Work is what you do. But ‘Professional wellbeing’ is about how you feel about what you do. It is not about your role – but how comfortable you are doing it day in, day out. Does it suck your energy dry, or leave you with something positive? Most will tell you they do not need to love their job – but they do need to feel it is not completely worthless. 

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash


Having a sense of progression is one important factor. Again, this does not have to be a major life step. Learning a new skill. Trying something new. Feeling more settled in your role. When you feel like you are not moving forward, work can become exhausting. But taking tiny steps forward can help.

Feeling like your work is acknowledged can help too. Not in a formal, reviewed kind of way. But in day-to-day life. Somebody recognises you made an effort. Somebody says thanks. Without these things, it can be easy to feel de-motivated. Having them can make your workload feel lighter.

Related to this is having autonomy. Having control over even small parts of your job. How you structure your day, what you prioritise, how you tackle problems. This is the principle behind job crafting. It is about tweaking elements of your job to make them better suit you. It will not change your role completely. But it might change how you experience it.

Work can also tie into things outside of work. Helping you to feel like there is something more to your day-to-day tasks. Concepts like the ones the SWEPPP project are built around connect personal, professional and planetary wellbeing. For some people this is about making sure their work does not negatively impact other people and planet. For others it is about feeling like their job has some broader sense of purpose.

Ultimately professional wellbeing is not about loving your job. It is about not hating your job. Having enough purpose, enough space to grow, and enough autonomy that your work does not feel like a chore.

References and find out more!