By Chelsea Babin

There’s nothing worse for motivation than working in a job you hate. Whether it’s not the right field for you, not the right corporate culture for you, not the right boss for you, or a myriad of little things that all add up to a job you can’t stand, hating your job can easily turn you into a stagnant, miserable technical professional. Don’t let a job you hate get the best of you! Instead, use these steps to treat it as training for a better opportunity.

1. Assess Your Hatred: If you don’t understand why you hate this job you may jump the gun when finding a new position and end up in the same situation all over again. Take a moment to assess why you hate your job. When you know what’s driving you insane you can avoid it in your future job search.

2. Fuel the Fire: You have to pay the bills. That’s what’s keeping you from storming into your boss’ office and resigning right this minute. Use your hatred of the job to fuel your fire. Whether it’s fueling skill development to get you into a job you’d actually enjoy or fueling your persistent job search, hatred can be a powerful motivator when you use it to your advantage.

3. What Does Better Look Like?: You can’t just expect to stumble upon the perfect opportunity without putting any thought or effort into it. Take some time to evaluate what a better job would look like to you and use those criteria to help narrow your job search to a focused, manageable level.

4. Develop Skills: Maybe part of the reason you’re stuck at a job you hate is because you aren’t qualified to move into any of the jobs you know you’d love. When you know what a better job looks like to you, find a few opportunities and look at their required skills. If you’re lacking any it’s time to get to work developing those skills so you can get out of that job you hate as soon as possible.

5. Break Free: Visualizing the day you get to break free from a job you hate can be a powerful motivator to keep you searching for new opportunities and improving your skills. You’ll feel less stuck if you can see a clear path to the end and can visualize the day you’ll finally get to break free.

Don’t let a job you hate ruin your motivation and ruin your career. You aren’t stuck in this job forever and, if you think of it as training for a better opportunity while following these steps, you’re sure to move on to a better position in no time!