Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2012, and its references to jobs changed by the crisis reflect Spain’s economic situation in 2012.
Let’s think of two positive things: on the one hand, the perfect job doesn’t exist, the ideal job of our dreams; and on the other, every job pays a decent wage that gives us a certain quality of life and covers our usual expenses. However, in some cases the crisis has changed our jobs and, in others, we’re forced to work in professions we don’t like but that keep our personal finances afloat.
The days of the ideal job are long gone. Now we face an excessive number of working hours, a third of every day, devoted to professional effort that in many cases we don’t find satisfying and that makes our lives miserable.
But… what can we do?
Adapt, first of all. Wait for better times, look for the positive sides of the job we’ve found and, above all, remember that this work allows us a more or less satisfying personal life that covers our personal and professional needs.
That is the best possible outcome, but there are other ways to make our working life easier, depending on whether our problems with work stem from:
- An unpleasant physical workplace
- Noise in our work environment
- Poor rapport with our colleagues
- A boss who is a weak team leader
- A commute that eats up much of our free time
- A tedious or boring job that doesn’t match our talent
- A colleague we don’t get along with
How do we deal with these situations?
Some have more of a solution than others. In many cases, our workplace is our personal space, and it can be adapted to our personal tastes. A family photo as our computer’s desktop background, the pen pot our children gave us or the letter opener you got for your last birthday can turn a cold workplace into something more personal and more our own.
Noise at work is a very contentious issue. First, let’s make sure the noise isn’t part of the company’s own productive activity, because then there’s little we can do. If the noise comes from the personal activities of the rest of the team, we should first turn to the company’s own workplace rules and, second, negotiate with our colleagues. It’s usually background music, in which case we should agree on different music for each day of the week, so that everyone is comfortable and happy with what we listen to while we work. With negotiation and tolerance, noise becomes less and less of an excuse for seeing our working life in a negative light.
Teamwork, by definition, is everyone working together to achieve a positive goal for the company. Working with people can bring side problems: colleagues who meddle in everyone else’s lives and ways, people who talk more than they work, and know-it-alls who try to undermine or spoil good relations among colleagues. The best solution is to think and act knowing that work isn’t there for socialising but for producing, for the company’s benefit. We’re there to work, not to chat.
I remember a colleague from Madrid saying that it took her about an hour and a half to get to work, using several forms of public transport. Next to that, any complaint about the distance to work is hardly justified. Another good approach is to use your commute for one of your hobbies, such as listening to music or reading books.
We’ve already written about good and bad reasons for being a leader. If we say we have a bad job because we can’t stand our boss, all that’s left is to answer the question: do we have a better option? But let’s not settle. Whenever we have concerns about our team leader, let’s try to improve our relationship with our colleagues and arm ourselves with arguments to defend our ideas for improvement in our daily work, showing how useful those rejected ideas are, to prove they can be adapted and improved.
Use written communication with the colleagues you don’t get on with and don’t feel comfortable around. This lets you keep a working relationship with difficult people while avoiding unpleasant face-to-face encounters with them. But don’t forget: work isn’t to blame for personal discomfort.
Make your job, which takes up at least a third of your day, a happy time. When faced with the discomforts of work, look for the positive side and remember that you’re going to devote many years to this occupation, and it should be one of the positive parts of your life, because otherwise the consequences can be incalculable. Get involved in your work to make it as attractive and interesting as possible.
Featured image: Larsinio at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
