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Clocking in to work and moving through your tasks with joy can be motivating. With dread, it can be understandable when you’re dealing with bad days. However, the moment that indifference is your main emotion, there’s a chance that you’re feeling lost in your career.

Frankly, feeling directionless in your career is a universal feeling. These emotions can occur while you’re still at your current job. And unfortunately, it can still linger even when you’ve resigned and transferred to a new one. The only way to move forward is to process and go through it. 

Reasons for Feeling Stuck and How to Solve Them

Before you jump into any new game plans, dissect your emotions first to figure out why you’re feeling lost in the first place. Pinpointing your career is already a great starting point, but it’s vital to get a little more specific to know how you can tackle it. Here are a few possible reasons. 

Lack of Growth at Your Job

Sometimes, you might not actually be feeling lost in your career as a whole. You still love your industry, but you aren’t getting the right opportunities to grow in your current work environment. As a result, your overall growth in the field has plateaued. 

The best remedy for this is often to talk with your boss about any possible opportunities that the company can provide. If that doesn’t seem too fruitful, it may be best to seek opportunities elsewhere. 

Work Burnout

Work burnout can stem from unprecedented and constant workplace stress, whether physical or emotional. A report found that 66% of Americans are experiencing some form of burnout, highlighting how prominent it’s become in the age of AI. 

For some people, rest can help ease burnout. However, it’s often a case of just how far gone you are in being burnt out. You also need to learn to draw boundaries at work to avoid such feelings again. 

Midlife or Career Crisis

When you’ve been working for a couple of years, it’s hard not to think about what could’ve been. These thoughts end up manifesting when you might have gone down a career path that you aren’t exactly keen on, or a career path that you thought would make you happy but didn’t. 

A midlife or career crisis can be tough to solve, since you’re kind of in limbo. It’s uncertain whether you should jump ship from your industry or just tough it out for now. Soul-searching becomes a must. 

Work-Life Imbalance

Feeling lost in your career can also stem from this struggle to balance it with your life. You might feel like you’re leaning too much into focusing on your personal life and neglecting your professional one. It could also be vice versa.

To get rid of this slump, you need to stop thinking that the perfect work-life balance exists first. Forcing it can cause more stress than relief in the long run. Operating more like a pendulum, where you swing and dedicate more time when needed, can work out better for you.  

Sense of Unfulfillment

Jobs are meant to help fund your dreams and to pursue what truly makes you fulfilled. However, it’s important to realize that your work is something that you do 40 hours a week. While it doesn’t necessarily have to make you overtly happy, being unfulfilled can definitely take a toll. 

Outside your office, you can try revisiting hobbies and activities you actually like. In the office, it might be best to look for silver linings in your responsibilities. If it seems too difficult, a change of pace might be better. 

What To Do When Feeling Lost in a Career

Finding out the reason you’re lost in your career is a key step, but going through the motions and getting out of it is another. Here’s what can help you during this transitional phase of your life. 

1. Understand That It’s Common

While it may sound cliché, you’re not alone in feeling lost in your career. A report found that 62% of adults said they’re not in the career they intended after completing their education. There’s also another 62% that feel undecided about their future career plans. Everyone has their own path and timeline to a career that will make them feel fulfilled. 

2. Reflect on What Motivates You

What exactly was your reason for working in the field that you’re in? Creatives feel the urge to make art, and healthcare professionals want to help other people. Try to see if that mission still resonates with where you currently are in life. That confirmation or denial can help guide you through the next steps of your career. 

3. Narrow Down What Drains You

Pinpointing what triggered the feeling of being lost at work is critical to preventing it, at least in the near future. For example, some people are guilty of working overtime and expending their energy. Getting better at time management and clocking out on time can help immensely. You can also talk about your struggles with your boss if you feel comfortable. 

4. Explore Building New Skills

Taking the initiative to learn new skills, rather than stagnating in your career, can feel empowering. Learn something that interests you, whether it’s in your realm of responsibilities or in a completely different industry. You never know when you might use that skill set. 

5. Talk to Your Colleagues for Perspective

Confiding in co-workers or just other professionals within the industry can help validate your experience. They could even give you advice to help shape your perspective on your career. You might also be able to share value with your peers, which can help deepen the relationship. 

6. Take the Leap 

The steps to move forward in your career can be daunting, whether it involves moving to a new office or entering a whole different industry. However, it’s better to take the leap than to stay stuck at the same place with the same feelings forever. Take this as a sign that you’re brave enough to go on that journey. 

Climb Out of the Spiral

Feeling lost in your career is no easy challenge, especially when you’re a work-oriented person in the first place. However, know that it’s just the stage before you ultimately find what you’re actually looking for. Put in the work and climb out of the spiral to take hold of your career.