4 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Unhappy With Your Job
If you’re thinking “my job makes me miserable,” and you’re thinking of quitting; whether you are at a crossroads of your career or in the beginning, it can be a daunting process to think of what is next to come. It can feel frustrating and lonely to not know what you want to do, when everyone on LinkedIn and around you seem to have it all together. It can take peeling back the layers and looking into different aspects of your life that can reflect your career.
We’ve crafted four questions to ask yourself when you’re thinking about quitting your job because you’re fed up.
What gives you energy when your job is unfulfilling?
When your job makes you miserable, sustaining your career can take a lot of our mental and physical energy. Connecting with what gives us energy in our life can transform into our careers. How can you transform what gives you energy and have it help you jump start or transition your career? Do you find yourself gaining energy from other people, or do you re-energize when you are alone? Read through our last blog post, with seven tips to find work that gives you energy to further your discovery into your energy.
How do you like to solve problems?
The purpose of many of our careers is to find a solution to a problem. We tend to learn how to solve problems from an early age, particularly in school. Was it easier for you to sit in math class and solve a problem with an equation or did you find comfort in solving problems with a creative approach. Cognitive psychologists have identified three types of trial and error, algorithm, and heuristics. Do you prefer to go through the problem or start at the solution? Are you comfortable with the help of a system to help you?
What skills do you enjoy using?
Take a look at your skills and hobbies. Does anything stand out to you that you can bring to a work field? Has anyone close to you complimented a skill that you use in your day to day life? If you are not sure about what skills you have strengths in, start with a skills test, we recommend checking out the Skills Matcher from Career One Stop and the Gallup Strengths Finder to get started. Cross reference your skills and your hobbies to see what patterns appear.
How do your personal life and job coexist?
When you’re feeling unfulfilled with your job, the question of how does your life and job coexist ties in with the previous questions. It is the age old question, do you work to live or live to work. What do you envision your next career to look like? How do you define balance? How much of your personal life is in your career? Throughout your previous work, what boundaries did you find yourself wanting to put between your career and personal life?
Feeling unfulfilled by your job, and fed up is undoubtedly stressful, and it is more common than expressed. A study done by the University of Surrey reported that in a five year period, two-thirds of people change their jobs, and a fifth of people change twice in that five year period (McNair et. al). In the journey of changing is one with the help of Career Wellness you don’t have to do it alone. Contact one of our career coaches who can help you with the next steps.