You’ve outwitted, outlasted them all. You’re the survivor of this office island! And now…you’re miserable. When the joy of work is exhausted and so are you. — BadWitch
Readers Are Spellbound & Perplexed…
Dear GWBW — It’s a grind because a few people have been cut and now I’m doing four desks worth of work. I go home and I’m beat. I still love my company. How do I get back to looking forward to coming to work the next day? — Rode Hard Hung Up Wet
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Dear Rode Hard,
Whoa. What a difference a consonant makes from J-O-B to J-O-Y. And, Rodie, your conundrum is as close/far, small/large, and delicate/hard as is the difference in that one tiny consonant change. Also keep in mind you’re aiming at a moving target, so here are its parts to consider.
1) Work-related “success” is situational. You started out loving your job, but now have a harder time getting in touch with that original spark. Or you could view your success at being the surviving soldier as a compliment or a personal strength, but now feel used or just sick and tired. It’s easy to confuse our feelings for the work we love/like/eh!, are just ok with with what’s happening to and around us in the moment in the workplace – especially these challenging days. Separate all your feelings from the work itself, then come to recognize that the work (and your company) are what they always were for you: a paycheck, a career ladder, or your sense of identity, etc.. When that’s clearer, check out your emotions and see them for what they are: legit, mood, immature, or passing/changing. Really embrace each of them and acknowledge them fully; your feelings per se are legit, do ask yourself do tell, dude. Finally, look at those two final tallies side-by-side. Do they have any bearing on each other…or has your j-o-b grind emotionally come to its own halt?
2) Joy is portable. Wherever you go there you are, why not choose to be happier? Meet yourself at a higher place, and you will have less distance to rise. Joy is from within. Rodie, if you’re the survivor on this island, you obviously know how to get things done. Just decide, then commit.
3) Life is cyclical. Sometimes we’ll be at the top of our work game/cycle. Sometimes we’ll be super high on life. Then when the wheel turns, we can feel like, “What the heck just happened?!” It’s important to keep our eye on the wheel wherever we are on it. Whenever we are on it.
In short, Rodie, if you have no intention of leaving your job for the next year, minimum — or heck, even if you do — genuinely embrace your feelings, breathe through it (repeat) — then focus your work and brain powers on turning in the best deliverables to represent the best of you, at all possible times. This effort is not for anyone else but you. I suspect this is who you are at your core. Remember who you are, and Be the Happy you want to see, baby! And rest assured, just when you have it down and everything is perfect and in your “control” once again – something else will change. Situationally. That’s life. Happy is portable, grasshoppa.
Keep turing those letters, Vanna,
BW
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Dear Rode Hard and Hung Up Wet,
Yours is, unfortunately, not an unusual story in today’s economy. Businesses are cutting back, and those left behind are left to carry the load of several employees—with the same crazy deadlines and, usually, no pay increase. I can understand why you are feeling like the joy has gone out of your 9-5 (which is probably closer to a 8-7).
How do you get back to looking forward to going to work? First off, recognize that you were one of the lucky ones. You could have been laid off with your former co-workers. You’d be working around the clock, redoing your resume–again— applying for countless jobs in an economy in which the average job post gets something like 450 applicants. Then move past recognition to gratitude. The fact that you are one of the remaining employees speaks volumes about how much your employer respects your work. Pat yourself on the back as one of the lucky ones. Makes that load at work slightly easier to bear, doesn’t it?
Now, in order to move from bearable to actual joy and looking forward to going will take more than a gratitude journal. You need to find your play in the midst of the pile in your inbox. What do you enjoy doing in your day? What work tasks go by quickly, because you settle into them, easily becoming absorbed and moments later, “What? How did it get so late?” That is the joy of work. Often, we ignore that joy in favor of focusing on the stress and negativity every job can afford you, if you’re looking for it.
You are lucky. You know what it is to look forward to work. Rekindle that by reminding yourself of all the benefits and bonuses of doing what you do for a living. And, yes, remind yourself most emphatically when you feel overwhelmed and pressured. If you approach this challenge as being 1) lucky to have a job, 2) happy to feel recognized as an exemplary employee worth keeping, and 3) grateful for a job in which you have daily tasks you enjoy 4) supportive of yourself through mood enhancing snacks and on-the-spot de-stressing —you can get your groove back.
The other part is to be sure to leave work behind when you leave work. Don’t fret over what’s to be done, needs to get done, should have been done. Let it go. Your time is your time. When you have left the office—I mean, literally, walk out the door before the commute home—take a moment to visualize your desk and all the work that still needs to be done. Then see it all being packed away, neatly, to await your return tomorrow. Check in with your body and feel where there is a tug or churning to think about the to-do list. Recognize this as good productive energy that can also wait for you till tomorrow. See all those emotions and sensations filtering into the pile of neatly packed bags on your desk. Then see yourself tying it all off with a bow. As you do, feel your body relax. Switch your mind to weekend-mode (even if it’s mid-week), stretch and open your eyes.
To change the situation, change your mind about how you feel about the situation. “Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.” Thomas L. Holdcroft.
Reclaim your joy!
GoodWitch
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image, ‘The Shield’, FX
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