9 signs you might be unfulfilled at work, and what to do about it
Work. You know, it’s that thing you spend anywhere from 8–10 hours a day on. Considering that it could take up almost a quarter of your life, it would make sense to find ways to make your work life a source of happiness and fulfillment, rather than a drain on it.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for most people. Instead, work is often seen as a chore, and can be a major source of stress, burnout, and mental fatigue.
In this article I’ll describe 9 signs that you might be feeling unfulfilled at work, and 2 concrete things you can focus on to bring more satisfaction to work, and to your life overall.
9 signs you might be unfulfilled at work
You find yourself frequently unengaged, checking social media and the news instead of working on your projects.
You often wonder “what’s the point of this work anyway? Does the world really need this?”
You dream about weekends and vacations where you can finally get away from it all.
You don’t feel motivated to learn new skills relevant to your job or profession.
You look at your superiors and the leaders in your space, and you don’t want to be where they are.
You catch yourself rationalizing, “Well, at least I’m making good money”.
You worry about the ethical and/or moral implications of the work that you do, “Am I causing harm with this?”
You don’t feel that you can have honest, vulnerable conversations with your coworkers.
You couldn’t be bothered to explain to a stranger or a new acquaintance what you do for work.
If any of these describe you, don’t worry! There’s hope for you yet. And no, you don’t have to quit your job and travel to India to go “find yourself”. There are concrete steps you can take right now to bring more happiness and fulfillment to your work.
2 concrete ways to bring more fulfillment into your work life
So, what do you do if you want to find more fulfillment in your work? We can look the PERMA model of psychological well-being, developed by Dr. Martin Seligman, for some insight. This model describes 5 keys to cultivating a deeply fulfilling life:
Positive Emotions
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishments
When it comes to workplace satisfaction, two of the easiest places to begin are with Engagement and Meaning. Below I’ll describe what are they, and how to cultivate them.
Engagement
Studies have shown that to find work that feels fulfilling it helps to be engaged. What does it mean to be engaged? Do you know that feeling called Flow, or Being in the Zone? Those are deep states of engagement. It’s that quality of being fully immersed in your work or your tasks. Rather than overthinking what you’re doing, second-guessing, and stressing out, you are fully present. When you’re in a state of flow, it can feel like time is flying. Some common examples of flow states are programming, doing mathematics, and playing sports. While these are some obvious examples, it’s possible to find flow in almost any task that has a degree of complexity.
If you’re not feeling engaged, two things might be happening. First, if the work is too easy compared with your skills and abilities, it can lead to boredom. Second, if the work is too difficult, it can lead to anxiety (and eventually burnout). To find more engagement with your work, it will take some mindful self-awareness. Try to find work where the challenge matches well with your skill level. It might involve asking your superior for more challenging work, or conversely for more resources to meet the demand of tasks that are too difficult. Finally, ask yourself which kind of activities you naturally feel engaged in. It might be possible to bring more of your natural inclinations and skills to the work you do.
Meaning
How would you like to never work again a day in your life, and still get paid? The key to making this happen is to find work that is deeply meaningful to you. When the work you do is a cause you believe in, it’s easier to feel fulfilled, and feel like it’s not work at all! Just a few days ago, after teaching a 2-day emotional intelligence workshop at a large company, and being on my feet all day, my colleague asked me how I was feeling. “Physically exhausted,” I said, “But my heart feels full.” Even though my brain was fried and my feet were killing me, I was happy to be doing what I was doing, because I find the work so meaningful.
A helpful way to tap into this is to take some time journal about questions like “Who am I fighting for?” or “What idea do I believe in that most people think is crazy?” or “What social issues light me up?” Finding work that touches on what you naturally care about will make finding meaningful work easier.
Now you might be thinking, “But Jeremy, my company sells socks, how can I find meaning there?”. Well Mr. Sock Salesman, don’t fret. There are ways you can bring meaning into every moment of your life. To do this, it’s important to connect with your values. Identifying your key values will allow you to practice living in a meaningful way. For example, if one of your values is being a good listener, find ways where you can do that more in your day to day work life. Care about the environment? Start recycling initiatives within your office. There are unlimited ways to start living a more meaningful life right now.
It’s important to also realize that you might be on a career path that’s fundamentally taking you in the wrong direction. If you’re on the wrong ladder, it doesn’t matter how high you climb, you still won’t end up where you want to go. Sometimes it’s helpful to actually get yourself on a different ladder altogether. It’s never too late to make a change.
Have you been struggling with something else at work or in life? I’d love to hear about it! Drop a note in the comments below and let me know what I can help you out with!