When work sucks, life sucks. You like to think work doesn’t define you, but it sure feels like it.
How much suck is too much?
How much:
Every job has a dark side. Maybe you love the “real” work and hate the paperwork. Perhaps one colleague drives you nuts, but most don’t.
I recently asked a group of supervisors, “How much bad can you tolerate before all of work feels dark?” They felt anything more than 30% dark makes all of work dark.
You should enjoy at least 70% (5.6 hours) of an 8 hour workday.
10 ways to deal with the sucky side of work:
- Make a list of the things you enjoy about work. Bad is stronger than good. Have you let a few bad things pollute the good?
- How does your current job align with life’s purpose?
- Spend more time being grateful. Attitude is about you not them.
- Accept what is. Ruthlessly evaluate where you are and, more importantly, where you’re going. Failures stop at pointing out negative realities.
- Define better and take imperfect steps to get there. Stop talking yourself out of doing things that might not work. If there’s reasonable certainty, go for it.
- Are there enough positive relationships to offset negatives?
- Control what you can. Frustration goes up when you focus on things you can’t control.
- Don’t be known as a whiner – be known as a positive solution-finder.
- Is your work respected by higher-ups?
- Don’t lose your job before you find a job. You have to eat.
How much suck is too much?
How can leaders help others enjoy work, even though it includes a dark side?
Facebook fans respond: On any given day, how much of your job should you enjoy in order to say that you enjoy your job?