Singapore is infested with “working dead”. More than half of businesses identify that they have “zombie employees” in their midst. They are physically at work but are “mentally checked out and sleepwalking” through the day. Are you one of these working dead? If so, how does this affect you?
Let’s first recognise the 5 signs of a working dead:
1. Feast or Famine
Food – you either have a lot of it or none at all. You may take to emotional eating, binging on junk food. When you feel bothered, the first thing you reach out for is fried chicken, pizza or chocolate ice cream. Or you may have completely no appetite. Food is tasteless and even eating porridge feels tiresome. Your physical health naturally takes a beating. You may find yourself putting on weight and feel lethargic. You may have spurts of energy, but that doesn’t last long.
2. Thinking things
Sitting at your cubicle, scrolling down a spreadsheet, you find yourself blanking out and suddenly questioning yourself, “What am I doing here? Am I supposed to be doing this?”
You begin to wonder if you fit into this company. You ponder about what you are meant to be doing. You question your skills and abilities. You begin to question your own self-worth, if you are good enough for anything.
After rounds of questioning, you draw a blank. You realise you do not have the answer and doubt if anyone has the solution for you. You resign to this state of hopelessness.
3. Feeling frustrated
It goes without saying then that your mood is low. The heaviness inside you is beyond words that even breathing feels difficult. You feel lost and abandoned. The fear of being stranded and never to be rescued is so frightening that you sometimes abruptly burst into tears. That is the extent of your devas
tation.
Otherwise, you are in a constant state of frustration. You are a no-go zone, people fear to approach you. To them, you look and behave like Pinsir from Pokemon, fiercely snapping away (see image right).
You feel angry with yourself for getting yourself into this fix and feel even more furious that you can’t get yourself out of it. Common sense tells you if you are unhappy at this job, then you should leave. But you have no clue what to do or where to go. It will be the same old thing again – same sh*t, different company.
To your credit, you did try to search within yourself. Unfortunately, you came up empty on what it is that you wish to be doing. You wish you knew what that dream job was, one that drives you every day and brings a smile to your face in the morning, one that brings lightness to you when you are doing it, as though you are floating.
4. Isolated island
The English poet John Donne says “no man is an island”, yet you feel like you have been deserted on one.
You look around at your friends and wonder what it is that is making them happy, and wonder why are they not letting you in on the secret? You begin to feel like the odd one out and slowly remove yourself from the group. You can’t bare to see their beaming faces when you can barely muster a smile. You may even resent them at one point for not helping you out, for being none the wiser to the support that you need from them, “How can they not know? Are they that oblivious?” You know that each of them have their own busy lives. Rather than be a burden to them, you retreat from the world and banish into your own black hole.
5. God is gone
With all the emptiness you are feeling, you question the purpose of your existence. You wonder if the Almighty, Providence, God, Creator, Source or Universe is playing one sick joke on you. Is He gaining pleasure from making you suffer here? To appease Him, you resort to prayers but soon give up. You have prayed! You try to be a good person, yet why is He not listening? Isn’t he supposed to perform miracles and make my life good when I ask Him to? You are at a quandary with your spiritual beliefs, “Why am I here? Does He even exist?” You don’t know what you believe in anymore and you don’t think anyone has the answers.
So you are a working dead. How now?
If 3 or more of the above describes you, you can only be dead at work for so long before your bosses notice your deteriorating work performance and lack of enthusiasm for new projects.
It is true that company culture and HR incentives do impact on you. However, with external work conditions being equal, why is that your colleagues are performing better than you? I will uncover the reasons in the next post.
For now, do not beat yourself up for not enjoying your job. Pat yourself on the back for making the first step in recognising that work is indeed sucking the life out of you. The next step is to seek a solution.
Get guidance to uncover the underlying cause of your grievances at work and address them one at a time. When you make the first shift, you will find everything else shifts around you. Be patient, it is possible.
Quote and statistic source: http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/are-you-a-zombie-employee-over-half-of-singapore-companies-have-them
Zombie image credit: http://hellogiggles.com/100-years-zombie-evolution/
Pinsir image credit: http://pokemon.wikia.com/wiki/Pinsir