If you have a stressful job, why do you do it?

[rickyrickygrimes]

I was speaking with my sister tonight. She definitely has a stressful job. Lots of difficult situations to deal with. Constant pressure from her superiors. And dealing with a lot of genuinely unhappy, angry, stressed, unwell people.

if you have a job like this, why do you do it?

The right kind of stress is important and allows me to thrive and grow.

1. It's interesting
2. I'm helping people
3. I'm contributing making the world a bit safer
4. I'm pretty good at it
5. I get a bit of an adrenaline hit sometimes with the fast pace

My DH hates my job though and has asked at different times for me to explore other options. I worked in a charity when DS was very young and I was soooooo bored with the slow pace and limited involvement in any real or meaningful engagement with people that I couldn't stay any longer than a year.

the money isnt good but i cannot stand being bored i thrive on stress

Pretty much this!

i really don't bloody know. today is on another level and i'm sick of dealing with stupid

I used to. I stayed with it because the industry pays well and I liked my team a lot. I thought other roles in the same industry/different company would be equally stressful but without the perk of a lovely team.

I moved company, get paid more and work in a much more relaxed environment.

There's like 100 other reasons in this thread though.

My job is socially useful and I like that element

The pay is decent - not amazing, but decent.

My team is excellent. My colleagues are on the whole, lovely, clever, interesting and good company.

The hours are good, exhausting at times but with plenty of days off.

There is a large element of problem solving in my job and I really like that.

I meet lots of interesting people. Many awful people too but on balance it’s a positive experience.

There is a reasonable amount of variety in my work.

There is always something new to learn and ways of developing.

I don’t mind stress. I’m fairly resilient.

I would find the next level up from my job more stressful as it involve a lot of people management which is not my skill set. I wouldn’t apply for that sort of job - I know my limits.

I have been self employed and a public sector job is like being carried about on pillows in comparison. My current job is objectively more valuable and more important though and much, much more emotionally demanding.

People can say whatever they like but I just don’t believe them. Before I get criticised, that’s nothing against any particular poster, that’s my personal opinion.

On one level, it's because it's intellectually stimulating and satisfying.
On another, like many others on this thread, I tick a lot of ADHD boxes and think I need the pressure to thrive. Otherwise, I just sit and stare and eat. Sometimes, I hit the sweet spot of just the right amount of busyness and deadline juggling but I'd rather be slightly too busy than bored. Learning more about ADHD has helped me manage my work a bit better. It made me realise quite how distractable I was. I am still amazing at pulling things together at the last minute but that skill isn't as helpful as it is if the last minute clashes with having to collect the DC from school or watching them in some end of term thing or similar

Um, not sure what to say to that @TwirlyWhirlie

About 50 people have given their own reasons and you think they're all lying?

That just makes me think you hate your job, which is kinda sad. I fucking fiercely love and protect my career; it's the only bit of my life that's just for me and I get so much from it.

Really interesting responses, and I’m intrigued that very few people have said what their job is.

my sister, I don’t know if she’s suited to it. She’s quite an anxious person (diagnosed with GAD), quite controlling as a result and overly empathic. She has to deal directly with some very very unhappy people at work and she’s not good at leaving the stress behind.

otoh it pays well, it’s intellectually stimulating (which is very important to her), it’s quite high status in her organisation and she has been able to advance quite quickly (partly because no one else wants this role so there isn’t a lot of competition).

Because I enjoy it and I can see the difference my actions have on outcomes

There are enough other things I like about it that make the stress worth dealing with.

I’m also an intelligent, busy person who would get very bored in a less intense job (I’ve done it and hated it - not having things to do was more stressful for me than having too much to do).

I don’t get paid loads objectively (with hindsight should have picked a different career) but I am in the trap that I wouldn’t earn what I do now starting a new career. So that is another factor keeping me doing it.

not having things to do was more stressful for me than having too much to do

same here @Familiaritybreedscontemptso

Because a life lived entirely in my comfort zone would be a small and unsatisfying life.

I feel like I have found my tribe on this thread!

This. Challenging situations in work and personally have always pushed me and I thrive off it.

I had a stressful job that didn’t pay that well, comparatively speaking. Initially I stayed because I got satisfaction from the people I was helping. But that aspect of the work slowly eroded away and became 95% paperwork and targets which were impossible to meet. The reason I entered that career had all but gone. Then I stayed a while longer as I didn’t know what other job to do!

I then got offered a zero stress role. Lower pay but I was so ready for it. I love the fact that when I switch the laptop off, my day is done. I don’t need to consider work for a second. In my old role any leave you took, your work had to be covered. By doing things in advance, asking colleagues for cover, and playing catch up when you got back. Which didn’t help make the leave itself relaxing.

I personally never want to go back to that level of stress again.

Only for the money

I do. Very intensive hours. Regularly work over 70 hours a week and fairly normal to recieve emails that expect immediate attention when i am off.

I do it because i want to live in a big house and privately educate my kids.

I wouldn't do it for average wage and am actively looking for overseas opportunities because the economy is so awful in the UK currently. We have become a low wage society.

I’m very highly paid so the lifestyle it gives me is worth the stress.

I’m very competitive and like being at the level I’m at.

The work is interesting and I love the people I work with.

I’m a bit of a stressy person anyway, and a perfectionist. If my job was to put ten screws in a bag every 30 seconds, I’m the person who’d want to do it in 20 seconds, or find a way to do it way better than everyone else. It’s just how I was raised. So I figure if I put that much pressure on myself, I may as well do it in a job that pays very well.

It’s interesting, creative and never dull.

I like creating things, it’s very satisfying seeing the final product. It’s also lots of working with people which I like, and mentoring younger people.

I have quite a bit of autonomy. I’m paid by pretty well.

I also struggle to see what else I’d do, but I will need to make a change because the industry is shrinking and I’m not young. I’d like the next thing I do to be less stressful though, so I can ha be more headspace for other things

Not everyone has a DH and kids to focus on so a stressful job can provide validity

Because I aspire to more than a little job which fits around my domestic responsibilities.