Deciding if it’s time to leave a job can be nerve-wracking, especially if the job is easy, non-intrusive, and has a REALLY BIG cushy paycheck. However, just because you don’t hate going into work doesn’t mean your current employment is right for you. If you have a career that’s about as rewarding as a foot fungus we’ve come up with the following guidelines to help you determine if you should stay or go.

1. You Work For a Jerk

Okay, this one seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people continue working for a boss they think is more evil than a pack of demons playing poker in hell. If you don’t get along with your boss, work is probably the worst part of your day. So you have to ask yourself, is the stress of working for someone who makes you want to barf every time he comes into your office really worth whatever they pay you to put up with this idiot?

Here’s how you figure that out. After work do you:

a) Down more Jack Daniels than a bride at a white trash wedding JUST to get this jerk off your mind?
b) Pop antacids like Skittles in order to settle your stomach?
c) Complain about your boss more than you brag about your kids?
d) Picture your boss skydiving without a parachute?

If you answer yes to any one of these questions, immediately brush up your resume and ask your friends if their companies are hiring.

2. You Don’t Make Enough Money

Let’s get real. You may have a great time working at The Game Stop, and Lord knows you never would’ve made it past level 8 in Call of Duty 4 without the help of the pimply-faced 15-year-old kid who stocks PS-3 games in the back, but you do have rent to pay and food to buy. If your paycheck doesn’t stretch between pay periods, then it’s time to dump your current employment and find something that will allow you to support yourself like the adult your parents always knew you’d be once they finally kicked you out of the house.

3. Your Company is Sinking Like a Rock…

…and you don’t want to be the last rat left on the ship. With the economy in the dumper many businesses, large and small, are blacking out faster than a celebutante on a pub crawl. I know you may feel obliged to hang on until the very end (after all, this company did hire you right out of college, despite your dismal 2.7 GPA) but honestly, when it comes to survival you have to put yourself above your employer. If you know the end is inevitable, get out now. You don’t want to be competing for jobs with the rest of your co-workers. Better to be the one hiring them at your new company instead.

4. You Don’t Agree With the Corporate Culture

If you’re environmentally minded and you work for a radioactive waste disposal company, you’re going to have trouble sleeping at night. It might sound overly sentimental, but your conscience is a consideration when determining where to work. What good is a paycheck if you can’t live with yourself?

5. You’re Not Having Any Fun

Not that work has to be a laugh a minute, but if you dread getting up everyday and dragging your sorry behind into the office, then you need to move on. Even if you love your boss and co-workers, and the job itself is easy (but unfulfilling), your happiness is a deal breaker. You can only go so long being unhappy before you somehow snap. Either find a way to be happy at your existing company or just bite the bullet and find new work.

Of course, all this advice assumes that you don’t have family obligations that prevent you from just up and quitting. But even if you’re a breadwinner who finally realizes you can’t do your job forever, you can at least look for a new job without quitting the old one. Or you can go back to school and learn a new trade. Either way the first step is to determine if you need a change. And if you do, don’t be afraid to make the move to move on.

For women in the city their appearance is everything reported researchers. Their happiness is highly dependent on their physical appearance and how others see them. But in the country looks aren’t important because they realize that there are more important things that influence their happiness.

In the city women that are “the most attractive got a lot of bang for their appearance buck. And if you were even slightly below average, you were very clearly worse off” says Victoria Plaut an assistant professor of psychology at University of California, Berkeley. There was a tie between money, beauty, and happiness in the city but for women in rural areas there wasn’t a strong link between good looks and happiness. And there was even a trend for slightly heavier women to be even happier in the country.

Plaut and her colleagues interviewed 257 women in the city and 330 from the country to get these results. The women were asked to rate their happiness in life on a scale of one to 10 with one being the lowest and 10 highest. Then they asked for the women’s body measurements. And they found that the smaller the measurements the more attractive the women felt and seemed to be to others, which boosted their happiness level.

In the country there isn’t as much emphasis or pressure to be beautiful like there is in the city. In the country women tend to be more secure with themselves and don’t worry about their looks. They are more concerned about being loyal and true to themselves. Whereas women in the city can’t even step out of their apartment without being dressed up; but in the country anyone can go to the store in their overalls and boots covered in mud and no one would care.

