10 Ideas For What To Do When You Hate Your Job, But Can’t Quit It

Sometimes, when you ask someone how their day at work went, you can easily notice a subtle mood change and a bit of sadness on their face.

Sometimes, you can be the one who’s sad.

If you have felt sad in a situation like that, you probably have asked yourself the question – what to do when you hate your job?

There is an immense number of people who hate their jobs today.

Things like incompetent bosses, low salaries, drastically high workloads, and toxic colleagues are just a few reasons to go to your job every morning, hating it.

Struggling with the routine of going to work can put a toll on your entire existence, and even lead to anxiety or depression.

This is exactly why you need to look into what to do when you hate your job as soon as you notice these feelings arising.

It doesn’t always mean leaving your job immediately.

Sometimes it’s enough to take a look at how you see the things around you.

Let’s see what you can do if you feel unhappy with your work and how you can improve your state of mind until you change it.

“Help – What To Do When You Hate Your Job, But Are Stuck With It For Now”

1. Recognize The Reasons Why You Dislike Your Job

Probably the most important step to learning what to do when you hate your job is identifying the why’s behind it.

Is it the nature of the work that you do, or maybe your boss?

Are colleagues giving you a hard time, or maybe it’s the company culture as a whole that doesn’t quite sit with you right?

There may be a ton of different reasons so it’s important to genuinely recognize what is it that you hate about your job.

Only by identifying that can you really learn what to do when you hate your job and start developing a targeted action plan to turn your situation around.

You may arrive at a conclusion that you are incompatible with your workplace.

However, it’s as equally possible that there’s something you can do which will not lead to you terminating your employment.

2. Explore your options

Okay, so you’ve identified the reasons why you feel the way you feel in your employment.

Now comes the good part – what to do when you hate your job?

The answer will depend on your reasoning.

If it’s your manager or colleagues, maybe you could speak with the higher-ups and reveal your concerns.

Maybe there’s an option for you to switch teams or roles or projects, or the location altogether?

Mayhaps your workplace offers opportunities for professional development that you could take up to better your situation.

There are a ton of maybes and ifs, but don’t be afraid to explore them all.

It can seem like a drag and with you already feeling unhappy in your job, it may drain the last sliver of happiness out of you.

However, identifying the right reasons for your unhappiness and finding solutions to that is the only long-term way to solve this issue, and to really find out what to do when you hate your job.

3. Think Of Ways To Make Yourself Happier At Work

Happiness means experiencing joy in daily activities, and it’s powered by passion and a hopeful view of the future.

If you don’t know what to do when you hate your job, start by thinking about what could make you a little happier and if there’s anything you can change about your current situation.

Think about your daily work routine: does it bother you?

Is it too boring?

It is equally important to do something you love, as it is to have a job.

If you feel disappointed with what you’re currently doing, maybe you need a break from it in order to gain a fresh perspective.

Take some days off, go to a new place, and relax.

Then, re-analyze your situation.

Are things really that bad?

Maybe some things can be easily improved?

For example, if you feel your job is too hard on you mentally, maybe you need to practice more self care at work.

Or, if your boss is rude, maybe you can help yourself by changing how you perceive them.

If you stopped expecting them to be nice (some people are just unable to be kind), you wouldn’t feel so disappointed each time they made a rude remark.

4. Create Other Goals

Our brain functions in a way that constantly requires a purpose and a plan of action.

It needs to be constantly occupied with something.

Having a job does keep your brain occupied, yet if the job is clearly not suitable for you, you might end up feeling depressed.

If don’t know what to do when you hate your job and can’t change it right now, a good idea is to find an activity you enjoy after work.

It’s important that this activity would stimulate either your knowledge or creativity.

Set up a goal and work towards it.

Whether it’s buying a new piece of furniture, learning a new skill, painting a wall decor item, making a vision board, or working out – it does not matter.

Having a short-term or long-term goal will get you a little bit of happiness and maybe even change your attitude towards your job.

5. When You Hate Your Job, Make An Effort To Stay Optimistic

Admit it!

There are days when you are feeling so down, that you end up redirecting your anger towards your job.

