Even though the saying goes, 'Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life,' workplace well-being experts believe that it's not really realistic to love your job every single day.
"I think the notion that a job should always be a dream, or always be perfect, or always be something that you love every day is a recipe for disappointment," said workplace expert and the author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work, Simone Stolzoff, to Bored Panda.
"Even in the most fulfilling or passionate jobs, there is a level of tedium or monotony that is often ignored. And when you're expecting your job always to be a source of love, it can create a lot of room to be disappointed."
"A more realistic expectation is to have more good days than bad (kind of like hair days!)," noted organizational well-being consultant Sandy Goel. "If you dread going to work, that is not a good sign. If you look forward to seeing people you work with and projects you are contributing to and feel valued for the work you do, those are positive signs."
"It is not realistic to love your job every day," agreed New York City’s leading burnout expert and host of the Fried – The Burnout Podcast, Caitlin Donovan. "What has been found as more important is having at least one person at work (or in your community if you work alone) that you feel has your back—a close friend. This is especially true for remote jobs," she said.
The overall view of employees' satisfaction with work seems to be quite positive, as 65% of working people around the world are happy with their jobs, while only 17% report that they're not. Donovan says that those who have less joyful experiences with their jobs indicate a lack of autonomy, community, fairness, praise, and recognition and high job strain or values that don't align with the company as the most frequent reasons for it.
"There's a whole spectrum of reasons why you can be unhappy with your job. I think one of the big ones, though, is when people have really high expectations about what a job can deliver, when they expect their job to not just be a source of economic fulfillment, but also personal fulfillment and community and identity," Stolzoff explained.
"When they're expecting every single task to be personally fulfilling, it can be a recipe for unhappiness. And so, rather than thinking about our jobs as the entirety of who we are, think about our jobs as part of what contributes to a life well-lived. It's a much better recipe for ultimate fulfillment and happiness."
Meanwhile, Goel says that on the extreme, people are unhappy at their jobs because they're being constantly berated or bullied. "It can also be being micromanaged, or doing low-impact work that does not match your skills or training. Other reasons include not being valued, not feeling psychologically safe, not having a sense of belonging, feeling stuck, or if your work or efforts are not acknowledged or are devalued."
In addition, those who feel unhappy with their work often fail to have a healthy work-life balance and leave their work at work. For these people, experts recommend learning to set boundaries. "Boundaries are important. Don't let work live rent-free in your mind or cheat yourself or others of you while not at work. Set new expectations with coworkers when you respond and when you don't. Over time, they will become accustomed to it," explained Goel.
"Do not attribute your work ethic to their expectations—you have your own standards that may or may not match theirs. Give yourself fully to your work when you are doing it, and do good work. Then give your mind a rest to start again."
