It’s a simple reality that we all need to work. Some of us are so busy just barely making a living and we need to ask ourselves ‘Is my job-killing me?’
Some jobs are hazardous and could literally be killing you.
My son worked for the oil drilling company and he found himself always in great danger being around so many toxic chemicals that he finally decided to move on.
The rewards just weren’t worth the risks.
Other jobs may be taking their toll in a slower, subtler way and slowly killing us without realizing we are even in danger.
We may be constantly stressed, exhausted, having that sick feeling in the pit of our stomach as we make that commute to work each day, perhaps the stress is keeping us up at night.
It’s hard not to let those feelings affect other areas of our lives and it usually harms our relationships with spouses, children, extended family and even our friendships.
So how do we deal with this?
What can we do to ease the stress or even eliminate it if possible?
We continue working day after day failing to take this question seriously.
Yet, I am fairly certain we have all heard stories or may even know someone who worked so hard they dropped dead.
And it does not need to be a heavy, physical job for that to happen.
About 20 years ago, I had a neighbour who that happened to. He was a local store owner and went to start his day as usual and just like that he had a heart attack and died, leaving a wife and child behind.
Death at the workplace is more common than you realize.
They say that ‘Monday’ is the most stressful day of the week and that most Heart Attacks occur on Mondays.
Makes sense why so many people hate Mondays.
Table of Contents
Is Your Job Killing You
We all know stress causes our cortisol levels to rise. Cortisol stimulates our fight or flight responses which can affect our ability to sleep, suppress our digestion, affect our mental and reproductive health. Constant exposure to higher levels of cortisol can have the following effects:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Digestive problems
- Weight gain
- Headaches
- Insomnia
- Memory and concentration problems
- Heart problems
It is clearly in our best interests to lower our cortisol levels so what can we do when our jobs are so stressful, with bosses demanding more in less time and for less money?
Identify the Stressors
The first step is to clearly identify the problem areas. Make a list of all the things that are causing you stress.
- You hate going to work. Perhaps you enjoyed your job when you started and overcame the ‘new job anxiety’ but now there seems to be constant stress. Perhaps now there is more responsibility placed on you and there are tighter deadlines. This new stress just keeps getting piled on and causes other issues to arise.
- Insomnia can be a big problem since you can’t seem to stop thinking about a solution to that problem at work or that disagreement with a co-worker. Lack of sleep can make us less effective at dealing with normal daily stresses, making things seem insurmountable.
- Depression can easily set in when you no longer want to get out of bed in the morning and head to work because you know that hell is waiting for you. Depression is more than just not having the passion you used to have. You start neglecting other areas of your life.
- Weight gain due to a lack of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle and constant stress is another problem that can occur. This puts further stress on our heart and tends to worsen the depression.
- Exhaustion occurs as things are piling up and the negative effects keep snowballing. If you find you require a nap once you get home before carrying on with your home life this could begin to cause trouble with your spouse or children.
- Relationships begin to suffer. We have all heard that we should not bring our work home but when that work stresses us out completely we find ourselves unable to leave it at the office. Those negative feelings seem to follow us everywhere and begin to negatively affect our relationships with family and friends.
- Anger is the result of too much stress for too long. We’ve all seen situations where people just snap and begin to release all that pent-up anger and frustration. They begin destroying or hurting everything or everyone around them that represents the object of their anger. If you find yourself angry every day it is time to leave that job and find something else. Regardless of how long you have been at that job if you are constantly angry it is time to go.
Reduce Stress
Sometimes we can find ways to reduce stress and we can better cope and enjoy our job again.
The first thing is to ensure your relationships outside of work are in a good place. These are the people who are your support system and you want to maintain a strong healthy relationship here.
it is almost certain that if your home life relationships are unhealthy it will affect every area of your life including work.
Are you taking care of yourself? Getting regular exercise, a healthy diet, enough sleep. These things all affect your overall health. If you are not taking care of yourself and your cortisol levels are consistently high you are raising your chances of a heart attack or stroke.
Regularly practicing yoga or even getting a massage can significantly lower stress as well.
