This post by Steve Pavlina is one that I used to (sort of) agree with: 10 reasons you should never get a job
But even though I’m probably as Type A as Pavlina, if not more so – I’m not sure that I agree with him anymore.
Here’s my reasons why I should start working for “the man” again after just 4 months off anyway:
- I like seeing my bank account balance going up, not down. I’m still in that no-touchy phase of my investments – and besides, they were going down too until recently. Back when I was saving, saving, saving – everything went up all the time and I didn’t notice or care about the blips that much. Wow, that was great.
- Missing work friendships. I *still* can’t seem to find groups in real life that I fit into at my age – the difference between now and last year is that I’m more actively looking for them now – and they aren’t really there. Not only that, but the ones that are meet at night (to work around the working people’s hours), which is when I like being at home with my family.
- It sucks to have no minions. Even worse, my only available minions – my kids – are slacking on things they used to do because I’m at home all day to do them now. Even the pets are becoming needier, following me around all day, meowing at doors or to get fed 52 times a day – or bringing me shoes as a hint that more than 2 walks a day would be appreciated. I’m tempted to do like I am the working poor – and cut the interwebz and cable – except I’m the one that would get hurt the most from it.
- My honey-do list is ugly. I can see now that there was a reason why I wasn’t doing all of the things at home I was *supposed* to be doing before when I was working. Mostly that I hate doing them. Work was just more fun.
- That whole Parkinson’s Law thing?: The amount of time which one has to perform a task is the amount of time it will take to complete the task.
Yeah, it’s true. Even my grocery shopping time has increased by a factor of 3. Everything has increased in the time it takes me – cleaning, cooking… I think it’s called puttering but I’m not sure since I’ve never done it before. - Not enough sensory input. I wrote a LOT more on this blog when I was working. I was interacting more with people. The Unabomber tendencies I have just get exacerbated when I’m home.
- Routines are wonderful. Back when I worked, I’d wake up at 5 or so every morning and write because that was the only time I had. Most posts took about 15-30 minutes to write. Now that I know that I can write at almost any time, I put it off. And I even LIKE writing!
- The internet sucks me in and wastes my time. I was always the kind of person that could go to a library or bookstore and spend 6-7 hours reading dozens of books. But at some point of course, I’d have to leave. Usually because they were closing. The internet never closes. And I never have to leave. How do I end up on these remote tangents?
- I miss fixing problems. At most of my jobs, my time was spent fixing things or putting things together (like spreadsheets). It was like playing Sudoku all day long with a bunch of friends and I was really good at it. People even patted me on the head for it. I miss those head pats and miss the problems.
- Apparently I like stress and urgency. It’s that Type A personality thing (there’s hope for me since I only scored 73/100) and it’s a problem. I guess there’s a reason why I always gravitated towards jobs with tight deadlines that required heroic effort. Nowadays I’m setting myself crazy goals like knitting a scarf in a day and cleaning the house in half an hour.
Have you ever just missed the simplicity of work? Like if you were on maternity leave or something?
Am I wacko?
And why can’t I be more like Retired Syd?
I never missed working per se when I was on maternity leave, but I did feel very isolated and alone when I was home with the baby all day.
I also find when the job is boring, I need my brain to solve difficult problems.
Oh and last but not least, I was making mountains out of molehills because I lost some perspective on what stress really was.
I think I’ll always need some kind of challenge to keep me stimulated, but eventually I’d like to transition to something that would allow me to work more around the kid’s school hours.
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I see your point on the stress Sandy, but I generally don’t feel stressed out when I’m working – even in a very hectic job. I kind of thrive off it. Am actually not very stressed now either knowing the time off will come to an end soon, or in a few months anyway. Although I do get a little stressed when the kids mess up my newly cleaned house.
I totally agree on the work that fits around school – man was that the sweetest to have the last couple of years. All the fun in less than half the time. Truly the best of both worlds.
I found that my stress level and general dissatisfaction with working went way down once I didn’t have to work anymore. I am sure a lot of it has to do with it feeling like a choice vs a sentence.
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Absolutely true Sandy, you’re going there because you choose to be there – and if that job doesn’t cut it, you find one that does. But there’s no pressure to find one right away, you can wait for the right one. Or make one.
I must be a type A personality as well, because I seem to get more efficient when my to-do list is a mile long.
Minions are good to have, aren’t they?
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Andrew, I’m having to fake deadlines nowadays, otherwise everything is manana. Not that that’s totally a bad thing, but it just seems weird. I’m Type A on everything but the anger part, I very rarely get angry – laughing is more fun.
It doesn’t even have to be minions, just someone to work on things with.- although it is awesome to have other people at work to do the routine stuff.
Me as well, I must say. I used to be much more feisty, and willing to take a few hits just to take the hill. These days, I’d rather walk around it. You get there anyway.
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Totally agree, there’s not much worth getting too worked up over. Not like most of us are doing brain surgery – no risk of anyone dying on the table.
Where can I get a minion?
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LOL Kris – the best bet is to work at a company that hires these kids out of university to do rotations. Right now I feel like a minion. Let’s face it, I *am* a minion.
I think you aren’t crazy. You are perfectly sane.
Working is a good break from being home all the time, and a good way to challenge yourself for what you like to do.
It’s different if you don’t like what you are doing. But you usually do. In your past, it wasn’t the work you didn’t always like, it was the people you worked with. It seems to be a good thing once you find that team that you enjoy working with or that company that seems to reward it’s employees or at least recognize things that you are doing that are positive.
