According to a 2019 Gallup Poll, 45% of American adult employees working full or part time are not satisfied with their job.
For many people, going to work isn’t a pleasant experience. Thankfully, there are some strategies that we can use to be happy even if we hate our job.
These tips will help you to look at your job from a different perspective. Therefore, you’ll be able to recognize the positive aspects of work and some changes you can make that will make you feel happy about your job.
10 Tips to Be Happy Even if You Hate Your Job
1 – Find Out What Bothers You the Most
In some cases, you’ll know exactly why you dislike the job. For example, it might bring out an area of your personality that you dislike.
Alternatively, you might not be using your full potential. Once you find out why you don’t like your job, you will be able to take steps to correct the problem, introducing more elements to make you feel comfortable.
Write down everything you hate about your job. Writing it down on paper will make you feel temporary relief. Moreover, you’ll see exactly all your areas of dissatisfaction.
Find out more ways that writing can make you happy.
2 – Remind Yourself What Makes You Stay at Your Job
Is there any aspect of your job that you enjoy or that makes you feel good?
For example, you might want to get more money or focus on building up your skills. If possible, put this reason on your office cubicle wall or write it above your bed. This way, you’ll always remember why you’re working there.
Here are some common reasons why we continue to work at a job we hate:
- Paying the bills
- Comfort of knowing what to expect
- Economic downturn, which makes it difficult to find a new job
- Hoping for a promotion
- Enjoying social interactions
- Convenience such as close proximity from home
- Knowing how to complete our work
- Enjoying some perks
Once you know what keeps you at the job you hate, you will have a better idea of your values.
3 – Take More Time to Focus on Yourself
If you find your job draining, you might want to spend more time focusing on yourself. This will ensure that you always show up at work feeling refreshed.
Spend more time doing something that makes you happy such as
- exercising or
Reading self-help books will provide many ideas on how to positively focus on yourself.
By reading about the author’s experience in her search for happiness, you will gain insights on how you too can make positive changes in your life.
In Turn Your Happiness On you will find action steps based on the most powerful scientific research so that you can change your mood to happy.
Happy people tend to be successful in multiple domains such as work, income, friendships, and even marriage.
4 – Negotiate with Your Employer
Would some little changes at your current job make you happy?
When negotiating with your employer, focus on how the company will benefit from the changes that would make you happier.
May be getting them to include more skills that you want to improve or focusing on an aspect that is interesting to you.
Create a list of all the things that would make you happy at work and would also have a positive impact on your employer.
5 – Don’t Be Afraid to Say No
Sometimes, your job might start to take over your life, as you take on too many projects.
To get more work-life balance, you might need to start to say no.
Think in advance of polite ways of saying no and prioritizing your well-being.
6 – Define Your Limits
One of the biggest problems might be that you don’t have enough boundaries in place.
You could work out some rules, and ask for them to be enforced. For example, you might decide that you won’t check your emails on the weekends.
7 – Think About Your Impact
You may try thinking about how you impact your company and how you make a difference in the lives of others such as coworkers, clients, and families.
This will remind you that you are important, even if your bosses don’t acknowledge it.
By reminding the company of your value, you might be able to negotiate a better position.
8 – Grow Your Network
As you work, take the opportunity to grow your network.
This will allow you to be alerted to any new opportunities. Others might have advice that will be helpful.
9 – Focus on Your Professional Education
Professional development will allow you to improve your skills.
Feeling more confident about your skills will help you to be more assertive at your current job and also allow you to find job opportunities beyond your current position.
This can show you new ways of looking at your job while increasing your value to the company.
Reading books can help you to develop a more positive attitude, learn from the experience of others, and inspire you to think differently about your current circumstances.
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10 – Start Looking for Another Job
Finally, if you have tried these tips, and still hate your job, you might want to consider quitting. This will allow you to move on to a new career or workplace that might better suit you.
If what makes you hate your job is the amount of stress associated with your job. Here are some strategies to feel happy even if you have a stressful job.
Hopefully, these tips will give you new ways to look at your job so that you can be happy even if you hate your job.
