How do I keep work working for me?

I speak to quite a few clients who are feeling a bit disenchanted with work. They’re just not feeling the same way about it as they used to and it's impacting their performance and their general sense of satisfaction with life. 

By this time, they want out and they want something new, now. That’s fine, but it can mean that you risk going into something that’s not quite right, just because it’s a change. 

This is a situation that can creep up on you. In my experience its best to try and stay on the front foot when it comes to your job. Whether it’s knowing that you need to change things up and improve your current role or to be moving to a new one on your own terms, when you want to, not when you are desperate to.  

Here are three things you can do to try and stay on the front foot: 

• Be clear on what you on what you want from your job and what you don’t want. Check those boundaries. Are regular hours important to you, do you need to be able to take short regular holidays, is constant career progression something you need? 

• Put regular check ins in your diary to make sure your job is still serving your needs. Ask yourself, do you still enjoy your job – look at your work life balance is it right for you? Do you feel like you are still learning things. If not, time to talk to your manager or a coach about what you can do before it starts to get too much of a problem. 

• Stay ahead of yourself – there's that old phrase of always leave them wanting more! In my experience the same is true of a job. For me a good time to move roles either externally or in the same company is when things are still going well – we may like our boss that makes it worthwhile being there, but if they left how might things change for you? Try to stay one step ahead so you always feel like you are in control of what's happening.