Four Signs Your Job Is Secretly Killing You
Just about everyone has been in a job that just isn’t right for them. Whether it’s a fitness fanatic working in a candy shop or a shy introvert answering phones in a busy call center, it’s often easy for people to tell when they need to change their jobs. But what if the job you’re in is hurting your life without even you realizing it?
Especially during climates of job instability, it can be hard to take a step back from your current position to evaluate if it’s hurting your general well-being. It’s easy to brush off the drawbacks of a job for the sake of security — you might say to yourself, “It’s paying my bills, so I’d better not quit just yet.” However, with unemployment decreasing at an ever-steady rate since 2010, there’s never been a better time to truly take a moment and ask if your current job is helping or hurting you in the long run. At the end of the day, if your job’s benefits don’t outweigh the negatives, you may seriously want to consider switching fields. After all, you only have one life to live, so why waste it when something you might enjoy even more could be just around your corner?
If you’re unsure whether or not your current job is impacting your life negatively, consider these factors:
The hours have issues
The hours you work are a key factor in how your job will affect you. Excessive length, odd times or frequent last-minute scheduling all can be detrimental to your physical and emotional health. Think a 9 to 5 job is bad? Try working 12, 13 or even 14 hours in a single day — or coming off of a midnight shift only to be scheduled for an early-morning one a day or two later. While weird hours may not necessarily be a bad thing (especially for night owls), working very long or random hours on a regular basis can negatively affect the body’s circadian rhythm.
Your family life suffers
Bad, long or odd hours not only affect your personal health, but they can also bother your family.
Families with children in grade school are arguably most impacted by this, because their schedules are more or less dictated by their school hours. Jobs where your schedule rarely aligns with your family’s can put a strain on the relationships in it. If you rarely or never see those you love because you’re constantly working, it may be time to reconsider or reschedule.
Your peers aren’t your pals
The relationships with those you work with are another factor that can make or break a job — not just with your boss, but with coworkers as well. However, it can be taxing if those relationships are constantly in flux, either due to lots of turnover or if you simply don’t see eye-to-eye with key people in the organization. While disagreements are bound to happen, if you find yourself worried more about these relationships than the actual duties of your job, that’s something to, well, worry about.
You’re not fulfilled in your work
One of the easiest things to overlook at your job is how you feel about the work that you’re doing. Even if you are a good worker, if the work you’re doing doesn’t resonating with you on some level, it can lead to bouts of stress or even depression. Dissatisfaction at work is not uncommon, either: according to a Gallup study from 2011-2012, only 29% of workers in the United States and Canada were actively engaged in the work they do.