How did I end up with a job where I get up at 5.30am?!

[shouldntBeButIAm]

Just drinking my swift coffee and getting ready for work and wondering how I ended up with a job getting up at 5.30 and an almost 2 hour commute each way! AIBU for thinking there must be more to life?!

What kind of jobs/industry are only available in London and nowhere else?

It’s not that jobs are ONLY available there, but there are lots of jobs, and often higher pay.

Some sectors are heavily London, eg digital sector, creative industries, banking, financial services, central government, charity HQs.

I have a one hour commute, an hour and a half with traffic. I used to have a 40 min commute, however new job is 15k more, Health Insurance, more holidays, more bonus and flexi time. Previouse job was less money 20 days hols with no flexi, but you were also on call every weekend for no extra. Was working nearly 60 hours a week, dreaded going in every day, never switched off and my weekends were ot my own. Yes i am up at half 5 every day so can be on the road to miss the traffic, but have flexi so as long as do my 8.5 hours can finsih when thats done, i saty up one night a week in an air b and b and do, extra hours that day so i then finish early on a friday. I can alos build up time to add to my holidays. i am awaiting working from home to come in next year which will break the week for me, however now when i clock out i am finsihed with work, am more relaxed and sleeping better, feel it some weeks though, am exhausted by sataurday. With the extra pay though can afford to have a cleaner who also irons for me which means can rest or catch up on other things. In the long run it will be worth it.

My main office is 6000 miles away
I commute there once or maybe twice a year.
The rest of the time I work from my garden office.

I can do everything I need to do for my work from here.
I think I would really, really struggle to lose my precious sport time to have to commute now.

£71 a day that is harsh

Difficult to live locally if you work for the NHS in London. I also know of Fire Brigade staff who commute from Southampton. You have to live were you can afford.

Surely when you're spending that amount on commuting you'd be better finding a local job, even if it pays less?

depends how much LESS.

Even if you include commute, car park, (and tax!) and the rest it's still very much worth working in central London for me. I assure you I wouldn't bother if the difference was only a couple of £100 a month.

What kind of jobs/industry are only available in London and nowhere else?
banking, finance, law firms, creative, marketing, recruitment, museums, hotels, some very high profile hospitals, foreign embassies...

Some jobs might exist in other parts of the country, but it's one business, 1 firm as opposed to a choice of them. Some roles simply do not exist.

Commute is shit, there's no other way to look at it - even if you try to make good use of the time and now waste your life

BUT earning decent money is definitively worth it
Not being stuck in a job you hate and being able to pretty much walk into another one is also very liberating (the only downside being that all these other jobs are pretty much around the same tube station..)
London is a great place to be, shame we can't all afford to live in it, but it is a nice work environment.

The solution really is to give more opportunities to work as much from home as possible and reduce the days you are spent commuting. And chose very carefully where you live so you have at least a guaranteed seat in the train...

The pay differentials are such that the commute is financially worth while.

It’s not 10, 20 or even 30% differences in many fields.

Lunchtime!

I would earn 50% less at best if I didn't work in London!

@nowlook really do think carefully about creating a commute, it feels worse than it sounds!

I start working at 5am. It's doable. Maybe try for a shorter commute though as 2 hrs is hell, I do feel for you

I think I just fainted at the thought of paying £71 a day to get to work!

I don't earn much more than that for a days work!

I'm sure there are many senior roles only in certain cities eg Prime Minister, Head of the Bank of England, Mayor of London and no doubt tons of other jobs I can't think of! I did a job that was only in London. When I stopped I couldn't replicate role or salary outside

I commuted for 12 years which was minimum 1.45hr in morning leaving at 6.30 am and 2.15hr going home.

Working with people who mostly lived in the city and could either walk or bus to work and they moaned about 30mins.

Now in a job with a 50 min commute (lower salary) and have decided that 1 hr each way is acceptable for me but no longer.
I can not believe I did it for so long I must have been mad.

I recently took my son to the airport for an early flight, at 6am the motorway was busy. I know a lot of you say you have no option....but what a way to live? It must be work / bed? No amount of money would entice me to that way of life.
I currently do a half hour commute and find that quite enough. The rush hour starts earlier and lasts longer these days and there are now so many cars on the road.

On the train home thank goodness, later than I wanted. Should be indoors just after 7.30

@Sooverthemill thanks so much for your link and your supportive post this morning.

If there was another easy option to earn less but enough closer to home I would be looking at. Not all jobs can be based anywhere unfortunately

I hope everyone is back home by now.

My walk home at 17.00 was a bit better this evening - the dreary weather thinned the crowd at Winter Wonderland!

@shouldntBeButIAm oh that's sweet! You are very welcome. Life is such a juggle with kids and work and family especially if you have a child with extra needs. I hope you find a book you like! I'm on 'free food for millionaires' which was a random choice but I'm loving it ( but I'm lucky in that I'm home based now)

If you don’t want to pay for books, see if your local library offers the Libby app. It allows you to borrow books and audio books. I’ve just discovered it and now listen to books in the car, as well as BBC Sounds downloads.

I was actually thinking this earlier but from the total opposite view

I have a 15 min commute and was thinking could I cope with an hour commute starting at the same time as I do (8am) which would mean leaving the house at 7. And also the getting home later as well

But then I quite like the idea of a bit of a longer drive but think the novelty might wear off fairly quickly

I used to have a 1.5 hr minimum commute each way. On busy London public transport. It completely wiped me out. I now have a hour in the car but three days a week with home working on those three days if I want too. Its still a bit long at times. My dream is a short commute. I learned I'm not cut out for 3hr plus per day on the train /tube.

@theEnglishInPatient
Errr marketing and recruitment are available outside of london...mutliple firms not just one and paying well...

I get up at that time but not a long commute (start early, finish at 4.30pm)
The commute home is awful, takes me about 35 mins to do 4 miles

It isn't just commuting into London. Due to the patchy coverage of our public transport and the vagaries of traffic, you can spend almost as long travelling from one end of town to the other as you do on the train into London.

(M27 roadworks anyone?)

Dazedandconfused10

depends who you recruit for...
If you specialise in the financial sector for example, your clients won't be interested by a firm located at the other side of the country.

There are only so many flights a week you can take to meet clients - and candidates! - to keep your business profitable.