If you are struggling at work try delegating some workload if possible. You don’t have to do everything. Tackle the most important tasks first and you will get to the others in time. If you are unable to reduce the work stress it may be time to consider a career change.
Career Change?
Sometimes the only solution is a career change. Not everyone is suited for every career. That is okay.
When I was younger I thought I wanted to be a hairstylist. I did enjoy it until my hands started bothering me from constantly being in harsh chemicals. I then worked in food services for a time before deciding upon a career in health care. Now I am enjoying being a full-time blogger and work on my terms.
Yes, it can be scary to find another career, but it is certainly better than staying in a high-stress job that you hate and are risking your very life from extreme stress.
Take some time to think about what type of job you may like to try. Then find out the qualifications necessary for that job and get to work preparing yourself for a career change.
Even if you need to go back to school for a time it is amazing how much better it makes you feel to be actively working on a solution.
Establish a Support Network
Make sure you take the time to nurture your relationships with those closest to you. Your family and friends will be a strong support system as you make the necessary changes in your career and ultimately your life.
Working out with a friend is a great stress reducer.
It is also helpful to have someone to talk to when you are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of such a big change in your life.
Time with friends and family does help make you healthier.
Conclusion
While it is good to be challenged in our careers we should not be so stressed we are left wondering is my job-killing me?
The first thing we should do is identify the stressors and determine if we can find a solution that will help reduce stress.
Ensure we are taking good care of ourselves by eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, getting regular exercise, getting enough sleep and spending quality time with friends and family to maintain healthy relationships and a strong support system.
See if we can find ways to reduce stress by delegating some tasks or only focusing on the most important tasks.
If there doesn’t seem to be another solution then it may be time for a career change.
Talk it over with your support people and determine what new career you may like to try.
Changing careers can be scary, but it can also be very exciting as you work towards creating a better, stress-free life for yourself as our son and I have done.
If you enjoy writing you can take up blogging for income, here is an excellent training on how to become a blogger for free. This is where I learned how to blog which changed my life forever.
Do you find your job highly stressful? What solutions worked for you? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. I look forward to more amazing ideas. Take care of yourself, no one else won’t.
Your recommendation at the bottom of the page is a top-notch solution for folks that feel stressed out from their work and would like a career change. I was in a bad life situation, which was caused by the wrong career choice and managed to turn things around by taking control and changing my vocation. Online business saved my life!
Thanks for a helpful article Rick.
That’s good to hear Ivan and congratulations on taking the step to make that change, I am so happy it’s working out for you.
It can be very hard to take that first step away from normal life, I know. Albeit I tried several things for many years before finally finding the confidence to take action. And like most that make the choice, I never looked back or thought it wasn’t the right decision even when things were not going so well for me. You truly DO feel free.
It was very hard at first for me due to all the scams I would run into. Hence the reason I created this website in the first place to help others to pick the right choice so they have the best training to build their online business and avoid those damn scams.
It’s really great to hear you are doing well and if you have any questions please reach out to me and I would be please to help in any way I can.
Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your experience with us.
All the best my friend
Thanks for getting back to me, Rick. Indeed it’s hard to make that first step, but if you really want something, you’ll do everything you have to go get it.
See, thanks to sites like yours I managed to avoid a lot of scams and save my self from wasting time and money on courses, programs, and “gurus” who were offering me magic pills for earning an income online overnight. So I guess I want to say thanks for doing what you’re doing with your site!
You’re welcome Ivan. I too had fallen for a few of those shiny objects that promise huge income overnight. They are all shady people stealing our money and you will never learn to build a business from them. That is why I created this website, to help others in finding the program that will work for them. The good news is that a good program like Wealthy Affiliate does not have to cost a lot and anyone can learn to do it. The hardest part is finding the training program on your own.
You are absolutely right Ivan, when the desire for change is stronger than the pain of staying where you are at, you will make the move. Of course, the biggest problem is the unknown. Will it work, can I make it work, etc. These are all negative thoughts that run through our heads which makes us stay where we are. The fear of failure stops us all at some point. Those that succeed in life fail often because they are not afraid of failing. You can’t learn unless you fail. Even with Wealthy Affiliate, you will fail at times but you do it again until you got it right.
