I hate my job – how to love your work in 16 weeks

Once of the major missing pieces to a great job, is having a direction for your development path, humility when things go off course, and a career mentor to be alongside you for the fun and daunting aspects of any good career. Most people feel helpless by by the time they have to say: “I hate my job” but there are plenty of things that can be done to handle the situation. This article starts by doing a pulse check: forcing you to ask the tough questions before you considering quitting. Then we dig into tactical as to what you can do each day to end up loving the work you do in 16 weeks.

Maybe you’ve worked your current job for 1-2 years and things have changed. The once bright and sunny office has become a dull dreary grey and your morning commutes have become a passageway of dread each morning. Here are the things you can do during your work hours and or after hours to improve your career. The reality is that many people don’t end up in their first role being in their dream job. This was true of industry leaders like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg.

Steve Jobs according to All About Steve Jobs was a summer intern at Hewlett Packards factory, as you know Steve would go on to create his own company instead in his off hours.

Astrum People details that in South Africa, a young Elon picked up programming with some friends and learned to develop his own video game which he would sell to friends and other buyers. As we know now Elon isn’t so much in the video game business but the common factor is that these people started somewhere similar to you. Remember that very few people start off off where they want to be but the pivotal factor is doing the small things enough times everyday to change your trajectory.

Pulse Check – Super Important Questions to Ask

Here are important questions to table before you make a move that could close the options lifeline you have even though it isn’t an ideal job. Sometimes there isn’t a hard and fast answer per se, but in the multitude of career intersections, here are the things to ponder that can help you avert disaster.

1-Should I quit my job before getting a new one?

should I quit my job image

Here are the factors that contribute whether or not you should quit your job before getting a new one

No-stay in the job because

Savings and finances are an issue
You’re not sure where you want to go
Your next prospective job requires years of education you don’t have
You’re depressed and want a quick way to end your pain

Yes you should leave immediately (or request part-time arrangement) if

you have a side hustle that can sustain a standard of living
you are starting school and can no longer manage full-time scheduling
you can afford to roll your dices on a start up

2- How to know when you should leave a job

when to leave

This is actually quite simple, there are really only two reasons in which you should leave your job.

a)you have another job offer in hand

b)you have exhausted all avenues to resolve a workplace tension or ethical dilemma without resolution

Forbes also mentions 14 other tell tell signs but most of those things can be addressed passively or within your actual role, where as the two points we’ve listed are actually SURE signs you should or can make a move.

3- Why do I hate my job? Distinguish between work responsibilities and culture

consider why you don't like your job

Asking this question is just as important as finding out why you would love your future job. It could actually be the dim and rusty back side of a shimmering mirror. Chances are that if you can’t pin point the reasons why you don’t currently enjoy your job, it’s likely that you need to do some searching as to the work that best suits you.

People often times don’t enjoy work, because the people around them, or their supervisors are difficult to work with. This means there is a culture issue and the question to be asked isn’t so much: what kind of new job should I get, but rather where is the next place I should work.

If you truly dislike your role because of the duties, then you need to go deeper and question of why. Because behind crappy experience you are given hints at the gem, the kind of work you are looking for. The tough part about this discovery process is that you need someone to draw out and identify themes for you. This is something that people commonly find in a career catalyst or what we like to call career coaches evolved. More on this later if in the instance you are ready to make a change.

I hate my job but I need to stay – heres how to cope and thrive

how to cope in a job you hate

So you’ve figured out that you can’t leave your job immediately and you need some time to plan your budget or the direction you are headed. Here are great ways to quickly thrive in your current role with the exact same job and coworkers around you.

Determine what skills you want to develop – figure out our guesstimate the work you want to do and create an inventory the skills you need to develop
Discuss with coworkers what they like and don’t like about work – you’d be surprised that the stuff you hate your buddy might simply be thrilled at doing
Determine if you can swap tasks – clear the path with your supervisors and align people closer towards the work they actually like
Optimize your work processes – this is about finding the fastest way to get the work you don’t like done out of the way. If you hate pouring over spreadsheets to crunch numbers write a macro to quickly help you do it. You can use the extra time you have to learn what you want to learn or just un-wind.
Be clear about boundaries – one of the challenges is overwork and having clear boundaries and being firm is a way to manage expectations and your own sanity
Communicate with your manager – share the process you’ve taken to reflect on what gives you flourishing and express your needs while offering to fill unmet needs within the team

I hate my job but and I’m ready to leave heres how

Work with a career catalyst to plan your next 4 months – set objectives and have accountability when your feet gets cold and you want to settle again for a job that doesn’t thrill you

Network with people in the industry you’re interested in – have an expansive network of people in the field you’re looking to break into, you should have atlas 10-20 people you know before making the change
Commit to doing projects in your field of interest – experience speaks volumes above a degree or program especially for non-academic professions like marketing, project management, or interior design. People may spend $40,000 to end up with a few good projects in their portfolio where as people can simply jump right into it! We’ve written a whole article for people ponder this questions: should I go back to school?
Find ways to get paid doing the work you want to do – sounds easy but requires a lot of dedication and moonlighting. For example if you want to get into graphic design, find customers and people that will pay you to do the woxrk. So you can work and get compensated while building a portfolio or move towards full time
Gather your squad – it takes a community to build up an individual and having numerous people around you that understand and support the journey you are on really helps. The tough but wise piece of advice here is to include a handful of nay sayers that can keep pie in the sky ideals and cold hard metrics like finances in balance.
Know why you’re doing it – identifying why you want to be in the field of work you are heading towards will be your guiding compass and is part of humanizing the work that you do rather than animating work in hopes that it will give rise to organic values. This will be what keeps you going when people don’t respond to your emails or you’re barely making ends meet.

Advice is cheap action is paramount

You’ve reached the end of this article and must feel like you have what it takes to tackle your journey. Like the many people who know they should go to the gym regularly only 20% will do. Unfortunately statistics show that career advice often goes no where because the person has to think about whether to apply it and then often fails to.

Don’t walk away without taking action – schedule a consultation today!

Focus Inspired journeyed with an extensive number of clients from emerging/young professionals, senior executives, and entrepreneurs we’ve witnessed how one decision towards mentorship, has lead to story after story of people finding their career stride. Our team provides exceptional career strategy and accountability services to keep your ship on track. Get started today and move your career into the status go. If folks at the code boot camps in Toronto can come up with a an app in 6 weeks we’re determined to help you launch a new career in just 16 weeks! It won’t be easy but if you’re up to the task we’re ready to empower you to get there.