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Those are some great tips for people to improve their wellbeing in their job 🙂
Great post as I am not loving my job right now and these tips will help me during my process of finding a new one.
These are very helpful tips. I definitely needed to read this today. Back to the job search!
I needed to read these amazing tips, THANK YOU!!! I don’t hate my job but sometimes i get frustrated and i need to remind myself that it is all about the long term objectives.
I’m glad I read this post. I’ve been feeling so out if it in my job and I guess it’s time to find a new one that helps me to be more impactful. Thank you for sharing
It is important to find happiness inside of you first. Then reach out to the coworkers. People are good. We need to overcome our own prejudices to be happy.
It’s so common now a days. It is very important for us to love the job we are doing, otherwise it becomes very hard to keep it together.
Thanks for sharing.
This is such an amazing post and I really love all those tips that you’ve shared with us. I am sure once the person read this it will definitely motivates and inspires her/him to love her/his work even more.
I love my job in my opinion if you don’t love your job then don’t do it. But these are really amazing and useful tips for those who don’t love their jobs and I know one of my friend who really hate his job I will definitely going to share these tips with him.
i really job my job. But also sometimes there’s time that you will experience the boredom in every day job we doing. And this tips are really great and helpful. Thank you for sharing!
These tip are so amazing and very helpful. You inform everyone as well. I will always remind my self how I need my job when time come that i get bored. This is an amazing tips. Thank you so much!
These are awesome tips. I think we have all been there at some point in life.
If you find happiness even if you think you hate your job, this means you don’t hate your job at all. There may be just some aspects of it or in yourself that needs fixing.
Excellent tips! I had a moment earlier this year when I was really frustrated. Eventually, I smacked myself upside the head and decided to choose: keep doing it (and get a better attitude) or move on. That helped, too.
I’ve been in jobs that I’ve disliked and done a few of these. Especially listening to music and keeping my personal and professional life separate really helped.
I have been in the position of hating my job more often than not. Oddly it took me listening to some personal development cds by Tony Robbins to force me to make changes. If you’re. It happy change what you can. I love the tips you’ve provided but in the end if it’s not for you move on. It’s a last resort but it’s not worth being unhappy in a pl e you spend the majority of your life.
I agree with your points! Having had corporate working experiences, I’ve chosen to work from home & now enjoy freedom.
I’ve been working for the same agency for 18 years and although I sometimes feel like a hamster on a wheel, it’s important to grow both personally and professionally in order to keep things fresh. Great points!
I am there right now. I really dislike my job and I want to leave just need to find something different .
Thankfully I am not somebody who dislike their job but I can see how this lost would be so helpful to those struggling to find happiness in their work. Great tips!
These are great tips for being happy even if you dislike your job. I’m so much happier now that I’m self employed.
This is such a great guide for all who are not really loving their work right now. But as long as retaining the job is a must it’s good to focus on self development and also focus on alternatives.
These are all great tips! It is hard to stay in a job you dislike, I have definitely been there!!
Very good tips. I had a job I hated and stayed there because I was hoping for a promotion. Well, even though I had earned my Master’s degree I still did not get promoted. It was very disappointing.
We spend so much time at work, it’s so important to not hate your job. These are wonderful suggestions that seem both possible and helpful.
This is really a tough dilemma. I agree with most of your strategies about focusing on what is positive or trying to find anything that is positive, even if it’s small. I would probably have to constantly think about the good things I am getting or wanting to get by having reasonable employment that gives me a regular paycheck. It’s very hard though. At least for me, I don’t think it would be good to write down all the things I hate at one time. That would only fuel the negativity and bring me down. I know there is a lot to be said for getting things outside of yourself, though. So I understand your point. I do believe that his is a much-needed post, though, because there are a lot of people who are unhappy with their work.
Yes to all of these, but #10 is the most important to me, from personal experience. I have never hated a JOB that I’ve had (even the minimum-wage high school summer jobs!), but having miserable COWORKERS (yup, many times over), is a deal-breaker for me, ditto lousy work conditions (bully boss, anyone? #beentheredonethat)
I feel very blessed that I do still love my job. <3 Great tips tho!!!