QUESTION 1
Do you always have a serious case of the Sunday blues?
Let’s face it, we spend a huge amount of our lives at work. And when your work life is having a negative impact on your non-work life, something needs to be done. Job stresses can have a major impact on our mental and general wellbeing. If anxiety starts to build up on Sundays, every Sunday, and you’re dreading your Monday morning, it’s time for a serious think about where your career is taking you.
QUESTION 2
Do you feel you’re reaching your potential?
We all have days where we feel we’re not being challenged, or we’re faced with a tedious task we’d rather not be doing. But there’s a big difference between having the odd unproductive week, to genuinely feeling you’re not reaching your potential. If you feel you’ve outgrown your role and you’re unable to see a future where you are, map out where you see your career and personal growth progressing in the longterm. If it’s not with your current organisation, it’s time to start dusting off that resume.
QUESTION 3
Have you lost your care factor?
This is a worrying sign. If you’re starting to use your sick leave to avoid going to work and when you are there, your effort is halfhearted at best, you need to do something and quick. For whatever reason you feel this way, the longer this affects your performance, the harder it will be to leave on good terms. If you’ve done a good job previously, you don’t want this to affect how people remember you. And you don’t want to do yourself out of a good reference.
Time to be proactive
If you answered yes to all of the above, then it’s time to be proactive and get organised. Over the Christmas break, update your resume, do your research, reach out to your contacts and make some positive decisions about where you see yourself in 2017.
This way you’ll be ready to start your job search refreshed in the New Year – and stay one step ahead of those January blues.
