What to do when you are professionally stuck? Avoid professional stagnation

What to do when you are professionally stuck? Avoid professional stagnation with these tips. Throughout our professional lives, we all have a moment when we feel stuck. We continue working and doing a good job. However, we feel that something is not right. It is not something stimulating that makes work no longer motivate you.

Don’t you think that you have disconnected from everything that happens in your sector? You may even think that you have been overtaken and that you are in the middle of nowhere. Yes, that has happened to many of us, and it is something that must be fought.

When we choose our profession, most of us take into account our abilities and what we like. And when we get a stable job, we are finally excited to develop a professional activity for which we have prepared so thoroughly. However, frequently, it does not turn out as well as we would like. This leads us to these situations of stagnation.

This article provides you with information to avoid professional stagnation and discover a new path to help you find new goals.

When does professional stagnation appear?

Although professional stagnation can arise at any stage of our work trajectory (regardless of how long we have been in a company or the work we do), its appearance is more common after the initial phase of adaptation to a new job or a new professional stage.

The period of “trial” or “adaptation” to a new job can vary depending on the position and the responsibilities associated with it. As a general rule, it is considered that it can take between one and five years to understand and internalize all the characteristics and particularities of a job.

After this time, we mastered the habits, mechanisms, tools, and dynamics of internal functioning at the organizational and operational level, and that is when we enter a second stage called the “consolidation phase.”

It is precisely in this period when professional stagnation is a real “threat.” The lack of professional challenges and future employees’ expectations directly affects their motivation, which is one of the most common causes of job stagnation. Of course, it is not the only one, nor is it the determining factor, as this sensation occurs in 95% of cases progressively and gradually.

The life cycle of a job

In many situations, jobs have a life cycle. These do not have a specific time, and not all stages develop in all people; however, workers must know it to identify when it occurs and how to counteract it.

There are certain stages in the life cycle of a job. These are:

• “The honeymoon.” Avoid professional stagnation

This is when you are just starting at work, and everything seems ideal. The person is completely comfortable with the opportunity, salary, benefits, team, boss, company, and other important aspects.

• Establishment of reality

Within approximately a month of arrival, things are no longer as “perfect” as they were at first, and the first challenges or difficulties appear. Some also call it “reality shots” because you start to be realistic with the opportunity and stop seeing everything in such an idealistic way.

• Learning phase, Avoid professional stagnation

During the first year of work, the employee’s learning curve is at its highest level and overcomes the problems detected in the previous phase. The person strives to give their maximum effort and tries to overcome any difficulties that arise. The bosses or commissions know what they can expect from the worker and vice versa. It is when the job positioning occurs.

• Mastery of the work and achievement of solid results

In year two, the person has mastered all their tasks and knows how to achieve the desired results. At this point, the person has a better profile in the company and with those in charge. This stage can last from three to five years.

• The first questions, Avoid professional stagnation

When the motivation diminishes, the person notices the defects in the company and managers. Meetings to feel unproductive, and longer lunch breaks are taken. There are late arrivals and early departures. For experts, this is the time to change jobs. Otherwise, job stagnation occurs.

• Demotivation

The company and its organizational culture are not what they used to be. Employee results decline, and their managers and team begin to notice it. This is a critical stage in working life because if the person has not changed jobs, it will affect their professional profile.

• Exhaustion, Avoid professional stagnation

There is a deep job demotivation. Also, the person has a bad attitude at work, and this is very noticeable. The work stops being something satisfactory, which affects the personal life and health of the worker. As already mentioned, the time of the work cycle in each person varies. The important thing is that the person knows how to identify what stage they are in and avoid job stagnation.

Tips to not stagnate at the work level

• Renew and constantly update your Curriculum

This is an excellent option if you are thinking of changing jobs or are in a job search process. You are gaining visibility, building trust, having a rich profile adapted to the position, or advocating for creativity and innovation to attract the attention of companies are fundamental guidelines.

• Have a proactive profile within your company

Propose your ideas, generate feedback to your superiors, resolve conflicts healthily with your colleagues or discuss ways to improve existing processes related to your profile will earn you points to grow and gain responsibilities.

• Find ways to be more productive, Avoid professional stagnation

Productivity and motivation are essential not to stagnate and grow thanks to good results. Therefore, you can use all kinds of techniques and specialized software to be more productive and effective. Optimizing your time properly will make you a better employee.

• Be decisive in the face of problems, Avoid professional stagnation

Professionalism should be your priority to climb in any company, coupled with critical thinking, diligence, and motivation.

• Highlight your value and reject those projects that do not make you grow as a professional

It is important, especially if you work as a freelancer, to determine your value, set your rates according to your development and the level of demands of your projects, and know how to negotiate your salary increases with your bosses properly. Don’t make beginner mistakes.

• Continue training, Avoid professional stagnation

Especially in the digital world, it is essential that you continue to acquire skills and abilities that help you perform your job functions better. You can do it through the massive and open online courses that allow you to study from home in a decentralized and flexible way, choosing the schedules yourself and learning through various materials and interactive classes.

Conclusions

Experts advise following the above recommendations, although there is no “perfect recipe” to work on job stagnation. In addition, it is recommended to analyze the situation to identify in which stage of the cycle it is and take action on the matter before reaching stagnation.

Thanks to these amazing tips, people now have the opportunity to successfully avoid professional stagnation and become the professionals they want to be.