Feeling Stuck in Your Job? Here’s How to Make the Most of It (While Preparing for Something Better)

If you don’t like your job, just quit and find something better.  

Until recently, that advice didn’t seem so far-fetched. The labor market was booming and companies were scrambling for talent. It seemed like opportunities were everywhere.

But now? The market is cooling off, job openings are steadily declining, and the economy feels shaky at best. And all that uncertainty means people are sticking with their jobs—even if they don’t love them. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job quitting has decreased to a level not seen since February 2021.

“I have seen a bit more of people being cautious in voluntarily leaving their jobs,” echoes Rebecca DiMassa, a Career Transition Coach.  

Even if staying with your current role and employer (at least for now) is a smart move, it’s not an easy one. Feelings of apathy, detachment and resentment can quickly creep in when your skills are underutilized, your work seems meaningless or your job is misaligned with your values.

As tempting as it might be to phone it in and go the “quiet quitting” route until you can find something else, there are steps you can take to not only feel better about the job you’re in but also squeeze every last career advantage out of it—even if it’s ultimately not the right match for you. 

Have an honest conversation with your manager

It’s normal to feel hesitant to voice concerns about your job for fear of repercussions. However, empathy is now a focus area for many leaders, and a candid discussion with your boss can help you change your situation—or, at the very least, make the best of it.

If you already have regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings with your manager, use those to talk through the type of work that drains you, what energizes you, and any challenges you’re dealing with. That’s helpful information for your boss to have as they assign tasks and assist with your career development.

Your supervisor might also help you make some strategic adjustments to your role, whether that’s allowing you to work remotely part of the time, getting you involved in a cross-functional project, or rebalancing your workload if you’re overwhelmed. 

Put simply, don’t suffer in silence. “We so often put the full burden on ourselves before asking for support and guidance from others,” explains Matthew A. Grande, Co-founder of Careerage, a company focused on helping people find happiness at work. Vocalizing your struggles or frustrations might help you change aspects of your job (rather than just coping with them). 

Maximize your opportunities

“It’s easy to feel ‘stuck’ or get lost in the dread of a role or environment you no longer want to be in,” says Patricia Omoqui, Founder and Senior Executive Coach. “However, there are often more good and more possibilities available to you if you can open your eyes to see them.” Patricia recommends asking yourself questions like:

• What learning opportunities can I take my company up on?
• How can I find or create opportunities to make an impact, showcase my skills, and build credibility to position myself for future roles?
• What conferences or networking opportunities can I leverage for strategic relationship building?
• How can I build my leadership skills within my current work to prepare me for the next level?

Reflecting on those helps you think more broadly about the opportunities with your current role, outside the confines of your job description. 

Keep in mind that getting every last drop of value out of your job might involve taking initiative, rather than waiting for opportunities to land in your lap. Jacqueline C. Ross, a Leadership Development and Mental Fitness Coach, says there’s a term for when you proactively make changes to your role: job crafting.

And it’s something that Omoqui says she did herself when she previously returned to a corporate career. “I found opportunities to speak at events for the company I worked for,” she says. “I leveraged my coaching skills with any leader who needed to have a conversation.” With a little courage, you can do something similar to go beyond your standard duties and find other ways to experiment, learn and grow. 

Build your network

“I know many people dread the notion of networking, but it is really about building and sustaining relationships,” Ross says. And you never know how those connections could come into play later in your career.

Regardless of how you feel about your existing position, use it as an outlet to forge as many valuable connections as possible—with leaders, colleagues, clients, vendors, industry peers and others. If and when you’re ready to find something new, you’ll be glad to have established and nurtured those relationships.

While your professional network matters, don’t forget the importance of your personal community too. Feeling stuck in your career is disheartening, and Grande says you can’t underestimate the power of “supportive communities, formal and informal, that welcome us as we are, listen wholeheartedly, and provide us with compassion, support and resources.” 

Explore other areas of the business

Even if you’ve decided to stay with your current role for now, that doesn’t mean you can’t dream and scheme about what’s next. “Get exposure to other aspects of the business and see what might be exciting to you,” DiMassa advises. 