As they say, “Fail soon and often, it just means you are learning”. You will leave those behind wondering how you can fail so much and still managed to make all that money online.
Welcome aboard Ivan and I wish you all the best with your business.
I really enjoyed reading this article. You have raised a really important question about the job we do 9-5 on a day to day basis. If we are stuck in the rut and it’s killing us slowly with all those ailments you have mentioned above. Then, what is the point! I rather look into something I rather enjoy such as affiliate marketing online and using the training platform you recommended in your post.
Many Thanks for sharing this important information with us all.
I am pleased you found my article. Well, it just happened to be the same questions that I had asked myself while serving in the military. Sure I enjoyed helping others and a lot of the job its self I did enjoy. Those questions just kept coming up for over 20 years until I finally build up enough strength to go out on my own. Sure at first it took time to find the right program however once I found Wealthy Affiliate things started to change fast for me and I was a lot happier person. It was a big step at the time sure but it was the right step for me. And you know now that I am here I have to say it’s not the money that we want, it’s the freedom to go and do what we like when we want to. We are designed to be free as a bird in the sky.
Thank you so much for dropping by today Habib, it was fun chatting with you.
All the best my friend
This is an important article, since so many people are stuck in jobs they hate or make them unhappy. Whenever I found myself in a job situation that was stressful, I made a change, always. It wasn’t worth it for me to hang around. A good option is online blogging I agree because it works. Although it takes time to become an established blogger, the time and effort are definitely worth it. I am also blogging and I hope to be able to live off that one day soon 🙂
The free training you recommend is a great solution for anyone who doesn’t have the money to invest in training.
Thank you for dropping by and sharing your own experience with us Christine. It is true many are stuck in jobs they may even hate and feel sick to go to work. This is not how we are supposed to live on earth and today thank God we don’t have to. All it takes is a decision to make a change as you and I have done. I do get that it’s a hard decision to make because we have to pay the bills. The point is, all it does really take is a decision for that change and you will start feeling better because in your mind you have a way out. We as humans can tolerate a lot more if it’s temporary.
Sure it takes time to build your website and become popular but every website out there had to start the same way. The best way to change from a job is to keep it, yeah that’s right, keep the job and click on my link here to join Wealthy Affiliate for FREE.
Once you sign up ‘for a free account’ you can begin your lessons right away and have your website up today. You will get a full 10 lessons to build and launch your business and all you have to do after that is just keep adding content and continue on with the training till you finish all 10 lessons. This will give you hope and a better look into your future because in about 4 to 6 months you will start to see traffic which will bring sales. The more you put into your website the faster it will grow just like any business. It does take a minimum of about 2 hours a day to make it grow at a good pace.
Don’t worry Christine, just keep following the advice in the training and you will be living on the income from your website very soon.
I wish you all the best with your business, if you have any questions you can ask them here or inside of WA where I may assist you more.
Cheers
Hi
I have changed jobs a number of times but usually in the same field. In my earlier career, I managed not only to change employer but do so simultaneously with moving to a different country and sometimes working in a different language. All of these moves were very stressful but somehow in my earlier life, I fed off of that stress. Preparation was always key, including often doing my utmost to learn a new language. On most of these earlier occasions, I had a wife and child in tow as well. Looking back I think it was always a question of doing what I could to be in control and in the driving seat. The stress was still there and often intense but as I say I was often able to gain a sense of momentum breaking through one barrier after another. Now there is another transition coming my way. I am approaching mandatory retirement. This will be a challenge.
Best regards
Andy
Thanks for dropping by Andy, it’s always good to hear from my readers. I understand the stress part about moving, I spent over 20 years with the military moving every 3 to 5 years until finally, I decided I had enough. At the time I enjoyed travelling and learning about new places but when the kids got older I could see how it was affecting them from moving so much. Changing both the location and the employer helps a lot however it only satisfies us temporarily. Before long we will have something deep down nagging at us which makes us unhappy and unsatisfied again. We need to be FREE like the bird in the sky. We need to exercise our own ideas and thoughts and choose to go where we want to. Moving or even working does not bother us, it’s doing the things we no longer want to do and feeling like a puppet on a string.
