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Are you unmotivated, unhappy, and miserable at work? If you are, hang in there, you are not alone.
According to a report posted on Forbes.com, up to 52.3% of Americans are unsatisfied doing their job.
A recent Gallup poll shows that a surprising and alarming number 83% of employees feel disengaged at work.
“What is the problem?” you might ask.
“I do not like my boss”, “I do not get along with my co-workers”, “My to-do lists are terrifyingly long and beyond my abilities”, you might say. These could be some of the reasons you might have discovered. However, you are probably luckier than lots of many people if you could identify the reasons for your unhappiness. Because there are plenty of people who do not understand why they are unhappy and unfulfilled, they think it is illogical and unreasonable to feel unhappy and do not know how to eliminate the negative feelings.
Have those things I mentioned above significantly impaired your level of motivation at work and your happiness in life, and you do not know what to do to stay positive and satisfied at work? Sometimes those are only the surface cause of your misery. It is time to dig deeper into the dissatisfaction so that you can find out the solutions and determine a next step.
Here, I provided 4 reasons that you probably have thought of and a couple of other ones you might not have realized yet, that could be the actual reasons, and 4 respectively solutions.
Reason #1 Terrible Office Furniture
Our environment plays a crucial role on how we act, and our work environment are no exception.
The role of office furniture plays on productivity and employee’s morale at workplace is getting more and more recognition and attention. However, many are not aware of the reason why sometimes they find it difficult going through afternoons. Your office surroundings, to be more specific, the chair you are sitting in might be contributing to the problem.
Not only can your bad-designed chair cause tiredness during working hours, but also damage your health due to long hours of sitting and lack of physical fitness.
Solution:
It is a legal requirement that companies are responsible to ensure employees’ health and safety at workplace. So please do not feel hesitant if you are considering talking to your boss about your low-back pain caused by your uncomfortable chair.
Ideal office furniture could be seen as non-necessity as it can be costly when employers could pay less for something that has the same basic functions. Investment in good-quality office furniture from a reliable company like Townsville Office Furniture can pay off itself down the road, because work productivity, efficiency and creativity will greatly increase along with improved employee’s working condition and satisfaction.
Reason #2 Grumpy, Unsocial Co-workers
Sometimes, you are lucky and blessed enough to be doing something you are passionate about, but you just can’t appreciate some of your co-workers’ behaviors, such as complaining about everything and isolating people.
You can usually find a person who brings intenseness or negativity into office in every work environment, and sometimes it is hard to avoid dealing with them. This has become one of the main reasons which cause employee’s misery and hatred which has a long-termed influence on the growth of a company.
The interaction with team members is an extremely crucial factor that decides employee’s satisfaction about the job they are doing.
Solution:
Try to keep a sense of humor and patience, and treat them the way you want to be treated, even if the intenseness or even conflicts have started to affect your mood and morale. Or politely point out the problems or disagreement that you may be having, and indicate that you would like to work it out together and refocus your efforts on the job.
If private and personal attempts do not help, you can consider reporting to management team and let them take care of the rest, but please remember to hold a soft and respectful attitude that shows you simply want to sort things out instead of taking it personal and making a big fuss out of it.
Reason # 3 You are Underpaid
Getting paid decent amount of money makes life easier for sure.
The little money you have got left does not allow you the opportunity for an extensive fun after-work life after paying your bills every month.
It is reasonable and acceptable to feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled when you are underpaid. But being underpaid is not the essential reason why you feel unfulfilled, instead it is actually about whether your ability and voice to be seen and heard or not.
Solution:
Do not sit around, and be passive and negative when you are underpaid. Go and seek existing opportunity to get promoted or a better-pay, and look for possible ways to contribute to the team. Your effort will not be neglected, and your boss will see your endeavor and commitment to the job. If your paycheck is not able to fulfill you, this could be an alternative way to get yourself the personal fulfillment that you don’t get from materialistic things.
Reason # 4 You Chose the Wrong Path/Career
It is a sad fact that there are more people than you can imagine that are unhappy and unmotivated doing their job because they chose the wrong career. Doing something you don’t like can directly affects your morale and happiness especially when you have to show up, perform every day simply because you have bills to pay.
Maybe you chose a popular degree for its higher demand in society, which promises a higher possibility to get employed, but you end up realizing it is something that you do not enjoy doing. Or you chose the career your families expected, and you are going down the path of what your parents wanted.
Solution:
I am not a believer of heaven or hell. I don’t believe human beings go anywhere after death. And that is why I always try to retain happy feelings within myself, and do what makes myself feel great. Earlier you start living your dream, one more happy moment you get.
If you wanted to become a ballerina but now you are a doctor, start taking dancing lessons. If you are passionate about writing, you can still try to set aside 1 hour a day for writing.
There is a saying “later better than never”. It is never too late to chase your dreams. You are the only who could stop you from living your authentic self.
