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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the point of work is to do the least to get the most money, to enjoy other areas of your life

134 replies

JeffsanArsehole · 29/10/2015 18:25

Even if you love your job (like I do)

Surely for most people in jobs they love/enjoy want to get enough money to live/have a family/have hobbies ?

And for the vast majority of folk in jobs they don't love and are paid poorly it applies even more?

Where did this idea come from that we should be grateful to work 50/60/70 hours a week for crap money just to feed our children and scrape through come from?

So even though I love my job and it's well paid I don't want to spend more than 40 hours doing it. As I like other things even more.

OP posts:
IonaNE · 29/10/2015 22:14

YANBU. Work to live, not the other way round!

pinkdelight · 29/10/2015 22:17

I suppose I'm one of the 'live to work' mob coming along as predicted, to say I love my job and will often sneak away from my family at weekends and holidays cos I'd rather be working. And I'd certainly never want to retire unless illness prevented me from working.

BrandNewAndImproved · 29/10/2015 22:18

I like my job but it's not my life. My job enables me to have my life.

irregularegular · 29/10/2015 22:18

But you're saying something different now Trixy. You're saying that climbing up the ladder and working silly hours in order to earn more money isn't worth it. Sure, that makes sense. But that's not the same thing as saying you want to work as little as possible!

pinkdelight · 29/10/2015 22:18

X-post with irregular. Who is spot on, I feel this too: "they barely think of it as work at all and it is just as important to them as any other part of their life."

starlight2007 · 29/10/2015 22:19

Yes I know exactly what you mean..I could look back 20 years to when I was living in a bed sit as a teen. I don't really have much more except my DS ( obviously a great addition to my life) I didn't have a lap top because there was no Internet..I have more stuff, and more space...Should I work harder for more stuff?

I do enjoy my job and work FT by the way but not well paid

irregularegular · 29/10/2015 22:23

I don't just live to work, but it's certainly one of the more important reasons for me to live. And I don't think that's a bad thing. In fact, I think it is a rather wonderful thing!

On the other hand, I find the idea of working to live rather depressing.

thegiddylimit · 29/10/2015 22:23

I think for a lot of people that is probably true, that work is not interesting enough to want to devote a lot of time outside contracted hours. But some jobs are more than that, as someone said above you wouldn't be happy if your brain surgeon downed tools as soon as their contracted hours were up.

Or, as I rather cheekily pointed out in a training course on work-life balance, some jobs are actually more important than the home life of the person who do them. What would we have done if Winston Churchill in 1941 had said 'sorry chaps, I need to take some sick leave because I've had a heart attack, I'm sure you'll all manage fine without me'.

Obviously we're not all Winston Churchill but I think those of us who are lucky enough to have interesting and challenging jobs do all get something out of work that means it's not as simple as 'I only work for money and I prefer spending time on my hobbies'. Frankly I work for a lot more than the money, I find my work rewarding in a way that nothing outside work can compete with and so sometimes putting in the hours is worthwhile.

museumum · 29/10/2015 22:24

I love what I do. I'm self employed and often choose jobs with a lower fee if they are more satisfying and have more positive impact on others/society.
So no, I don't do as little as possible for as much money as possible.

lorelei9 · 29/10/2015 22:27

Yanbu
I did tons of overtime in my youth to raise a deposit, but I don't think hard work has an innate marvellous value. It partly depends what you do I guess, but as soon as I could work more normal hours, I did. I could work more to pay for more stuff but time with loved ones matters more to me.

NotEmptyNow · 29/10/2015 22:28

YANBU I agree 100%. We've only got one chance at life, why on earth would you want to spend all your time working? I understand people who have found their vocation feeling like that is an important part of their life. But for people who are working in other people's businesses or companies, why on earth would you want to dedicate your life to that?

momsnest · 29/10/2015 22:39

I think you can do a job well without taking on overtime and extra tasks. The two things aren't mutually exclusive. Likewise you can love a job but do it badly and hate a job and do it well. I have always shown up on time, done my job to the best of my ability then gone home. I don't feel I want to do overtime so I don't. Doesn't mean I'm shit at my job.

Kangenchunga · 29/10/2015 22:46

I suppose we are all so very different, I don't work and don't want to because I love all my hobbies and interests and can pursue them to my hearts content. I have other friends who couldn't live without work and whilst I find it hard to understand given that they aren't exactly nuclear scientists or the like I do appreciate that need in them.

