Meaningful Work: The Key to Overcoming the Sunday Scaries for Good

POV (point of view): It's Sunday evening, and you are winding down, reflecting on your wonderful weekend. On Saturday, you went to brunch, spent the evening catching up with friends, and this morning, you attended such a transformative Sunday service. You left service feeling so encouraged and energized to start your week. But when 7 pm rolls around, you start feeling that familiar foreboding feeling that creeps upon you as your weekend comes to an end and you begin prepping for tomorrow's workday. Oh hey, "Sunday Scaries."

Week after week, it never fails. For one reason or another, the Sunday Scaries fall upon you. The Sunday Scaries (or the Sunday Blues as some may call them) are the feelings of dread and anxiety that fall upon you as you anticipate and approach a new work week. A survey conducted by LinkedIn reported that over 80% of professionals experience this phenomenon, with over 90% being Millennials and Gen Z. And while some of these feelings may be due to our overwhelming workloads and unfinished tasks, some of these feelings are stirred by a toxic work environment, incompetent leadership, having no clarity, guidance, and direction, feeling undervalued and underutilized, and if we're being honest, overall hatred of our jobs -- all factors that influence whether we find our work meaningful. It makes us stop and wonder, "Why am I even doing this?"

The problem is that many of us don't know (outside of collecting a check and taking care of our responsibilities). As a result, we end up living for the weekend and vacations that provide an escape from the harsh reality that every Sunday, we realize that we are further and further off track. So we end up settling for mediocre and mundane work when we could have work that is meaningful. 

Meaningful work can be defined as work that provides a sense of meaning and purpose. Research shows that people who experience meaningful work tend to be more confident, make better career decisions, more motivated, engaged, and committed to their jobs, and overall happier, satisfied, and resilient. However, it's important to note that meaningful work does not translate to work without a challenge. Purpose serves as your foundation, giving you the support that keeps you from crumbling when problems arise. You will encounter challenges, but having meaning in your work will remind you of the why that will keep you going.

If you struggle consistently with a case of the Sunday Scaries, here's how you can incorporate more meaning into your work to beat them.

Know Your Why. 

Your purpose should be the why that drives everything you do. It is the foundation from which you will build your life and guide your decisions. When you know your why, you have more clarity and confidence because your why inspires you to cast the vision for your life that gives you direction. With purpose as your foundation and vision as your guide, you can be confident that you're doing what matters and are going in the right direction.

Take Inventory.

Once you are clear on your why or purpose, take inventory to assess whether your life and work align with it. The more your life and career goals align with your purpose, the more likely you will experience your work as meaningful. Meaningful work researchers Bryan J. Dik and Ryan D. Duffy note that if both life and career goals support each other, they are congruent, which fosters a greater sense of meaningfulness. However, if congruency is missing, chances are that you are more than likely feeling out of alignment and unhappy, which is an opportunity to identify what needs to change. 

Two essential components are necessary to experience meaning at work: 1) Comprehension and 2) Purpose. Comprehension refers to your ability to understand and make connections between your experience, value, and how you fit into the world around you, while purpose refers to the intention to accomplish something personally meaningful and bigger than yourself. Ask yourself, "What is my purpose?" "Based on that purpose, what are my life and career goals?" "Do they align to that purpose?" "In what ways do my job tasks connect to my purpose?" "What (if anything) needs to change?

Integrate Your Purpose (and Faith) In Your Work.

Knowing your purpose is not enough if you don't integrate it into your work. Ask yourself, "In what ways can I incorporate my purpose into my day-to-day tasks?" For example, say you're working as a remote people programs manager, and your purpose is to help people feel a greater sense of connection and belonging. That could look like setting up one-on-ones with your co-workers to cultivate connection and relationship or offering to mentor someone interested in transferring into your department. The same applies to your passions, strengths, and values. 

Look for opportunities to bring more of them into your work. This process is known as job crafting, where one can craft more meaning, purpose, satisfaction, and resilience into their role by altering the tasks, relationships, and perceptions that comprise it. Your purpose, passions, strengths, and values are integral to who you are. When we leave our gifts at home, or they're underutilized, this leads to fragmentation, not the wholeness and fulfillment we are seeking. The more you integrate these aspects of yourself into your work, the more likely you will find your work more meaningful.

Find a Meaningful Job.

If you are still struggling to see the good in your work after integrating or crafting your purpose, passions, and strengths into your work, it may be time to seek other opportunities that you may find more meaningful. One can try to craft as much meaning as possible into their role, but the reality is that some work environments are more conducive to fostering meaning and purpose. The organization's purpose, mission, and culture, as well as the leadership, level of clarity, direction, and autonomy given, the quality of relationships, nature of tasks, the impact of your work, and the opportunities to use a variety of skills are all factors that can contribute to whether one finds their job meaningful. Before you begin your job search, it's critical to sit down and identify what deal breakers are most important to you regarding meaningful and fulfilling work. From there, identify your top three to five must-haves in your next role.

Reframe Your Perspective.

Regardless if you are a consultant, an HR generalist, a retail sales lead, or an insurance agent, any noble job can technically connect to a larger purpose because work was designed to contribute to the greater good and the flourishing of people. For example, a retail worker can reframe their work by not just selling clothes but giving people the confidence and style they need to conquer their day. An insurance agent can reframe their work from "just" selling insurance to bringing financial wholeness and well-being to their community. This type of refraiming is a form of cognitive crafting which is a transformation of the thoughts or perceptions of your work's purpose, nature, and impact.

No matter how much you dislike your work, it's always bigger than you. If you're unable to find another job and you have done all you can do to craft more meaning into your role, and you find there's still something missing, focus on how you can make a broader impact until the right opportunity presents itself and consider seeking alternate activities outside of work that aligns with your purpose and give you a sense of meaning.

We spend over 80,000 hours over a lifetime at work to spend our days dreading it. Sundays don't have to be scary or a time of anxious anticipation but a time of joyful expectation of the fulfillment that comes from doing purposeful, meaningful, and impactful work. Crafted is our signature job crafting solution designed to infuse purpose and craft more meaning, fulfillment, and alignment in your role and career. With your purpose as our guide, we assess your job tasks, relationships, and perceptions to create opportunities and strategies that align your passions, strengths, and values with your work. Our clients have successfully partnered with their managers to transform their position into their dream roles. Some have doubled and even tripled their salaries and received the clarity and confidence they needed to stay at their current job or transition into a new role/company. We offer both a half-day intensive and an immersion day format giving you high-touch support and strategy to be more fulfilled and productive in your role. Click the button below to learn more and book the Crafted Experience.