9-5 employment and life

haras_n0sirrah

People with no job aren't free either. People on benefits have all the free time but no money to enjoy it.
You have a few options
1) go self employed but it isnt a walk in the park as you can set your hours but most people building a business have to work a lot of hours to get to a point where they are established and profitable enough to take their foot off the gas. 80 hour weeks are not uncommon when starting
2) find a different job you do enjoy. If there is something you want to do can you do courses to make it happen 
3) can you drop a day? If you have a good income could you earn less but drop down to 4 days a week to give you a bit more leisure time.

We all have to work to earn money to live unless you are born very wealthy. And while putting money away into pensions now may seem boring unless you want to spend your twilight years deciding whether to eat or put the heating on and never being able to leave your four walls then you need to put money away for your future. The general rule of thumb to avoid poverty is 1/2 your age as a percentage of your salary from the age you start I.e if you start your pension at 25 then between employee and employer contributions aim to put away 12.5% of your salary into pension for your whole working life. If you leave it till 40 you would need to put away 20% to get to the same amount which is harder when you have less disposable income. Start early and your future self will thank you 

74jax

I completely understand your post, but then read you are in your 20s so I think it might come down to not being in a job you like?

I've just given up my job, last day last week, to take time out from the rat race for several months, to do stuff I wouldn't usually get the chance too. Mam died of Covid19 in April and I've totally reevaluated my life. But I'm mid 40s and been working for the last 32years.  I have savings behind me and can do this.

In your case I think you need to find what it is you enjoy. Don't focus on others looking gloomy on their way to work, focus on yourself and what you want. Not necessarily today, but in the future and what you can aim for. 

lincroft1710

Have a listen to "Matthew and Son" by Cat Stevens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG7woCQkGUw 

Apintplease

Well the trouble with living is it costs money

How much money, depends on you.

You want a social life, the latest gear, the holidays etc as well as the house and car, you are going to have to punch the hours in. Perhaps get trapped in a job you aren't happy in or suited to, but stuck in the wage and benefits trap.

Or you can sit and map out what it really is you want from life, figure out how much thats going to cost and cut the cloth to suit, allowing you to cut your working hours so you can enjoying living, or go and retrain in something that you really fancy doing

I retired from full time work at the age of 34. Since then I have only ever worked part time, variety of jobs, most pretty low paid, but if I don't like a job, I move on. But my expenditure is low, very low.

My husband has also joined me on the part time hours, he works less then me. During lockdown he earned nothing, I went to very very little on furlough, but we survived pretty well because we spent even less with no bars and restaurants open

You are young, starting off in life and it really is a shock to the system when you wake up to the fact that you are going to be on the treadmill for at least the next 30 years. When you heard all those older generations around you saying School Days are the best days of your life,  they didn't mean oh you had a blast at school, they mean, no rent, no rates, no mortgage, no bills, no pension funds, no taxes, no kids, NO COSTS 

TBagpuss

I don't think it is uncommon to feel as you do at least part of the time, or at times where you are not in a job that you enjoy . find satisfying, or if you are struggling with other areas of you life.

Unless you are fortunate enough to be born rich or to win the lottery or otherwise become rich , then you need to find a balance of income / outgoings / job satisfaction / leisure activities which works for you, personally.

