The dangers of hating your job

We’ve all been told to “do what we love”, but what happens when what we actually love is different to what we thought initially?

It can be difficult to come to terms with the realisation you actually don’t like your chosen career. Or perhaps you do like your career path, but you’ve found yourself in the wrong role or working for a less-than-desirable boss or company, but you can’t afford to leave.

Whatever the reason may be, it’s time to start thinking about your next move if you really hate the job you’re in. For your health, your family and your mental state, read the following dangers of harbouring so much on-the-job hatred.

You will have less sex if you hate your job

I thought this might get your attention. Apparently, hating your job and being stressed out about doing work you dislike is causing many of us to take it out on our relationships. This has immediate effect on our lives, as many studies have shown a healthy sex life and fulfilling relationship can cause men to live six years longer, and women to live two and a half years longer.

Here’s another good reason to stop working in a job you hate: Employees who have more sex earn higher wages. Nice.

You will probably put on weight

As if you need anything else to worry about. According to a recent JobsCentral survey, people working in HR are the fourth most likely employees to put on weight at work. Overall, people in Singapore have put on an average of 3kg per year of work.

Hating your job – or being unhappy in general – means you generally have less energy or desire to do things that are good for you, like exercise or choose a healthy meal. Instead, you’ll probably want to tuck into some char kway teow or ice cream when you get home, and mope about work.

Being a miserable person will affect your friends and family

When someone is sad, it can be infectious over longer periods of time. If you’re miserable at work, chances are you’re reflecting your hatred of your job onto you husband, wife, children and other family members. Most of your thoughts will be negative, and you’ll probably be getting less sleep, meaning you’re going to be a more difficult person to deal with.

Hating your job is toxic for your colleagues

Similarly, your hatred of work can become toxic for your colleagues. You might think you’re keeping your true feelings under wraps, but those around you are better at picking up on your exasperated sighs and rolling eyes than you think – and it can make them feel the same way, even if they don’t hate their job.

Your hatred is stopping you from seeing the bigger picture

Hate is one of our most dangerous emotions. Negative emotions breed more negative emotions, and before you know it you’re expending all your energy thinking or bitching about how much you hate your job, rather than using it to figure out what would make you happy.

Hate wastes your time, energy and talent and every moment spent indulging in hatred is a moment lost in your overall pursuit of happiness.

Your mental health suffers

According to research from Australia, hating your job is as stressful on your mental health as being unemployed.

As the researchers put it: “Our analysis clearly established that there was no difference in the rates of common mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, between those who were unemployed and those who were in the poorest quality jobs.

“Both of these groups of individuals were more likely to experience a common mental disorder than those who were in high quality work.”

Hating your job can lead to hating yourself

In our wider culture, our work and what we do provides us with our personal identity – not just a pay check. So, when you begin to hate your job, you can also begin to question the entire identity which you have –consciously or subconsciously – built up around the career path you know.

Often, hatred of the job can lead to an individual feeling worthless in the long run. Don’t let it get that bad!

Image: Shutterstock