Anyone else just hate working, no matter what the job is?

[DrSheppard]

I'm in a pretty good job right now - the people are nice enough, the pay is very good, the subject matter is relatively interesting and it's flexible (can mostly work from home). But each and every day I struggle. I've felt like this in every job I have, and I've had a fair few! I dislike the routine of work. I dislike meetings and emails and workshops. I hate going into the office especially - I hate the glaring lights, sitting at a desk all day and the feeling of being boxed in. Even in the best of jobs I've had, this feeling never goes away.

I just don't care about work, frankly. I do what I need to do and always get great performance reviews, but I have zero investment in the outcome of what I do. Every day when I log off I breathe a sigh of relief, but the thought of doing this for the next 30+ years is awful. Sometimes I think about retraining but I really don't know if that'd 'fix' it, since I'm already in a well-paid and comfortable role and I've already dabbled in a fair few types of roles. Does anyone else feel this way?

Yes, I do. Mainly because I'm not a people person. I'm not a misanthrope, but I am an introvert. I need a hell of a lot of space and silence and can only endure people for short periods of time. After a few hours I'm exhausted and rattty and want to be on my own. Unfortunately, most of the jobs I've done have been people centred.

One thing I notice is that extroverts enjoy work more than introverts. They've got stimulation and company. They even enjoy the office tension and politics. I hate it. I don't care about my job at all. It means nothing to me. I try my best, because I'm being paid and I have a conscience. But if I won the lottery I'd be gone. And I wouldn't miss a thing.

I worked in a corporate environment for 27 years. Sometimes hated it, sometimes loved it.

I now do dog boarding in my home, for people who hate kennels. I do doggy day care as well.

Zero overheads, apart from licence and insurance (£120 p/a each). No commuting costs. Make my own diary. Work when I want. Take holidays at any time that suits. No one to report to. No boss.

I make more money as well.

There are lots of people stuck in corporate roles, who don't realise, that some of the simplest jobs actually make great money : How many houses do you think your window cleaner gets round in a day? How many people does your hairdresser see?

Food for thought.....

Most people with an ounce of intelligence and imagination feel the same.
We were not designed to be living this meaningless, monotonous way of life. Hence why the majority of people are so dependant on anti depressants, alcohol, drugs, etc as a way of escape.
We need to go back to a much simpler way of life, most people have a warehouse type of home that they hardly get to spend time in because so busy working trying to pay for it all. Women feel under enormous pressure to go back to work when baby is still so young and dependant. No amount of money can buy that time back. Parents are so utterly stressed trying to fit it all in their anxiety transfers over to their children, MH is now at a shocking all time high, many kids are not able to attend school unless heavily drugged, something has gone very wrong.
I only work part time, l can manage without a car, holiday, new stuff I' m told l need but actually don't and I'm alot happier and content than a lot of others.
I hope our younger generation wake up and realise we have all been brainwashed into living a robotic type of life that makes us sick.

@tedtor

If you can make a living out of your passion you are lucky. My passion is books and reading but unfortunately no one is going to pay me to sit and read all day. (Content that I want to read not what someone else wants me to read).

If I won the lottery I would have a huge library built in my home complete with expensive furniture and other luxurious items. I would spend a LOT of time in there.

I'm extroverted and didn't enjoy that at all! Hence remote working suits me so beautifully. I think it's also about what space people want work to fill in their lives. For some people that's a very big one, for some people minimal. One can be extroverted but also find the necessary company, socialisation and meaning elsewhere.

I think there are only so many “love your job and you will never work a day in your life” type things to go around

a lot of the things you say work about your life are down to luck rather than choice, I hope you realise that. You are making a lot of assumptions about other people and their choices that are unfounded

Nope. I don't agree. I genuinely love my job. I don't need to work, I do it because I want to. I actually became visually impaired last year and had to have a lot of time off work, and could easily have decided not to go back. But I wanted to go back It was difficult to go back because of my health, but I enjoy what I do, I like the routine, I like my colleagues. My job is very rewarding to me.

I am a special needs teaching assistant by the way. Perhaps you just haven't found the right job for you? When I worked in a shop or an office I hated it.

I completely agree OP. In fact I was saying this exact thing to my husband this morning.

There are so many other things I'd rather be doing. It always surprises me when people are so into their jobs and say it's their identity etc!

I've never had a job I enjoyed, although I've been in environments I didn't mind...but usually not for long.

I also find it hard as I keep veering between feeling like I should have more responsibility and being bored and then feeling overwhelmed and craving a simpler role.

I think children and young people should be encouraged to do what they're interested in. My biggest dream was to become a chef but I was sent to a school which did not entertain the idea that anyone could pursue something vocational rather than academic. It was a horrible snobbiness whereby any job that wasn't office based meant you were a failure. Looking back I feel they let down many pupils. Perhaps I would have enjoyed doing the job I wanted to do. I never even considered it to be a real option.

I feel much the same. Had a couple of years career break to be a carer to elderly parents. Started part-time freelancing in a career I though would suit me long term but realised it's not for me. That was a year ago and have also taken on casual work evenings/weekends which I do enjoy.

DD is off to uni in September which is going to have a catastrophic affect on my finances, and with CoL being what it is and being single I'm looking at having to work more than full time to afford to do anything other than pay the bills, which is not where I'd hoped to be at approaching 50.

