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Are You Unfulfilled At Work? There Is No Excuse to Let It Continue

By SRAI News posted 05-02-2019 03:39 PM

  



Authored by: Sikirat Tijani
Associate Director, Grants & Contracts
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago


Get up, go to work, come home, pass out. Get up, go to work, come home, pass out. Get up, go to work, come home, pass out. Do you find yourself living this way of life? Living the same dull routine five days a week. You go to work and slog through the day performing the mechanics of your job all the while not being challenged, stimulated, or fulfilled. You have tried talking to your boss about ways to reignite your attitude toward work. You have talked to colleagues to see if they have ever experienced what you are going through. You know you are not happy at work but you do not have the first clue as to how to turn it around.

Half the battle is realizing you are not satisfied with how things are going at work. Somewhere along the way you lost your joy there. It has become a chore: I must go to work in order to get paid and not lose my job. I do not know about you but I spend too much time at work for it to be a chore. It is important to not allow yourself to be lulled into thinking there is nothing you can do to improve your quality of life at work. So what can you do? How can you turn it around? Try to think of areas of interest or activities that pique your interest and how you can incorporate them into your day to day duties. Is there a certain committee at your institution/organization you have been interested in joining? Participating in a committee can be a great way to develop your leadership, networking, and collaboration skills. All skills not only translatable to your current job but also to the progression of your overall career. It can also be a great way to have a direct impact on the direction of your organization/institution. Have you stopped yourself from applying for a job because you lack the advanced knowledge of a specific computer program/software (e.g. Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint) required for the position? Look into taking a class to sharpen/improve your computer skills. Some workplaces offer no to low-cost class options. If your employer does not offer classes, check out your local community colleges. They offer an array of affordable beginner to advanced level computer classes. I have always admired how my boss is able to effortlessly report out our office’s metrics and generate data reports in response to requests. Due to this, I recently started an intermediate Microsoft Excel class at a local community college. More and more in our profession, research administrators are being tasked with reporting out data.

It is important to take ownership of your career experience. Sometimes when you get into a rut at work, it is easy to find yourself just going through the motions and not doing anything about it. Try to not let this happen. Be creative. Take the lead on reclaiming your happiness at work.
#Catalyst
#May2019
#insights
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