You Can Tell How Miserable Someone Is At Their Job By 10 Tiny Things They Start Dreading On Sunday Night
Pixel-Shot | ShutterstockEveryone feels stressed out about work sometimes, but this feeling becomes a bit more permanent for people who truly aren't happy with their job.
That's the kind of person who is probably going to experience what is known as the "Sunday scaries," or anticipatory anxiety about what they'll face when they walk in the office on Monday. This has become pretty overused these days, but it's still a very real feeling.
You can tell how miserable someone is at their job by the tiny things they start dreading on Sunday night, whether it's their morning commute or their large workload. So, workers who feel like their job is draining them and leaving them anxious are naturally going to start feeling very uncomfortable on Sunday night as they think about returning to work the next day.
You can tell how miserable someone is at their job by 10 tiny things they start dreading on Sunday night
1. Waking up in the morning
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Some people feel a surge of worry as soon as their alarm goes off because cortisol levels actually increase when you wake up. But feeling a repeated sense of dread at just the thought of setting your alarm and getting ready for Monday morning is more likely to be a sign that you would do anything to get out of work.
As uncomfortable as it may be, anxiety is a natural human emotion that everyone experiences. Even people who love their jobs will probably feel an occasional sense of foreboding when thinking about getting up and ready on Monday morning. If this is becoming a pattern, someone is so miserable at work that their body is rebelling against the idea of returning.
2. An overwhelming workload
Very few people are lucky enough to do something they enjoy at work, so it's normal to feel like you don't want to have to deal with your long to-do list, especially after a refreshing weekend. Someone who is truly overwhelmed by the work they have to do in a way that feels all-consuming can blame their negative feelings about their job on their workload.
Having so much work to do that it feels exhausting and difficult to keep up with is one of the fastest ways to become burnt out. If you're already thinking about your tasks for the upcoming week on Sunday night, you're dangerously close to hitting your limit.
3. Commuting to the office
Getting stuck in traffic every day on the way to and from work is pretty universally hated, especially now that so many people have had the chance to work remotely for at least a temporary period of time. The length of a worker's commute is directly related to how they feel about their job, so it makes sense that it can throw the whole day off.
A long commute does feel like a waste of time, but if you're already dreading it that far in advance, there's probably more on your mind than just the car or train ride. Commuting to a job you can't stand is basically an opportunity to sit and think about how awful the job is, so it's not something that a miserable employee will enjoy.
4. An inbox full of emails
It's pretty disappointing to show up at a job you don't like and be greeted by a barrage of unread emails that need to be read and responded to. Most people open work emails almost as soon as they get them so they don't have to worry about them anymore, which proves just how overwhelming they can be when they pile up in your inbox.
In this case, however, the Sunday night anxiety over new emails to deal with is likely more of an indication of feeling like your job is taking too much from you, in general. Emails are annoying but not the end of the world, so taking them so seriously means there's a bigger problem.
5. Interacting with difficult colleagues
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From team members to bosses, some colleagues are more pleasant than others, as is the case with people you meet anywhere. Knowing that there's someone you don't really get along with that you have to interact with every day at work is frustrating and would be difficult for anyone to face.
Obviously, we can't pick the people we work with, so it's best to find a way to get through these situations with as little pain as possible. This often means keeping your distance from that co-worker as much as you can. If you're still obsessively worried about it, that might not be the right job for you.
6. Attending unnecessary meetings
Few people would claim to actually like work meetings, but there's something particularly bad about having frequent meetings that really didn't need to happen at all. Many workers feel like their time could be spent in better, more productive ways, and managers aren't always good at leading meetings despite being in leadership roles.
Annoying meetings are something to laugh about and roll your eyes at, but dreading these meetings well in advance shows you're not happy at work overall. Even the most frustrating meetings are just one small aspect of a job, so fixating on them means that's not the only issue.
7. Dealing with complaints from clients or customers
If a job has anything to do with the public, you'll definitely get your fair share of complaints from customers or clients. Some will probably be so bizarre that they'll make you laugh, but the rude ones can be hard to stomach.
Some businesses actually adopt a "customer-obsessed" business model, meaning that they always put the customer first and prioritize giving them the best experience possible. Since customers and clients are the ones keeping the business afloat, this is a good strategy, but it's also easy to take it too far and let it get in the way of logic.
Whether your employer is customer-obsessed or not, being so focused with the complaints is a mark of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. If you really liked your job, it would be easier for you to shrug that negativity off and keep doing the work you believe in. Feeling dread is a bad sign.
8. Always trying to meet impossible goals
Employees try to meet a lot of different goals at work. They have to impress their boss while also staying on top of deadlines and avoiding mistakes. Goals can be a good thing and keep you motivated when they're attainable, but trying to reach ones that aren't within your reach can feel discouraging.
According to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, failing to reach a goal can make people feel less confident and less willing to try other new things in the future. Of course, if you're always trying to reach some sort of impossibly perfect standard, you're also putting yourself at risk for burnout. Feeling the weight of these things too intensely might mean that your job is truly making you miserable.
9. Feeling stuck in a monotonous routine
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Having a solid routine is usually a good thing that will keep you on track, but it can have the opposite effect as well. If you're doing the same thing every day, it's easy to feel like you're stuck in a rut. Doing something to make your routine a bit different can be really helpful when that happens.
It's easy to see how you could end up feeling that way when you follow the same monotonous structure every single day, but work often forces people to do that. Really feeling like you're reliving the same day repeatedly and losing sight of your purpose means you definitely need a change, which just might include your job.
10. Thinking about how long it will be before their next break
Getting ready to return to work after a really nice weekend is hard for anyone, and it would be natural to remind yourself that you just have to get through five days before you get another break as a way to keep yourself going. Feeling like you're living for weekends, or holidays, or vacations might be a sign that you're seriously unhappy, though.
Mindfulness researcher Catherine Cook-Cottone said it's understandable to be "feeling the pressure to make the weekend perfect" because it's some of the only time you get to freely choose how to spend. But an obsession with the weekend, or even feeling anxious that you won't spend that free time in the best possible way, means your mind is trying to escape the weekday reality that is your job.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor's degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
