LensqWhen I was in my first job, for the first one year, even though work was hectic and the pay was low, I never felt in the wrong place. My friends who were earning thrice of what I was earning were envious of me. But later things went bad and eventually, I realized I need to change my job. Contrastingly in my second job, for the first one year, I was struggling to go to office. But later, I did not see a reason to quit.
These two jobs, taught me valuable lessons.
But why I am focusing so much on work?
You have 24 hours in a day. One third of it, that is 8 hours is the minimum time which most of the work places demand. To be healthy, you need to spend 8 hours in sleeping. Now if I go back and calculate the amount of my waking time I spend in office, it turns out to be half.
This in turn translates to “ If I am not happy with my work, I am not happy for half of my life”.
Isn’t it scary? You have just one life and half of that life you are wasting away in earning a living in a sad way. From my experience, living can be earned in a happy way too. But if you choose the sad way, it is not only the 8 hours in office but you end up carrying the frustration and depression to the remaining time.
How do you know if you are in right job or not?
Why should you work? What should a job give you?
You should work not just to earn a living. Your happiness and intellectual growth are also important. If not anything else, you should find the job meaningful. It is a bonus if you have a healthy team or friends at work place.
Signs to quit your job:
1.Happiness:
a)You wish mornings never come. Especially on Mondays.
If you are feeling this, waking up every morning is a gargantuan task. This not only eats up your time but also starts your day on a negative note. Even the weekend will not be spared. Entire Sunday goes off in worrying about the week ahead.
b) You know what it feels like staying in a prison without staying in one
You don’t enjoy the place. It feels suffocated. You have monetary commitments and hence not able to get the hell out of there.
c) You are in constant depression
You feel happy only once in a month. The moment when salary is credited. And also you keep waiting for one day the entire year. And then feel depressed when the day comes. The salary hike day.
2.Work life balance
a)You don’t know which day of the week it is
I used to work on Saturdays and Sundays too. At one point of time, I did not know what day of the week it was unless someone told me that they were enjoying the weekend.
3.Intellectual growth
a)You add no value to the organisation
You treat it as a chore rather than as a career. If you find no meaning in the work you do, you will eventually hate your life.You day dream constantly about other possible jobs which only leads to more frustration.
b)Your work is easily replaceable or can be automated
If all you do is copy paste, anyone else can also do it.
c)You feel like the smartest of the lot
You find the work too easy for your level
4.You think of only one thing all the time. When will I quit?
Is quitting the only solution for the above symptoms?
[emaillocker]
1.Happiness:
I will tell you a secret. The best way to be productive is to be happy. I will tell you one more secret, if you don’t like the work, make a lot of friends. If you are having fun at office, you will come at least for the social life if not for the work.
2.Work Life Balance:
If you are working too much, you either don’t know how to say no or you don’t know the shortcuts. Either of them, you need to learn.
3.Intellectual growth:
Without this, your brain decays and decomposes. No point in crying later. If the work is not challenging, go seek challenging work. Ask for a change in role. Learn how to automate the routine work.
4.Inspite of doing points 1 to 3, if you still feel the same, you should immediately quit your job.
[/emaillocker]
Happy making your life better !