Talk yourself out of your rut

Think about what you would prefer to be doing. Picture / Getty Images

Sometimes we find ourselves in a comfort zone that's not comfortable at all. Work becomes a drag, we feel we're not being challenged enough and are not growing and learning but stagnating. It's time to talk change to management.

We get to the point when we ask ourselves: "Is this all there is? I know my job like the back of my hand, I can do it in my sleep — I'm bored, bored, bored."

One solution, of course, is to start the job hunt, but perhaps you don't want to leave. You like your workplace, you enjoy your colleagues and you like the work the company does, it fits into your value system.

It's good to be aware that people experience stress when they are under-employed and not feeling challenged, as well as when they're over-employed. If you're doing too many tasks that you feel are meaningless, it's going to affect your wellbeing and possibly your mental health.

You don't want to be going to your employer at a time when they're unhappy with your work or have started to take you for granted.

So, how do you talk to your manager about changing what you do so you find your job more satisfying?

Entrepreneur and business owner Monique Knight, who worked as a psychotherapist for many years, says the first step would be to think about what you would prefer to be doing and consider how that would be helpful for the business.

"Know what you're talking about. For example, your manager is going to be looking at the numbers and the stats. So if you go to them and say "I'm bored with what I'm doing", they've got nothing to quantify that.

Perhaps take a week of your life at work and document it. Then you can say: 'I spent this amount of time on this, and this amount of time on that ... but what I'd prefer to be doing is this ...'"

Knight says: "Recently I asked someone in my work for feedback three times, they didn't think I needed it yet, but the message was that they didn't give it to me.

"Three times I spent asking for that. It was information that was a big deal for me, but not for them. I needed it to get on with my job. So, when that happens the frustration is, that should have taken me just one step. Managers are busy — they want to be able to ask a question once.

"So if you're looking at being frustrated at work or bored, what exactly is causing that and how do you quantify it?"

She says managers are there to make sure things work well for the company as well.

"So rather than asking what you want as an individual, look at the work systems. What your manager wants to know is by changing what you do, how will it help the system. You need to speak your manager's language.

"Managers have 10 people a day saying 'I want, I want ... ' Very few come in and say this is how it will work in terms of change. And if you have a problem, what is the solution?

"If you want your manager to be more likely to listen to you and be on your side, you need to be speaking their language. I think most employees don't get that.

"The other thing is that, as a rule, never talk about a problem without having a solution or two that you're thinking of. In your manager's mind you will either be the problem person or the solution person."

This is really important if there's a restructuring going on in your workplace, and you're wanting to stay and benefit.

"If you are the solution person and you're wanting to change something in your role, you're more likely to be promoted or have the changes made.

Knight says, "The other thing is to not be the person who is always complaining. There are personalities that tend to be always complaining, there's nowhere to go with that. Even when the manager suggests a solution, these people will always complain. It's frustrating and time wasting."

Knight says to remember that when having that conversation, it's about tone too. "What people don't realise is their employer is their customer. So you are asking them to pay for your goods and services every day.

"That makes them your customer. They don't need to know about your personal life, they don't need to know about your bad morning or your problems. They need to know you've arrived, you can do what you're expected to do and you're a solution person, not a problem person.

"That's really cut and dried, but it's the bottom line."