{"id":1291,"date":"2009-12-18T09:51:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-18T17:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2013-08-21T09:17:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T17:17:58","slug":"how-to-be-utterly-miserable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Be Utterly Miserable"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!<\/p>\n

Focus on problems, especially ones that you can\u2019t control<\/strong> This is the most important skill to master. If you can crack this one then all the rest will be easy. Here we go. You should always look for problems in every situation. When one problem appears to have been solved, which does occasionally happen for some reason, look for others. The great thing here is that there are always problems – they are everywhere, so it\u2019s really easy to focus on them. This means you don\u2019t have to spend a lot of time finding problems because they tend to present themselves naturally, and you can focus all your energy on complaining as loudly and as widely as possible. As well as finding problems, it\u2019s absolutely vital that you spend as much time and energy as possible complaining about them. This basic skill of complaining about problems is the foundation to a truly miserable life, and at work you have ample opportunity to practice this skill.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not perfect, but you\u2019re doing your best. But why extend this way of thinking to others? Why not berate and condemn other people at every opportunity? It\u2019s especially appropriate to condemn your boss or others in some sort of authority. To make yourself feel important, consider condemning others in public. Things like inconsistency, not being perfect and making mistakes are ideal flaws for you to shout about. And remember – the louder you shout, the better.<\/p>\n

Take everything really seriously, especially yourself<\/strong> Whenever someone tries to make light of a situation, tell them it\u2019s inappropriate and that their attitude offends you. You can even take the opportunity to make yourself super-miserable by making a formal complaint against someone who behaves in such an unprofessional way. Remember – you have the right to be taken seriously at all times by all people. Don\u2019t let others get away with levity!<\/p>\n

Become a martyr<\/strong> There are lots of ways to approach this one. The best way is to volunteer to do something and then complain about doing it. The more time and effort it takes, the better. The important thing is to get everyone to realize that you are indispensable. Let\u2019s face it, if you leave then the whole place will fall apart – they can\u2019t possibly survive without the kind of sacrifices you make day in and day out. And they all need to know it.<\/p>\n

Never forget an insult, however small<\/strong> Amazingly, and despite your importance, there will always be some people who don\u2019t appreciate this and make inappropriate remarks (see above). It\u2019s vital that you remember these remarks in as much detail as possible. Go over them in your mind whenever possible, and recount these incidents to an audience whenever you can. Ideally, you should weave these insults into a narrative about how bad your life is and how other people are against you – everyone loves a good story!<\/p>\n

Remember – there\u2019s always someone better off than you<\/strong> Think about it – how many people earn more than you, have a bigger office and a better job title. Lots, right? It\u2019s vital that you focus on this fact and spend your time and energy complaining about it. Many of these \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbetter off\u2019 people aren\u2019t as skilled or as experienced as you are, and this is really unfair. You should have that job, not them! Try to channel as much of your energy as possible into feeling bitter and resentful about this.<\/p>\n

Accept the fact that you\u2019re totally impotent<\/strong> You have so much to offer – if only people would listen to you! If only you had some authority, some power; if only your boss would take on board your ideas then things would be better. But sadly, you\u2019re totally impotent – you have no say and no influence, and the sooner you embrace this fact the better. Ideally, you should tell the world about this fact at every opportunity.<\/p>\n

Never try to improve anything<\/strong> On no account should you attempt to improve any situation whatsoever. Remember – it\u2019s not your job. You don\u2019t get paid to find solutions. Instead, you should focus your energy on finding problems and then complaining about them. Try to dwell on these problems as much as you can. One of the best ways to do this is to complain as widely, as loudly and as publicly as possible (see point number 1). The more you complain, the more attention you will draw to your terrible plight and the more miserable you will feel. This also has the added benefit of not getting you anywhere near a promotion because for some reason the bosses don\u2019t like complaining. This is outrageous and unfair – an added bonus – and it also reinforces your martyr status. Great!<\/p>\n

Learn from others<\/strong> Like any skill set, it\u2019s important to copy others. You\u2019ll have no shortage of people to copy – most work places are full of individuals who have spent a lifetime mastering these skills. Try to latch onto the most skilful and under no circumstances associate with those naive and inexperienced people who don\u2019t complain much and try to find solutions to problems. We are very much influenced by those around us, so choose your companions carefully! All of these skills are interconnected and, with practice, you can take them to a really high level. Eventually you can become a master, but in the meantime, spend all your time in the company of those who really know how to be utterly miserable. Some of these points may, at times, seem to contradict each other. But no matter! What counts is that you feel as miserable as possible and try to drag everyone down with you as much as you can. Now you know the key skills, go to it!<\/p>\n

Mark Harrison is a Guest Blogger for PickTheBrain and the founder of ChangeYourLife.net<\/a>. Check out his latest book, Thirty Days to Change Your Life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

http:\/\/lawofattraction30days.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How To Learn From Mistakes<\/a><\/p>\n

Free Audio Books<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery! Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[4641,187,4631,66,4629,188],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Be Utterly Miserable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Be Utterly Miserable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-18T17:51:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T17:17:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/\",\"name\":\"How To Be Utterly Miserable\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-18T17:51:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-21T17:17:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Be Utterly Miserable\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Be Utterly Miserable","description":"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Be Utterly Miserable","og_description":"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2009-12-18T17:51:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-21T17:17:58+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.visuallee.com\/weblog\/images\/joy_sign_cirrus.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/","name":"How To Be Utterly Miserable","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2009-12-18T17:51:36+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-21T17:17:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"Life\u2019s hard, isn\u2019t it? There are lots of things in life that you shouldn\u2019t have to do, and work is one of them. So don\u2019t waste another second of your time in feeling good about it? With my top ten tips for feeling utterly miserable at work, you\u2019ll soon be walking around with a permanent frown and a head full of misery!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-to-be-utterly-miserable\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Be Utterly Miserable"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}