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Sep 16 2011

Pretty Nina

Is Your Job Killing You?

I was doing my usual random wandering around the interweb when I found this list:

10 most depressing jobs

1. Personal Care and Service 10.8%
2. Food Preparation and Serving Related 10.3%
3. Community and Social Services 9.6%
4. Healthcare Practitioners and Technical 9.6%
5. Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 9.1%
6. Education, Training, and Library 8.7%
7. Office and Administrative Support 8.1%
8. Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance 7.3%
9. Financial 6.7%
10. Sales and Related 6.7%

Interesting huh? In case you’re wondering, my job is part of the number one most depressing industry. I am a childcare worker.

It got me thinking, how much does your job actually affect your life and wellbeing? According to this article , a lot. The article has a study on jobs and stress that show how working in a job with high demands and low control —often found in lower-ranking, lower-paying jobs—is associated with an earlier death, and also with cardiovascular disease, mental health problems, sleep issues, and among other maladies. people who work in jobs with low demands are also at risk if they have low control over their work. “If you spend your working life in a job that’s basically boring, you’re at risk of dying sooner,” was a quote from a psychologist referenced in the article.

So control is the issue? Well unless you’re one of the lucky few working for themselves or for a boss who encourages an autonomous work environment you’re screwed. Chronic stress weakens the immune system and makes it more difficult for us to fight off any bugs going around. A quote from ezine articles says “Stress has been listed as a contributing factor to every kind of illness imaginable, from the relatively benign complaints like the common cold or an occasional bout of insomnia to the deadly illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Over $400 billion dollars a year is spent on stress related diseases.”

Stress, ew. So let’s imagine, you’re super stressed. You wake up every morning with that familiar feeling of dread, the dread of another work day stretching out before you. You come home every evening feeling tired and grumpy and snap at everyone. When is it time to quit? Let’s find out.

1. You’ve burned too many bridges

Maybe you’ve pissed off your boss to the point that your relationship is unrepairable. Maybe you’ve got caught up in office politics and work is now filled with drama. Maybe you’ve earned yourself a bad reputation due to too many days off, or slacking on your work. Either way, you’ll probably find it easier in the long run to just cut your losses and move on.

2. You’re compromising more than you feel you should.

Your work likes things done one way, and one way only. If your views differ to their’s it can be hard to make the compromise to their way of thinking. This is of course part of any job, however, if you are compromising constantly, especially on issues that you consider important, or that conflict with your values or morals, you’re not going to be happy. If you’re not happy, you’re not going to do a good job. Move on.

3. You’re just not happy.

If you’re spending all of your time complaining to your friends and family about your work, chances are it’s time to find something new. Maybe you’ve been there too long, maybe the job just isn’t right for you. I don’t think we should settle for any old job just for the cash, if you’re really not happy you won’t last anyway.

So if you do decide to quit how do you find out what the right job for you is? Well if you want to go the frivolous online route you could do an online quiz. I went to this website and took the career personality test, my results for my ideal career were:

Actor
Recruitment Consultant
Politician

Marketing Psychologist Religious Minister Teacher Social Worker Human Resources Manager Sales Lawyer Advertising

Well I would have to be a pretty good actor to pretend to be a religious minister. Take the quiz and let me know what you got! The test has spit out a number of “ideal” careers that seem pretty freaking random and not much help. I guess not surprisingly the internet quiz based route to finding your perfect career may not be the best.

I think that finding the right job for you may just be a matter of finding something that makes you happy, something that you can bear to do day after day, even if the rewards are more emotional than financial. Life is too short my friends to stay in a lame job.

I hope you find what you’re looking for, me? I think I’ll apply to be a reality television show critic, or maybe a lawyer that specializes in religious law that teaches on the side and does their own marketing and hiring in between charity work, that’ll look good when I run for prime minister.

About the Author

I enjoy writing about things that I feel passionate about, for the most part that is things I feel passionately annoyed by. That may change, read on, maybe I’ll find something I love to write about, in the mean time, please enjoy these articles on things I love to hate.

MY Pretty Nina

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