10 Tips To Increase Your Job Satisfaction

You Can Combat Your Feelings of Weariness With These Activities

A person writes on a whiteboard.
Photo:

Luis Alvarez / Getty Images

No matter how much you love your job, love your employer, and love your life, sometimes you just feel weary. Employer expectations have escalated as competition increases. The pace of change is relentless and growing. You struggle to maintain a work-life balance while increasing your job satisfaction and efficacy. These ten tips will help you combat weariness and improve your workplace satisfaction.

Key Takeaways

  • There are many different ways that you can increase your job satisfaction.
  • Focusing on the things you do well and setting daily goals for yourself can help boost your sense of accomplishment.
  • Avoid spending time with negative or toxic coworkers. Identify colleagues that encourage you and improve your mentality about work.
  • Taking walks every day can help improve your mood.

Do Something That You Love Every Day

Nothing overcomes weariness and increases job satisfaction like doing something that you love to do every day. Discover small things about your job that make you happy. Make sure that these activities or tasks are on your agenda every day. Hard pressed to find something that you love to do at work? Make sure you combat that weary feeling with an external activity to balance this lack. But, indeed, there should be something that you in your job that you love to do.

Hang Out With Positive Coworkers

Nothing will impact your job satisfaction and make you weary faster than hanging out with negative coworkers. There is plenty to make you weary in every job and workplace.

Why spend your time with people or groups that you know will only make you feel worse—about yourself and your job?

Schedule a conference room for lunch if the lunchroom overflows with dissatisfaction. Or, talk to your coworkers with your desire to create a more positive environment to increase everyone’s job satisfaction.

Note

Hang out with the coworkers who share your positive outlook; toxic coworkers will bring you down.

Eat a Light, Nutritious Lunch

Nothing makes you feel as weary as a heavy, stomach-busting lunch. The excess food makes you tired and sluggish when you need a second wind for afternoon effectiveness. To battle weary feelings, bring healthy snacks to nibble on to maintain your energy and eat a light lunch.

Do Something That You Are Good at Every Day

A good way to boost your job satisfaction is to competently perform a task or create a desired outcome. Combat your weary feelings by doing something that you excel at doing every day. Success breeds more success and employees who are pushed or who push themselves to achieve and excel, experience increased self-confidence and self-esteem. It's a welcome employee satisfaction and employee engagement cycle. Do what you do well—do well—experience the joy of doing well.

If Possible, Develop a Supportive Relationship With Your Boss

You're in charge of your relationship with your boss—the quality of that relationship helps you achieve your goals.

At the same time, your boss has information that you need to succeed. They can't do their job or accomplish their goals without your help. So, your manager shares a critical interdependence with you.

If you don't accomplish your work, your manager will never shine for his or her overall responsibilities. In some cases, you won't progress without the information, perspective, experience, and support of your manager.

Note

Feeling weary and frustrated? Sit down with your boss for interaction and feedback. Negotiate deliverables and outcomes with your boss. Ask them for the resources you need to accomplish your goals.

Become a Force for Change

Know something that makes you weary at work and subtracts from your job satisfaction? Work with your manager to eliminate the culprit from your job—maybe another employee would enjoy the activity or task.

Ask for expanded and enriched job responsibilities. Consider a transfer to expand your knowledge, experience, and options.

Join the activity committee to plan fun and motivating workplace events. No activity committee? Start one. Join a work-sponsored sports team. No team? Start one.

Want to read and discuss recent business books? Start a book club at work.

Combat your tiredness by instigating workplace events and work processes that add to employee job satisfaction—your own and others.

Create Positive Job Satisfaction

As you combat the feeling that your job isn't quite as satisfying as it should be, consider combatting your weariness and frustration by creating a workplace that soothes your spirit and enriches your life:

  • Take a quick break every day to recharge your spirit
  • Pick up a task you like to do
  • Seek out a fun coworker at the break
  • Make a list of everything you've accomplished this week

Note


Try to combat your weariness with a positive, uplifting task, emotion, or behavior.

Overcome Procrastination

Procrastinating on projects big and small can put you in uncomfortable situations. Either you can't meet the deadlines set for you, or you do meet them but you rushed the final product and it's not quite as good as it could have been.

Whatever the reason for your procrastination, it's a bad habit that can impact job satisfaction. In fact, you can spend more time on excuses and blame, and new resolutions and promises to yourself, then you do on completing the task.

Combat feelings of weary with contribution and fulfillment, not procrastination and excuses. That cycle would make anyone weary.

Take Frequent Small Breaks

Stretch your legs, do desk exercises, and walk around the office. Break up the strain of sitting or standing in one place all day long. Take deep breaths and use stretching time to think and plan.

Squeezing a small ball or putty in your hand is surprisingly relaxing and can strengthen your fingers. Just walking around the office will make you feel better.

Have something you need to share with a coworker? Instead of IMing or emailing, walk over and talk. And, periodic, positive face-to-face communication can be uplifting.

Set Daily Goals

Nothing picks up weary like a feeling of accomplishment. Break your big departmental and personal goals down into manageable pieces that you can accomplish in a day.

Checking the accomplishments off on your daily list will put a spring in your feet and joy in your heart. You deserve to feel as if you accomplished and contributed every day.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What factors increase job satisfaction?

Factors that can increase your job satisfaction include finding the positive aspects of your job and focusing on them, hanging out with positive coworkers, and setting daily goals.

How do you solve job dissatisfaction?

The answer is different for every employee. If the dissatisfaction is related to aspects of your job you can change, consider talking with your boss about transferring to a new position or changing up your responsibilities in your current position.

Was this page helpful?
Sources
The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Mayo Clinic. "Job Satisfaction: How To Make Work More Rewarding."

  2. Haldimand and Norfolk Health and Social Services. "Healthy Eating in the Workplace."

  3. American Intercontinental University. "10 Ways To Build Confidence and Work Towards Success."

  4. Robert Half Talent Solutions. "How To Have a Good Relationship With Your Boss."

  5. ResearchGate. "The Relationship Between Procrastination, Delay of Gratification, and Job Satisfaction Among High School Teachers."

  6. Brownhill Surgery. "The Health Benefits of Surgery."

  7. SHRM. "Get Your Employees Out and Walking."

Related Articles