How do you look at work?

jamels2

Hi, I'm interested in how people view work. I work as a postman, I see it as a service which a lot of people want and I am physically able to provide it. However I also realise I put a lot of junk through doors and dont agree how the place is run in many ways. Overall I see money as the main reason for doing the hours, and as I have mortgage debt I work overtime to overpay this. Whenever I spend money I relate it to how many hours i have to work to pay it.
Is this the same for other people? Is work a necessary evil? Giving up your time and energy to provide others a service?
Or have I got it the wrong way round and should money be a by-product of something I actually want to do with my time and not be the main focus? Should you do a job where you never want to retire?
Im now 35 and wondering whether to make a change before it's too late, or just carry on doing the overtime and invest the money to ensure I can retire early or work less in the future??

robatwork

jamels2 wrote: »

Giving up your time and energy to provide others a service?

That's exactly what it is for the vast majority of the working population. If you are doing a job that you are lucky enough to enjoy then that's a huge bonus. My own anecdotal evidence is that about 86.3% of people are either ambivalent about or don't enjoy/hate their job.

There's also the factor that unless you change careers regularly (and therefore start at the bottom financially), you will get bored in ANY job. One of my dream jobs could be musician for example, but I am sure plenty of musicians are completely bored playing the same things again and again. Maybe it's why Noel Gallagher looks so annoyed during concerts.

Look to your benefits being a postie - you have the ability, nay, DUTY, to wear shorts throughout the winter.

xapprenticex

i enjoy my work but i dont like working for others for the best part of my life. i plan to go self employed once i saved up enough

[Deleted User]

xapprenticex wrote: »

i enjoy my work but i dont like working for others for the best part of my life. i plan to go self employed once i saved up enough

I am just about to do this at Christmas. Currently setting-up the website, twitter, tax etc. Going to work until then to just save a bit more safety net and pay a big chunk off the mortgage and then I am on my own from January 2017. :eek:

To answer the original question. I quite often see work as pointless. I am given a wage to provide a service which other people use their money to pay for so that I have money to spend on other services. The same pool of money is just being passed around, but we are all working in order to achieve this. (I know this is not how the economy works, but it does seem a bit daft).

I need to work to pay the bills, but don't get any satisfaction from it. I work hard, but think my current job is pointless.

Tiglath

I love my job - financial crime investigator for an investment bank with responsibilities for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and now some of Asia as well. I get to do funky interesting stuff like deepdive investigations, delivering financial crime training and mentoring others in developing their own skillset and careers. It has a moral edge in that I'm tracking down and preventing dirty money from getting into our systems and contributing to catching criminals (no I don't mean my colleagues ). Of course there are days when I think 'Oh God - I wish I had the kind of job where I can turn up, do 8 hours, and go home' but I need to be challenged and engaged with my work. I try to find something positive in every day, even when I wake up in the dark and think 'This day has nothing to offer me.' I'm planning to do this for another 10 years or so, and then retire and move out of London to buy somewhere with some land and run a cat sanctuary. I guess my philosophy is we only get to go round once - life isn't a dress rehearsal so find what you love and find a way of making a living from it.

bugslet

My career driver is independence, so for me it started out as wanting to work for myself. I liked, and still do, driving so run a haulage company. As we got bigger I found myself driving a desk mostly, which I don't like. So I moved my mind set to be as ethical as I can, I don't rip my customers off and I try to be a good boss. The main thing is still that I work for myself.

lush_walrus

I run a business with two other partners and love my work, but even then I still dream of being at home with my family. i honestly don't think there is a job in existence that I would prefer to being with family.

boliston

I think job satisfaction has a lot to how much you can personally contribute to the role - if it's a job where you are simply following routines set by others then to me that would be 0% job satisfaction.