The 36-year-old said he was not reconsidering his future as captain following the 2-1 series loss and planned to lead the squad to South Africa next month for their next Test assignment.
However,Australia's failure has left his leadership under the blowtorch less than 12 months before England are due in the country to try and wrest back the Ashes.
Paine said he was still"loving"the job,which he took on after the sandpaper scandal in 2018.
"I'm still looking forward to going to South Africa and the series there. We've had a goal to make this Test Championship final[in July],"he said."I think that's still achievable. It's a big focus for us and for me and this group."
Asked whether he intended to press on until the Ashes,Pained replied:"I've said many times the last two or three years I don't look past the next series. I'm 36 years old,I'm loving doing my job. It's a difficult job and it's times like this it can be bloody hard work when you're copping it left,right and centre.
"That's what I signed up for. I didn't play my best cricket at times this series but that can happen. I'll go away,look to get better,look to improve certain parts of my game for the next year."