At some point in time most of us have been through periods where we lose interest in our jobs or assignments we are involved in. This is only a problem if the lack of interest persists for more than a few weeks and noticeable changes in behavior occur. Even the President has been exhibiting signs of a lack of job interest lately with his caught on camera tirade about the behavior of Wall street (a bunch of drunks) and a less than apologetic view of the housing market, where he laughed off the housing crisis saying that the market was still strong in Texas (his home state). The lack of care or thought by making these remarks in a semi-public setting, are just some signs that he is losing interest in his job as his term ends.

For the rest of us, with not so high profile jobs, here are 21 sure signs that you are losing interest in your job and that it maybe time to move on to your next challenge.

1. You no longer feel challenged in the work you are doing. It is either boring or of little interest to you and your only goal is to get it done as soon as possible, as opposed to doing the best job possible

2. You cannot concentrate on a particular activity for more than an hour or without first having a caffeine induced buzz. This includes getting easily distracted by other's conversations or general office noise

3. You feel that you are always getting the crappy assignments and others in your team are getting the good ones. This could also be a sign that your employer is losing interest in you!

4. You cannot remember the last time you got a promotion, above average raise or a special achievement award, and you have stopped caring that you haven't got one of these in a while

5. You get too work late and leave early for no real reason other than you want to minimize your time spent at work. Overtime is a painful word to you

6. You look forward to the social interactions at work more than the actual work it self. This is reflected when everyone comes to you for the office gossip and management gripes, and you are more than happy to discuss and complain about how bad the current conditions are

7. You feel that things have to be better elsewhere and that it is only your job/company that is bad. This is called the "Grass is greener on the other side syndrome", and is rarely true, especially if this is the second or third job/company in a row that is making you feel this way

8. You spend more than 2 to 3 hrs a day on non-work related stuff like surfing the web for the latest McCain/Obama political news, celebrity gossip, blogging, stock trading, online shopping or on message boards

9. All you care about is your paycheck and not about professional growth, future projects or where the company is headed

10. You can't be bothered participating in any after work related social or sporting activities. These are some of the best networking opportunities and committed employees make the time to go to these

11. You tune out in a majority of meetings you attend and can't remember the last meeting where made a constructive contribution

12. You never volunteer for projects or activities that could mean extra work for you, but could also have resulted in recognition of your work by senior management

13. You blame office or organizational politics for everything that is bad in the company, and think that you could do things better but just don't have the authority

14. You feel like everyone enjoys being at work, while you don't and start resenting your colleagues who are doing well in their jobs

15. You only do enough work to get by and to avoid detection of your lack of interest

16. You actually look at the spam emails talking about made up jobs that look to be too true, like professional chocolate taster. All they want is your email and phone number, to put you on a master distribution list. This also extends to the excessive amount of time you spend on Linkedin or other professional networking sites, to see what your "connections" are doing. Networking is good, but not when it becomes your main activity while at work

17. You feel really depressed on Sunday evenings at the prospect of going to work the next day

18. You are only in your job because the economy is bad and so you justify to yourself that there is not point in looking for another job

19. You stop mentoring or helping junior colleagues and feel resentful of the fact they are trying to do your job without the years of experience you have

20. You take one or more sick days a month when neither you nor anyone in your family is really unwell

21. You have read this entire list a few times over and can relate to a majority (15+) of the items!

If you met the criteria for point 21, then it is time to start looking for a new job because you are in a rut with your current role and on your way to becoming a disgruntled employee. Either look within the company (if the issue is only with your current role/department) or for a fresh start look at moving to a new company. Don't wait for things to get "better", because in most cases they won't. If you find the same signs have emerged in the past 2 to 3 jobs you have held, it could be time for a career or even attitude change. More on that in another post.

Mr President, I would love to get your thoughts on the above list, or have you already checked out?

Related Posts:
> Preparing for a Layoff
> Top ten myths about buying a franchise - Part 3
> How long is your working week?

Create a Free Monster Account and Post Your Resume Now!