Being too comfortable in your job could be a sign that you're not enjoying the work and it's time to look for a new position. Maybe you've been doing the same tasks for so long that you've stopped enjoying them or maybe you've outgrown your role and want more responsibility. Either way, it's time to take action.
Getting too comfortable in your job is not good for anyone—not just junior employees, but also in senior employees. And if you're not doing your best work, everyone will notice and resent you for it. If you want to keep your job, or even advance in it, you need to keep working hard and make sure that other people know how great you are and how much they can learn from working with you.
In her book, Danger in the Comfort, Judith M. Bardwick writes that getting too comfortable in your job is a behavioural state in which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of purpose. This often leads to low work productivity for an individual.
Being too comfortable in your job is a habit that when left unguarded plasters its way through the veins of your work ethics. The results? Career stagnation, low appraisals, and lack of ambition and desire to stay up to date in industry trends and developments. If you do not keep your comfort in check, you risk being part of 85% of the world's 1 billion employees who are not fully engaged at work for reasons closely linked to work complacency.
So, where do you draw the line? Well, if you see these 5 signs, know you are too comfortable in your job and you should do something about it.
1. You are not learning anything new
If you are not learning anything new or if you are still doing what you have always done, and the work you do is getting more complex and difficult, but not changing. This is a sign that you are comfortable in your job.
The best way to stay ahead of the game is to keep learning. Learning new skills at work helps keep your interest levels high and keeps the boredom away. If you've been in the same industry for years, you may be stuck doing the same things and looking at the same kind of work as your peers. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to keep learning and growing your career while still doing what you love. The best way to do this is by taking online courses or enrolling in physical classes at local colleges or universities. This will give you a chance to interact with others who are also looking for a career change — and it'll help you learn from their experiences as well as from their education in those areas.
2. Career stagnation
You know the feeling. You've been working at the same job for years, and you're not doing anything new or exciting. You're just making the same kind of calls every day, and going to the same meetings. On top of that, people you work with are getting promoted at an alarming rate while you're stuck in "second-grade" territory. This is a sign that your current role isn't fulfilling you anymore and you may want to look for something new that will make you happy again.
When you get too comfortable in your job you might not even realize it's happening to you, because most people don't have a good sense of how much time they spend on their jobs. But if you're stuck in a job that feels routine, then you're in danger of losing your passion for work altogether.
3. Showing up for the bare minimum or you are not being challenged at work
If you're just showing, doing the bare minimum, and not trying to go above and beyond, then you're not getting anything out of your job. You're just getting paid. And if you want to be surprised by how much money you can make, then you should be willing to do some things that are a bit more complicated than just punching in and punching out every day. If your daily routine at work lacks motivation, even just a glimpse of it consider yourself in your comfort zone.
4. Always bored at work and it's showing
If you're always bored at work, chances are you're not giving yourself enough credit. I'd like to think that if I were given a chance to work with the same people every day, there would be some level of comfort. But most of us have to deal with different people daily and this is where our job satisfaction comes into play.
If you're bored at work, you should ask yourself why. Are you bored because your work doesn't challenge you or excite you? Or because there are no opportunities for growth? Or perhaps it's just that you are too comfortable in your job? While these are all valid reasons, they don't necessarily mean there's something wrong with you — they may just mean that the job isn't right for you yet.
If this sounds like you, take some time to evaluate your job satisfaction levels by answering the following questions: Is there someone who inspires me at work? Are there opportunities for advancement within my department or organization? Is my career trajectory clear? Do I feel connected to my team and peers outside of work as well? Do I feel like this is a place where I'll help shape the future of our industry as well as contribute to its growth?
When you are bored, you lose interest in your work and become disengaged from it.
5. New opportunities in the company don't interest you
If you're not excited about a new project or position, it's often because something is missing from it. If you're not interested in a new opportunity because "I don't want to be bothered," that's a red flag. You may need to ask yourself whether your current job is something you enjoy, or if there are other career goals you still want to pursue. If so, then taking on additional responsibilities might be the right move for you.
Being too comfortable in your job might blur your career goals and aspirations. If you don't have any aspirations for where your career is going, then there's no reason for you to continue trying to reach them. If you don't even know what kind of work you want to do in the future, then there's no point in starting work now because it's unlikely that it will lead anywhere interesting or fulfilling later on (assuming that was your original intention).
To jump off the wagon of being too comfortable in your job, you should aim at cultivating new work habits that are geared to developing a growth mindset and self-actualization.
