Office Jobs: The Tipping Point
Tags: Decisions, Life, Make Money
I think the point has almost come where I have had enough with the office jobs. I cannot stand sitting in cubicles pretending to be busy all day. I hate sitting in meetings pretending to care. I hate the fact I get paid for the time I spend here, rather than the amount of productivity I provide. I swear some weeks I do 40 hours of work, and others I do 5. Either way I have to sit here for a minimum of 40 hours just to get a full paycheck.
Now I know a lot of people may say I wish I had a job like this, which is fine. But honestly, I feel like I am wasting my life away by sitting here bored all day thinking of things I would rather be doing and places I would rather be. Everyone says you only get one shot at life, so why should I spend mine this way.
I know the job may pay more than other jobs, but I am not a money driven person my any means. Matter of fact, I am sick of the whole rat race. It seems like people here in America keep trying harder and harder to make more money so they can accumulate more stuff they don’t even need.
I barely own anything since I move so often, but I still feel like I own a lot of stuff I don’t need. Things like televisions and cable boxes are something I never need. I barely watch TV, so why have one. I am perfectly happy with the two suitcases I moved out to Hawaii with. A few sets of clothes, my MacBook, and a few other essentials. So in the next few months, I plan to sell more of my stuff. The only tough thing is going to be the car, which I only bought so I could commute to work with.
So at some point in the very near future, I am going to kiss this “perfect” job away as some would say. I would rather work a job I enjoy and just be happy with what I have. The only stress in my life is caused by the combination of getting up early, commuting to work, sitting at work, and commuting home from work. Other than that, I am a very outgoing and happy person.
Back in college, I was broke almost the entire time. But you know what, I was never stressed out about anything, not even money. I used to give plasma just to have some beer money to go party with my friends. I lived off of oatmeal and rice and am willing to do it again if necessary. So obviously money is not the problem, but the fact I spend so much of my waking hours at a job that I have no motivation to perform well at.
What is even worse, is when I look at the people of above me and realize I wouldn’t even want their position. So if you do not even want to move up to your supervisors position, why stick around?
I am not real sure exactly what type of job I am looking for just yet. I would like to work outside that is for sure. Maybe a surf stand or cleaning boats or windows, who knows, just anything outside of an office. I used to do freelance work and loved it since I could set my own hours and wages. I also enjoy writing and hope to make some income off of this blog at some point.
My post yesterday about Living Situations brought some very positive feedback. Most importantly, Abbey posted some information about Australia. I have been thinking about moving their since I met a few people from their while living in Hawaii and I really miss the sun and ocean. It sounds like a great country and I am really ready to just get out of America for awhile.
Stick around and see what happens as I try and sort this all out by June…
PS. Anyone else feel the way I do?
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Now, who didn’t give plasma in college?
lol thats true Josh, there used to be lines of college kids trying to give plasma for some pocket change.
You’re in the same set of mind I was in a few weeks back when I quit cube farm inc.
One of my happiest friends lives in Hawaii and works on a farm and doesn’t get paid! He works for a place to live and food to eat. He has not debt and no concerns and is learning a valuable skill instead of pushing papers around.
Working outside is great too. My most satisfying job was working for my step-dad at his small construction company. Going home and knowing I got my day’s exercise, sun, and helped make someone’s home better was an exhilarating feeling. A much, much better feeling than going home knowing you helped rich and powerful corporations get more rich and more powerful.
Make sure you are prepared for the jump though, meaning your bills are paid and you’ve got a little bit of a financial safety net so that you don’t spend all your free time worrying about money.
Good luck and let us know how it goes. Oh, and enjoy it. Quitting a cube farm is wicked liberating.
Good for you! The decision to jump ship is not easy, and the realization that you don’t need money to be happy even harder. You have joined the ranks of an elite and empowered few; revel in it.
