Speaker 1: Welcome to before breakfast, a production of I heart radio.
Speaker 1: Good morning, this is Laura. Welcome to the before breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to figure out exactly what makes you miserable.
Speaker 1: Sometimes a job might be salvageable if you solve the
Speaker 1: right problems. Today's tip comes from Shanna Leibowitz Gainer's new book,
Speaker 1: don't call it quits. Turn the job you have into
Speaker 1: the job you love. Shanna points out that in many cases,
Speaker 1: when people quit their jobs to take new ones, they
Speaker 1: wind up with the exact same problems. That's because no
Speaker 1: job is perfect and many jobs can be improved if
Speaker 1: you take the initiative. Sometimes the right move is to quit,
Speaker 1: but sometimes it isn't, and you want to make sure
Speaker 1: you've addressed to anything changeable before you uproot your whole life.
Speaker 1: So she suggests if you are feeling miserable, list what
Speaker 1: are your least favorite parts of Your Work Day? Answering
Speaker 1: this question is important, she writes, because, well, it's likely
Speaker 1: that you spend a lot of time thinking about how
Speaker 1: terrible your job is. It's possible that you don't know
Speaker 1: exactly what's making you miserable. So be specific about the
Speaker 1: tasks and interactions that drain you or feel creatively stifling.
Speaker 1: Shana goes on to note that you shouldn't discount small stuff.
Speaker 1: Some of the most enlightening research I've covered, she says,
Speaker 1: shows how much people underestimate the pain of commuting. Or
Speaker 1: maybe it's something else, an overflowing inbox, sitting too close
Speaker 1: to the trash can or being in a really bad
Speaker 1: desk chair. Maybe you work somewhere where they pipe in
Speaker 1: terrible music, where there are televisions constantly on so you
Speaker 1: can't think. You might also note exactly how these least
Speaker 1: favorite aspects of your job make you feel board frustrated angry.
Speaker 1: If there are particular tasks that are making you miserable,
Speaker 1: try asking yourself this question. Why do you think your
Speaker 1: managers have you performed these tasks? It's probably not just
Speaker 1: because you hate them. Is a task advancing a core
Speaker 1: organizational goal? If so, you can remind yourself of this
Speaker 1: and it might make the work feel more meaningful, if
Speaker 1: not necessarily better. But if not, maybe you can ask
Speaker 1: if you could stop doing it or if you could
Speaker 1: do it differently. If you talked with your manager about it,
Speaker 1: what do you think he or she would say? Could
Speaker 1: you make a good argument. In any case, sometimes the
Speaker 1: most miss herrible moments of our day have solutions that
Speaker 1: don't involve quitting. There are better desk chairs out there.
Speaker 1: Maybe nobody likes having those televisions on and you can
Speaker 1: all lobby to turn them off. Maybe the trash can
Speaker 1: could go somewhere else, or maybe you could work from
Speaker 1: home an extra day per week and make the commute
Speaker 1: too fewer times. Again, sometimes the right answer is to
Speaker 1: quit a job. Sometimes places are unreasonable, even about little things.
Speaker 1: If they won't move the trash can away from everyone's desks,
Speaker 1: maybe you do want to move, but it's worth exploring
Speaker 1: other options too, and by identifying which moments and tasks
Speaker 1: make you miserable, you might be able to start solving
Speaker 1: some of these issues, which will definitely improve daily life
Speaker 1: in the meantime. This is Laura. Thank for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on twitter, facebook and Instagram at before breakfast pod,
Speaker 1: that's b the number four, then breakfast P O d.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at before breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at I heart media DOT com. That before breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch before breakfast. Is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart radio. For more podcasts from
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