We may live in the age of startups, micro-businesses and people who work for no one but themselves, but there is still a huge number of people who make a living at one of those enormous corporations that employ thousands and where things can get a bit faceless.
This is not aimed at knocking big companies. There are big companies that are extremely good to their employees and where people love to work. Also, there are people who like working for a stable organization, where they know what happens when and what kind of consequences their actions will have.
This article, however, is not for them. This article is for people who are feeling like Tom Hanks at the beginning of the movie with the best title in the history of cinematography – Joe Versus the Volcano. In other words, this article is for people who are not too happy working for a gigantic corporation.
Talk to Someone
The worst thing you can do when things get hard is keeping it bottled inside. The days of the stoic workers who takes everything they throw at them are long gone, as people have become aware of the negative effects this can have on a person’s long-term mental health.
Before anything else, you should talk to someone in the company. When you work for a large corporation, the good thing is that it will also have professionals whose job it is to help the employees. Despite what anyone says or what the movies will have you believe, these people will be very helpful. Chances are they have already had cases like yours and there might just be a solution to your problem. Modern companies employ intranet solutions, so getting in touch with the right people and getting access to the right reading material will never be too difficult.
Of course, you can also talk to your friends and family. Everyone has problems at work and opening up to your loved ones will actually unearth similar problems in the people you opened up to. Sometimes all a person needs is finding out that someone else has it worse. It may sound callous, but it is true. Anyway, you will at least find a sympathetic ear this way.
Stop Focusing on Work
If you are letting your job destroy your life, you are not doing enough other things. Working too much has become a rule in modern society, especially in some parts of the world and people tend to forget that there is more to life than the next spreadsheet or report.
It may be difficult to do, but try to compartmentalize your life in a way that your job does not even register in your brain once you are out of the office. No more work. It is the time to spend with your family, with your friends, or alone.
Do not ignore the virtue of being alone, either. Spending some time with yourself can be very centering and relaxing. We sometimes forget who we are and we turn into these work versions of ourselves which tend to be unhappy (very unhappy if you are reading this article).
Forget about your job at least a few times a week. You will feel great.
Think of Alternatives
Every now and then, there will come a time when you will feel like there is nothing worse than your job and that doing anything else would be better than having to deal with the tasks you were assigned.
Literally. You will have a feeling that you would be better off a mile below the ground, working 12-hour shifts in a mine of some kind.
When times like this come around, it is important to be objective and to really put things into perspective. Things are probably not that bad. You are getting a check. You probably have some health benefits. You have access to electricity and antibiotics.
Things are really not that bad.
For example, you might work for a startup. If you think working for a “heartless” corporation is bad, try putting in 18-hour shifts in a startup that ends up belly up because someone forgot to actually check whether people would wish to pay $15 a month for the 8287465th version of Instagram.
Things are really not that bad.
Really.