When you go to work on Mondays and ask people how they are doing, what do they say? Do you get any of these responses?

– The weekend was too short

– It’s Monday

– Another day off would have been great!

Those are the responses that I receive. After 15 years of working at four different companies, I’ve often wondered why it seems like most people don’t enjoy their work. They experience what I call Sunday Night Syndrome (SNS), which is that awful, painful, pit-in-your stomach feeling of dread about the approaching Monday. SNS usually begins around 4:00pm on Sunday. Do you ever have SNS?

The average person spends his or her work hours waiting – waiting for Friday; waiting for the weekend; waiting for vacation; waiting for a promotion; waiting for five o’clock. Where is the magic in that?

The secret to job satisfaction is actually quite simple – just stay at home. Just kidding! You can’t have job satisfaction without job appreciation. Before searching for some obscure secret to finding happiness at work, ask yourself if you appreciate your job. Would you rather be busy working or busy looking for work?

There are people that have been out of work for more than two years. They wish they could have your job. Appreciating your job means bringing value to your employer by taking a novel approach to your work with a positive attitude.

Make a list of ten aspects of your job that you appreciate. I commute one hour and fifteen minutes each way. Sometimes I say, “I hate this commute.” But it’s because of my commute that I get to read two to three books a month (audiobooks, of course). Whenever you begin to experience SNS, take out your list and focus on one item.

There are two situations in which it is almost impossible to find job satisfaction:

1. You don’t get along with your colleagues

2. You do not believe in your company’s product or philosophy

In these two cases, you need to seek new employment as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the quickest path to job satisfaction is job appreciation. Appreciate the job you have!