5 Reasons Why Your Job is Making You Miserable (And What to do About it)

If your job is making you miserable, then it is only a matter of time before you get burnt out. There are several reasons behind your job making you miserable. Every job has its ups and downs, but when you start to dread going into work every day, that is when there might be a problem.

It is best to address these problems early on. If you let them slide, they will compound over time, and it will be exponentially harder to take corrective measures when you are overwhelmed. If you relate to the reasons in this article, we suggest revaluating the job you are in.

In this article, we will explore five of the most common reasons for your job making you miserable and how you can start to overcome them.

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1. You have lost your passion for the job.

You wake up, commute to work, sit down at your desk, and slog for 8+ hours a day, with zero enthusiasm and passion for your work. Getting up for lunch is the best part of your workday. The work is dull, dry, and does not excite you at all.

If that is the case, then it might be worth reconsidering what you value in life. If you need to stay in this job because it pays well, try to do the minimum amount of work required to stay afloat. It also helps to have a side hustle that you are passionate about. Moreover, having a support system that allows you to vent and talk about your job can also go a long way.

2. You feel like you cannot complain about it.

Times are hard. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a ton of job loss all around the world. If you found a job or managed to stay in your job through the pandemic, then you might feel immensely grateful and fortunate. At the same time, if that prevents you from talking about the low points of your job, that can be a problem. If you're not sure if that's the case, you can try to examine your feelings and see if this resonates with you: 

• "I'm fortunate but unhappy."
• I don't want to vent because I'm not sure what other people will think of me."
• "I don't want to sound spoiled. I have a lot to be grateful for."
  

If you bottle up all that emotion inside and it never finds its way out, then over time, that will lead to burnout. If you get burnt out, your job performance will automatically suffer, which can be a problem if you want to retain your job. Therefore, it's best to have a conversation with your supervisors to prevent such a situation.

3. You are overworked and burnt out.

A job does not have to become your job. However, that is the case for many high-performing people. Interestingly, the people that succeed the most in life also tend to suffer a lot. They are high-performing BECAUSE they push themselves so much. As a result, they end up sacrificing work-life balance.

If you get home after work and are too exhausted to take care of yourself, hang out with friends or family, engage in recreation or hobbies, that is a problem. You may be so overworked, either because you are being given a lot of work or because you take on more than you can handle. In any case, the solution is to figure out what is the case. 

If you take on more than what you can handle, that may come from a feeling of inadequacy. However, if you take on too much, then that will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Similarly, if you are being given too much work, you can try to have a conversation with your supervisor about how much you can handle. It can be a difficult conversation to have, but it might ultimately be necessary because if you continue to overwork yourself, your performance will start to suffer over time.

4. You start to experience health issues due to work.

If you don't feel like getting out of bed in the morning, dread going to work, your back hurts after sitting at a desk all day, you don't get enough breaks, and your sleep starts to suffer, then your work may be getting too much for you. 

When mental stress starts to manifest as physical problems, you need to address the mental stress urgently. You may want to consider taking a vacation and reevaluating your options. Additionally, it may be worth getting an evaluation by a licensed mental health professional if you experience other problems such as an inability to focus, feeling foggy, not engaging in self-care, and losing motivation.

5. Your job is on your mind 24/7.

One of the most telling signs of impending burnout. If your job is what you think about when you wake up, and it's the last thought you have before you fall asleep. If there are feelings of anxiety associated with those thoughts, your work is likely making you miserable.

Overthinking and anxiety tend to go hand in hand. Suppose you find yourself obsessing about details at work, not being able to relax at home, replaying situations in your head, and thinking about what you could have done differently. In that case, you are likely heading towards burnout. If that is the case, we strongly recommend seeing a Healthy Gamer Coach or licensed mental health professional. Our coaches are trained to help high-performance people reorient themselves in their life, figure out their priorities, and start to take care of themselves while building the life that they want to live.

Conclusion

If you feel like your job is making you miserable, then you are not alone. A global poll conducted by Gallup uncovered that out of the world's one billion full-time workers, only 15% of people are engaged at work. That means that an astronomical 85% of people are unhappy in their jobs.

The problem is that there is no place for these people to seek support. You may feel like you cannot open up to your friends or family because they might judge you for wanting to leave a job that pays perfectly well. You may be concerned about your financial security. It always helps to have someone in your corner, and that is where Healthy Gamer Coaches can step in. 

Healthy Gamer Coaching bridges the gap in mental health with affordable, online coaching that drives real results. Every single Healthy Gamer Coach is trained and supervised by Dr. K and has a proven track record of increasing self-worth and motivation while decreasing feelings of depression and anxiety. Our peer coaching model means that your coaches get it because they've been there.

Click here to learn more about Healthy Gamer Coaching.

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