Dude, I feel ya on this one. Life is too short to spend in a cubicle, or working at all for that matter. The key is finding a job that doesn’t feel like work..and making it work for you. I’ve been thinking about this very same issue a lot myself lately and plan to write a post in the near future…stay tuned
Hey, this post was super-refreshing. I felt like someone had written down all the thoughts that I have in my head. I want an outdoor job too, maybe you could do a post about types of outdoor jobs, or something like that. It would be amazing
Also, have you ever seen Into the Wild? It’s a great movie and based on your recent posts, I think you would find it exhilarating.
Thanks for writing, good luck with everything.
If your serious Justin check here
http://jobsearch.gov.au/harvesttrail/
http://www.stonedcrow.com/default.htm
http://www.backpackingaround.com/
http://www.bugaustralia.com/
The first one is the fruit picking guide…alot of back packers do that to supplement their cash…we get heaps here in the Gap year..
well that should get you started on your dream…hang in at work cause you are going to have to save to get here…:)
I couldn’t agree with you more! I feel the exact same way about my office job right now. I go to work, and sit behind a desk all day, then go to sleep at night, just to wake up the next day repeating the same cycle! I feel like my life has become one big monotony… and I do feel like I should be doing something else with my life right now. I feel like there’s so much I’m missing out there stuck to this boring office job. The problem is, I’m not sure what I really want to do with my life either. Sucks, huh?
Good for you, coz you can go anywhere you like. Hey, if you’re looking for another place to explore, maybe you could try the Philippines. Lol. Although I can’t see why you want to leave Hawaii. I’ve always wanted to visit that place!
I hear it’s amazing!
Well, good looking out. And I’ll be tuning in, to see what updates you have.
HI Justin,
Wow..very inspiring!!! Everything you just wrote is exactly what I have been thinking and feeling for the last few months. I work in Manhattan as a Fashion
Designer/Graphic artist. I sit in a cubicle all day. I hate it!!! I am very stressed out with deadlines all the time for multiple buyers and production timelines. My job is not creative at all. I have become a robot.
We just merged with another company and have new corporate rules.
We cannot eat at our desks, they have video cameras above our desk.
We have to scan our finger prints to get in and out of the building.
Plus we have no 401K, bonuses or raises. Only 1 week vacation …. it sucks!!!!
I am not a materialistic, superficial person and don’t care about having the latest Coach bag. I dont fit in this industry.
I am trying to think of a new career to go back to school for.
Teaching sounded good b/c of the two months off a year. I love to travel in the spare time. It takes too long to b/c a teacher.
Kind Regards,
Sandy Shelton
I wish they paid you money for giving plasma here in Australia. Here in Australia you donate, but you don’t get paid.
So you’re telling me I’ve been getting ripped off all this time? I’m going to demand some cash next time
Here’s a quote from Tim Ferris, who you had better read if you haven’t yet!!
“The objective is to fix mistakes of ambition and not make mistakes of sloth.”
Hey when you get to Bali, look me up. It’s pretty much Australia anyway! ; )
yes. Yes. YES!!!
Yes I feel like this. I live in Hawaii too. It’s hard to be inside all day. I think of work outside and I am trying to work on boats. Slowly learning. Office jobs suck in general. I look at my superiors and definitely don’t want their jobs. But they’re really nice people.
I hear you! I’m the same exact way, I feel like the office type jobs are ridiculous and I’m wasting my life away. It gets so frustrating dealing with the whole work place environment thing, when I overlook the coast from my job. I mean don’t get me wrong, the view is great. Although like you I wanna be OUT exploring the world, not like it is now.
I know exactly how you feel. I went to college to get a degree in accounting, but now that I am done with college I realize that I can’t stand sitting in an office for 8-10 hours a day. The thing is when you are in college you don’t have to sit 8-10 hours at a desk. I admit it just plain sticks and is not what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have so much energy that I go home and run 5 miles or so everyday, but I find that I am constantly squirming in my chair or bouncing my legs at work. Boy, I wish I could find something that is interesting to do and requires some physical exertion. I agree that money is not everything in life. I am happiest when I am working out or playing tennis for the day, but I realize I can’t get paid for doing either of those things. It is just difficult to find a balance at this point in my life. Maybe when I get much, much older I won’t mind sitting all day long. But what to do now????
