What To Do When You Can't Find Happiness At Work
Do we work to live or live to work? This is only one of many questions that all of us inevitably ask ourselves on particularly stressful days where we start to question why we’re even doing the things we do.
Is the money really worth it? If it is, then why does it feel so awful? Didn’t I use to like my job?
In this article, we’ll talk about ways to find happiness at work. This is a continuation of our Happiness At Work series which kicked off with Why Keeping Employees Happy Is Important piece last week.
Mental health is an important aspect of work just as skill or personality. Nobody can work at 100% if they’re depressed or demotivated, and it can help to recollect yourself and remember ways you enjoyed your job before.
Of course, these are all suggestions, and your situation’s solution depends on a lot of factors, but these are generally good advice to follow for self-betterment.
Set Goals For Yourself
Aimlessness is often why a lot of people start finding themselves lost in their careers. Sure, there are short-term problems to solve, everyday tasks to deal with, but it’s often to no greater goal other than justifying your salary. Set long-term goals that you want to achieve in your career that you can actively work towards.
Perhaps you want a more meaningful position within your current company or a project that you want to see done. It could also just be something simple, like making your workflow more efficient so you can reduce work stress. The important thing is to keep your mind engaged and your body moving.
You should also set goals in your life that you want to achieve by working harder. Perhaps you want to buy something you’ve always wanted, or take a long traveling trip. In both cases, working hard and saving money will help you achieve those goals, and also let you be more productive at work to maximize efficiency.
Strike A Balance
Some people struggle with their personal work-life balance for a variety of reasons. Some adults find that work is taking up too much of their time because they need money to enjoy their “Life” section. For others, they start to struggle at work because their “life” segment starts to cut into hours and days where you should be working.
Truth be told, there’s no simple answer to this, but a good start would be settling your priorities. Think of how important work is at any given time versus your time. If work is starting to feel a bit soulless, that’s a good sign to take a day off. In the problem of work versus life, the culprit is usually “unengaging work”.
Another thing to do is to set hard boundaries between work and life. If you’re home, don’t even think about projects and the like, especially if you aren’t on-call. Put it out of your mind and focus on yourself.
Make sure to set yourself as “Away” on all emails and communication platforms. Reasonable people would be understanding of this, and if some co-worker isn’t, well, it’s not like you can hear from them at home, right?
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Find Work That Engages You
You should never feel like you are shackled to your job. Although people’s situations are different, it’s important to know that there’s always some way to find other work if your current job is putting you through the wringer. If you are worrying about financial issues, start job hunting while you are still working at your current workplace.
During your downtime, try and develop the skills that you believe can land you the jobs you want. At the very least, find something adjacent to the things you enjoy and work hard towards it. This in of itself is a goal and helps you have a purpose for your current job: to prepare you for your next one.
Of course, maybe you don’t even need to find another job at another company at all. Ask your boss or manager if they have a position open at another part of the company that’s more in line with what you want to do. It’s certainly a lot easier (if the people like you there) than starting over again.
Next Steps…
Finding something as subjective as happiness is a tricky thing. Still, the advice above should help you get started on the right road. Certain organizations even have company initiatives to improve the employee experience, and it would be in your best interest to check if your company offers benefits and paid leaves.
At the end of the day, happiness is something that only you can truly find out. Whether it’s a goal at work, a long vacation, or a new project, don’t be afraid to try everything in your power to find meaning and happiness in your career.
Failing that, you can always start looking for a job that will give you that meaning and happiness.
Related:
3 Ways To Determine If An Employer Supports Mental Health At Work
5 Reasons Why College Students Should Take a Mental Health Day
Meet The Writer!
Hi! I’m Regi Publico and I’m a full-time writer who is also an artist for fun. I take pride in my towering collection of books and love reading about anything under the sun. I’m passionate about sharing knowledge through every article I write. If this resonates with you, let’s connect! You can email me at regi.content2021@gmail.com to work with me.
