Career Advice

3 Ways To Stay Motivated If You Hate Your Job

posted on December 18, 2018 | by Becky Bush

If you’ve found yourself going to work every day and absolutely hating your job, it’s probably harder than ever to stay motivated. Your Sunday nights are probably riddled with anxiety while you want to do anything else but work during the day. When I’ve been in this situation, I’ve found myself spiraling into a sea of negativity with a constant struggle to get out.

After all, it’s hard to see the point in doing something for 8+ hours a day you don’t like. The problem is, you can’t just give up and quit, because…well bills. And rent. And you know, wine. (Notice how wine comes before food.) You also wouldn’t want your current company to have anything bad to say about you, or fall behind at work – and risk losing your job altogether. At least for me, falling into a work slump because I hate my job causes me to feel lazy in my life all around, and stop living a healthy lifestyle.

You’ll hear so many people on the Internet immediately push you towards a career or life change the second you mention you hate your job. That being said, it’s not always easy or quick. So in the meantime, it’s important to remember that you owe it to yourself to stay working hard and to help yourself move in the right direction – even if you don’t love what you are doing.

Define and focus on your long-term goals

When I’m in work situation I don’t like, I usually find myself feeling stuck and antsy to get out fast. It’s so difficult to just let myself ‘be’ and focus on the long-term, rather than how long that particular day might feel.

Obviously, if you are being bullied at work or something horrible – get out, fast. But, if you are simply not thrilled with your job, know that you are not alone.

Your first step in staying motivated is defining your long-term goal. Don’t make it unrealistic, but whatever you are working towards, define it. Even if you are simply working so you can buy yourself clothes over the weekend or head on a vacation, or hustling during the day to support yourself during your side hustle at night: add purpose to the eight hours during the day you are sitting in the office.

Next, write down your long-term goal(s) and put them in a place you can see them every day. I did this a few months ago: put 5 goals on a piece of paper that I was working towards. One was getting my own apartment (I moved into one a few weeks ago), one was a goal for my blog, and the other was something in my day job (has yet to happen).

Even if you don’t like your day to day, writing your purpose and long-term goals down will allow you to stay motivated on the little things during the day – especially when the going gets tough.

Schedule time for things that you like

If you’re solely going to work during the week and not giving yourself anything to look forward to, the weight of your of your job hatred can feel heavier than ever. One of the most important things you can do to ensure you stay motivated is to schedule time FOR YOURSELF!

Working out, treating yourself to an expensive workout class or whatnot, make sure you’re not JUST doing a job that you don’t like. In fact, purposely schedule things to do look forward to during the week and on the weekend. Maybe join an intramural team or take up a hobby (here is a great list of hobbies if you need ideas). It’s important to schedule things consistently that you like – vacations can seem few and far between so make sure you are doing things that you truly enjoy a few times a week.

Do the work you ‘hate’ first

If there’s one part of your work that you hate, that minute task, or maybe the weekly meeting with your boss, do it first. Get your least favorite activity out of the way first and force yourself to never procrastinate. You’ll actually finish your work early, and get more of it done if you do your least favorite part of your job first.

This is something that was tough for me. I actually had to schedule time on my Google calendar of these “less fun” tasks, but I couldn’t believe the difference that it made. My day became so much easier and I felt so much more motivated to get everything done. This also freed up more time to do things that I loved! I call this “eating your frog first”, a nod to a princess needing to eat a frog before she finds her prince.

If you have a say in how your work week is scheduled, you can even organize your work week by putting the most difficult part of your job first. I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you!

If you hate your job, know that you’re not alone – so many others have been in your shoes. Follow these tips to ensure you stay motivated in your job, even when you hate it, to make it to your next step in life. I know it’s not far off for you!

What do you do to stay motivated?