Complaining about your job is a great American pastime. In fact, sometimes co-ruminating (remember that word?) about your workday trials is the most enjoyable part of the day. But how can you tell the difference between run-of-the-mill kvetching and a genuine need to move on? According to a recent article in Psychology Today, when estimating your own job satisfaction you should ask yourself the following questions (and pay close attention to your answers):
- On a scale from dread to joy, how happy am I to get out of bed in the morning and head for the office?
- On a scale from coma to challenging, how much am I learning, stretching, or in some other way developing professionally?
- On a scale from despised to delightful, how inspiring, supportive, or otherwise productive are my relationships with my close colleagues?
- On a scale from pathetic to proud, how does my current salary and/or level of responsibility match my aspirations?
- And on a scale from thrill seeker to security lover, how much professional risk can I tolerate at this moment in my life (since I just got the divorce or since my mate makes a fortune; since the kids are in school or since I don’t have any yet)
While the article doesn’t say how *many* of these must be at the negative end of the scale before you leap, the list does serve as a good gauge and a great starting point. And if it seems clear it’s time to pack up the cube—but you aren’t yet sure what’s next—you can always consider a vocation vacation.
Photo credit: TheGoogly on Flickr.
I have loved my job for the most part for years. It is challenging, the hours are flexible, I like the people I work with, and best of all, I solve puzzles/mysteries and get paid for it.
Several weeks ago I had an accident and cannot walk or drive. This is a short term thing, but it keeps me away from my job.
Since I am not there, I am back from it a few paces, and just getting over how the people I work with are perfectly content to minimize my efforts by doing nothing to keep my projects afloat. The net result is that the work I have done all year is basically going in the slag heap.
I am discovering I value my work more than anyone does. That is not good, as I do not work for myself.
The net result is that I will return to my job disinclined to pursue the projects I was deeply involved in. My current plan is to instead put my energy into developing better communication among the people I work with, such that we are more supportive of one another’s work.
Perhaps out of that, the value of all our work will increase.
Its kind of ironic you wrote this post and than 10 days later you punched the clock on the blog. Foreshadowing the decision?