Making the Most of Your ‘Boring Job’ #3

Be kind to yourself, but be proactive!

Are you in a job that is repetitive, mundane and uninspiring?

In the last two posts, I have looked at a couple of ways you can breathe new life into your current situation simply through a change of perspective - assessing the skills you have gained and are continuing to gain - and making the most of the time you have in your job by inputting into your relationships with the people around you. Simply by putting a halt to the narrative playing in your head all the time - ‘I’m trapped here’. ‘My potential is being wasted’. ‘I am so bored’- you can begin to appreciate your job, and start to enjoy your life the way it is right now, and this can then give you the energy and motivation you need to make changes in a positive way.
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In this final post of the three part series, I will be exploring ways we can begin to use our new-found perspective to begin moving towards the change we want.

So many times, we can make the mistake of giving ourselves some sort of vague ultimatum. This is a general feeling of low worth due to not having reached some sort of idea. It’s a mish-mash of thoughts that we will have left unchecked, and they can be very sneaky, building up to the point where we generally feel like we are letting ourselves down. You almost can feel like you are in a race against yourself and everyone else to reach this weird undefined point of ‘success’.

If you have a fantastic degree, and are currently working in retail or a call centre, or waiting tables, please, PLEASE be kind to yourself! Do not despise small beginnings! Some of the greatest influencers the world has ever known started out VERY small, and overcame great odds. (Check out past Inspiring Stories blogs on this site to see loads of stories like this). Accept yourself where you are at, and be hopeful!

While it is ok to acknowledge your feelings, you sometimes have to take them in hand and ask yourself some simple questions. As someone currently going through this myself, I have asked myself this: ‘what opportunities are there for me to progress in this role?’ Sometimes the best thing you can do is to find out where you stand. Have the courage to ask for what you want, and find out the facts on what opportunities there are to progress. Refresh yourself on the company’s goals, and the direction your workplace is moving in. Get the facts, and then, go away and decide if the direction the business is headed in is the direction you want to go in too. If it is, great! Get your head down, work hard, and you will do well. If, on the other hand, the business is going a different direction than your personal goals, then this is the bit where the adventure begins!

This is the bit where we talk about being proactive. The kind of proactive i’m talking about is the ‘come on, let’s start small and do this together, it’ll be fun’ kind of proactive…(sometimes you just need to say that to yourself) Here’s a few gentle steps to get you started:

1. Get some headspace
   

Stop letting social media and the internet do your thinking for you! Switch off your laptop and your phone. Do some fun unplugged stuff and give your mind time to wander. Maybe head to a library and check out some books. Walk around a park with loads of massive trees. This week, I have booked two days off work. One of the days, I have decided to go on a solo trip to York, just to wander around, walk around the massive cathedral, and get inspired by going somewhere I have never been.
Another thing - a work friend and I are planning to hang out together in a swanky coffee joint in town to swap ideas and thoughts about how to move forward with career stuff. To make it fun and inspiring.

2. Explore the job market
You might have been pretty scared and nervous at the prospects of starting The Job Search again. But sometimes, you have to just dive in and see it as a fun thing to do! Simply spending time looking at job boards, doing some random searches, and looking at some cool career guidance websites such as National Careers Service or Prospects.com (Google them!) If, like me, you are a wordy, stationary obsessed person, you may want to write down your ideas as you go, in a kind of journal, to keep track of your thoughts. But as soon as looking at job boards starts to stress you out, please stop searching and go do something you want to do, like watch your fave show, or make some awesome cookies! Staying up on the internet late at night is not ok!

3. DO NOT rush yourself
First and foremost, this is a beautiful process of discovery. Do not stress yourself out trying to make it all happen at once. I did that, and it made me feel ten times worse. Make  the most of where you are now, and keep knocking on doors, exploring ideas, and testing things out. Look after yourself, maximise your spare time. Yes, of course, don’t sit around waiting for things to fall into your lap - but that said, don’t burn yourself trying to make everything happen right now!