There isn’t a pressure to fit in because they’re already friends and accepted by most people in town. There’s a support system in the country because everyone knows each other and in the city the system is lacking because no one knows each other. So there is more of a pressure to fit in.

For women in the country beauty isn’t everything; it’s more about what’s inside. On the other hand women in the city are much more obsessed about being beautiful because that is what sets them apart from others and gets them attention. Money doesn’t mean happiness for women in the city but looks do.
 

1. Try to be optimistic. Optimism means having a positive outlook in even the worst situations. And despite what others may say, optimism can be learned. With regards to your job, optimism means deciding that you will at least try to enjoy your job. When in doubt, fake it. Sometimes faking optimism actually helps you develop optimism.

2. Change your attitude. Many people who are dissatisfied with work tend to have a 9-to-5 relationship with their job. They punch their cards and then go home. One way to combat this mentality is to see yourself as part of the company. Think about it: even though you don’t own the company, it is still yours. With this in mind, it’s easier to develop a sense of pride and fulfillment in the work you do.

3. Be grateful for your job. Before you slam your phone in the wall, remember that your job provides for your necessities. Take a few moments and itemize all the benefits you receive through having a job — any job — and try to feel grateful. Try to remember that there are worse jobs; if that’s a stretch, then think about having no job at all.

4. Avoid self-criticism. Most people are too sensitive, especially when it comes to their own mistakes. Rather than cutting yourself down, think about how you can make improvements. Avoid negative criticism and applaud yourself for successes, even little ones. Remember that most of your daily successes involve tasks and responsibilities that no one notices but you. So give yourself a break.

5. Forgive your co-workers. Forgiveness is hard under any circumstance and especially with people you see everyday. Still, when you’ve been wronged or offended, try to forgive even if the guilty party doesn’t ask for it. Remember that holding a grudge tends to affect you, not them. Offensive people rarely notice those to whom they give offense — that’s what makes them offensive. Just let it go.

6. Stand up for yourself. It’s hard to be happy when you’re being harassed or bullied. Too often people keep quiet or simply quit rather than confronting the problem. Don’t let that happen to you. Don’t tolerate bullying or harassing in any form. Stand up for yourself. By doing so, you will not only stop the harassment but also gain a greater sense of self-confidence.

7. Don’t gossip. Gossip destroys confidences, friendships, and unity. It creates hostility, criticism, and pessimism and can undermine a productive workplace. There is no upside to gossip. So, when invited to participate in gossiping of any form, just remember this: what goes around, comes around. Thus, if you don’t want co-workers gossiping about you, don’t tolerate them gossiping about other people.

8. Be friendly. It’s a simple fact that work is more enjoyable when you like your co-workers. This doesn’t mean every co-worker has to become a “bosom buddy” — after all, “being friendly” isn’t the same thing as “being friends.” Still, you will create more enjoyable working atmosphere by being amicable with your co-workers. Show an appropriate interest and be friendly, albeit professional.

9. Expect change and prepare for it. Workers today face more changes than ever, whether adjustments to policies and procedures, expanding technology, or rapidly growing and equally rapid down-sizing. When change happens, try not to be intimidated by new technologies or responsibilities. You’ll manage. Besides, the great thing about change is that it’s fleeting. So even if it’s a bad change, it’ll be over soon.

10. Quit. Yep, that’s right. If you have tried all these tips and nothing has changed, then it’s time for drastic measures. Quit. Resign. Take a leave. If your job simply isn’t making you happy, then find one that will. There’s plenty of jobs out there. Everyone needs a fresh start or a change of scenery once in a while.

Remember that happiness in the workplace takes action. You can’t be happy by simply sitting around wishing for it. Contentment and satisfaction take work — sometimes daily work — in order to obtain and maintain. But with these strategies, and a little conscious effort, you too can find happiness in the workplace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kari Whitaker is a technical as well as creative writer. In addition to articles on education and careers, she also enjoys writing short stories, essays, and poetry.