![]() "I did the hours reduction in quick stages – half a day, then a full day, now my hours are in the 20s and I want to reduce them further soon." – Kirsty ( Career Change Launch Pad participant) 3. "Locked in an office all week, being too tired in the evenings or weekends to do much else, meant that I wasn't even mixing with anyone who wasn't doing the same corporate grind, getting no exposure to fresh ideas. For example, I started to learn Spanish, and in the course there happened to be a bunch of women who were all entrepreneurs. "It also meant that outside of the 9–5 office role I could mix with people who worked differently. I have more space to pursue other things, and a feeling of already having one foot out of the door. It's increased my physical and psychological energy, for sure. "It's helped me gain perspective and to be less fearful, knowing I would survive if I left the job as I'm already OK with far less money. My story when I met people then became: 'I work a few days a week at a corporate job, however, what I'm trying to do is this other, more interesting thing'. "Mainly it helped me unravel a large part of my identity from the job. Maybe you're worried about the consequences.īut maybe you have more options than you think, especially if you start with a small reduction in hours. Many people are gloriously surprised by the freedom and support they can get if they just gather the courage to ask. This isn't an option for everyone, but it's well worth considering. So, although it might feel like a pipe dream, asking to reduce your hours can be an incredibly effective way of accessing more time and energy without compromising your security. One of the most important principles we teach at Careershifters is that new ideas and opportunities come from new experiences.Īnd when you're working full time, getting time and headspace to have those new experiences is a real stretch. "I didn't expect that from him it was very moving and reassuring, and it gave me the validation I needed to know that how I was feeling was OK." – Richard (founder of Careershifters) 2. And he said he was thinking about the same thing he completely understood how I felt. I decided to trust him and I confided in him about how I felt. He was about the same age as me, but further ahead on the career ladder in the company. "And then there was a team leader I worked with. "I had a group of of people around me, and we used to moan about work all the time. Who could you share how you're feeling with? What would allow you to be authentic, find some relief and start creating solutions, even in a small way? Maybe you can't be entirely open about how you're feeling, all the time, but you can probably share the load with someone at work: an understanding colleague or a supportive boss. It's what turns "I don't love my job" into "I cannot stand this life any longer". This inauthenticity is at the core of most people's frustration with their work. It's been an insidious creep of inauthenticity, and it's eating you from the inside out. And as the cracks have slowly grown, so has the amount of time you're pasting a smile over the top of disinterest and frustration. And that's not who you are.īut you started doing it in small ways a long time ago: papering over the cracks. Your whole day is a series of little lies. When your boss asks who'd like to take on that desperately boring project that you just know will be a train wreck before it's even started, you put your hand up, right? You say a cheery "Hello!" to your colleagues. And on top of all of that… you smile anyway, don't you? You have to push yourself to get anything done. You walk into the office and you feel heavy and tired before you've even sat down. You get up every day and force yourself into your commute. Your skills aren't being used properly.īut, underneath all of those explicit items on your list, there's something else going on, too.If I asked you what you hated about your work, I bet you'd be able to reel off a long list of things. ![]() Here are some strategies from real-life career changers on how they endured (and in some cases actually learned to enjoy) the jobs they weren't ready to leave. What do you do if you're not ready to make your shift, but the day-to-day grind is driving you up the wall? I hated where I was, but I couldn't leave. ![]() I was stuck, inert, in a torturous state of suspension. I planned and daydreamed endlessly of the moment when I'd put my things away at my desk and stand up from that chair for the very last time. Nights of lying awake, running circles in my head, desperately trying to think of a way out. There were commutes when I did an extra lap of the roundabout, just to delay my arrival at the office by ten more seconds.ĭays of clock watching, wondering how it was possible that only four minutes had passed since I last glanced up. There were mornings when I had to pep-talk myself into getting out of bed. ![]()
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