NOT FUN

I looked out of the window from my o ce room. It was a sunny afternoon. Wind blowing. Tree leaves flowing with the wind. Wonderful atmosphere and environment.

Its been 3 years already that I am working at this firm, in this city. But now, it's not enticing anymore. I said to myself, 'I don't feel the thrill anymore'. It's gone, long time.

Did you feel yourself in this picture, while reading this? Are you su"ering from the 'not challenging anymore' trauma?

You used to love your work. People used to say you had so much fun at work, you’d probably work for nothing. But somewhere along the line, you lost that spark. Where did it go? 

Usually, it's because of one of the four reasons:

You feel overworked and underappreciated, and underpaid. You are bored, unfulfilled and no longer challenged by your job. Someone in your firm is making environment unfriendly, or less pleasant (your boss, or coworker(s)).

It has nothing to do with work. It is you and your attitude towards work.

Overworked, Underappreciated and underpaid:

Despite you putting all your best e"orts, enthusiasm and energy, you are losing your excitement. You feel work is not completed and not accomplished. When you leave your work, you still feel a lot is remaining, and at the back of your mind, its stuck that it won't ever be finished. Plus, you feel no one is appreciating you at work, no matter how much e"ort you are putting in.

First and foremost: Stop whining and start appreciating what you have. In the current economy, with so many jobs disappearing, what you see around you is that people are working to 'survive' in this cut-throat market, to make ends meet. These “survivors” have taken on a number of new tasks, which doesn't match their skill set, interest, and expertise, but they are still doing the job, and are getting good at it. If you are at a job that matches your skill set, and you once was bursting with pride to have your kind of job in your kind of firm, then think again. Even if you are a survivor, stick to it.

One more thing, which is extremely important, because of these thoughts, you are putting in more and more e"orts to do the best in your job to excel more. Stop it! You are spending more time at the job and less time with your family, and you are afraid to complain because more layo"s may be coming. With so much to do, you have lost that sense of accomplishment

when you finish something because the next task (or the ax) looms ahead.

So what to do? Stop, go back, and analyze it. Ask yourself if any of the tasks you do can be eliminated, combined, delegated (or otherwise o½oaded), done less frequently, or automated. Who would actually care if you didn’t do one of those tasks? Are you spending more time than necessary perfecting something when good enough would do? Analyse it, and find a solution, and fix it!

Posted on 23/04/2018