Do you live for the weekends? Do you hate Monday mornings? Are you majorly stuck in a rut or in a job you hate? You may not even hate your job but you just know that you are so much better than what you are doing right now and you want a bigger challenge.
In the past I used to live a double life – working a day job I hated and then coming home and being a “job applicant” after work and on weekends. I was totally stuck and didn’t know how to get out. I didn’t even know or care what jobs I applied to, all I knew is that I needed to get out! It took years for me to finally figure out that applying to jobs online didn’t work because I needed to understand myself better first. And as soon as I did that, that dream job just starting popping up left and right. Eventually, I didn’t even have to apply for jobs because those jobs would just come to me.
There are many mistakes that job searchers make when trying to get out of a career rut. Here are 7 things you can do today to get out of your career rut and one step closer to your ideal career:
1. Evaluate Your Current Situation
Make a list of things in your current job that you love and hate and take your time to find what it is you truly want in your next job. This is going to help you focus during your job search and make sure that you don’t just jump into another job that you absolutely hate! Think about everything that is involved in that job including your work environment, your co-workers, your boss, your commute, your hours, your co-workers and your clients. I mean everything.
2. Take a Day Off
The first thing you can do is to take a mental health day, which is a free day to think about what you are going to do. The secret is not to schedule anything that day and really think about what you want to do with your life. The reason why a weekday is better than a weekend day is most weekends you are busy and you have a ton of stuff to do. But, having a day off of work is a free day to read a motivational book and really have some down time, which you wouldn’t normally have had.
3. Make New Habits
Other things to do are to make some new habits in your life, such as starting to wake up earlier, creating a to-do list before you leave work for the next day, adding a 30 minute workout to your day or setting aside an hour of reading every day. Change one little habit and it can really change your life. Once you start making this habit, it gets easier to keep.
4. Learn a New Hobby
Also you could learn a new hobby. We often have a list of things that we would love to do or learn if we only had the time. Well make the time and change up your schedule. If you have always wanted to do something, sign up for a class and start now.
5. Meet New People
Talk to other people is a great way to get out of a rut is because it will help you learn more about yourself, what you want out of your life and the next steps to take. Most people are very open to offer you advice and you will probably be surprised at how many people actually want to help you.
6. Add Things You Enjoy To Your Job
Try to add little things to your plate that you enjoy and want to learn. These things you can eventually place on your resume and can help you get a new job.
7. Use Your Nights and Weekends
Use your nights and weekends to do what you love and to learn more about what you might want to get into. Instead of coming home and watching TV all night, use your time better to research your future career.
Just pick one of these things and get started today. The key is to make forward movement each day. If you follow these tips, you may be surprised that your new career is right around the corner!
