A few weeks ago I shared a time evaluation exercise that we do with our yoga teacher trainees. If you missed that post, definitely go back and read it because the exercise can really help you understand how you spend your time and how you feel about how you spend your time. The whole point of the exercise is to get clear on what drains you and what fills you up, which in turn allows you to create a day-to-day life that feels happier and more fulfilled.
I received a super interesting response to the post and the exercise that I knew immediately needed to be its own post.
I like this idea but what about work? The reality is many people don’t love their jobs or they have off days. They still need to put in 8 hours so that’s already 1/3 of the day and more than the $#$% quota mentioned.
If you take one thing away from this post today, I hope it’s that you DON’T HAVE TO HATE YOUR JOB.
I’m going to share five thoughts/takeaways about work that cover everything from “I hate this and I don’t know what to do” to how being happier outside of work makes you more fulfilled at work to “hacking” your work to make it more enjoyable and more.
If you hate it, leave it.
It is my firm belief that no one should hate their work so much that they dread going into work every single day. While it’s completely normal to have good and bad days when it comes to work, it should not be the bane of your existence.
If you find that your work is sucking every ounce of your soul away and impacting your emotional and physical well-being, I seriously recommend changing jobs or professions as soon as realistically possible.
Just think about how many hours of your day and years of your life that you spend working. Do you really want to spend that much of your life being completely miserable?
You are never stuck. You always have options. The options might include sacrifices like going back to school, accepting a pay cut, taking a step down the ladder, moving or changing your lifestyle but you have options. Only you can decide what’s right for you.
Being neutral about it is okay.
Many of you might not be able to say you hate your job but it falls squarely in the “it’s okay” camp. I think this is fine and normal but the key is making sure that you have passions and interests that you are nurturing outside of work so that you don’t just feel like a robot going through the motions of life every day. When you’re neutral about your work, find gratitude for what it allows you outside of work. This might be a flexible schedule that lets you to work from home or a schedule where you can be there to pick your kid’s up from school every day. Or maybe it gives you the financial stability to support yourself and your passions outside of work. Gratitude for these things can definitely bump you from neutral to good.
The happier you are outside of work, the happier you’ll be at work.
To expand on my point above about going through the motions of life, it’s hard to feel happy or fulfilled at work when you’re not feeling super fulfilled in your life outside of work. The more you can nurture your passions, relationships, hobbies, family, etc., the happier you’ll be at work. The tough thing is that it takes work to nurture these things! Make sure that you find the time for them as they are so important.
Example: I love my work but sometimes being in business with my fiance means that we can go weeks where I feel like all we do is work and talk about work. We have to make a serious effort to nurture our relationship outside of work. When we do make the time to do that, I find myself much less resentful of the long hours we spend working.
Hack it to make it better.
There might be parts of your job that you dread but you don’t hate the sum of it or the company. If this is the case, can you do something to improve the stuff you feel blah about? It can be as small as listening to your favorite music while you do spreadsheets, trying to spend less time in meetings or scheduling more mini-breaks where you get out of the office for a short walk or coffee break to get some fresh air. It can also be as big as transferring to a different team or department.
Example: My second job out of college was at an amazing ad agency in Birmingham, Alabama. I was so super pumped to have landed a job in such a creative environment but when I started I HATED my position. I was under-utilized, bored and not challenged. I also felt like I was doing nothing to contribute to the company or my client. After meetings with my supervisor didn’t change anything, I finally went to HR. I was terrified to say, “I don’t think I’m needed on this team,” but I also knew I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing. I ended up getting transferred to a different team that I fell in love with. I got two promotions in my three years with the company and learned a freaking TON! I was so sad to leave that job when I moved to Charlotte.
A final thought.
I talk about this quote from Steve Jobs all the time in my yoga classes.
Again, you are not stuck and you have all the power in the universe to create the life you want to live. It might not be easy and it might take sacrifices and hard work but it’s worth it…and you’re worth it. You are worthy of freaking LOVING your life and being happy, fulfilled and challenged.
I would love to hear your insights and experiences when it comes to work. How do you feel in your current job? Do you have any past experiences of leaving jobs that weren’t working for you? Have you taken any steps to improve your relationship to your work? What do you do outside of work to nurture yourself?