I’m taking the jump myself soon, can’t stand it anymore. What’s the point of making decent money if you hate your job? I mean, who cares if I can buy a new car if I hate myself 8 hours a day? I can’t stand sitting down all day in front of a computer inside a little room interviewing people 8 hours a day. It takes me a few hours to ‘calm down’ after a day of feeling bad about myself that by that time its off to bed and start all over again. I’ll give an update myself, but hear this, I am gone from this job in 09!
Mate…I have these exact same thoughts every single day. I hope you take the risk and quit your shit job soon. I hope I do too.
I am sooo with you. I am about to finish a Master’s degree in something that I’m not interested in just for the sake of making money. I’m job hunting right now since I’ll be done with my degree in two months, and the idea of being done with college and sitting around working on a computer all day makes me want to jump off a bridge, honestly. Problem is, now I have roughly $55,000 in student debt to pay back, which means I probably can’t just decide to do something I like that makes less money AND be able to pay back these loans. I feel stuck and frustrated. I’ve been seeking advise from any and everyone who is willing to give it around me, but have come up empty handed. I guess most people I know hate their jobs and figure everyone should just deal with it, pay your bills, then one day if your lucky, retire. So, what? I get to live all the days of my life hoping I’ll live to be old enough to have built up enough money to retire? I don’t want to settle for that.
I feel exactly the same. The only difference is that I do know what my ideal job would be. Right now I currently work 9 hours every day to make money. But like you I also realize that I don’t need all this stuff that most people worry about. That is, I do not need to sacrifice 80% of the amazing opportunity that I have, my life, to have material things. I would much rather live humbly, and do something that I truly enjoy. I know what I want. A good job, the perfect job, would be a job that I wake up every day wanting to do. It is a job where I challenge myself intellectually to strive for better results. For example, I remember working on a project in college that I gave my all. I remember working hard to research everything that encapsulated designing a lunar rover. To me this project illustrates exactly the type of job I would like to do. It is challenging and in some ways it is also akin and close to my desire to help not just myself, but ourselves, in furthering and advancing our knowledge. I do not wish to attain any idealistic goals, but I do wish to be happy, not unhappy. Our lives are short, and we are blessed to be alive. I am very much a naturalist and appreciate the natural means by which I exist. And I sure as hell do not wish to waste it away. What a shame that would be. To that aim, I hope to lift the baton handed to me by all the human beings that have walked on this planet, even by the first initial impetus, the big bang.
I now look at it from this point of view. What good am I doing myself, for that matter, what good am I doing anyone by sitting in front of a computer mindlessly waiting for time to pass. Even if I were the most knowledgeable and productive person where I work, I would be doing virtually nothing for anyone. I would just rot, decompose, and wilt away, with little to no effect. Fuck that.
It is almost scary reading this…I feel like I am reading a script from my own brain! I, too moved to Hawai’i with only two suitcases and should have been perfectly happy waiting tables and going to the beach everyday/enjoying the simple things in life. But I felt that, having spent five years in college and with all the pressure from my family/society, I ‘deserved better’. So I moved from Hawai’i and am currently living in DC, doing fundraising work for a non-profit.
While I’m proud of the work that this non-profit does, my job is incredibly boring. It’s my first office job and I absolutely dislike it. I feel like I spend every day waiting for the day to end, only to spend another day waisting my time. I need stimulation and action in my life–I am very energetic and outgoing and the worst thing I could possibly be doing with my life is sitting behind a desk for 40 hours a week not talking to anybody. I am only 25 and I’m worried that after a couple years of this I’ll feel like I’m 40. I get so bored here I’m begginning to lose my short term memory and concentration and find myself getting incredibly irritated and aggravated over things that used to not bother me at all.
Sorry to write so much, I guess I really needed to get all that off my chest! Well, good luck to everyone out there with boring office jobs..hope you all find what makes you happy.