Are you bored to death in the dental practice?

Are you bored? Not just a clock watcher, but honest to goodness bored out of your mind when you are at work? I know that this is a touchy subject, but for some of us, it is our reality.

It doesn’t matter if you are the receptionist, a hygienist or a super-talented oral surgeon superstar. The bottom line is that many of us get bored at work. The question is-what should we do about it? 

Related article: 3 ways to handle an unmotivated employee

Seven questions you need to ask yourself:

• Do you hate Sunday nights? (Who doesn’t? I work to play.)

• Do you turn your alarm clock off and hideout under the covers as long as possible? (If I get to work early, it will just prolong my suffering!)

• Do you look at your Facebook feed while at work? (Who doesn’t?)

• Do you dream about working somewhere else? (Would that practice across town be better?)

• Are you irritable and easily annoyed at work? (Forget “at work,” I am that way 24/7. My colleagues call me cranky and THAT annoys me.)

• Do you procrastinate doing the things you need to get done? (Who doesn’t? I just take my time doing it.)

• Do you like the fact that I brought up this topic? (Yes, it means that this writer is awesome and isn’t afraid to talk about what is important to me.)

Now that the questions are asked, you wonder, “Now what?” Me? I didn’t realize how BAD it really is until I wrote these questions.

So what are you going to do about it? Well, you can either just continue living for the weekend or you can figure out why you are bored.

• Am I challenged? (Heck no!)

• Am I respected? (Yeah, right.)

• Can I do more than what I currently am doing? (Of course, but why should I?)

• Do I want more money? (Who doesn’t? But the truth is that I don’t feel I am paid my worth.)

One of the things I have learned along the way is that I am the only thing stopping me. Over and over I have heard sob stories about mean bosses and backstabbing co-workers. But, if I pull away the layers and look deep down inside of me, I see the truth. I am afraid. Afraid that I will fail if I try something new.

Related article: 7 ways to painlessly introduce change in the dental practice

My suggestion is to pull away the layers and figure out what the real issue is. What will motivate you to challenge yourself? If the job isn’t doing it, what will your next step be? That is my call to action. Take a look at yourself and determine if you are bored. If you are, do some deep-down soul searching and figure out what you want out of life and how you are going to get it. If you are bored, you don’t have any goals. The remedy-set some goals.

If you want to share your story, contact me at diana2@discussdirectives.com .