You’re one of a kind if Monday’s your favourite day of the week.
Most of us enjoy the end of a working week and, even better, a long weekend. But what happens if you genuinely dread Mondays? And Tuesday. And Wednesday. What if you spend mornings staring at the clock, struggling to communicate with your co-workers, feeling like you’re not the best version of yourself?
Even when we love a job, we’re never going to love absolutely everything about it, so how do we know when it’s time to quit? It’s hard to pull the trigger and make this decision. Change can paralyze us, but it can also free us and open up bigger, better paths.
If you’re wondering if it’s time to move on to a different job, watch out for these signs.
You’ve lost your mojo
It’s normal to hit the snooze button a few times on Monday. It’s a bad sign, though, if you have to physically drag yourself to the office every day (or your at-home workspace), reminding yourself ‘why you love this job’.
We spend 8-9 hours per day at work. If you’ve lost your productivity, aren’t feeling positive about your work, or you don’t genuinely enjoy your coworkers’ company, ask yourself: what’s missing? Are you in the right job? The right company? Working with the right people? What changes can YOU make?
You’re bored
Feeling bored at work shouldn’t be overlooked or ignored. In fact, it could be a warning sign that you’re not being challenged enough. Can you speak to your Manager about this? Is your workload too light? Can you upskill and move into a more senior role?
Possibly, you’re missing your true purpose in life. Should you really be doing something else? I’ve been recruiting in the account service and digital space for almost ten years and have never felt a day of boredom. The constant rush, hustle and fun of recruiting is my career purpose.
What do you want from yours?
Burnt out
Personally, I knew that I’d ‘hit a wall’ when I was prioritising working over quality time with my friends and family, sleeping less (and not well), eating badly, drinking more alcohol and having constant headaches.
And for what? A healthy bank balance? NOT WORTH IT.
If you’re prioritising work over relationships and your health, please take my advice – don’t. You will never get that time back with your loved ones, and as for your health/mental health: the damage can be unrepairable.
If any of the above symptoms sound like you, make some small changes now:
- Work a 9 day fortnight
- Ask for help and explore how you can reduce stress in your current role. Is your workload manageable?
- Think about the top three things in your role that really cause you stress – how can you reduce the anxiety that these cause?
- Leave work on time (yes, this is okay – you should not feel guilty!)
- Take your full lunch break every day
- Take your annual leave!!! Schedule in holidays in advance so that you have something fun to look forward to
- Be aware of your alcohol consumption (binge drinking is not OK)
- Be aware of the type of food that you are eating – can you get some advice or help to ensure you have a healthy, balanced diet?
- Are you sleeping well? Can you sleep better? Can you talk to your GP?
- Can you ensure that you catch up with one friend/family member per week for some quality time?
If these changes aren’t enough, that’s a real sign it’s time to move on.
Watching the clock
You should be able to lose track of the time at work. If you’re immersed in a task, you’ll look up and suddenly an hour has vanished.
If you spend your days staring at the wall, feeling like the minutes are going backwards, that’s never a good sign. When the most distracting thing about your job is your daydream about being somewhere else, you probably should be!
Invisible and overlooked
No Manager is important enough to ignore their employees. If you feel overlooked, disconnected or like your team doesn’t consider your opinions, that’s a hard place to thrive in.
If your Manager doesn’t appear to have a vested interest in your success and happiness at work, there are steps you can take to fix the situation. But if you’re not seeing a difference after, it’s time to take your talents elsewhere.
Disappointed
You found the dream job! Or so you thought?
You were thrilled to start, but it’s six months in, and you’re having second thoughts…
A job may be perfect on paper, but that doesn’t always translate to real life. If the position you’ve been hired to fill doesn’t match what was described in the advert, talk to your Manager. Explain what your expectations were and work out if it’s possible to bridge the gaps. If the changes are too big to reconcile, start looking again to find a company that can match your expectations.
Iceberg, Melbourne’s go-to recruitment company! Specialising exclusively in recruiting for digital, marketing, PR, digital, experiential & advertising jobs. Permanent, freelance and contract roles available!. Sign up to our weekly newsletter HERE.
