To absolutely HATE corporate life/work?

I'm 58 and can empathise with this. 4 and a bit more years until I retire.

I would far rather be sewing or working on my allotment. Not sure either of those can be monetised though my lottery fantasy would see me with a sewing studio making lovely fitted clothes for people who arent the standard shape/size.

What is your passion @FishOnTheTrain? What do you really love? Have you ever had a job that didn’t feel like ‘work’ and that you didn’t dread going to in the mornings?

Don’t lose sight of the things you feel passionately about. Purpose and the joy you experience from it is so important.

I wasted many years in jobs like that. Some huge life events turned my life upside down but now I’m on the other side, have a simple job that I absolutely love and can genuinely say I look forward to going to work because it fulfils the things that really matter to me.

I’m glad I had those previous experiences though because they make me appreciate things now all the more.

I’m nearly 59 and I’m done with it really but I’ve got two more years to do financially. I’ve started making jewellery and am dropping a day a week to do that. The stuff I buy now relates to that hobby and I’m even starting to get commissions. Find a hobby.

I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either. I get through it because it pays and allows me to pursue my passion of travel. In between generous annual leave and a lot of public holidays where I live, I take 7-8 weeks off a year to go travelling which I can only fund by sticking out my corporate job - that’s how I see it.

Ds finds that his job gives him happiness, meaning and purpose. He's trying to improve the earth and leave it better than he left it

Could you delete your credit/debit card info from your phone /computer, unsubscribe from all shop emails and cancel all your accounts with online shops. I did this and my spending went right down. Also I love my job, so I don’t think hating work is inevitable

Have you any friends at work/nearby? 4 or 5 times/year we would book a half-day on a Friday to take a late lunch….and finish work for the day. It was great!

Starting to save for a purpose (even if it is lobbing it in a pension so you can retire early), might help motivate you.

There are still a few decent firms out there, but it tends to be friendships that help you get through the drudgery.

I am so glad wfh has come in, even though I still am in an office for two days a week and not the same days every week. And that is in a job with decent colleagues who are pleasant, and the absence of those who you would never spend one minute with in other than a work situation.

The responses to this thread do not surprise me.

Only feminists see it as empowering (feminists with a capital 'F', that is).

This view seems to have come about from wanting equality with men, but the reality is that getting the same deal as somebody else doesn't always mean it's a good deal. Although the fact we have the choice to spend our days sitting in a chair is the important thing to me.

Most people just work as a necessary evil to earn money. I struggle to see it as empowering tbh. Morelike enforced serfdom. 🤣

And I just hated office speak tbh. I notice it even more now I'm not in that type of job. It's just so unnecessary! Like, who says "I'm going to reach out to Sarah and see if she has the bandwidth to go for a drink. I'm fancying a curry too so maybe we can all sit down and roundtable it". 🙃

The solution for me was to just stop doing corporate/professional work. I jacked in my graduate job and got my HGV license. Ironically, it's people in professional jobs that seem most likely to look down on anything 'blue collar' IME, but it's also my friends in these jobs that seem the most unhappy (with some exceptions of course). But invariably the majority of people that work in office jobs seem to have to 'sell their soul' in a way, and it's just whether you're OK with that or not (I wasn't).

This week I'm working the evening shift on a big civil build and I get a £150 out of hours bonus so I'm making over £300 for the shift. I always start at 7pm and last night was back home by 00:30 which is pretty standard. Two hours of the shift was just sitting watching stuff on my phone and waiting for site to be ready. I absolutely love it!

It's not all roses though. When I'm on days I usually work 5x10hr days, although sometimes we do finish really early. But I'd still not go back to the hamster wheel of office work where I've always got a neverending list of things to do, with new tasks being added as soon as I finish current tasks. I just get in, have a coffee and wait for things to start.

What Iove is how a 10hr day still seems less gruelling than eight hours in the office, probably because it's broken up. Typically, it's 15-20 mins of chatting while waiting to load. Then 10 mins loading. Then 10-20 mins driving to site with music on (or maybe a podcast if I'm going 30-40 mins, which is rare). Then up to 30 mins waiting onsite where I just get some sun or have a coffee with the builders (or hide in cab and read mumsnet if it's raining lol). 10-30 mins offloading, then rinse and repeat. I really think it's the lack of mental stress that makes the difference. Eight hours looking at spreadsheets or talking in meetings is exhausting!

@Whitegrenachesolidarity! I'm seeing people sending emails before 8am and late at night and thinking fuck that, I'm not taking part in any of that nonsense. I still have quite a bit of redundancy money banked so if it all becomes a bit too much, I'm outta there.

I did 27 years in Corporate. I took VR and started my own dog care company. I basically do doggie day care and boarding in my home. I have no overheads, no commuting costs, no boss, and can take my holidays whenever I want. I earn more than I did before. I spend my days feeding and walking dogs and then when they crash out, I can mess about on the internet, do my garden, plan my next holiday, or whatever.