• You can look for part time work, but recognize that that means lower income, so material success, including being able to buy a house, travel etc. will be more difficult, but you will have more time to do things you do enjoy.
• You can look for work which you find fulfilling and satisfying - this may take a bit of trial and error  and depending on what type of things you enjoy, may not be as well paid as other, less interesting options. 
• Look at the job you are in now - particularly given your age and career stage,  think abut whether it is the job that is the issue, or whether you are in the early stages which include a lot of dull or repetitive work - is it likely that the career you are in will lead to more interesting or satisfying work as you gain experience? Could you find that satisfaction in a similar job with a different employer? 
• What do you actually enjoy and want to do? Most of us don't get to work at stuff which is fun , and even if you are fortunate enough to work in a field which you are passionate about, you are likely to find that there are elements of the job which are dull or frustrating - even artists have to market themselves, keep financial records and do tax returns, and bill their patrons, for instance.
• Consider your financial options - one of my younger siblings spent several years post-university doing low-level, not particularly well paid jobs (mostly data-entry, I think) on the basis that it wasn't mentally demanding and he was able to get flexible hours, which left them with enough time and energy to spend on the interesting but unpaid (or almost unpaid) stuff they did enjoy. Once they had been doing that long enough to work out what the (fairly niche) jobs that let them use the skills they'd built up dong the unpaid fun stuff were, they then continued to work the 'easy but dull' job while they studied part time to get the formal qualifications they needed - and were then able to get a job which lets them do stuff they find interesting and which is reasonably well paid.  My brother in law spent about 10 years during which his priority was making sure he could take 8-10 weeks off every summer to spend sailing  - it meant he had a lot of low-paid,physically demanding jobs and not a lot of money, but it was right for him at the time (and later, he went to university as a mature student and took a different type of job which is interesting and also doesn't involve being out in all weathers doing heavy labour

A lot of it is finding the balance which is right for you - maybe sit down and make a list of the positives and negatives of your current situation, and the things you want, and then try to think about what kind of compromise might work for you. 

Chop-D

The FIRE movement may interest you OP based on what you’ve said. Mr Money Moustache is where a lot of people start, or reading/listening to the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin. You will still need to work hard to earn money but this may give a different perspective or motivation.

sazaccount

TBH OP I wasn't in a typical 9-5 job but it felt like all I did was work and sleep so about 7 years ago I made the decision to pay off all of debts, save as much as I could and got on a plane. 5 years later I have worked in 4 different countries, traveled to countless others, there have been ups and downs a lot of soul searching and I have finally found a job I enjoy (uuuummm most of the time) which has surprised me as it is a corporate 8-4 job!. Do this before you are 30 as working visa's then become harder to get, but If you want to go and explore Australia, NZ Working holiday visa's are defiantly the way to go, Yes they are not great jobs when you are out there but that is not the point of it. work for a bit then travel someplace new and start again. 

Thrugelmir

rosa246are said:

 I have been working in a 9-5 job for 3 years now and im just thinking what is this life?  

Far better than shifts or unsociable hours. As with life in general you get out of something what you put in. Want to progress.  Put the hard graft in.  

rosa246are

Hello Everyone

Thank you very much for your responses and feedback.  I have been trying to implement your recommendations and thoughts,  looking back I think I was living to work and not working to live,  I seem to have an idea of this idealistic work place where you will always be happy and fulfilled by it, that's not the case.  This job is giving me security and stable salary and I am grateful for this,  I have tried to not look at work in such a negative way- I think I was dreading it and so the day became horrible and I realised its because of my thoughts towards it and not the work itself, i've changed my mindset and am now looking into this role and positive way. However I do know that I can not be in this repetitive work for too long, its not good for my soul or my mind, I will continue this role until I have learned the maximum that I can learn then leave because I do feel like the days are passing me by I am getting older and I cant be looking at work at something I have to do it should be something I want to do. As humans we should want the best for ourselves and strive to be the best versions of ourselves and if you are not challenged and push yourself then whats the point ?    Anyways main thing is i've learned to be grateful, and think positively...I think my mindset was already so negative I could not see any positives.. so that's one important thing i've learned since this original rant about work. 

Gavin83

It’s worth noting it is possible to get a job you both enjoy and that pays well. I work in a technical IT role and I have to say I (mostly) enjoy my job and it’s well paid with standard office hours.

However there are definitely elements of my job I don’t enjoy, which I suspect is unavoidable in any job. It’s also worth noting I didn’t start on a high salary, I started on near minimum wage but I was young so it didn’t matter much and it allowed me to progress to where I am today. I’m 35 so roughly a third of the way into my career.

The key is to find something you enjoy and find out how you can do a job in that area. It’s unlikely to pay well at the start but try and pick something that will result in a decent salary in the future. You might need to retrain but you’ve got time. I do think life is much easier if you know what you want to do from a young age but even so it’s rarely too late, especially at your age.