Opinion: How to quit hating Mondays and every other workday

The anticipation of the weekend is the only way some people can make it through the work week. The adage “Life is short” could not be truer when we are only living for Saturday and Sunday and despising the other five days of the week. This article will give you tips on how to make the most of every day.

I worked many jobs that had me feeling flighty after a few months. I would begin to see things as they “really are” and be convinced that there has to be better elsewhere. Maybe those hunches were from fear-based ego or from my intuition, but the fear of change and the lack of material security would keep me in a job that I hated. When experiences at work were making me consider quitting, I did either one of two things: one, I worked longer than I should have at the job, letting fear rule over my heart. Or I followed my heart and left before things got worse. I would not lie and say that I chose the second route the majority of the time because fear kept me hanging on to something that I should have released long before. I often stayed too long at a job, despite better judgment, and had to leave on terms that were not my own. However, the experience I gained from making mistakes and following my intuition made it easier to keep my work environment as positive as I wanted it to be.

This article is not written with the purpose to tell you whether you should quit or try to make it work at your job. It is written with the intention, however, to help you view your situation objectively so that you can make the best decision for you. When faced with difficult situations at work, we may ask everyone else for their opinion. No one outside of us can say what is best for us. Even if we seek the answers on our own, we may have that loud voice that tells us “You can’t quit, how are you going to make money?” or on the contrary, that loud voice can convince you that you are miserable in your job and quitting is the only option, when the prize will actually come with a little patience.

Knowing which voice to listen to is vital and these tips will help you to look at your scenario objectively so that you can take back your power and love going to work again.

1. Change your perspective

Having a job is like being in a romantic relationship. In the beginning, we are in the honeymoon phase and we see all the things about the job that we love. Maybe it’s great coworkers, the location, the pay, a good manager. But after some time, you start to notice the flaws and the things you once loved are being overshadowed by what you hate. It’s our quest for perfection that makes us suffer.

Just like a relationship, we have to know what is worth fighting for. No job is going to be the complete package because “perfection”, how we think we know it, does not exist. The “flaws” that you suddenly cannot ignore have always been there, you just did not have your attention on them.

Choosing what to turn your attention to is the difference between loving and hating your job. Changing your perspective is not about learning to like what you sincerely despise. It is about choosing to pay attention and gratitude for the things that you like. Your co-worker Susie probably is a know-it-all who knows how to push every one of your buttons. But you do not have to grow to like her in order to continue loving your job. Focus instead at what you do like because what you pay attention to, grows. If you continually express contempt for your job, you will find more and more things about your job to resent. But if you show gratitude for your job, even if it is as simple as being grateful to even have a job, then you will find more things to be grateful for in your job.

2. Breathe deeply

Just about everyone has that certain length of time into our work day where we start yawning. Many species of animals yawn to deliver more oxygen to the brain. Yawning can therefore be a reminder to be mindful of our breathing by taking deeper breaths to get more oxygen and thus, clarity.

Taking deeper breaths into our stomach has many benefits in the workplace. First, we will continuously have a large oxygen supply in the blood making us more alert and energized. Second, deep breathing will make us more present in the work place. Our anxiety at work is made worse when taking shallow breaths. Our mind likes to tell us that we would be having fun doing anything other than working. As we become more anxious of the things we dislike, our breathing gets shorter and more shallow, and then our ego has taken full control of our emotions. Quicker breathing equals a quicker heart rate, which will put us in a fight-or-flight mindframe.

By bringing your attention to taking deep breaths, you will calm your anxiety and begin to see more objectively. This step does not automatically mean that your calm emotions will convince you that you overreacted and to stay at your job. It will merely clear the commotion going on in your mind so you can hear what your heart is telling you to do.

3. If you don’t like your job, change it

I know this advice seems “Easier said than done” but in this area, I have walked the talk more than a couple of times. It’s important to understand whether you really hate your job or if you just need to change your perspective. If, no matter how positive you are trying to be, you feel dread going to work everyday then that can be a sign in itself that it is time to move on.

A lot of times, people know this is the decision they need to make but they wait for that “perfect” time. Now is the only perfect time since it is the only time that exists. Other than that, the perfect conditions will never exist.

During the process, I will suggest that you reflect on whether you do not like the particular company that you are working for or if you need an entire change of industry. The answer to this question will help you enjoy every work day not only for the short term, but the long term.