There's no way I would have quit my job and just tried this on a whim, it took me being pushed out of my Corporate job to do it. I'm so glad I was offered VR! I have absolutely no regrets.

Corporate is an awful, destructive mindset and I think you’re right that it sets up unhealthy patterns that infiltrate the non working hours.

But it’s a mistake to think it’s about working hours, or even work. It’s company culture.

In corporate environments, you have to constantly watch your back; it’s not wise to excel, because it attracts jealousy, backstabbing and the best case scenario is to be promoted to lead people who don’t work as well as you do. It’s all about seeking the perfect balance between not working too hard and not getting fired. Even at top levels, massaging the figures to keep a steady growth is more important than maximising growth or profits,

In leaner companies, people who work hard are valued, and in smaller companies the job can even evolve around talent. Loyalty and trust are important and work both ways. Productivity is imorrant. Working in a job that doesn’t feel pointless makes a tremendous difference to mental health. Seeing your boss work longer hours, or shouldering responsibilities you’d rather not, can make you appreciate being PAYE 9-5.

where you really see the stark difference is in the transition period of a small company being bought out by a corporate. Productivity, and passion decline and anxiety shoots up despite the fringe benefits and job security often being better.

Rather than thinking of striking out on your own, just look for a job in a different environment. If you were going to be an entrepreneur you’d probably already be one. It’s not the answer, or at least it’s not the only answer. But working for a good one might suit you much better.

I'm the minority I guess, but I love corporate life. I feel it helps escape the never-ending drudgery of home and parenting but it probably helps that I'm in a position with total flexibility.

I had to do a double take as I thought I had written this post! I have experienced exactly what you described. Been back in work 3 weeks and yep the bullshit starts!
my strategy is to keep quiet, and leave work outside when I walk in the door

Thank you. It currently looks great! I’ve rented an apartment near the beach in southern Spain and I’m here for a month with DH and DDog. When I’m home I grow vegetables, paint, read and take long walks.

I retired 2 years ago at 42, we were both offered redundancy which we snatched their hand off for and this cleared the last of the mortgage.

I understand some of what you're saying a few years ago I was climbing the management ladder in a corporate environment. I stepped down and took a large paycut. However I now have my life back, when I leave work I'm able to complety switch off. I don't miss the money I just buy less crap.

I'm lucky enough to have my dream job. It's mostly corporate, but with an added element that is so much fun it makes the dull stuff worth doing. I hate the corporate side of things with a passion, but there's no way I could do the fun, dream job bit without it and maintain any semblance of my lifestyle.

So that's how I view the dull part - a means to an end.

And I completely understand the buying stuff thing. I could be putting more in pensions etc, but fuck it. I work hard, so if I want a pair of shoes, or a bit of tech, or a trip away, I'm going to have it. It's not 'pointless'...the point is that you're rewarding yourself.

Oh sorry I meant to say, above all else - find something more fulfilling to do than sitting on the sofa in the evening. It needs to be fulfilling and meaningful to YOU and you need to do something of that sort each day, so you’re not leaving your needs unfulfilled. Random examples might be reading, book club, gym, team sports, painting, walking - something that feels like it nourishes and fulfils YOU.

I get you OP. I also feel like I work too much, rinse and repeat etc.

I ran my own business for a number of years, having become completely fed up of corporate life. It was incredibly stressful.

I ended up going back into normal employment, in a different business (culturally and size-wise - high hundreds of employees rather than tens of thousands) - so it’s less corporate which I prefer, but I still laugh and eye roll internally at all the corporate bullshit lingo, that seems to be inescapable!

In between all that though, I did a stint of interim work. That’s the best. You can do something intellectually fulfilling, take time off when you want, and not have the stress of running an actual business. I would do that again if my circumstances were such that I didn’t need to be in permanent employment.

So, my advice to you would be to try and go the freelance route if that’s something that you could do and that you could charge enough for that you don’t actually need to work all the time (otherwise you’ll just have different sorts of stress to worry about).

Agree with @scaredofdinosaurs Dump TV, shopping and alcohol and you'll find that you do have time

Your job or career is not your reason to be. It's not supposed to fulfil you! You have to make your time outside work count for you. You can pursue outside interests, join committees, go to talks, an evening class, army reverses, book club- plan interesting trips in the uk and abroad.

Work provides you with the means to enjoy life. Perhaps you need a new job or career plan, or to move to a new area of the UK which you love.

Corporate life isn't the issue imo. It's thinking what do I like about a cafe life? What does that tell me about me? You must be very social then. So look at joining a netball club or something social. Or canal dredging or stamp collecting or am dram!

Thanks so much!

https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support

Good luck!

What do you do op? Can you say