I highly dislike my job. I know I'm not the only one with such a problem. The so called motivational and self help web pages and blogs simply don't do the trick on me. The only reason I stick in my chosen profession and the current job is because I studied for it and got my diploma - and now can't quite get myself to enjoy and put my best into it. It somehow doesn't fit my personality at all. So I procrastinate a lot and count the money it brings because it's just about all that I care about this line of work.
How do you cope with a job that you can't bring yourself to like let alone care enough to do properly? As for me I think I'm just a lazy ass emo complainer because that's how I feel when I start thinking about it :( And especially because I know I could have found something better jet I decided to try with this one. Now I don't want to change jobs to quickly because my country and the field I'm in is small and it could hurt my career... How do I get myself to stop being an arse and toughen up and get going and do something worthy with the situation I got myself into?!
Sorry for a long post... here is probably the only place I can freely ask about this because none of my friends nor parents understand me about this so I quit giving out hints and conversation starters. Help!
Without knowing what kind of job it is, I can't really give much specific advice... If your job doesn't take up 100% of your time, why not take up a hobby? If you find a hobby you really love, it might be possible to turn it into a job. Just remember that even if you're doing something you love for money, it's still a job, and it will still have the same problems as all jobs. Some people can lose interest in their hobbies after they start doing whatever they were doing professionally. Others love it. One of my friends opened up a gaming/card/anime shop, and has never been happier. Another friend started selling custom costumes and has gotten fed up with costuming in general.
It's librarianship - I'm a librarian, currently working as an "information professional". I work on implementing a portal for my library and integrating various services into it. The trick is all I do so far is read a lot of literature, type a lot of documents and wait for people who work on our systems to give me access to start doing something real. Everything is moving so sloooooowly, it's boring as hell. I'm the type who gets the plan down, gets peoples opinion and starts on the project. But no, not in my field, you've got to have comities, meetings, plans, projects, work groups and a ton of non related stuff on the side. My boss knows what she wants to be done yet has usually way way way to complex and big ideas... It's hard, there's lots of bullshit and a lot of related work that's just plain boring. The fun stuff just doesn't start.
My somewhat serious hobbies include photography and occasionally some web page design - basic stuff, for friends and the club I belong to. Although I can draw it's not something to develop further - it's just plain anime doodles and fanart.
I just realized - I never did like office work. The kind where you sit at your desk and stare at your monitor all day long. And yet this is the second time I find myself in this same situation. There just isn't any other way, it's almost like I'm being pulled this way, like karma or something.
I'll try to stick through this at least until my goals are reached - might not do my best but will do what's needed to be done. But after that there's no telling what I'll do. Single, no debt, no major problems on the horizon, paid-for car. I'm as free as I can be at my age (late twenties) - then why do I feel so trapped then? Am I just a whiny sissy or is there something deeper at work here?
While this might not be your primary solution, dropping that line of work and heading out into the open to do something else to give you some perspective has worked for me. Away from the offices and computers, into a factory, a small store here, a netcafe there. Freelance work based on my hobbies.
Maybe move to another country doing so, if you feel like really getting a change. A friend of mine just moved to China to work temporarily.
OP here. I managed to sort some of my issues today. I decided for a more proactive approach and talked to my boss about some tasks, got a potential dispute out of the way and completed a task that buggered me. I feel a bit better now. There's still the issue of the job not being what I'd like it to be - but for the time being I better stick to it. I actually might do what
>>4
suggested at some point in the future. I never did buy this career idea, life's to short to think so fatalistically :)
I read somewhere that one doesn't really need to like his job and that if you do you'll eventually learn to hate it. Well then I'll just have to accept that the time to hate mine came a bit earlier than expected.
Thanks for help!
OP here. I'm reading a hikky thread here http://4-ch.net/personal/kareha.pl/1158561432/l50 and since I have the potential to be a hikky ... why not be one who enjoys his private time alone in the office? I do have a semi-private office... just made me think about my situation in a completely new light.