RJnomaaaaaargh · 29/10/2015 22:50

Totally disagree. I could make a lot more money in a lot less time doing something else. I do what I do because I believe in it. I know I make the world a better place. So much so I do more of it without pay in my spare time.

blueshoes · 29/10/2015 22:54

I am not an overachiever but many of my friends are and I admire that trait. I could do more but I choose not to to have a more balanced life. I do feel I should step up though and will probably do so later in life when my children are older.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 29/10/2015 23:05

The 'do the least' phrase is misleading I guess. If you substitute that for work hard for your contracted hours and no more, then yes, in the main yanbu. The majority of people are doing what they need to do to feed, house and clothe their family and hopefully have enough for some stuff that adds some joy to life.
Some people adore their work and would carry on if you gave them £50 million.
Ideally you have a job that pays enough to support your needs and some wants, that involves doing something that gives you satisfaction and offers decent conditions.

trixymalixy · 29/10/2015 23:55

Irregular, at no point have I said I want to work as little as possible. My aim is to maximise the amount I can be paid without compromising my time with my family. I work hard, I work part time, I'm paid well, I enjoy my job but I have no interest in compromising my family time to earn more which would mean travelling or silly hours.

AnnaMarlowe · 30/10/2015 00:01

Hmm. I'm a natural workaholic. I do really enjoy my job and am very well compensated for it.

But if I won substantial amounts on the lottery, I'd go back to being a SAHM to be honest.

BackforGood · 30/10/2015 00:25

YABVU in answer to your title question, yes.
Your opening post asks something slightly different though.

There are LOADS of jobs where you certainly don't want people to be doing the least they can.
There are loads of people that get a great deal of satisfaction from doing a job well, or to the best of their ability. I wouldn't feel in any way comfortable doing the 'least' I could in my job - I believe if you are going to do something (anything, not just your paid employment) then do it well.

I work PT to get a good work life balance, but I certainly don't aim to do the least I can in my job, no.

TheCatsFlaps · 30/10/2015 00:35

I work daily with a broad spectrum of people: old, young, working, out of work, in prison, homeless, in hodpital, sick, disabled and dying. It's not nursing and not social work, but it comes damn close. There is an assumption anyone in my line of work does it to help, and fuck the money. WRONG!

Some of these clients have been absolute bastards to others in their lives, making me think "you deserve to be where you are now, matey! Now gimme my money, I'm goin' home!"

AcrossthePond55 · 30/10/2015 00:46

If it were phrased 'to work just the amount of hours you want etc etc' rather than 'do the least' it would be more accurate. For some people that would be 10 hours a week. For others, they'd happily work 60 hours per week because they love their job.

And yes, I agree. I worked a govt job (40 hr/wk M-F) and it was perfect. Weekends and major holidays off, no overtime unless you wanted it other than the occasional 15-30 minutes for a late client, excellent pay and benefits, family leave, and no one would ever dare contact you on a day off or holiday. My job was never glamourous nor did I ever make megabucks, but it was necessary and fulfilling work, and paid very well. And it allowed me to retire in my mid-50s, about 10 years earlier than most of my friends dream of retiring.

Mmmmcake123 · 30/10/2015 00:50

I saw Chris Rock live one time and part of his set was the difference between a job and a profession. The job involved clock watching and the profession was all about not noticing the time as you were so engrossed in the purpose of what you were doing.
It's good, YouTube it if you can be arsed hehe

IHeartKingThistle · 30/10/2015 01:09

I don't know OP.

I teach in Adult Education and I love it. But it takes up nearly every waking minute and I get paid peanuts considering it's a qualified teacher position. I could earn double by going back into schools or joining an agency. I'm staying because I am doing a good thing and that is important, to me and to my students.

So no, I don't work to live. But on the flip side of that, if I was in schools I would be working even more and I would be more stressed, and that would have a knock-on effect on my children. It's a difficult issue - I think I disagree with most of what you are saying but of course we want to prioritise family life. My job is relatively low paid but I would be much less happy selling software, for example, for three times the money.

PoundingTheStreets · 30/10/2015 01:18

I think we're all different, which is a good thing because some jobs require a lifestyle commitment rather than a straight-forward commitment to do contracted hours only, and some of those jobs are vital to the success of society.

However, in terms of personal happiness, I think those who prioritise family etc over work probably do best. The ideal is almost certainly to have a job you love while also having time to invest in and enjoy family, friends and hobbies.

I have not achieved that balance quite yet. Halloween Confused

CanadianJohn · 30/10/2015 01:24

Well, I don't know about "do the least". Would you want a teacher to do as little as he/she could get away with, consistent with not being fired? Would you want a cleaner or a care-giver to do as little as possible?

If you were a manager or a business-owner, would you want employees who did the least amount of work they could?

Mind you, when I was hospitalised last year I think the nurses were trying to do the least they could get away with, so maybe they would agree with you.