How we feel about work—how productive we believe we are, whether we think we’re contributing positively to society, our morale at work—is heavily influenced by dozens of factors that are outside our control. Our feelings about work can change even if the works itself doesn’t change.

Consider what happened five years ago. Our elders were dying, our neighbors were dying, and we were asked to please stay home until a vaccine for a brand-new disease could be manufactured at scale. Restaurant industry workers, hotel employees, entertainers, and others lost work. Some new entrepreneurs, like those who had just opened a cleaning business for example, watched it collapse before it even started, while those selling bicycle parts, as another example, saw unbelievable returns. The economy was confusing. However, a whole movement of people expressed greater clarity about what was important to them. Collectively, that clarity made people feel more empowered at work. A whole lot of people took a look at their work life and said, “Fuck this shit,” even if they didn’t quit their jobs. They reassessed how much of themselves they were willing to give to their job. A pandemic and all the economics related to it, put their life’s meaning into perspective. Many finally understood the mantra “work will never love you back.”

Five years on, we have a U.S. economy that just as confusing. Job numbers and wages feel awful but look good on paper. (The numbers will catch up.) Tariffs on imported goods are either up or not up, depending on the whims of a man who fancies himself a deal-maker extraordinaire. Inflation may have cooled, but prices for groceries aren’t coming down ever. Interest rates have come down, but they are still high compared to the historic lows of a few years ago. People who have jobs feel lucky to have them. Despite the turmoil, I have not heard much of a societal conversation about achieving greater clarity in at least two years.

Feeling negatively about work due to factors well outside of work is not unusual or illogical, though it may be worth putting into perspective. When those feeling arise, ask yourself whether the work has changed or relationships at work have changed, or if it’s:

• the economy at large
• industry layoffs
• the lingering effects of inflation
• the uncharacteristic actions of government
• or something else feeding into it.

Photo by Khanh Do on Unsplash.