That is a lot of stress to move and have to learn a new language at the same time. We again gain satisfaction through working hard and achieving success no matter how small they may be. The candle eventually does burn out in the end.
My advice is to sign up for a FREE account here with the training that works very well for myself and many others. It doesn’t cost anything and you will get a good education about online marketing. After the 10 free lessons, you will have a working website up and running making money. At that point, you can decide to sell it or keep building it to make it grow. Just don’t wait until retirement day.
I wish you all the best Andy.
Great information, Richard, and very accurate.
My father worked for a company that made the pumps for your son’s company, I think! He was a metal worker and at times came home with horrible stories about accidents at the plant. His side job was to provide first aid as long as there was no professional nurse or doctor, so he was always ‘ringside’ so to speak.
This was before any health and safety services existed, so in time thankfully these accidents got more rare. Still, I can’t remember my parents were ever worried about the dangers. I think they saw it more as a fact of life.
I was more rigid in my choices, I guess. Although my felt danger was hardly ever physical, always mental. Stress can indeed be horrible. So whenever a job had the wrong impact on me, I quit. 🙂
Hi Hannie, thanks for dropping by and sharing your story with us. It is such a small world isn’t it, and yes more and likely they built the pumps which were very specially made for the industry. You are right, the accidents did drop a huge amount. In fact, you don’t hear about accidents very often anymore. As my son would say, “we know we have all the safety equipment and alarms and we follow the procedure to a tee, there is still the slight chance that someone becomes careless at the end of the shift especially the new guy. Or someone just doesn’t take the danger seriously. Or perhaps it’s a valve or gauge that is broken. It doesn’t really matter the reason because we all know that eventually, something will go wrong”. With the constant danger hanging over his head it just became too much of a worry and he just couldn’t put it aside which poses a danger in itself. Thank God there are more safety standards today in all working trades.
Good for you for quitting, not everyone can just quit their job for several reasons. I agree mental stress was never taken seriously until the last 10 years or so. Today they know the seriousness of stress-related injuries. As a soldier, I have seen plenty of mind stress where the person becomes a different person. Stress can have permanent injuries just like or even worse than muscle stress.
It is hard to focus on anything else when you are stressed out. That is also why it’s best to start building an online business before it gets too bad because it takes time to make money online. There is no fast way or magical pill as some of the scams try to claim. If you’re tired of the 9-5 job click here and get started with the training that worked for me.
It was good chatting with you and I wish you all the best Hannie,
Take care now
Great article Richard with lots of words of wisdom.
I worked for several years in corporate Oil & Gas at a more senior level. To say the job was stressful is an understatement!. Every day was filled with hustle and bustle, and the weekends were no better as these were also a blur as you planned for the next week…..and the next week and on and on….In addition, I developed “ringing in the ears” caused by the terribly loud sounds of the 6-8 seater helicopters I used to take to remote northern locations.
When the layoffs happened, I thought it would be difficult, but I suddenly found myself de-stressing, unwinding, breathing easier, and finally having time to do so many things that I wanted to do. I am also a lot healthier and happier!
Hi Ceci, thanks for dropping by and sharing your story with us. For sure you got a good taste for working in the oil and gas industry. I could say sorry to hear you got laid off but I think it was a blessing in your case. I know what you mean by the ringing in the ears, serving with the military you have to fly in all kinds of air crafts and some for over 14 hours straight. In Afghanistan, my transportation was also in a chopper which as you know is very noisy. I am glad to hear you are doing much better now.
Did you get a chance to check my recommendation for making money at home? It’s a great opportunity to build your own online business so you never have to work for anyone else again. It’s the program that has worked excellent for me.
Thanks again for leaving a comment I appreciate it and if you have any questions I will be pleased to answer them for you.
All the best with your new adventures.