6 Problems with Having a Job You Love

Now before you all go grabbing your torches and pitchforks - hear me out...

Most twenty-somethings like me are struggling to keep any sort of employment let alone get a job doing something we can tolerate or even love. I am highly aware that I'm extremely privileged to be working a job that gives me career opportunities and experience while staying creative and open to do what I love and enjoy. I'm extremely grateful for making it where I am, and this in no way is trying to be a pity grab for attention.
That being said, As great and fantastical as a seemingly perfect job can be, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Here's a list of some problems I have noticed with me and my job:

1. Learning to say "No"

Oh Consuela, teach me your ways.

Especially for someone looking to gain experience and constantly searching for new opportunities, it becomes a reflex to just say "yes!" to everything that comes your way.
You get on this high where everything is coming up roses and daffodils because you're doing more than just cleaning windows and sweeping (though you know you'd do it if you were told). You're in a workplace with good people and are comfortable in the space. You not only want to please everyone, but you are genuinely enjoying the work that you do. You don't want to pass up any opportunities that are sent your way for the risk of losing out on valuable experience.  
Even once you've settled in, new exciting projects come along and you just want to be part of it.

The problem here is stretching yourself too thin. Instead of taking time to focus on one or two projects, you find yourself dipping into too many without actually accomplishing much. Learning to say "no" is hard and scary, but you'll be so thankful in the long run. There will always be opportunities knocking at your door - learn to pick your battles and don't feel guilty when you have to let something go.



2. Knowing when to Quit

Exhibit A: when your job starts to define you

I don't mean your job (please don't quit your job), but rather knowing when to put things down and walk away from work. There's the old adage "Find a job you love: and you'll never work a day in your life" - bullshit. It should read "Find a job you love: and let it consume your every waking moment until you don't know who you are without it". Doing work you enjoy makes it easy to take over your life. You are more willing to work longer hours and spend more time perfecting something than if you hated what you were doing. You bring work home with you, think about it while out with friends, volunteer your time to it. It will literally become your entire life and what defines you.
While dedication is great, there still needs to be a line between work and play.

Find hobbies that require your time and attention, find something to do that doesn't allow you to think about work. Have an office job? Sit on your butt staring at a screen all day? Go outside and walk or run (without a smart phone in hand!). Work outdoors? Lifting and hauling your butt around all day? Take a break at home reading a book, watching a movie, play some video games. Work mostly by yourself? Make social dates with friends and family. Work in a super social environment? Make sure to give yourself some alone time. Counter your all encompassing work life with something completely different that doesn't allow you to convince yourself that just checking your work e-mail on your day off will just take a few seconds...

3. Burn Out

When all your sentences require zombie subtitles it's time to take a nap

Given the last two points - it is easy to work yourself into the ground without realising it. When in a constant state of GOGOGOGO! your body will work itself into overdrive until you physically can't stand up anymore. There are times when this is unavoidable with deadlines and events and emergncies, but even without those stresses you can burn yourself out in the every day both mentally and physically.

Book your time away from work and don't waiver from it. Let yourself have a nap when you get home at the end of the day, don't feel guilty about having to just take a personal health day (responsibly!). Burn out is real and can actually become chronic and truly detrimental to your health so stay mindful of your limits no matter how awesome your job can be.

4. Becoming Invaluable

The printer is jammed. Our lives are over.

This is both a problem and a virtue. I was always given the advice "If you get a job and learn how to work the photocopier/printer you will become invaluable". I wouldn't say by any means that I've mastered our hell-fury of a photocopier, but am one of only a few who will put up with trying to understand its drunk tendencies. Obviously job security does not boil down to this alone, but small things like that where you take responsibilities and are patient with tasks that frustrate others, you build up a whole stack of skills that make you invaluable.

Of course you only notice this after you take a day or two off and come back to work to find that the printer tried to explode, your web server crashed, reception is a disaster, and the basement flooded. Okay, so there was nothing you could have done about that last one - but now all the stress you just got over on your day off comes back like a freight train. You love your job and problem solving is a great exercise, but there are times where you wish you weren't so damn useful.

5. Perpetual State of "Happiness"

What do you mean it looks like I've had botox injections?

People know you love your job. People probably are sick of you talking about your job. People probably hate your job purely out of spite of you loving it so much. But as any of the previous points have made note of - you're also not constantly singing EVERYTHING IS AWESOME. Sometimes things get stressful and exhausting and it can be frustrating. So when I feel like this and someone asks "How's the job going?" my reflex is to throw on a smile and be like "Great! Wonderful! Excellent, things are great. wonderful. awesome. couldn't be better.. great." I've become masterful both at work and outside of it at throwing on a face of complete calm happiness. To the point of when someone actually is suspicious by the amount of 'greats' in my answer, its hard for me to actually acknowledge when something is really bothering me. You don't like to bad-mouth the work you do because you genuinely love it, and you don't want to sound like a hypocrite and complain.  You get stuck in this pattern of being super-happy all the time, because on the other side of things you fall into number 6.......

6. Sounding like a Whiny Bitch

I know that feel, Michael Cera.

... The flipside to number 5. Being that person that won't shut up about frivolous things. You know people who've been unemployed for over a year, you know people who hate their job but it pays well, you know people who have the worst co-workers that make life hell. These are actual serious issues in the working world. I always feel guilty after hearing their woes and then wanting to complain about the goddamn spawn-of-satan-himself photocopier that makes me want to recreate the scene from Office Space. Talk about #firstworldproblems. I feel guilty ranting when I have a crappy day because of that fear of judgement from those who may be worse off.
Let's face it though: Work is hard. No matter what you do, everyone has bad days and need to blow off steam. When I say "everything sucks" I know I'm being superfluous... everything does not indeed suck... but just let me have my moment and it will pass.

Basically, no matter how terrible or amazing your job is, there will be times where you just need to get the hell away from it. Because otherwise you will probably end up doing something wrong or something you regret.

Now excuse me while I take a blow-torch to our photocopier.
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gifs not mine