THAT attack of Monday blues that eventually turn out to be Tuesday blues, then Wednesday blues, until the only time of the week you will feel alive is during the weekend again. It’s that all too familiar encounter with an overwhelming rush of anxiety and stress that comes with knowing that it’s yet another day to face the rigors of work.
These negative feelings attributed to the beginning and duration of the workweek are serious signs that one’s not happy and dissatisfied with her or his job at all. The unpleasant emotions effected by the workplace are dreaded but unavoidable because it is work after all. We need one for bread and butter. Whether we like it or not, we have to haul our butts off the bed and battle the jading predictability of work ahead. We have somehow accepted this as a psychological phenomenon that we got to be passive, mindless to the reasons of this lack of motivation and just choose to bear this dispirited attitude like it’s a weeklong horrific bout of dysmenorrhea.
These negative feelings attributed to the beginning and duration of the workweek are serious signs that one’s not happy and dissatisfied with her or his job at all. The unpleasant emotions effected by the workplace are dreaded but unavoidable because it is work after all. We need one for bread and butter. Whether we like it or not, we have to haul our butts off the bed and battle the jading predictability of work ahead. We have somehow accepted this as a psychological phenomenon that we got to be passive, mindless to the reasons of this lack of motivation and just choose to bear this dispirited attitude like it’s a weeklong horrific bout of dysmenorrhea.
The job you have right now may not be what you have wanted in the first place. So lucky are those whose jobs are seemingly created to their exact specifications. Fact is, the harsh reality has conditioned us to be practical as opposed to being idealistic. If we’re freshly plucked out from the academe, we are this new batch of idealistic individuals who seek jobs that are in line with the degrees we have pursued. In the end however, the sad state of economics has reduced us to filling in posts that can be totally unrelated to the fields we have specialized in. So here we are, filling in regular aimless shifts in what we perceive as lousy working environments; jobs that we are not passionate about to begin with and which we will eventually dislike in the long run.
To ward off these persistent Monday-to-Friday blues, one has to identify the cause of this. If it’s because one’s unhappy with work, this needs to be fixed or it’s high time to move on and look for another job. Much as the second option is so tempting though, it’s not a very attractive and pragmatic one. A job cannot be likened to picking apples. One cannot just go out there and yank the plumpest one effortlessly from a branch. We then learn how to cope.
I came across some interesting tips of learning to love one’s work. Truly motivational points like: working toward a career growth, looking for new challenges to avoid monotony, finding value in what you do, trying to make work a fun place to be, yada-yada. The very obvious thing to do however is to remind ourselves why we do what we do. If this was our career choice, we have to recall the whys and whats—the motivations we had to choose this path, or lack thereof. We applied for a job for whatever reason; either we thought this was what we loved and wanted or because this was the only option we had, among other reasons. If we just feel burnt out and knackered by the demands of our jobs, de-stress. Rediscover these motivations and be boosted back in place. But if the reason for these doldrums is one’s aversion to his or her current occupation, there’s always the option of moving on. Either we learn to love the work, or leave it for another. The decision will ultimately lie in our hands.
The funny thing is that we actually know these supposed positive-vibe boosters that will make us less despondent about our work. We just choose to be resigned. It’s not a Monday (as of writing time) but my mood meter’s pointing towards the blue devils. I’ll take this as a clear sign and acknowledgment that I have not landed the job I would look forward to waking up to. Tell me I’m not alone here. But reason will make me stay. For now, let’s look forward to that oh-so-sweet weekend ahead!
To ward off these persistent Monday-to-Friday blues, one has to identify the cause of this. If it’s because one’s unhappy with work, this needs to be fixed or it’s high time to move on and look for another job. Much as the second option is so tempting though, it’s not a very attractive and pragmatic one. A job cannot be likened to picking apples. One cannot just go out there and yank the plumpest one effortlessly from a branch. We then learn how to cope.
I came across some interesting tips of learning to love one’s work. Truly motivational points like: working toward a career growth, looking for new challenges to avoid monotony, finding value in what you do, trying to make work a fun place to be, yada-yada. The very obvious thing to do however is to remind ourselves why we do what we do. If this was our career choice, we have to recall the whys and whats—the motivations we had to choose this path, or lack thereof. We applied for a job for whatever reason; either we thought this was what we loved and wanted or because this was the only option we had, among other reasons. If we just feel burnt out and knackered by the demands of our jobs, de-stress. Rediscover these motivations and be boosted back in place. But if the reason for these doldrums is one’s aversion to his or her current occupation, there’s always the option of moving on. Either we learn to love the work, or leave it for another. The decision will ultimately lie in our hands.
The funny thing is that we actually know these supposed positive-vibe boosters that will make us less despondent about our work. We just choose to be resigned. It’s not a Monday (as of writing time) but my mood meter’s pointing towards the blue devils. I’ll take this as a clear sign and acknowledgment that I have not landed the job I would look forward to waking up to. Tell me I’m not alone here. But reason will make me stay. For now, let’s look forward to that oh-so-sweet weekend ahead!