Stuck with these fuckwits – doing a job you’re stuck in

All day with people you hate, doing things you hate, for not much money…  you might feel stuck.

You are not stuck.

Believe me, I’ve been there – the only reason Coaching for Geeks exists is because I ended up there. I was so miserable I quit my job, spent some time thinking about what I was doing with my life, and retrained.

In all likelihood you would very much like to get a new job RIGHT NOW. That’s all well and 

good, but that might take a little time. You might need to update your CV (resume for American friends).

>>> I recommend for everybody reading this – if your CV is not up-to-date go and do it now. You never know when an opportunity may arise. <<<

You have to attend interviews, that you have to take time off for, and it can be challenging.  But you are not stuck! you are not trapped! Even when it feels like it – you may be stuck there for a little while whilst you sort it out – and here’s the thing…

Having a positive outlook, a positive way of being, actually makes finding the new job that much easier as well as making your time in the shitty place you hate a lot easier.

Let’s take a look at some of the strategies and coping mechanisms you can employ to make your time in your shitty job, with this bunch of twats, that much more bearable.

1)  Build your superpower.

Not literal superpower (I’m sorry) I’m not saying go out then go play with nuclear materials, that probably just gives you cancer of some sort.

Your superpower is to get amazing at something. There may be aspects of your job that you can learn more about, do more with, take on more training, take on more development. You become the expert, the subject matter expert on this one element of your role. You’ll see that just by learning, just by doing more, you’ll become more invested, more interested, and you’ll see you that you’re getting more out of it.

Choose a great skill to grow and you will  become that much more employable. I’ve done recruitment lots of times, and the amount of people who don’t have any training, any development, taken any responsibility to grow their skills is shocking. So start climbing the skill tree and develop your superpower.

2) Get up on your own terms.

When you get up in the morning to go to work (or the evening or nighttime if you’re working shifts) are you getting up for you or are you getting up to go and work for someone else? This takes a shift of  perspective, but I am getting up tomorrow for me. I am going and earning money for me.  I am gaining new skills for me. So that I can live the life that I want to later on. So many of us get up for other people rather than doing it for ourselves. It is a really small shift but it can be really powerful one – get up for you!

3) Talk to your manager.

Have you tried talking to them? If you have a manager is worth their salt, if you can identify some key things that are making you unhappy, that are making you miserable – can you go to them and talk about it? You might be able to come up with a solution. This works a million times better if you go in there with some potential solutions to the problems. It’s about taking ownership.“I’ve got this problem that’s making me fucking miserable” (probably don’t swear here) “and here are some possible ways that we can address that. Can you help with this?” It very much depends on the relationship you have with your manager and the organization you work for. A good manager who sees that you’re  unhappy will want to take steps to fix it.

4) Do your best.

This is often the hardest to swallow. Do the job to the best of your ability! Why, why, why would I do that if I’m so miserable for numerous reasons? Well if you don’t then your work will build up, you will become overwhelmed and your situation will get worse. If you confront this you can revel in the job well done, that in turn can provide more opportunities to get a decent reference for your next position.

And lastly keep on at it, keep going, keep applying for new jobs, keep looking. You never know when that new opportunity will arise – and maybe it doesn’t have to be the perfect position, maybe it  just has to be better than the one you are currently in. You could consider a total career change, you could do something new, something different, you could take a sideways step.

No matter how stuck you feel right now it’s completely up to you to change it. It’s nobody else’s responsibility. Only yours. So start taking action now to change the way things are, otherwise you’re going to keep on being miserable and nothing will change.

And that sucks for everyone so go get ‘em!