Does this sound familiar?
The alarm clock sounds, and once again you’re faced with another day at the office – another dreaded day. With some effort, you manage to make it out of bed and get to work, where you count down the hours until you’re free again. You count the hours till your lunch break. You count the hours till you can go home. And the next day – which comes too quickly – you start counting all over again. You long for the weekends. You dream of a vacation.
If so, you are probably suffering from workplace discontent.
A variety of factors like company environment and culture, lack of meaningful work, difficult co-workers, and the management style of supervisors can lead to unhappiness at work. And those factors can really add up. When you’re frustrated at work, even the smallest problems can feel like the biggest nightmares. But, there are numerous solutions that can help improve your job satisfaction and create happiness in your work life.
If your job dissatisfaction is consuming your life at work and at home, before you explode or jump ship, try finding an outlet you can enjoy in your spare time to help relieve your workplace anxiety and stress, and help provide the passion and purpose you’re looking for in life. Need an outlet from workplace stress? Relieve your anxiety at work in your time outside the office.
Discover a hobby you enjoy. Find something you enjoy outside of work to improve your outlook on life and the workday. Pick something you’re interested in or passionate about like pottery, cooking, sports, dancing, writing, or gardening. Try something new. Be adventurous. Challenge yourself. Whether it’s learning a new language or spending your weekends enjoying extreme sports, find something you love to spend time doing.
Learn all about it. Once you’ve found an outlet you enjoy, learn everything you can about it. Read books. Take classes. Research and collect information from the internet. And, practice, practice, practice. Become an expert at what you love. The more you know about it, the more satisfaction it can give you.
Find others who share your passion. As you get more involved with your hobby, find people who share your passion. Building relationships on your common interests can add motivation and meaning to your outlet. To meet people, join a network, club, or group of those passionate about your interests or hobbies. Read and comment on blogs that pertain to your interests to help build your online relationships and gain knowledge in the area.
Finding a hobby that adds meaning, passion, and happiness to your life can help relieve your workplace frustration and change your outlook and attitude at work. And who knows, when the time is right, the outlet you love could even lead to an exit from a job that has you watching the clock.