Most passions are not easily translated into something that'll generate an income. I actually do have a side passion project but it'll never earn enough money for me to quit my day job. With costs of living increasing constantly I can't exactly afford to take up a job that'll drastically lower my income, no matter how passionate I might be about it. Plus I'm pretty sure anything that heavily restricts my time and involves being answerable to other people and being on their time, which most jobs are, would take the passion right out of it anyway.

I do have a passion (sewing), but turning it into an income-generating activity would completely destroy the passion for me.

I'm pretty sure anything that heavily restricts my time and involves being answerable to other people and being on their time, which most jobs are, would take the passion right out of it anyway.

Bingo!

I'm looking for a job with nice people in a convenient location that I don't have to think about when I come home, and will enjoy the hobbies I'm passionate about in my spare time.

I'm intelligent and reasonably well educated and have spent the last 30 years trying to fit into a career box because I feel like I should and I just cba anymore.

When I think of all the things I would have to do to make sewing an activity I could make a living from… well it sounds awful and I would rather just do my current job. I actually do quite like my job so I’m not really in the same mindset as the OP, but I do hate having my time dictated by an employer. That’s not really a problem that can be solved though.

My passion is little dogs, and it definitely makes a good income. But before I did this, I would have said I "like" dogs. Now I am surrounded by them and it makes me money and I am attached to so many of them, it's definitely a passion.

@BeachBlondey

My dad owned home boarding kennels for years (before it became quite a popular venture) he enjoyed it on the whole but it quickly became ‘work’. Looking after other peoples dogs is a huge responsibility. There was a lot of paper work and compliance. Dogs often became unwell in his care whilst their owners were overseas. He quickly adjusted to the business side of things and insurance/contingency plans etc but often the owners demands and requests were very unreasonable.

For example… poochy only goes to bed after 10:30pm…. Can you send me a photo of poochy every single hour of the day….. poochy only eats organic meat and has several allergies…..poochy doesn’t get on with spaniels but does like Alsatian’s.

Honestly? It killed his passion for dogs 😂. He shut his business a couple of years ago and thankfully life is a lot better now he can just walk and look after his own dogs on his own terms.

I have found my people! I didn't realise there were so many of us. I feel exactly the same.

4 years ago I stopped working when I became pregnant with twins, and I am now a SAHM. Now twins are bloody HARD but I am a changed woman. I used to have very bad anxiety but am now more relaxed than I've ever been. I feel so lucky that I don't have to work. Just to add, we are not on benefits and we saved very very hard for 5 years before TTC so that I could do this - not a lifestyle choice funded by the taxpayer at all.

Sadly I will have to go back to work in 18 months and the thought of it makes me feel sick. I'm very introverted, and I think that's what it's all about for me. Having to deal with other people. I also resent the time that work takes away from the things that are important to me (family, spending time in nature). I totally know what you mean about work never being important to you. I can't imagine actually caring about my workplace! And I've worked in many different ones, from multi-national companies to smaller charities. I only ever cared about getting through the day and arriving back at home.

This is why supermarket, factory and cleaning jobs are so popular. It's a huge relief not having to think about your work.

This is interesting, and I know what you mean.

I've been doing this for 10 years now, and have encountered the type of people you speak of. I'm in a great place now though, because all of the dogs are great and the owners are too.

But the first 2 years were very challenging, before I could wheedle out the dogs (and customers) I didn't want.

I think my cheekiest request, was from someone who wanted to drop her dog off for day care at 5am, and collect it at 11pm. I said that I was only "open" from 7am to 7pm, and suggested boarding her dog when her shifts were early/late - and she tried to change my mind, because she didn't want to pay the extra for boarding! 😯So, essentially she was saying that she wanted me to be up at 430am and have no evening, just so that I could save her money. I just didn't engage with her at all after that, as I knew every booking would be trouble.

Ticking along nicely now though, with great dogs and lovely owners.

@BeachBlondey

He did enjoy a lot of it but after 16 or so years he retired as he didn’t have the energy for all the walks. He walked relentlessly and ended up getting atrial fibrillation of his heart which his consultant said was probably caused by walking for too many hours a day. It was a second career for him and he did love it compared to his factory job but he probably did too much. Glad you’re enjoying it.

The equivalent of 'you'll feel differently about children once you have them'.

The “you’re probably in the wrong job” posts are so tedious.

I’ve worked in numerous jobs, office work, manual work, service industries, and caring to name a few. They all had their own advantages and disadvantages but I didn’t like any of them. Even the jobs with a ‘purpose’. Because I don’t like being on anyone else’s schedule. It’s a fundamental part of my personality that also extends into my personal life.

I’ve tried freelancing in my chosen field and didn’t enjoy that - the nature of my career means dealing with some nightmare clients and chasing late payments. I found the lack of a reliable paycheque stressful. And I was still working to my clients’ schedules.

My life would be much happier if I could get up and go to bed when I want, spend my days reading, exercising, and pottering about with my dog (NOT reading things I don’t want to read, training other people, or walking other peoples’ dogs).

But nobody will pay me to do that.

I have to work to pay the bills. And I don’t have endless time/money to spend trying to find my calling. So I’m making do with a job that pays me well, that I’m good at, and that I don’t absolutely loathe.