For being jealous of office workers?

[liverpool122]

I know that office jobs aren’t easy jobs by any means!!!

But I work as a health worker around schools. I’m constantly seeing students back to back every single day. I liaise with staff members, parents, professionals non stop until I clock out.

I love my job but sometimes I do feel jealous of those that can sit at a desk and not have to speak to anyone. Some mornings I just don’t have the energy to speak to people, I just wish I could sit at a desk (or better still, work from my sofa!) and just do some work by myself. I do find myself getting jealous of my friends who can drag themselves into the office and just do computer work, or work from home.
I think I’m just exhausted from it and I know I’m lucky to have the job I do, but does anyone else share my view?

I have done both very active jobs and offices jobs. I have even got bored of office work and gone to get a more physical job.

I went back to office work because its was better when I became a single parent. It's definitely has its perks.

However, I think doing things more phyiscal, in person role jobs also has their perks. Both have their downsides.

I also think it depends of what type of office job. I am very senior. When mum died I couldn't just disappear. My team could though and we would pick up the slack. To be fair though being able to dip in and out of work actually helped me.

I can't actually go a day without speaking to people. Alot of people. My teams can't either. Its definitely impacted my health. Definitely can't work from your sofa. We need 2 screens, at a minimum, so it can't balance on your knee.

But, I genuinely think if your job is really impacting you and you are looking for something else, you should look to do it. Due to our business plan I am planning on staying until 2025 then moving back to something more physical.

My aunt works in the NHS and moved to an office based role. Dad was bank staff for a secure mental health unit, but it's getting too much so moving to an admin job in their reception.

I'm in and office - well still WFH as in AUS - but today I've spent 5 hours on the phone in back to back meetings. One hour meeting to go.

This is a standard day for me being in meetings or presenting. As you progress in your career into upper manager/senior leadership you tend to be less of a "doer" and more of a "talker".

Gosh I'm sick of hearing myself.

Whoops. On the phone - I meant in teams meetings, video/audio on.

My back is shot to shit from years of office work!

Oh yes, how could I forget my back! I can stand all day, lift things, no problems - sit at a desk all day, and it's hell!

😂😂😂 I feel you.

I do an office job and am jealous of what you describe.
My husband was horrified at my day when we started wfh together.
I am on zoom calls/ was in meetings 5 hours + a day. A bad day is literally 8 hours of zoom calls which can run to 8pm or so (USA based company)
I am "presenting" "pitching" or generally trying to get people to do their jobs 😑 all. The. Time.
when that isn't happening am being harassed via email and/or work messenger chat by random folks who want things from me I generally can't give them.
Once all that is done then I can start actual work!
Most days I struggle to find time to pee let alone get 10000 steps done and my back is a tense hot mess.
I actually had a 3 hour block of focus time last week as we had a no "meeting Friday" (so I only had 2.5 hours of meetings 😂) it was amazing!!!

I am well paid though so can't complain too much...

I feel the same. Having to interact with 30+ members of the public all day and solve their problems is exhausting. Even though I am relatively well paid in a professional role. Some day I just want to hide in an office and work on spreadsheets and listen to music and not speak to anyone!!

You could change jobs?

My opinion - don't be envious of an office job its tedious, monotonous and so dull. I reckon after a months trial period of 'office' life you'd be wanting your old job back. I can't wait to make a career change. Seeing my laptop daily ugh! And they shouldn't be called windows either, windows show you views to the outside world not dull databases, never ending inboxes, non-stop chats with multiple people all wanting something immediately that is beyond urgent and insanely important or unbelievably slow programs that take a millennium to load... i have come close to dying of boredom many times. Lets trade places 🤩

My office job requires me to sit with a headset on talking to people for 10 hours straight, no gaps between calls. I think you are romanticising what office workers do a bit. If you're unhappy you could look for another role but I think you are happy from what you've said, have you got some annual leave coming up? you sound more like you need a break.

Same, I’m a teacher. I have thought about changing jobs but no idea what I’d do!

Well I have an ‘office job’ but it’s a customer facing role and I spend all day liaising with other professionals, other members of staff, customers, while still being expected to do all the ‘computer work’. So I don’t get where you’re coming from. Also, if you’re that jealous, maybe it’s time to look for a different job?

@SpikeySmooth

I work in public transport, so shifts, but very simple work unless there's a major incident.

