To ask whether you enjoy your job?

[Bollypears]

..... and if so, what do you do?!

I work in Corporate Governance and it’s mind numbingly boring and monotonous. I fell in to this career years ago rather than choosing it but now my experience, qualifications and skills are all very specific to this field and don’t seem to be particularly transferable. Due to my role being quite specialist and well paid, it’s not easy to change career without taking a substantial pay cut which I just can’t really do (mortgage etc).

Every day consists of clock watching, wishing the day away and thinking about how much I’d rather be anywhere else but there. I work with nice people, the role is relatively low stress, performance wise I’m doing well... I’m just utterly bored and demotivated inside. From Monday onwards I count down to the weekend and even by Sunday I feel horrendous about the thought of another week at work.

Some of my colleagues appear to love their job and I wonder whether I’m the odd one out. I often daydream about quitting the job all together or getting signed off work just for a break from the boredom, but of course I don’t. I sit at my desk and/or in meetings thinking to myself, is this really how life is supposed to be?

I’m genuinely interested to know whether others feel the same or if this isn’t the norm. I know those who come across me at work would have no idea I feel this way. I can’t speak to many people about this IRL as it’s a bit shameful. I know I should be grateful to be in well paid employment but it doesn’t help how I feel.

For those who do enjoy their jobs, I’m very interested to know what you do if you don’t mind sharing please!

I’m a caterer, not good money but I enjoy it very much

After school club deputy manager, starting to hate it.
Have worked with children for 17 years as a Nursery Practitioner & TA.

Have just set up my own dog walking business and hope to quit current job when my business takes off.

Recently gone back into work after being a carer for my disabled DD.

Health care assistant now in a residential home, and I love it. Love doing something that makes me feel useful, and knowing all those vulnerable people are well looked after because of the team of us that work there gives me a really good feeling. Pay isn't amazing, but it's more than I was on as a stay at home carer and has helped us no end already. Looking forward to starting my qualifications soon :)

Posters who dismiss boredom and say they could easily put up with it obviously don't know how spirit crushing it is especially if you have a busy mindset.

Dd has the most amazing work life.

She works 6 jobs. All zero hour type contracts that she can pick and choose to do and does one off events and ends up meeting the most amazing people.

I think the answer is to do so many jobs you can never get bored.

It also pays quite well. Minimum £10 per hour to her specialised work that pays atm between £150 at the lowest to £600 per day.
That figure will go up as she gets more established.

She has been offered f/t office management type jobs on £40k per year by people who see her in her event management role which she has turned down because she couldn’t cope with working in an office in the same place with the same people day in and day out.

Posters who dismiss boredom and say they could easily put up with it obviously don't know how spirit crushing it is especially if you have a busy mindset.

I agree. I've had many different jobs, varying levels of stress and responsibility and my worst nightmare professionally is a job where I'm not being challenged, where I'm not using my brain and I go home at the end of the day feeling I've accomplished nothing.

I agree that boredom is as stressful as the more typical forms of stress.

I have a busy brain, I need to be busy. I tend to get bored after a few months in the same place. I'm seriously considering switching to interim management but not sure I have the balls to give up the security of permanent work yet.

A lot of it. I have decent pay and conditions, lovely colleagues, flexibility, and generally what I do is very interesting and varied. Some of it involves dealing with stubborn people and persuading them to do stuff, and there's the odd boring meeting where only part of it is relevant, but now with laptops I can get on with other stuff.

Civil servant, so usually I get to feel I'm making the country better and making a difference, but I've been working on Brexit-related stuff for 2 years now so it's more like trying to prevent Brexit being more of a cockup than necessary... I think about quitting but I prefer knowing what's going on...

Financial inclusion officer. Mostly benefits work, but also some debt advice and coaching people in managing their money. My clients are people with mental health issues.

I love my job. I get huge satisfaction from helping vulnerable people get what they're entitled to, especially when I win appeals, my colleagues are wonderful, we support one another and as a team, we have a skillset where we complement each other. We also have a fantastic manager who is incredibly supportive and appreciative. She's very accommodating and flexible if you need time off or to work from home for any reason and is so caring that when she realised I was having trouble walking because of a knee problem, insisted that they allocated me a designated parking space!

It can be intellectually challenging (UC regulations, for example, are mind-bogglingly unclear), but that's better than dull, it can be stressful when you have a crop of appeals that all have deadlines close together or a particularly challenging client, but it's very worthwhile.

The pay's shite though. Lots of clients get more money than I do!

Systems Co-ordinator. I'm good at my job, I don't mind doing my job. I work with lovely people and I get to work from home so it suits my lifestyle. I'm paid well and have good benefits. Despite all this I wouldn't call it my passion but I'm also not looking to leave. I'm not sure what my passion is really, probably travel but I wouldn't know where to begin finding a career which lets you just travel the world without having to become a vlogger/youtuber - totally not my thing.

@BobbinThreadbare123 - I find it hard to see how anyone could find teaching full. It’s many things but never boring.

Life is too short to do something you hate.

I switched jobs when I began to hate what I thought was my dream career. I took a significant pay cut and did struggle financially. But having less free cash is worth not being miserable 5 days a week!!!

Love my job. I'm a nurse in an acute hospital setting.

I'm flat out busy most days, which suits me because I can't stand being bored, it's intellectually challenging and very varied. And every single day I have the chance to make a positive difference to people who really appreciate it. Obviously I get my share of obnoxious people too but they're a tiny minority. And i work with a fantastic team of people who have my back.

I'm not going to lie, when we're short staffed it can be crazy, but I'm quite lucky in that I work in a well staffed area so generally we have decent staff to patient ratios. This is definitely not the case on all wards!

Oh and long shifts = 4 days off a week

I love my job frontline NHS but it drains me physically and emotionally and when I get home I don't gave much energy left. Conditions are getting worse in the NHS too. I still love it though.

I've done various different roles and I will say the boring ones drag the day out. It left me time and energy for outside of work though.

I work in care and love it, I couldn't find anything else as fulfilling, I get to help people stay at home and independent as long as possible. Sometimes I'm the only person they see all day and for that half hour they're the most important person in my world, and I always know I've made a difference every single day.

I'm massively over qualified and underpaid but to me it's a worthwhile tradeoff. It helps that my employer is hugely supportive and I know they have my back.

I'm a History teacher and I love the teaching (mostly). I'm about 30 years in and I still enjoy my job; it's never boring, but it's tiring and stressful and the pay isn't great for the hours, despite me being fairly senior.

This year I am, for the first time, beginning to wonder how much longer I want to - or can - keep doing this.

I'm retired!!! LOL

I must do, ive been with the same care home for 14 1/2 yrs lol. Work 12 1/2 hr nights, 3 nights a week looking after dementia residents. Im a Senior Carer.

Vodka, how do you handle it then if you hev been there 14 years surely a lot of them must have died
Do you find that depressing

I absolutely love advising/consulting.. using my expert knowledge to guide people to the best answer to solve a problem. I've learned over time to solve problems with them not for them, which is a much more meaningful transaction and helps them develop their own capabilities.