Work. It's such a big part of our lives.

Whenever you introduce yourself to someone, after your name, where you're from, and possibly your age, you tell them what you do for a living. It gives us all a form of identity. Of course each and every one of us enjoys a good moan about work every now and again; it's no biggie. But far more serious is if you truly detest your job with a passion. It can make Monday to Friday a weekly form of torture. Sometimes it creeps up on you. You can work away at the same desk, in the same office, doing mostly the same duties, and then after a few days off, you realise you cannot bear returning to the grind. It's far worse than mere back-to-work blues. Here are a few worrying signs that you're in a job that you hate so much that you should consider leaving as soon as possible - for your own good... 1) You feel a weekend-ruining dread for Monday morning; not on Sunday evening, but on Saturday, because you know you're only a day away from being miserable again. 2) When your family or friends casually ask you how work is going, your response is a simple 'fine', because you hate it so much that you'd rather forget than have a moan. 3) The only thing that keeps you going is the handful of work colleagues whose company you actually enjoy. And when they're not in or on holiday, you are extra glum for their absence. 4) You loathe your job to such an extent that even driving or walking past the general vicinity of your place of work sends a chill down your spine because you associate it with misery. 5) Going to the toilet - or pretending to - is one of the best parts of your day, because you can escape your desk/workstation and very briefly think about something else. 6) Worrying about work bleeds into the time you spend with your family/loved ones, making you tetchy and irritable. You are rarely if ever completely relaxed or switched off. 7) Bank holidays are manna from heaven to you, not only because it means time away from that which you hate, but everyone else is off too so your workload can't pile up in your absence. 8) You resent seeing a work colleague outside of working hours, whether it be at the park, shopping, or simply walking down the street, because it pricks your temporary peace. 9) You hate what you do so much that sometimes you work harder trying to avoid your tasks than the effort it would take to actually do the work. It becomes a tragic game. 10) You secretly hate it with a passion when someone says that they're lucky enough to do something they enjoy for a living, because it is so removed from your torturous lot. 11) Some days you can almost feel your braincells withering away as there is nothing to inspire, engage, challenge or excite you. Instead there's only autopilot apathy. 12) Sunday to Thursday you never really have a peaceful night's sleep because you're constantly worrying about work-related issues, be they project work, deadlines or personnel-related. 13) Work is so dreadful, so incredibly soul-destroying and energy-sapping that come the end of the day, you don't even have the strength or energy to focus on applying for something else. ...the thing is, if some or all of these scenarios are relatable to you, it's time to get out as soon as possible. Life is short and you can't waste months and years of your finite existence doing something that makes you so consistently unhappy. Of course it's hard. You get to a point when you question whether you're qualified or suitable for anything else, but you've got to try - even if that means researching a complete change of direction. Too many of us define ourselves by what we do in our working week. We shouldn't. But by the same token, we spend so much time earning our living that at the very least it's got to be something that's not harming us.