Pessimism leads to giving up on daily tasks and feeling very lethargic which, obviously, tells you that “it’s just because of this job”.

Negative thinking affects us physically and can be even more draining than physical work.

If you want to learn what to do when you hate your job because of your generally negative mood, spend some time each day to reflect and focus on what went well during the day.

It is best to avoid thinking about deadlines or any other things you did not manage to do.

Instead, consider the fact that you have the power to do anything, yet you can’t do everything at once.

6. Create Boundaries

You realized that you hate your job, but is it because of what you have to do, or because of how much you have to do?

Sometimes we tend to accept almost every task at work, but for the sake of our well-being, it is highly recommended to get stuff organized and set up some boundaries.

If you have plenty of tasks to do, and someone asks you to do one more, prioritize and ask which one is more important.

Don’t deal with all of it at the same time, but rather focus on one deadline at a time or ask a co-worker for help.

This will make you more productive and focused on each task.

Learning how to say no can sometimes really help you if you don’t know what to do when you hate your job!

7. Create a Balance

If you’re clearly working too much and don’t know what to do when you hate your job, you need to establish a work-life balance.

Taking your work home is often the same as working overtime.

No wonder you hate your job!

Set a strict work and life balance by setting hours when you start and end your work.

Once the end hour comes, close the door and leave your work at work.

If the thoughts about work still are creeping in, simply acknowledge them, and let them be around, but don’t get engaged.

Try to direct your thoughts to something pleasant, especially to something you are doing at the moment.

8. Try Not To Complain… As Much

If you don’t know what to do when you hate your job, it is easy to constantly complain at work or at home to your family members or loved ones.

But this has a negative impact both on your brain and other people.

Instead of using a negative approach to a work situation, seek a constructive way of dealing with the problem.

This will prevent unnecessary conflicts and minimize the negativity you spread around (I don’t judge!

I know that it IS hard for you and you deserve support).

9. Ask Your Colleagues For Support

Not feeling your best in your workplace where you spend the majority of your time throughout the day can feel very exhausting.

Especially if you’re dealing with it alone and don’t know what to do when you hate your job.

External support from those that relate to your situation or at least understands it can really alleviate the mental strain feeling unhappy at your employment puts on you.

So, if you have a trusted colleague you could talk to this about, do it!

There’s a possibility they may have also been in a very similar situation before and were able to solve it.

So, not only could they offer you emotional support, but they also could provide you with some invaluable advice on how to deal with your problems at work.

10. Network And Explore Professional Life Outside Your Work

If you feel very stuck in your current employment and really don’t know what to do when you hate your job, try networking.

Seeing what else is out there can make the time you spend at your work much more bearable since you might have something to look forward to after your current employment ends.

And I know, without having done it before, networking can seem very intimidating, especially because it’s essentially just a bunch of strangers you have to talk to.

But there are easy and relatively effortless ways to do it!

There are plenty of different online groups and communities that are looking for professional individuals to join their teams or create something together.

It could be companies in your field looking for employees, start-ups looking for partners, or businesses looking for freelance professionals to sell them their services.

You might even discover something interesting that you never thought yourself of doing!

Alternatively, there are physical networking events you can go to and mingle.

Networking is a great tool that can provide you with a sense of control in your professional life if you don’t know what to do when you hate your job.

It can inspire you to reach above and beyond, show you what opportunities lie there ahead of you, and can just generally get your mind off of your current employment situation.

What To Do When You Hate Your Job…

Remember that a lot of negative emotions happen only in our heads.

Often, it doesn’t reflect what’s really happening out there in the world.

Our brain will think about whatever we will give it to think about.

If you think about your job as a never-ending bad dream, don’t expect it to feel like a fun adventure.

If you don’t know what to do when you hate your job, think of it as a temporary place to get the money and improve your well-being as much as you can while you’re looking for an opportunity to change this.

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Amber & The Team

Co-authors at ShineSheets.com

"We love to research problems, examine studies, analyze solutions, and share with you ideas that make life healthier. You can learn about us and our editorial standards here. Have suggestions or feedback to share? Send us a message!."