It’s easy to become jaded at work. When you do the same thing day-in and day-out, much of your job’s meaning dissolves and you begin to feel apathetic and downhearted about what you do. Unfortunately, feeling bad about your job is the first step toward getting stuck in your career, so before you lose your job or quit without a plan b, you must find a way to cope with the idea of a long-term career.

Here are a few solutions to help you find more meaning in your work and feel good about what you do.

How to Feel Good About the Work You Do

1. Find Rewards

It might sound juvenile, but what you could be missing is a gold star and a pat on the back. People want to be recognized, and if your boss isn’t giving you a sense of accomplishment with tangible or intangible rewards, you will feel ignored and unimportant. Thus, it is vital that you find a way to be rewarded for your good work.

Whenever you can, you should ask your boss and coworkers for feedback, which will guide you to more meaningful contributions that earn real rewards. Otherwise, you can give yourself a prize for your efforts, perhaps by allowing yourself a decadent dessert or buying a new outfit for work.

2. Find Autonomy

On one hand, there is a certain freedom in submitting entirely to another’s decisions, but few career women flourish under long-term oppression. Therefore, finding some independence or empowerment in your current position could help you feel good about your current job.

You become more invested in your work when you have more control over it, which means you usually have more energy and excitement for your job when you gain some autonomy. You can try asking your boss for some flexibility in your working conditions, such as setting your own hours, working from home, or choosing your own projects.

3. Find Complexity 

If both jobs provide equivalent salaries, would you choose to be an architect or a cashier? Most people opt for the former because of the opportunity for challenge and creativity. Your brain exists to solve problems, and when you waste every day with unchallenging work, you begin to feel unfulfilled and unhappy.

Therefore, you can create your own challenge to generate complexity in your work. One of the easiest ways to do this is to make it a competition ― with your coworkers, your boss’s expectations, and yourself. By pushing yourself to do better every day, you might start to feel better about what you do.

4. Find a Better Career

If there is no hope for you to find enjoyment in your current occupation, you might need a change of scenery to find contentment in your work. Most Americans seek new employment every three years or so, but transitioning into a more fulfilling line of work might help you establish stability in your career.

The 5 Most Meaningful Jobs (as determined by worker satisfaction):

1. Social Work

A significant portion of our population is in desperate need of help, and social workers exist to lend that hand they need. More than 85 percent of social workers find their jobs impactful, which gives them purpose to continue. You can earn a social worker degree online to make the career change quick and easy.

2. Medicine

The health care industry is always looking for dedicated workers who want to do good. You don’t have to spend seven years in medical school to find fulfillment; you can work as a health administrator or another office-based job and still feel more than 80 percent satisfied with your work.

3. Education

Students are the future, and you can be integral in helping them achieve that future by transitioning into education. Teachers have sometimes grueling responsibilities, but their satisfaction rates are usually well above the rest of the population.

4. Community Services

Representation of women (and people of color, for that matter) amongst police forces and firefighters around the country is appalling, which means if you are looking for a new career, you might make the biggest difference by becoming a community service member. Job satisfaction among police officers hovers around 85 percent, and the position provides opportunities to impact underserved members of communities.

5. Non-profit Work

People are suffering everywhere ― not just in meaningless careers. Non-profit work often provides the greatest sense of meaning because you choose where to direct your efforts, and you often openly see the impact you make in others’ lives.

We hope this article gave you some ideas of how you can feel good about the work you do. If needed, make a change. Whatever you do, don’t stay stuck. It’s never too late.