Take This Job and Love It
There’s nothing like waking up on a Monday morning and looking forward to heading off to work. What? You can’t relate? Don’t despair – you can learn to take this job and love it by following some of these tips.
1. To thine old self be true, as William Shakespeare said. If you know what your strengths and passions are, you will be able to look for a job that you can enjoy. If you’re already in a job that you don’t love, ask your employer if you can take on a task that you would enjoy. This might help you to enjoy your job more.
2. Take some time to think about what you truly want in life. What is most important to you? Try to find a way to incorporate some of your priorities in your day. Even if you don’t love your job, you could enjoy it more if you have music you love softly playing, a picture of loved ones, and some of your favorite beverages or snacks available to you.
3. Find out what your real purpose is at your job. Maybe you don’t understand how important your position is. Ask your human resource manager for a copy of your job description. If you understand how important your job is to the success of the business, you may appreciate your job more.
4. Set boundaries at work. Most psychologists agree that your priorities should be to your family before your job. If your job takes you away from your family too often, you may learn to dread your job. Explain to your boss that you need to re-establish your priorities and that includes being able to go home on time. Occasional overtime or travel might be possible, but you need to spend time with your spouse and children. Once you have your priorities re-established and you know you won’t be stuck at work for more than eight hours a day, you may find that you enjoy your job.
5. Carpe diem, seize the day! Reorder your day so you’re doing more productive work instead of doing things that aren’t. Write down everything you need to accomplish – projects that need to be completed, daily tasks, etc. – and create a schedule that will allow you to focus on the important tasks rather than chasing after things that don’t matter.
6. Delegate the work you don’t like. If you’re in a position where you can pass along work you don’t like – by all means, do so. There’s no reason why you can’t ask someone to do work you don’t like or aren’t good at. Try to focus on the important tasks for your position and pass along the rest.
It is possible to love your job, even if you haven’t always liked it. Sometimes all you need to take this job and love it is to refocus. Take some time to look at what you have and decide you’re going to learn to love your job as long as you’re there.
