How To Enjoy Your Job...
    Or Find A New One!

I recently went to Bali on a wonderful weeks holiday and came back feeling recharged and enthusiastic about work, and life in general. I had no email, no internet, no mobile phone, no social networking for 8 days. It was wonderful!

There is a a campaign in Australia right now to encourage people to take their leave: No Leave, No Life. It informs employers why they need to encourage people to have a holiday, and also helps employees see the benefits.

Australian employees have built up a staggering 123 million days and $33.3 billion in accrued annual leave, with 1 in 4 Australian full-time employees accruing 25+ days leave. When did you last have a good holiday?

Benefits of taking a holiday:

• A Happier You. You, your family and your work colleagues will appreciate the rest you will get. You will be happier and more enthusiastic at work if you have had a break.
• Get some perspective. 40% of people don’t take holidays because of the amount of work they may need to do, but the workplace will carry on without you. It is easy to think those tasks you do are critical, but the world does not stop because you are on holiday. Yes, you may have a big To Do list the first few days back, but your productivity also improves with a break so you can deal with it faster. Life is also short, and you need to enjoy yourself when you can.
• Get well and healthy. Stay in bed for an extra few hours and catch up on sleep. While swine flu hits the world, it is important to be rested and well and having a break can really help.

If your employer has a problem with you taking some leave, check out these tools for employers.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons Davide Schiano

A friend of mine is desperately unhappy in her job at the moment. I feel for her because I have been there too. You don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, you eat too much because you need some reward, you moan a lot and your relationships suffer. You are deeply miserable. Even in a bad economy, life is too short to be this miserable.

There is a simple solution. Resign from your job. It is not difficult. The barriers are in your mind.

So, how do you resign from a job?

1. Make a decision. This is the hard part because you will have many reasons NOT to resign. The pay is good, it’s not that bad, my friends are there, what if I can’t get another job…. and many more. But you WILL find other work, and you will be happy again. This job is not good for you if you are that miserable, so make that decision for your physical and mental health.
2. Tell your Manager/Boss. You will usually have to say something in person to someone. This can be hard, but I find the best approach is to be humble, apologetic and stay on good terms. “It’s me, not you”, kind of like splitting up with a date. It is an increasingly small world so don’t burn your bridges and storm out.
3. Write a resignation letter. The resignation letter does not have to be much at all, but it is legally required. This can be an email, or a physical letter. I would generally present it to my Manager when speaking to them as above. It needs to be dated to mark the day of resignation and you might want to include the date you expect to be leaving, or want to leave e.g. if you are on 2 weeks notice, note your last day. The company may choose to let you go earlier, or ask you to stay longer, but your contractual terms still stand. I usually include a Thank You of some kind, to keep things on a friendly note. You need to say you are giving in your resignation/resigning, and then you sign it. Typically, this will take 2-3 lines!

You will feel remarkable after resigning – the world will be lighter, you will smile and walk taller. You will have struggles ahead, we all do. But don’t let fear of resignation trap you in a miserable job. Life is too short!

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