Going to work each day can seem humdrum, but if you like where you are going it doesn’t seem to be much of a chore.
I would go stir crazy being at home all the time.
But maybe that’s just me.
There are some days when being at home is totally great. It all depends if I get to have a project to work on. The best mix is some part-time work though, by far. Problem is you have to make that happen and it might not pay as well (if anything) as regular work that you’ve spent 25 years becoming an expert on. Oh, these golden handcuffs are chafing!
Glad you agreed (if even somewhat) with the work post as opposed to his post about joining the world of polyamory and all of that.
I have been through every phase of working and not working. (part time/at home/full time/not at all…) I do find that I make better use of my time when I have less time, if that makes any sense. I hurry and get things done because I have no choice. When I was at home all the time, I felt like I had forever to get things done, and guess how long it took me to get things done? Forever.
For me, I found when I was strictly a ‘mom’ and my kids were at school, I needed to leave the house every day and get out and do something. I ate a lot of lunches out too.
I found that I had to also make check lists just so I could feel like I accomplished something. We did eat really well during that time, and I saved a ton of money on groceries.
Personally, I think I like part time the best.
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Kris, I’d like to know why men always get all the poly-relationships. I’d like to be able to have a poly relationship – one plumber, a tiling guy, someone who likes cleaning…
I TOTALLY agree on the part-time work. I’m a list-queen these days just to be able to feel like I did something and to create a sense of urgency in trying to get through the list. Lately I’m trying to add in a few really fun projects though too. I used to do that kind of thing and it’s great to get back to it.
Because men hunt and gather
. I think my harem of men would be a cook, a driver, and a handyman. Of course, that would leave me with nothing to do other than read and relax!
Hmmm, I think I have something to add to my todo list!
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That’s not gathering – it’s hoarding!
Careful there – your hubby might put on his to-do list: “consult lawyer.” OTOH, you could counter that by adding a lawyer to your poly-list.
Those sound like good reasons to work!
I also like feeling that what I do has value and helps people. If I were independently wealthy I probably wouldn’t do this job, but I would definitely do something, probably volunteering teaching math or who knows what else.
One nice thing about bringing in money doing something you don’t hate is that you can use it to pay people to do things you do dislike. You can afford to get a personal assistant for those honey-do things.
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Nicole, I also feel that what I do helps people – even when I work at a monolithic corporation, I get that feeling.
Hear hear on the paying people to do the yucky things! What’s yucky to me might be something that somebody else truly enjoys.
Well, you’re more like Retired Syd than you think. I can relate to points 4-8, with particular emphasis on #5. I must say that I think I’ve found the happy solution–part-time work. It solves many of these issues and #11 which you didn’t mention. Work makes you more relatable to your friends and new acquaintances. I think people just find it easier to talk to me when I’m working, even if it is only part-time. It’s such a big part of our life experience–when you remove it from the equation you become a bit alien to people.
But I do wish I could find the solution to problem #1 with working: thinking about work when you’re not working. I would really like to own my brain again during my off hours!
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I don’t know why but in all of my part-time gigs so far I’ve been able to leave work at work. Every single one of them. It’s a very strange feeling. The two that were winding down companies were the easiest to do that with because there was a clear end time and I knew there was nobody relying on me but sort of anonymous lawyers and big accounting firm employees (that don’t really care) – and the government.
Trading “war stories” with working friends is fun too. I feel out of the loop when we meet now and I don’t have that to talk about. Plus sometimes they don’t ask me to meet for drinks on Fridays because it’s a commute for me. If I was out of the work world for too much longer, I think they would stop asking entirely.
Ah well, if all works according to plan, I’ll be back full-time in under 6 months – and then do whatever it takes to make it a part-time thing – even if it means going for something I’m (presumably) overqualified for.
Its interesting that some of your points could be used to support the argument to not get a job.
The stress,the problems(headaches),having to dealing with people all day and getting up at 5am are all good reasons not to get a job.
Are you glutton for punishment?
Good point Hazy! I don’t know, I sort of like getting up at 5 a.m. and have always enjoyed working with people. Those are never things that bothered me at work. Stuff like office politics never bothered me too much either. I don’t think there’s a one size fits all when it comes to jobs – the stress that I thrive under and enjoy might drive someone else crazy. A night owl would find getting up at 5 a.m. terrible.
Maybe I’m naive – or just lucky – but the jobs I’ve had in the last 7 years or so have been really great. I think it comes down to the people you work with. But I also know that I’m no glutton for punishment and financial independence (even if it’s not 100% for some) – lets you quit one that doesn’t fit right. I’d do that in a heartbeat if I didn’t like it.
I like this post. Especially reasons 1 and 4. Who doesn’t like to have money on their bank account. Also I hate when my honey-do list gets more then one page. Thanks for the laugh.
Matt, mine is WAY more than a page long – that’s just my project list! I’d hate to see what it would look like if I actually listed out everything.
Posted on Excellent, but it would be beettr if in future you can share more about this subject. Keep posting.
First off I would like to say awesome blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing. I’ve had a difficult time clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there. I do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are usually lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Many thanks!
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I don’t. I start writing and see where it ends up. But some of the time, where the writing is better than other times (this doesn’t happen very often), it’s been due to writing long-hand first. There seems to be less pressure to write well then. And sometimes I try to envision writing to a particular person. That works too.