What do we do when we our job no longer fits?

You don’t really know why and you don’t think you want to go for the obvious next step of a promotion, or that step isn’t available right now, so everything feels just a bit…. stuck.

It is normal to have periods of work life when nothing seems to be working, or that you feel that you should be doing more but you don’t really know what.

But if you have been feeling stuck for a while in a cycle of never ending spreadsheets / meetings / conversations that don’t light you up, how do you manage to break that cycle and get back to a career and job you enjoy?

It’s really important to understand whether you are feeling that you should be at a certain stage or point in your career rather than you actually wanting it. Sometimes peers are seemingly ahead of us and that can invoke a feeling of being left behind, or we feel that we have done a certain number of months / years in a job and therefore we should be further on or doing something different. Sometimes, these feelings are bringing up something more in a job that is highlighting a need for change, whether that is radical or small.

Firstly think about why you might be feeling stuck, has something triggered this feeling? Someone else’s promotion? How long you have been in the job? An exciting new opportunity that you don’t feel yet ready for? This can flush out a fundamental point on where your next steps should be.

Next, have a look at your day to day job. Is it varied enough for you? Have a look at all the tasks you are doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. It could be that you need more variety in what you are doing or that you are indeed ready for the next step up in your career. How does travel / different environments look to you? Do you want to do it or are you happy in the same home / office space that you have? Is there something you really want to do but you can’t see how you get there? Break it down into small steps and see if there are opportunities you can take within your current role that may give you some variety.

If you are feeling stuck, here are 5 key things to think about to get moving again:

1) Talk to your manager. They will have a different perspective on the team, division and you. They will appreciate you being open about how you are feeling and be willing to help. Go in with some ideas on how you think things could look and what opportunities you see as being beneficial to you.

2) Map out your current role and your day to day work. Are there themes that are coming out that may be making you feel this way? Focus on those and see if there is a way your role can develop so there is more of the work that you enjoy

3) This may not be the right time for a move and understanding the drivers for your feelings may bring up something else. Take your time, really dig in and try to understand what it actually is that is not motivating you.

4) Talk to people outside of your immediate environment. There will be people who will be happy to mentor you through your next steps and it is great to have network contacts within your industry.

5) Write your ideal job description. Does this job exist in your current environment? Can you take parts of that ideal job and start finding ways to do those things? As you start building the skill set for the ideal role, it could be that it’ll take you in a different direction altogether. Now is a good time to take stock and check in on what your ideal job might look like and how you can move towards it.

I feel stuck in my current role and I am not sure what’s next for me, what shall I do?

I really want to do something else with my working life- but I am scared to make a jump