Whether you invite someone to an informal coffee chat to learn more about their job, ask to sit in on a meeting, or raise your hand for a cross-functional project, those hands-on opportunities help you see “if there are projects or roles that are more energizing and inspiring for you,” Grande says. That’s helpful insight as you continue to figure out your career future.

As a bonus, it could also help you uncover an entirely new role or opportunity without leaving your current company. “One of my favorite tips to share in these situations is that it is easier to be pulled than pushed,” DiMassa adds. 

“Often, your current manager will not ‘push’ you to another team,” he says. You need to take ownership of the transition and find a new manager and team that aligns with your needs and is willing to ‘pull’ you onto their team. This is a move I’ve used myself and also have seen multiple clients use successfully.”

Practice gratitude

At first glance, “look on the bright side” seems like trite and unhelpful advice. But as Ross says, thinking about “how work positively impacts your life,” can help you shift your perspective, especially if you’re feeling increasingly apathetic or discontented at work. Science backs this up, with one study proving that gratitude helps you distance yourself from your toxic or negative emotions. 

So it’s time to think positive thoughts. DiMassa recommends pinpointing three to five attributes that you appreciate about your current role, whether it’s the steady paycheck, the people you work with, the flexibility, or anything in between. Write them down and keep them somewhere handy so you can refer back to them whenever you feel discouraged.

“This will shift you into a state of gratitude and appreciation of your current job,” she says. “Once you move into a state of gratitude, it can make the day-to-day more enjoyable and gets you into a state of being able to receive more in a career.” 

Change your mindset

Your mindset is powerful and gratitude isn’t the only shift that can serve you in your current role. There are a few other strategies that can help.

Remember that everything is temporary

When you’re unhappy with your job, it feels so permanent—like the dread you feel is never-ending. Reminding yourself that this position (and the feelings that come with it) is temporary can go a long way in taking the pressure off. As DiMassa says, you stop viewing your job as “your ‘end all be all’ but rather as your ‘right now’ job.”

Decide to leave (even if you don’t do it right away)

Grande says that deciding you’re going to leave—whether you actually do it soon or not—can be a jolt to your daily thinking. “All of a sudden the stress and fear take a backseat,” he says, noting that people often “start drawing boundaries, they start asking for things that they need, and they start operating from a place of empowerment.”

However, he says there’s an important caveat to that approach. “If you decide that, for you, that means complete disengagement or coasting, don’t expect that to be sustainable for too long. You can do this with ‘stick it to the man’ energy or you can do this with ‘I am going to meet my objectives with less effort and stress’ energy. That latter will serve you better.”

Turn your irritants into introspection

While changing your mindset about your entire career is helpful, you can also change your thinking about smaller aspects of your work life—like the people you work with. If there’s someone who annoys you, Omoqui recommends digging deep to understand what about them causes that reaction in you.

“Leverage the clues to grow your self-awareness and emotional regulation skills,” she says. “Then ask yourself, ‘What might this person be here to teach me about myself?’” It’s yet another way to view your current role as a learning opportunity, rather than a letdown. 

Determine what’s next for you

Even if you don’t feel like you can move on from your existing job anytime soon, getting some clarity about what’s next can help you muster more enthusiasm and optimism on the daily. 

Spend some time to reflect on what you want and don’t want out of your next career move. Taking a career aptitude test can also help you uncover your key interests and careers that match your strengths. 

If you think that determining your next step or dream career will only make your current circumstances seem even more dire, the opposite is actually true. DiMassa notes, “You can start to appreciate where you’re currently at, knowing that bigger and better awaits in your future.”

When you do decide you’re ready to move on from your current role, Grande has one more piece of advice: make it about your needs and not your employer’s shortcomings. “I used to blame my work environment when I was unhappy,” he says. “The empowered narrative is that I have needs and I am struggling to have those needs met here.” 

Making the most of your dream job

Your current role might not be your dream job, but it still has value. It offers opportunities to forge beneficial connections, pick up transferable skills, explore new areas, and improve your self-awareness. 

Here’s the thing: You might have to be the one to take the initiative and make those things happen. But if you do that, you might not only learn to like (or at least tolerate) your position, but you’ll also wring every possible advantage out of it. That way, when you do find something better, you’ll be ready for it.