Work can be stressful, but shouldn’t it also be enjoyable?

We all have to work. It is inevitable. We need a job to continue to be responsible adults and contribute to society in a positive way. Having a job is also important due to the cost of living and having enough money to support yourself, as well as your family. Sure, we have all had that fantasy of winning the lottery and never having to work again, but the odds of that ever happening are pretty low. So, we continue on every weekday to our job and work as hard as we can to live comfortably and be able to afford the finer things in life.

One of the most important things about having a job is not only how much money you make, but how happy you are in your work environment. We all want the best of both worlds. Enjoying work and going home from work with a smile on our faces at the end of every workday. It is a fantasy most of us have when it comes to finding a career. No matter what we do in our lives we want to be happy, especially when it comes to something where we are spending the majority of our time at. We spend most of our days in our lives at work so finding some joy in it is important right?

Many people are happy at their jobs and love what they are doing. You may be one of the lucky few who wake up every weekday morning looking forward to going into your job and seeing the people you work with. We all hope that we go into work feeling like we are at our second home. Like visiting family or friends while furthering our professional lives. Unfortunately, there are many of us out there who dread going to work for many different reasons. We may hate the job we are doing, not enjoy the people we work with, be in a toxic work environment or even have a troublesome professional relationship with your superior. Any of these are possible with someone who isn’t enjoying the job they are in. If you are one of those people who are experiencing this you have to ask yourself, “How important is it for me to be happy here?”.

To some people, just having a job no matter how bad the situation is for them is worth it for them because they have a steady flow of income. To others, making sure they not only are making good money but also feeling good about going to work is very important. Surprisingly, many people out there suffer from mental health issues that could be easily triggered by the work environment it is in. While it is pretty easy to deal with these things for the average person, someone suffering from mental health issues may be hiding an internal struggle every time they go to work. The most common symptoms of mental health that can occur at work are:

• Social anxiety due to many people around you at once
• Depression is caused either by your workload or an event that happened at work
• The paranoia of being unsuccessful with the work you are doing
• Constantly feeling overwhelmed by work
• Distancing yourself from people so that your true feelings aren’t seen

These and many other things are what most people feel when not only dealing with mental health but just an average day at their job. Some situations could be more severe, such as a toxic back and forth between you, your boss, or even a fellow co-worker. Sometimes this is avoidable. No matter where you go there are going to be people who don’t like you, even if you are the most loveable person in the world. We all have people who don’t see us as our family or friends see us, usually because they are having their own internal struggle or possibly something more severe outside of work. This is going to happen sometimes, no matter what your job is. Usually, the best thing to do is ignore people like that or report them to a higher-up. You shouldn’t have to constantly deal with being mistreated at your job or really anywhere for that matter. Sure, ignoring it for a little bit could just have whoever is mistreating you to stop but if it continues after a few days, you may need to take the matter into your own hands and report that person.

There are going to be times when the person who is treating you badly is a higher-up manager or even a team leader. This person is someone whom you should be able to come to with any issues you are experiencing at work, but if they are the ones causing it you may not know where to go. In any work environment, there is going to be a chain of command, a line of people going to the top who control more than the person below them. Sometimes if your team leader is the issue, you will have to go to the manager, and sometimes if the manager is the issue you will have to go to the department manager. No matter what you shouldn’t feel trapped or feel that you don’t have a route to go if someone is treating you badly at work.

The world outside of work can be hard enough as it is. Constant wars, pandemics, and whatever political issue is in the news that week can cause enough stress as it is. You should have a work environment that is safe from all that and a place you can enjoy doing what you do in your career. If things get too hard your last resort may be to find a new job. It is a rare instance that this will happen, but it should always be your last and final option. So, remember, ask yourself how important being happy is to you at your work. Is the struggle worth it, or is taking some next steps the route you need to go? Either way, you must be the one who takes charge of the situation to feel that work is worth it each day you are there.