3 Ways to Break Out of a Job Rut

It’s fairly easy to tell if you’re experiencing a job rut. Your role at work becomes mechanical and you don’t feel challenged anymore. Attractive opportunities for advancement, more responsibility, and higher pay seem out of reach. Your supervisors aren’t leveraging your skills, and are instead hiring new people to perform jobs you’re perfectly qualified for. You no longer enjoy going to work each day, and it feels like the fire you once had for your career has burned out.

We’ve all been in a job rut at one point or another. And while it’s not the most pleasant experience – it can actually be a good thing. A rut encourages you to seek out new challenges. It pushes you to break out of your comfort zone, which can be equal parts scary and invigorating. Plus, overcoming and breaking out of your rut can be extremely beneficial to your career, because it will most likely draw positive attention from your supervisors and often leads to advancement opportunities. With that said, here are three ways to break out of your rut and breathe new life into your career:

1. Remember why you loved your job in the first place. Remembering how you got to your current position will get you back in touch with what you loved about your job to begin with. A great way to accomplish this is to mentor a colleague who is still climbing the ranks. Offer your assistance and advice, and help them advance their career. Throughout this process, you’ll rediscover that fire to move your own career forward, and helping someone else will give you a sense of purpose as you overcome your rut.

2. Look for ways to improve your situation. Create a document that lists all the things you can do to improve your current situation at work. Include actionable tasks and ideas, like networking more with your supervisors and offering to help out on new projects. Don’t worry about making these steps too challenging – just give yourself enough new responsibility to get your creative and motivational juices flowing again.

3. Try a fresh approach. You can often break out of your rut by experimenting with new ways of being at work. For example, instead of emailing questions to your colleagues, drop by their offices. Instead of trying to force things to go your way, look at what possibilities exist in the way things are. Your old habits are part of the reason you’re having trouble, so look for ways to break out of them on a daily basis.