Talk To Me: I've lost interest in my job but I can't afford to leave it

Psychologist Caroline Martin is here to answer your questions on whatever issues you are dealing with in life, from work pressure and stress to loneliness and grief

There are points in our career when it is wise to pause and reflect on whether the job is still serving you or if you are stuck in a rut.

I've lost interest in my job but don't know what else I can do. I've been in the same role and company for the past 15 years and there are no prospects of promotion. I'm 38 and lucky to have a house but the mortgage repayments are high, so I can't afford to take a career break. I enjoy baking in my free time and used to fantasise about running a small cafe as a teenager but I know this is unlikely to happen. I've a long-term boyfriend - we don't live together and have no plans to do so.

'The fur-lined mousetrap' was a term coined by British author Cyril Northcote Parkinson and became the title of one of his books in 1973. The term seems as fitting a description now as then of our often-bittersweet relationship with work. We can feel stuck in a job that leaves us feeling miserable, yet because of the security of a pay cheque, or the promise of a decent pension, we stay. This bind results in many people surrendering their years in service to someone else’s dream or to a cultural narrative that serves the status quo.