Job satisfaction and your mental health
It is very common nowadays that most people would consider themselves lucky to be earning an honest living amid the rush of technology, unemployment and increase in population.
There is a gigantic difference between doing work that you’re passionate about and doing work that bores you. The experiences are night and day. Time passes a little faster when we’re enjoying what we’re doing, and we’re more creative and productive, too. Passion encourages our professional success as well as our enjoyment of our lives in general. There are so many good reasons to cultivate this mindset when it comes to work.
From time to time, no matter how great work is going, it is important to examine your career in a harder, more critical way so as to prompt you to reconsider how you’re pacing.
CAUSES OF JOB DISSATISFACTION
No growth prospects: When a planned career trajectory is derailed or delayed, employee dissatisfaction inevitably ensues. After all — no one wants to labour in a role only to remain stagnant within their career.
Poor workplace relationships: When you consider this, it’s not surprising that job dissatisfaction might be caused by spending most of our time in an office environment, especially if that environment isn’t helping to fuel positivity.
Denial of empowerment or influence: Job satisfaction can often rest on how empowered an employee is made to feel within their role. They desire the opportunity to show their creativity or ingenuity and if they’re denied this by a superior, it can often lead to job dissatisfaction.
Lack of work-life balance: Burnout isn’t just a hindrance for project progression and productivity, it is also one of the major causes of employee dissatisfaction.
The work isn’t interesting or meaningful: When looking to identify the causes of job dissatisfaction, you may need to look to the tasks each employee is asked to perform.
Feeling unappreciated: Job satisfaction factors also include the amount of recognition and praise an employee receives from management.
SIGNS THAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING JOB DISSATISFACTION
Procrastination: When we put off doing tasks until tomorrow or next week, we are unconsciously avoiding them, hoping they will go away. Unfortunately, they do not go away but instead begin to pile up and become unmanageable.
Distraction: The long lists of uncompleted tasks, extraneous noises, or spending so much time checking out food posts or shoes on instagram when you should be working can cause us to lose focus on our work. Sometimes distractions may show up in the form of daydreaming or obsessing about a problem at home. Losing focus easily is a clue that something may be missing and we need a greater sense of fulfillment.
Boredom: When we find ourselves browsing Facebook, taking online quizzes and chit-chatting with co-workers more than usual, it is possible that we are bored with our work. Boredom generally does not improve but tends to get worse as time goes by. Also, daydreaming about a world that does not include our current job may also be a sign of job dissatisfaction.
Arriving to work late or leaving work early: The more disgruntled we become, the more we start to ignore the starting and ending times of our work day. Being on time and staying until the job is complete becomes less important to us as we become less satisfied with the work we do.
Lower productivity: Taking two hours to get a task done that once took us ten minutes is a sure sign that our job satisfaction is on the decline. When we are doing something we truly enjoy, we are able to quickly get work done.
Tending to personal business during work time: Occasionally, it is unavoidable that personal tasks have to be taken care of while at work since most of our daylight hours are spent at our job, but when tending to our personal business becomes the norm, it is time to take notice. Gratifying work engages us to the extent that we don’t mind waiting until we get home to handle our personal matters.
Irritability: When our contentment is low, we may find ourselves getting mildly irritable or angry with our customers or clients, co-workers, or boss. We may also notice that we complain more often about the people we work with or the projects we are working on.
No longer putting forth our best effort: When we are dissatisfied, we may try to get by doing as little as possible and extending the least amount of effort as possible. Our attitude toward our work becomes more nonchalant.
Taking off work more often: It is a normal response to want to avoid a situation that is ungratifying. When staying at home seems like a better alternative to going to work, it is time to stop and take notice.
Monday morning blue: Spending Saturday and Sunday dreading Monday morning is not a fun way to spend a weekend. When we are doing work that we love and truly believe we are making a contribution, we don’t dread Monday mornings because any day we get to use our skills and talents and make a difference is a day to look forward to.
It is easy to tell if you are completely unsatisfied with your job, but it is not always easy to recognize when the first twinges of dissatisfaction set in. If you experience any of these on a regular basis, it may be time to consider work options that are more fulfilling.
JOB SATISFACTION AND YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
The workplace environment has a great influence on employees’ physical health and mental health. Job dissatisfaction has been widely recognised as a workplace stressor that can influence employees’ psychological and physical health statuses.
Many employees feel dissatisfied with their jobs at one point or another. Some employees leave their jobs for better opportunities, while others choose to stay and remain unhappy. Dissatisfied employees can negatively affect a company because they typically lack motivation, perform poorly and possess negative attitudes. These symptoms have a way of spreading to other employees, infecting entire departments and the company’s bottom line. Managers who take the time to understand the reasons for job dissatisfaction can often find the right solutions to turn unhappy employees into motivated performers.
The concept of job satisfaction has been defined as an emotional affective response to a job. However, the degree of job satisfaction depends on the person’s expectations of the existing job aspects and their ideal preferences. Moreover, it is reasonable to consider job satisfaction as an individual’s attitude towards a job or different aspects of a job. Job satisfaction refers to the emotional affective responses to a job situation determined by how well outcomes meet or exceed the individuals’ expectations. In other words, job satisfaction has been proposed to be a multi-dimensional concept of employees’ feelings related to both the work itself and the working environment.
STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING JOB DISSATISFACTION
WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER DO: When you daydream about your ideal job, whatever it is, is what you should be doing. These days, there are better and creative ways to make money from even what could be the weirdest thing ever. So whether your passion is painting, like Ebiye or writing, that’s what you should be doing for money too.
UNDERSTAND YOUR IMPACT: If you’re feeling like you’d like to be more passionate about your job, it might help to understand the larger positive impact your work is having. Think about how what you do positively impacts the community, or even society at large. It helps to connect with the purpose of what you do and to see the difference that you’re making. Try to keep these ideas at the forefront of your mind.
EMBRACE THE ADVENTURE AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS: Sure, you may not make a ton of money in the first few years of starting out. The fact that you are enjoying yourself and doing what you love will compensate for that. Sure you may feel like, who passion epp? Think of how unhappy you were when you were at your old job.
KEEP PASSIONATE COMPANY: If you’re the kind of person who values feeling passionate about your work, you should make an effort to be around the sort of people who feel the same way. Negative people can drag anyone down. It’s probably best to keep your distance. Instead, surround yourself with people, both in and out of the office, who enjoy what they do. You’ll help keep each other going.
ALWAYS HAVE INTEGRITY: Sometimes we have to do the right thing first and let the inspiration hit us second. Regardless of how you’re feeling about your work, never lose an ounce of integrity. Keep doing your best. Starting to back down won’t make you feel any better.