How to Love the Job You Do

You may not wish to change jobs or career at the present time or your job search may be taking longer than expected (the average time period is 3-6 months) so what steps can you take to make your working life more interesting? The following ideas may be just the thing to banish those Monday blues:

Look for positives in your current position

Think about the good points about your job even if you don't particularly enjoy your present role; it might be your salary, your work colleagues, your short commute or the nice new building you work in. There's sure to be a few things that you're grateful for so remind yourself about these whenever you feel fed up. For example, Sarah doesn't enjoy her job in a call centre but her working hours are from 10am to 3pm which means that she can drop off and collect her children from school. As her children are her priority, this factor is very important to Sarah so she reminds herself of this whenever she gets bored with the routine nature of her work.

Concentrate on what you enjoy

Analyse your current job into activities that you like doing and those that are always at the bottom of your "To Do" list. Ask your boss if you can do more of your favourite activities and this should lead to greater job satisfaction.

Delegate or swap your least favourite tasks

If you have staff working for you then it might be possible to ask them to do the tasks that you dislike. If you don't have staff it may be worthwhile asking if a colleague would be interested in swapping one of your least favourite activities for something that you prefer to do. Some people love admin tasks whilst others find them a bind so its an ideal situation if you can team up with someone who loves the tasks you hate.

Give yourself rewards for completing tasks you don't enjoy

There may be some tasks that no-one in your team particularly enjoys so you still have to do them. Schedule a time for undertaking these tasks and give yourself some kind of reward on completion. It might be a chocolate bar, an extra long lunch or even the opportunity to spend the rest of the day doing activities you enjoy but this can be a great way to knuckle down and get the job done.

Alternate tasks you enjoy with those which aren't as interesting

You may have a deadline to meet and little choice in the matter but in situations where you can schedule your work then do something which you enjoy doing followed by a task that you find more of a bind. I prefer to tackle my least favourite tasks first thing in the morning but everyone is different so do what works for you.

Think of ways your role could be expanded or changed

Provided you're not swamped with work then think of some other projects you'd like to get involved with. If you're able to clearly state why you think it would be of benefit for the company for you to do this then there shouldn't be a problem with you taking on some additional tasks that you consider to be more interesting.

Look for learning opportunities

Ask to attend training courses or conferences that will help to increase your skills and knowledge. Keep abreast of what's happening in your industry by networking and reading relevant publications. This will make you more of an asset in your current team and more employable if you choose to move in the future.

Hopefully these tips will help you to enjoy your current role more. If not then it might be time to consider a move. Work doesn't have to be a bind and you just have to start taking some steps to discover the roles most suitable for you and then take action to move in that direction. Career coaching can assist you with this process.

Jacqui Mitchell is the founder of Jigsaw Career Coaching (www.jigsawcareercoaching.com) which offers coaching, teleclasses and workshops to people looking to find happiness at work.

Subscribe for a free newsletter and receive a free CV guide and template to help you stand out from the crowd.