for a promotion – or that well deserved raise – and your bosses aren’t interested. If you feel underappreciated, a career shift might be the ideal route for your future.
Did you feel that? That small stomach pain right before going to bed felt like it might be something very serious. Sure, it could also be from that massive bowl of ice cream you ate 20 minutes ago, but it might be smart to take tomorrow off work just to be safe.
If you add four degrees to the temperature that pops up on your thermometer or intentionally try to make that cough sound a little deeper, it might be time for a change.
You’re counting down the minutes until you’re out of the office.
Everyone has those times when you’re ready to burst through the office doors and into freedom. Maybe it’s before a holiday break or a long vacation.
That’s perfectly normal, but if it’s happening frequently – even before you leave the house or before a lunch break – it might be a sign that your job is getting old.
You dread the one-on-one conversations with coworkers.
You can feel the panic in your office. Slack – or your company’s internal communication tool – is down. That means you’ll have to spend time walking into your coworkers office and having a face-to-face conversation with them about the most recent project.
You know what’s coming. That short question you have is about to turn into losing time because of unnecessary questions, and 30 minutes later, you’ll realize you have to run to another meeting. Efficiency – and your enjoyment of being in the office – is gone.
The meetings are wearing on you.
About 45 minutes into that one hour meeting you’ve been dreading, it hits you. “All of this could’ve been solved over email.” As you begin to count ceiling tiles and decide whether you’ll be ordering mild or hot salsa on your tacos at lunch, you start to wonder why a simple email wasn’t sent to save everyone time.
You dread talking about work outside of work.
You know that question is coming. You’ve heard it plenty of times, but you aren’t any less anxious about it. “What do you do for work?” Whether you’re at a class reunion ready to impress your old classmates or spending Thanksgiving with extended family you dread seeing once a year, you’ve thought your response through multiple times on the drive.
How do you make your job sound interesting? How do you make it sound like you aren’t stagnant, punching the same numbers into the same computer every day and expecting something to change?
But there is good news!
Finding a change in your professional life is easier than you think, and the Warrington College of Business offers resources to help you find a better fit. Whether it’s through our respected UF MBA program or one of six specialized master’s programs, we have something to fit exactly what you’re looking for in the business world.
Request information about UF MBA or learn more about our specialized master’s programs.
