Some people just aren't office 9-6 people

[Mcdotii]

I went straight from uni into office work. I never really liked it but I carried on doing it for over ten years.

Ive recently gone back after an 18 month break and I really can't stand it. Ive been back a few months and half of the days I just think about quitting there and then.

I earn a good wage (over twice the national average) but could survive on less. But I'm totally at a loss at what to do next. I know I couldn't do any customer facing role either.

Aibu to just quit it as I'm not an office person?

Can I join your gang?! I've just been offered a new job (in an office) and all I can do is desperately try to come up with ideas of working for myself. None of them seem likely successes though...

I think you need to do a bit more analysis about what exactly it is about office work that you don't like - 'office work' is incredibly broad. There are some office environments and roles I'd hate to work in, and others are great.

Conversely - what is it about your work that you enjoy?

Oh confused join in my hating office work! There must be another way to make a good wage?!

Its being stuck inside all day, no natural light just looking at wall, bright fluencent lights, stale smelly air, annoying boring conversations, having to sit there until 6 , RSI. I do feel like a farmed hen.

You need to move to a better office - they're not all like that.

I was in an office for two weeks. It was beyond dull. Never worked in one since.

YANBU to feel that way. What would you like to do instead?

Tbh I always worked jobs that weren't office based and longed for regular hours, moved into an office and hated it.

However I loved the regular hours, better pay, regular days off etc.

I do think office work isn't for everyone, but I also think a lot of people don't realise how shit it is to work in a job for shit pay with bad hours. Unless it's something you love doing.

Yanbu to want to do something else. Ywbu to quit without a plan or a firm idea of what you wanted to do and accepted that most jobs have a shit side to them.

I also echo pp that says not all offices are like the ones you describe

I find it a bit odd when people lump all 'office' work together. I've worked in a variety of different office type environments, some were how you describe (which is pretty soul destroying) and some which are nothing like that at all. I now work in Marketing and the office I'm based in has a lovely atmosphere and is vibrant and 'creative'. It depends what kind of job you do.
If you don't like your job/your chosen career then by all means take steps to change it.

You've worked in some awful offices! I worked in them for over 20 years and never experienced anything like that.

Have you thought about getting some proper careers advice?

Inn it an office person but I love my job, and we've just moved to swanky new offices with natural light and actual windows which helps.

Is it the role, or the office that's a problem?

Yanbu not everyone is an office type but you need to work out what you want to do before you quit. Is it the outdoors you like or meeting lots of different people or creative tasks?
If you change path you will probably have to take a hefty pay cut to start off with but it might be worth it if you end up doing something you enjoy.

I cant work in an office. I get stir crazy by 11. Even a three hour training session indoors does my head in.

I spent my career outdoors, first in civil engineering, then as a mobile adviser in and out of people's houses and offices, then doing that but in management, then working from home but going out to do stuff in other peoples offices for short bursts and now i teach horticulture.

Office work - only if there is absolutley nothing else left to do. Hate it.

As others have said, there's office work and office work. I used to work in a lab and did miss it when I began my office job - quite a few lab tasks can be completed on automatic pilot, while sitting at a computer (in my line of work anyway) usually requires engaging my brain. Thus I find office work is more mentally exhausting most of the time!

What sort of work would you like to do?

One "office" is not the same as another. Newspaper offices, for example, are a million miles away from council finance offices, in my experience.

In my current job I'm in the office maybe half the time and spend the rest of the day out and about. Don't have my "own" desk, etc - it's more of a drop-in type scenario. Would something more like that suit you?

I think you should look to work for a different company, one with an ethos and outlook that suits you more, rather than discounting all "office" work in one fell swoop.

I mean, I've never worked there, but from what I've seen from the likes of Lego, Innocent, Apple, Google etc, their "office" environments are a world away from the dull 9-6 slog. And it's the same in most cities.
Where I live there's "trendy, creative" offices with slides and all sorts, ranging to the "healthy" offices with standing desks and yoga balls to sit on - I can't imagine the people who work there are encouraged just to sit from 9-6 and bash away. Though I could be wrong.

9-6?

I thought a normal office working day was 9-5?? When did the extra hour get shoved on?

I work 07:30 to 15:30 in my office job and it's great but it does have its WTF am I doing moments.

Presumably you have some specialised skills if you earn more than twice the national average. Are you using them? Perhaps you should access some professional careers advice. It might ensure you're more positive about your strengths because your post comes over as very negative about work in general.

I suspect that many people (not necessarily you) who claim not to be 9-6 people think that they are special snowflakes who deserve different treatment to the rest of us.

A building with desks and chairs and computers in it. Working on weekdays, the same hours every day. Is that really the defining feature of a job? Or is the the work that you do, and the people that you do it with?

I've worked in a fee different offices. The team, the space, the work - they all differ.

In one, everyone was a petty whingey miserable fucker and the smell of the photocopier made me feel queasy. The work was drudging.

In another everything was brighter, I clicked with my workmates, found them funny and engaging. The office was bright and airy and I enjoyed the work.

I've visited a few council offices, but I walked into one and thought "There is just no way I could work here." It was awful, it had a feeling like working in an underground bunker, with awful health and safety notices everywhere. It was so grim.

I visited an office one out in the countryside. It's walls were made if glass with a view of the mountains, that was lovely.

I think anyone who earns more than twice the national average who is so disengaged with work is overpaid and I'd expect management to pick up on their lack of motivation.

I work an 8-6 NHS office job. Luckily, I have nice colleagues and some bizarre moments.

I agree OP and am not an office type either. Used to work in one when I was in my 20s then retrained as a teacher (better than an office despite the stress) now look after my 3 children full time. When I return to work it will be youth work or back in a school.

But puddy you can obviously forge positive relationships with people...

I dont necessarily think it is the fact that it is an office, it is the fact that you have to sit there regardless between the hours of 9-5 / 6 or whenever. it is like being sent to prison each day. It wouldn't matter if you had finished your work by 11am you have to sit there until your hours are up so you end up prolonging the work to fit the day. For me it was sole destroying. I walked out left and over the years I have done a variety of jobs and businesses where I have worked longer hours for less money but it was more enjoyable and ultimately more profitable than if I had stayed getting older and older sitting in the same seat in the same room year after year.