Sunday night blues? Your career is stagnating

We all hope to climb the career ladder when starting a new job. I am certain that you hope to notice some good level of career growth as years go by. You anticipate promotions and advancement. However, years down the road, do you find yourself complacent and still stuck at the same role? Do you struggle getting out of bed in the morning and getting to work on time? Are you the last to show up at work and the first to leave because you cannot wait for the day to end? Has boredom set in? Everybody gets bored at work sometimes. But boredom should not be an everyday thing. If it is, it will eventually eat your motivation away. If this relates well with you, then it is plainly obvious that you are stagnating. It is time to do some soul-searching and figure out why you are stagnating. Here are some telltale signs that you need to take note of.

1. Your job has become monotonous

Your Sunday nights are filled with anxiety. Not because the weekend is over, but because you dislike the thought of going through another excruciating week of you relentlessly doing the same old stuff day in, day out. Monotony makes the workplace feel like you are on a constant treadmill. You feel you no longer have to put effort into your job since you are unchallenged at a platform with limited variety. It is only expected that your morale will drastically drop creating room for careless mistakes and low productivity.

2.  No salary increase

If you barely notice an increase in your salary over the years, or are still earning the same digits years after you joined your workplace, despite showing commitment and putting great efforts into your responsibilities, then it is a sign that you need to act on your static career sooner rather than later. It gets worse and more demoralising when after doing some digging, you realise that your peers in a similar job group go home with a much healthier wallet. Wake up and smell the coffee.

3. Average performance

When you are constantly “meeting expectations”, you are the stalwart who performs well enough but you do not stand out, keep in mind that you will eventually get lost in the mix and miss out on management attention. You are no longer praised for your work because there is nothing out of the ordinary about your productivity. Do not be surprised when promotions pass you by.

4. Under-utilised skills

You were initially employed because your hiring manager believed that you had a particular set of skills to bring to the table. However, you realise that over the years, some of those skills have not been put to use. This leads to frustration and the feeling that you could be over-qualified for your job. Soon, you will become an expert in complaining that you deserve better.

5. Constantly clashing with your boss

The feeling of being powerless and insignificant comes effortlessly when you do not seem to get things right and your boss is always on your case even over trivial matters. You rejoice when your boss is not around and dread going to work knowing he or she will be at work the whole day. Workplace personality clashes are bad for business. They are particularly stressful and unpleasant to you as an individual. The sad truth is that workplace conflict can start as a disagreement on ideas and escalate into mutual loathing between you and your boss. Your motivation and willingness to follow instructions will eventually drop hurting your career development in the process.