Dread Going to Work: How to Deal With The Feeling

Is there a way of overcoming the dread of going to work feeling everyday? I am not sure if I have the absolute solution, but these are some of the strategies I have personally tried in my years of experience.

1. Dominant Thoughts
To start with, do not let the “dread going to work” syndrome become your dominant thought. Yes, I know it is easier said than done. But you have to start somewhere and that somewhere is your thought. Whether you call it “law of attraction” or any other term to describe it. The more you think about dreading your work, the deeper it will dwell into your thought. Stop thinking about it. Take that thought out and focus your thought on something else.

2. Source of Your Dread
What is the source of your "dread going to work" feeling? Start by doing something about it. Find out the source of your dread, or you will not be able to tackle it. Do not complain if you do not know what you are complaining about. Why do you dread going to work? Is it because of your colleagues, your boss, your routine work, your pay, the traffic? Write them down and see if you can tackle them. I am sure resignation has crossed your mind. But before you do that, let’s see if there is a way of solving it. We cannot expect life to be perfect and work to be perfect for that matter.

3. Seek Not Perfection
Life is not perfect. Why should work be? Accept that things being imperfect are how things work. If you expect perfect colleagues, perfect bosses, perfect resources, perfect processes then you are in for a shock. There can never be a perfect system, perfect factory, and perfect office wherever you work. Because, trust me, no matter how high your pay is it can always be higher, no matter how good your colleagues are, they can always be better, no matter how understanding your boss is, he can always be better. Seek not perfection if you do not want to dread going to work. Seek adaptation, adaptation from yourself. What can you do to make the work environment better?

4. Work As A Pedagogue
Ever think that the process of work can also teach us something about life? Think of work as a pedagogue. It teaches us that we do not always have things our way and life can sometimes mean having to do things we do not like, or even enjoy. But it is only temporary and we have a choice of doing something about it. Use this experience of dreading to go to work as your teacher. What does it teach you? Ask and answer, and you will immediately see this experience of dread going to work in a different light.

There is something you can do about the feeling of "dread going to work". Do not fear it. Sit down calmly and have an action plan to tackle it. When you start working on a plan to diffuse it, you will feel better already even if the plan to stop the feeling of “dread going to work” does not work.


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