I would hate office work. 9-5, sat down all day, breathing in recycled air...no thank you. With shift work I've got loads more time to attend appointments, get on with housework, do the shopping...far easier. Office work involves going into and out of town the same time as thousands of others, putting up with dickwads on the bus, sniffing their BO. Eugh.

Lol!! You have very strange ideas of what office work involves...🤣

I understand the 'exhaustion' from talking. I've taught for 22 years and at the end of a school day I don't want to talk to anyone - or even see anyone sometimes!

Luckily, I married a teacher and we both give each other a wide berth at the end of a working day. My DCs (10,7) have grown up knowing that they are to give us time to decompress too. They do go to after school club til 5 and then onto mid week activities too so actually not a lot of meaningful chat between us goes on in the week.

However, despite all of this, I don't think I could work in a job where it was routine each day. I'd be bored.

I left my teaching support job and now work from home on a computer all day. My current job is incredibly, incredibly dull with no job satisfaction, however I'm doing something about that and applying for different positions that are more balanced with my interests and what matters to me, still working from home though. Aparantly there is a recruitment problem in my organisation, which I find astounding given how many people such as myself have simply had enough of the conditions of their education or health care job,not to mention the people made redundant from hospitality.

I was an accountant and am now a teacher.

I was not cut out for long office days sitting on my arse all. My pelvis used to ache after a day of sitting and I couldn’t get comfortable on the sofa in the evening. The days just dragged looking at spreadsheets in almost silence all day long. Every day was the bloody same.

I love my job now (even though it pays far less!), I don’t sit down much at all during the day. I run, play, teach academics, sing, provide emotional support, laugh, and make crafts all in one day. I use my whole brain and my whole body - every day goes quickly. You have to leave your tiredness, illness and problems at the door and for the most part that’s a good thing.

Admittedly, there are some days where I feel like I’m only held together by caffeine and paracetamol and occasionally I wish for a quiet desk job, but I don’t really mean it.

Teacher here, I am looking to move into an office based job as soon as I can. Far better work/life balance, no behaviour management, and being able to have 'slow days' rather than every day being full on.

I wouldn't mind meetings or presenting to adults at all, especially since chances are it is far better pay!

I'm teach adults and it is tiring having to be "on" and basically perform all day. I'm not very sociable with my family when I first get home.

But I like how my days are never the same and my schedule varies too.

I sometimes think an office job would be easier but I think my real issue is that what I do is badly paid for what it is.

I used the word ‘day’ far too many times!

My role is sales/service office based and I’m literally on long intense calls every day! From negotiations / to discussing terms/ lots of business development and client relationship management. I’m really whacked at the end of the day and struggle to talk to my partner! It’s often teams/zoom etc so I feel I’m ‘on it’ all the time. Plus it’s a eat what you kill - that’s what I earn! But the flip side is as it’s sales it’s well paid but stressful! DH is in a similar even more intense job and I would not swap places with him/ we are both office based.

If you aren't happy with your job make a career change. I think you might find that the grass isn't greener.

I get terrible back and neck problems from sitting on a laptop for 13 hours straight. My work can go on until midnight. Most of my days are taken up with face to face teams calls. That's just my experience (well paid after 20 years).

First step is making a cv with transferable skills and researching careers.

I can highly recommend accounting and finance but you'd have to be numerate too.

'Office job's such a broad term.. .but it's not like Instagram where you can sit down comfy with a cup of coffee and just get on with it in my experience. I love my job but it is mentally draining and sometimes I envy others in more physical jobs where you just need to 'physically' show up and do a task, rather than 'mentally' show up every day and ahve to be constantly prioritising and managing competing demands. Its very mentally draining at times. I know very few people who can just sit down and do 'a task' at a computer as part of their job and not worry about anything else or be bothered by calls/other issues

I have an office job but as I lead a number of teams that definitely doesn’t involve just sitting at my desk and not speaking to anyone. But many of our staff can do that.

I'm an office worker and get jealous of those in jobs that get to do what you do as I find it so boring!

I did an office job once.
It's not for me at all.
I like an active physical job, and the strangeness of sitting at a desk all day would weird me out.

I have an office job but have to go out 25% of the week. That's the best of both worlds. I trained for this job because I didn't want to be stuck an office full time.