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How should I view work?

jamels2
Posts: 437 Forumite
I have been a postman for several years but I am pretty bored of it, the job gets harder and the pay is unlikely to increase. I do some overtime and have managed to overpay my mortgage and I could probably pay it off in under 10 years (I'm 35 now). Until now I have told myself this job is just for money, I'm exchanging my labour serving society, although not getting much enjoyment from it.
Is it right to look at work this way, like a means to an end? If I carry on using the money sensibly I could do less hours once my mortgage is paid.
However I'm not sure I fancy doing the job another 6 months let alone 10 years, it's tiring and not mentally stimulating. I often think I could do something less physical and more mental.
So any ideas whether I should carry on with my view of work up u til now, or start to look at work differently and try to aim for something else more meaningful to me and more of a challenge?
Thank for any suggestions
James
Is it right to look at work this way, like a means to an end? If I carry on using the money sensibly I could do less hours once my mortgage is paid.
However I'm not sure I fancy doing the job another 6 months let alone 10 years, it's tiring and not mentally stimulating. I often think I could do something less physical and more mental.
So any ideas whether I should carry on with my view of work up u til now, or start to look at work differently and try to aim for something else more meaningful to me and more of a challenge?
Thank for any suggestions
James
0
Comments
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I spent 14 years trapped in the NHS with the same feelings
Luckily I had a breakdown and left ( no medical retirement or pension, I just left)
I'm lucky that I have a partner that loves his work and works full time
Since then ( since I got well enough to work) I've had a variety of jobs, all part time
What I'm saying is that feeling like that about your work will eventually effect your health. If at all possible start thinking about what else you can do and look to change
A wage and a pension isn't worth killing yourself over0 -
We're all different, work that suits one person may not work for another. If you hate it, you spend your working hours miserable, your social hours grumbling, and that just leaves sleep. Is a slightly shorter mortgage worth it?
Instead, how about finding what you love and discovering how to eke a living in it. I used to like movies and events, now work in them, make decent money (if hugely insecure!), and it beats having a real job. It took a huge leap of faith and a while of eating savings. You already know you've more saved than you have to, and if you've something to work towards it'll help you get by in what you are doing knowing there's an end goal. That helped me bridge the worlds between doing dull IT work and my new life - an end I wanted to chase enough to endure a bit more dull stuff.
I don't have a mortgage, I've thrown everything at the transition, and it worked. If paying off the mortgage (to do what? Buy a bigger house and start again?) isn't incentive enough for you, find out what it. Sure, you can play it safe and die young and miserable with a large house if that's what your heart tells you to do. Or you can take a chance and find a way to enjoy the life you have whilst you're young enough and fit enough to take some risks.0 -
I think it depends what you want to do - my brother spend several years doing a job which was not challenging or well paid, because it allowed him the time and mental energy to focus first on hobbies he enjoyed, and then on working to get the qualification (an OU degree) that allowed him to find a job that both interests and challenges him.
I think, in general, it's better to be looking at moving *to* something rather than *from* something, so looks at what you want to do, what you need to do to get there, and what the practicalities are:
e.g.
Could you manage, financially, if you were to work part time while you also study part time to qualify for something new, or while you took time to do things which interest or challenge you, even if they don't bring in any income?
Are there any internal opportunities within Royal Mail which you could apply for, which you might find more interesting? Are there any internal training opportunities?All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
A friend of mine also works as a postie and hates the job. He sees it as a way of having at least a small pension come retirement day. He used to work full time as a builder but that collapsed during the recession. Now he continues to do building work during his weeks off from the postie work, and some evenings. That's what really keeps him going.
Maybe the OP could find something, initially part time, to balance the postie work. If it works out then look at jacking in the postie job.0 -
I would echo Suski1964, by keeping going in a job that wasn't right I damaged my health. I am currently at 'the not well enough' to work stage, although in time I hope to do something part time that is more suitable. What most struck me about your post is that I too was driven by financial goals. I paid off the mortgage and then set myself a savings goal. That goal was high in itself but when I got there I simply set another target. I didn't break the cycle until my health collapsed. My issue was slightly different in that there were aspects of my job that I really enjoyed. Something that I read after the event really helped me move on and I wish I had read it at an earlier stage. It a book with the unlikely title the Joy of Burnout by Dina Glouberman.0
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I'm another who hates the job I'm in but only have a few years till retirement but I'm undergoing treatment due to my health regarding work issues. You are young and have a long work life in front of you, find something you like even if it mean re training.0
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Same position here, despise the job but reasonably well paid. There is no way I am doing it till retirement, so I signed up with the OU and will doing other training in between module dates. Worst case only have to keep doing it for another 5 odd years hopefully be doing something else sooner. Definitely don't get stuck in a job you hate as it only gets harder the longer you wait.0
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You spend too much of your life working to be doing something you don't enjoy. Don't just throw in the towel without properly thinking of the alternatives, but start looking and thinking of ideas now before it's too late and it effects you in ways others than just boredom.0
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