10 Things You Say That Prove You’re Unhappy At Your Job
It's not weird that I fantasize about my office building burning down so that work gets canceled.
By 
Kim Quindlen
We’re all adults now. Sort of. That means we have bills. We have to find a way to pay for apartments and utilities and therapists (read: wine). So we have jobs. Some of us love our jobs. Most of us don’t. We’re in situations that require us to give up a certain number of hours of our free time every week. Of course we’re going to have days where we don’t want to go to work. But there’s a difference between disliking your job sometimes, and hating your job with a fiery, burning passion. Here are 10 things you would not say if you were actually happy with your job.
1. I’m supposed to be miserable for 9 hours a day.
Having a job is a responsibility. So of course it’s not going to be fun all the time. Of course it’s going to occasionally feel like a strain on your life. There’s a reason we get paid to go to work – because it’s work. But that doesn’t mean that the entire experience should be horrible. You should feel challenged and tired and a little bit stressed, but you shouldn’t feel like you are crumbling into a million pieces, spending over a third of your day at a place that you hate.
2. It’s natural that I want to cry when my alarm goes off every morning.
Waking up is always going to suck, whether you have your dream career or the worst job in the world. It’s never pleasant to hear your alarm go off when you’ve finally drifted off into a peaceful sleep. But that doesn’t mean you should feel completely distressed when you wake up and think about the day ahead. You should feel antsy and anxious to start the day, and maybe even a little bit apprehensive if you have a big meeting or project coming up. But if every morning starts off with you wanting to burst into tears at the thought of spending another day at your job, you’ve got a serious problem.
3. Everybody feels completely anxious and depressed on Sunday nights right around 8 pm.
Yeah, Sunday nights suck for most of us. We just spent the weekend sleeping and eating and shopping and brunching and reading and being complete wastes of life. And now we have to prepare to wake up early on Monday morning and pretend to be responsible adults for another 5 days. None of us enjoy that feeling. But it’s one thing to be bummed that the weekend is over, and it’s another to feel a severe wave of anxiety or depression.
4. I’m thrilled when 5 o’clock on Friday comes. But by Saturday around 3 pm, I’m already dreading Monday morning again.
It’s not healthy to be happy for barely one day out of the week. If you’re already having serious feelings of dread come over you before your weekend is even halfway through, there’s a problem. Every job should make you feel a little bit of stress and pressure. That’s normal. But no job should have you thinking about it 24/7, unable to focus on anything or enjoy your life because you’re spending all of your time worrying about returning to it after a couple of days off.
5. It’s not weird that I fantasize about my office building burning down so that work gets canceled.
If you daydream on more than one occasion about strange disasters occurring specifically in your office building, you might want to consider applying for a new job. We’ve all wished for snowstorms or power outages, but waking up every morning hoping something will happen to prevent your office from being open that day is a pretty big clue that it’s time to get out of there.
6. The fact that I’m jealous of my dog for getting to stay home every day is a totally normal thing.
Feeling envious of an animal that drinks water out of the toilet is a game changer. It should probably be your biggest motivating factor in deciding to leave your job and try something different. Yes, it’s scary to make such a big life change. But if you’re spending your days wishing you were – not just someone else, but something else – it’s time to say Bye, Felicia to your current job.
7. Once I retire I’ll be happy. Only 40 more years.
No.
8. I’m dead inside.
Yes, we all like to say things like this to be funny and dramatic. But it’s a different story if you kind of, sort of, definitely actually mean it at the same time. Pay attention to the way you start describing your job, to other people and to yourself. If words like “dreadful” and “soul-sucking” start to pop-up, you know what to do.
9. Sometimes I fantasize about getting temporarily injured so that I can miss some work.
Breaking your leg is not fun. Being sick for an extended period of time is not fun. If these things are starting to sound appealing to you just because they will briefly free you from the prison that is your place of employment, get out while you still can. Before you’re there so long that you’re too scared to go anywhere else.
10. I’ll figure out my life dream tomorrow. Or some other time.
Tomorrow is too long to wait. You have to start going after your actual dream this very second. That doesn’t mean you have to walk up to your boss, quit your job, and figure out your next step within 24 hours. It just means you have to start working on your mindset. Tell yourself that enough is enough. You’re done. You’re going to start taking steps, no matter how small, to change what you’re doing and where you’re spending 9-10 hours of your day. You’re going to stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s time to start actually living. 
