You know you should feel grateful for your job, so why are this year’s back-to-work blues worse than usual? And how do you get amped about your job in a climate of uncertainty? 1News asks some experts.
Let’s face it, professionally speaking, last year was a bruiser. Not only did we endure massive job losses across a variety of sectors, but we had a nice little cost-of-living crisis to make the prospect of unemployment all the more unpleasant.
So it follows that those of us who managed to keep our jobs (or even harder: find new ones) are bouncing back to work brimming with gratitude, right?
Not necessarily. Two major factors can put the kibosh on that. The first is that, when it comes to redundancy, the coast is far from clear. Secondly, even those in secure positions may have witnessed tense times at work last year, leaving them feeling disillusioned, burned out and flat.
But it’s only January – the month of promise! How do you restore your work ethic and get excited about your job again – despite the employment climate? We talked to a couple of experts in the work psychology field and drew up some tips.
1. Allow yourself a transition week
There you were, just last week, basking in the sunshine, gorging on stone fruit and trashy novels. Now you’re expected to spend eight straight hours in an air-conditioned cubicle wrangling over spreadsheets with a colleague whose favourite word is “pivot”. And it’s only 11am – why do you keep yawning?
This is a feeling that applies to every January (not just this one) so give yourself a break. “Forgive yourself if your output is less than usual, says Jess Stuart, a Waiheke-based career coach and author of several books including: Burnout to Brilliance and I Love Mondays. “Asking yourself to go from zero to 100 is unrealistic. And try to keep alive an activity you were doing in the summer. You can’t go to the beach all day any more but you can go at 6pm, so do that – celebrate the longer nights.”
2. Remind yourself why you’re there
Of course you’re probably there because you have a mortgage/rent/bills to pay and you hardly need reminding of that. But it also pays to remember what it was that drew you to this line of work in the first place, says Stuart. “It’s about getting back in touch with your why.”
Stuart recommends a simple exercise. “I ask people to write down what a best day at work looks like, and what a worst day looks like,” she says.
The exercise is a quick way to define exactly what you love about your work (or used to) and what (or whom) in particular is bothering you now. At best it can provide a clear map of which elements of your job to enhance and move towards, and which ones you either need to address head-on or minimise.
And if you discover that your current job doesn’t hold any particular meaning for you, remind yourself of the important ways you’re spending your income, she advises. That might be creating a home for your family, or saving to move overseas. Maybe this job is just a means to an end, which brings us to our next tip.
3. Update your CV and save your dollars
One of the greatest challenges of an insecure work environment is the sense of being out of control – something no human ever relished. Even if you love your job and feel confident that you excel at it, it still pays to be in a position where redundancy wouldn’t be a disaster – and that means money in the bank (ideally enough to cover your basic living expenses for three months) and an up-to-date CV that would enable you to grab opportunities quickly, should you need to.
Taking these steps will make you less anxious about losing your job which, ironically, will make you a more relaxed and effective employee.
4. Stay true to your values
Another thing you can control in a stressed, unpredictable environment is your own behaviour.
Dougal Sutherland, a clinical psychologist at Umbrella Wellbeing, asks a simple question: “How would you like your co-workers to describe you in the future? Concentrate on being those things. Tell yoursef, ‘I can choose how I respond in this situation. I can control my behaviour and come out the other side with self respect. Your values are your compass to help you through this tricky time.”
5. Think collectively
The sense that the pool of positions in your workplace is shrinking can create a scarcity mindset, plainly put as dog-eat-dog and it’s not a good outcome for anyone, says Sutherland. By all means, do your absolute best every day, but make sure you continue to help others to do the same, he says.
“There’s a danger in these situations of people trying to show themself to be more valuable than their workmates. That can get into quite a negative spiral.”
A “community mindset” is more energising than a competitive one, he says.
Stuart suggests you focus both on valuing your own unique strengths and on appreciating the completely different ones others bring. So, while one person might have demon focus and sky-high output, another might be good at cultivating an inclusive, productive environment. “You’ll never have all the answers,” she says. “We tend as humans to want people to be like us but it helps to appreciate the differences in others.”
6. Get a life outside of work
We all know this but sometimes we need to be reminded: It’s just work. Both of our experts stressed the importance of not putting all your eggs in the career basket. Cultivate friendships, join clubs, plant a garden, bake a pie, learn a reo. Anything that helps you forget about your job for a few hours and that provides an alternative source of feelings like connection, excitement, goals, pleasure and achievement. “It’s important that work’s not on your mind all the time,” says Stuart.
7. Audit your energy
Within reason, don’t work more hours than you’re paid for. Take your lunch breaks. Stay home if you’re sick. Take your annual leave. Take mini breaks to stretch and hydrate throughout the day. And if Christmas 2025 feels a generation away, we have one last tip.
8. Book a holiday
Give yourself something on the (near) horizon to look forward to, advises Stuart. It might be a mid-year holiday. It might even be an Easter holiday. Heck, maybe you want to roll Waitangi Day into a long weekend. We hear it falls on a Thursday this year. Just saying.