How do I stay happy in a dead end job?

[fuckthemail]

I have a great level of education and am very qualified in two specific areas. However, life right now means I'm working a 'dead end job'. It's minimum wage office work, doesn't require any real qualifications, quite boring everyday is the same, with no scope for promotion. I have to stay here for the foreseeable future.

How do I stay happy?!?!

Why do you have to stay?

What is it that is keeping you there?

I'm in a dead end job (minimum wage office work as well). I don't think I'm that career minded though- I just see work as the way of getting money to live and for the things I want. I do feel very lucky to have a stable job though. Could you try and find a creative/challenging hobby to stretch yourself in other ways?

Don't!

It's obviously serving a purpose. Find a hobby outside of work that makes you happy so that work takes a back seat.

Start a side business in something you love and if it goes somewhere, quit the dead end job?

This is eerily similar to my job. The truth is, you can’t force yourself to.

I feel ready for more challenging work and for higher pay. I work with difficult people. The atmosphere isn’t great. I feel like if there was only 1 downside, I’d be fine but all of these downsides combined makes it hard for me to just coast. I miss the days when I would only rock up to work and think of the weekend but it’s getting increasingly hard to.

Sorry to hear that @itswednesdayy

My job is actually usually stress free so there's that at least

Upping the hobbies is a good idea

Just need to feel a bit more motivated to go. Options at the moment are stay or quit, i can't get another job right now. I worry I'd be even more bored without a job at all?

It was a serious question - why do you have to stay? Because the answer to that is your motivation/reason for finding some joy in it - by focusing on your end goal.

Alternatively questioning why you have to stay could result in you realising you have some sort of limiting belief that’s keeping you stuck there unnecessarily.

If you’re able to quit, you’re able to find another job.

I guess I don't have to stay

We have plenty of money. But it gets me out of the house, which after a breakdown a few years ago was essential for my mental health. Now I'm not so sure. It's boring, but due to family circumstances it would be almost impossible to find a different job which was flexible enough.

So it's kind of, try to enjoy it and stay. Or leave and have no job at all. Neither sound good to me!

If you don’t need to work money-wise could you do some training instead? I’m in the same position as you after a big wobble a few years ago, and now looking after elderly family rather than kids. Completely stuck and miserable. I’m looking at training in tech, but thinking myself into knots about it. Hope you find something!