Do you ever get frustrated with your job? if so, how do you overcome that feeling even if you feel like you have

Question: Do you ever get frustrated with your job? if so, how do you overcome that feeling even if you feel like you have failed. How do u stay motivated and positive about your passions. I'm a very impatient person.
- Keywords:
  frustrated,
  frustration,
  overcome
Asked by Tia wood on 14 Jun 2023.
- Alastair Henniker-heaton answered on 14 Jun 2023:
  
  I never get frustrated with my job, but I do get frustrated with certain aspects of it or particular projects I’m working on.
  
  At any one time I can have around 15 different projects along with personal development work to be getting on with so if I get do get frustrated with a particular project I usually pick up where I left off with another project for a couple of hours or go and do some learning.
  
  As I work from home, sometimes I just use it as an excuse to go for a walk / bike ride / gym session or go and play with my 3 year old son depending on how much time I have. When I come back my mind is usually ready to carry on.
- Amy Stockwell answered on 14 Jun 2023:
  
  There is a really good article in the Guardian today which might answer your question https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jun/14/10-ways-more-confident-work-colleagues-positive
  
  Every job has its ups and downs. Sometimes the frustration is small and just leaving it for 5 minutes to make a coffee or working on something else for a bit, can make me see the issue with fresh eyes.
  
  If it is a bigger problem then talking with my colleagues (again getting fresh eyes on a challenge can really help). If I’m feeling like a failure then they remind me of other things that I have achieved and that maybe I can’t be perfect and brilliant all the time.
  
  I’ve worked on projects that I didn’t like. Thankfully for a short time only. Then I have to remind myself that they company pays me to do my job and I just need to stick it out for a day or a week. Luckily I usually have multiple projects at once so I don’t just work on the thing that i don’t like.
- Ferran Brosa Planella answered on 15 Jun 2023:
  
  Yes, sometimes. I think that taking breaks when you get stuck really helps. It also helps to organise yourself and to break a big problem into smaller tasks. This way you get a boost of motivation every time you finish a task.
- Thomas Garrett answered on 16 Jun 2023:
  
  Sometimes! It’s important to remind myself not to let the negative thoughts win. Imposter syndrome can get to me at times, but there’s a reason why I am doing the job that I’m doing and I have had lots of successes, so it’s not all negative. I think breaks are very important. I will often just walk away (literally!) from a task and come back to it once I’ve cleared my head. Fresh eyes are very useful!
- Alexander De Bruin answered on 16 Jun 2023:
  
  Oh yes, frustrations are very real! What has really helped me is picking the right things to be frustrated about. If it is something that I cannot change, I try to not let it play on my mind. If it is within my sphere of influence, then I will do my best to find a way to solve the problem.
- Emma Spooner answered on 19 Jun 2023:
  
  I think it is important to remember that failure is the best way to learn. I am in science because I love learning new things, so even if my job/project isn’t going exactly how I want it to, I usually try and look at it as a learning experience. This means it is less likely to happen in the future, or I might be able to help someone else with the same problem.
  Motivation is difficult, but I think it can help to think about the kind of person you want to be. There will always be things in your life beyond your control, like your job not going exactly the way you had planned. If you continue to stick to being the kind of person you want to be, for example hard working, the problems elsewhere usually sort themselves out, even if you aren’t feeling that motivated!
- Luke Humphrey answered on 22 Jun 2023:
  
  Yes! Science can be very slow and iterative. Often, the barriers to progress are not technical but rather causes by people or politics. This can be really frustrating, especially when you’re working in low-carbon science when you’re constantly being reminded that time is running out!
  
  I think one way I cope with this is to be more realistic about my expectations for what I can achieve as an individual. Science is collaborative and playing your part is often quite mundane and small scale compared to the way science is portrayed in the media. Large breakthroughs are not achieved occasionally by individual geniuses, instead small breakthroughs are achieved every day by normal people just doing their jobs.
  
  I guess then, my answer is that I save my passion mostly for my hobbies. I enjoy my work, I do my best, and I am happy to be playing a role in low-carbon technology – but when it’s time to stop working, I stop working. Maybe I go walk the dogs, or play some video games, but having that balance in life is important.