What jobs can you say 'tomorrow is a new day'

[Whattodonut]

I'm having a mid-career crisis. And the hardest part is finding out what I don't know.
I'm a researcher now and while it's fine I realised that what I want is a job where you end the day and really do start a new day the next. Basically I'm sick of projects that go on and on and take months or years to end.
My random examples are air- traffic controller, or train driver. The jobs might be stressful but you're not carrying things over to the next day. Tomorrow really is a new day.
Can anyone suggest some more? As I'm not interested in doing either of those examples! Something where at the end of the day you finish and start again anew the next.

When I was at school, I was friends with a girl whose mum was a single mother, (much less common in those days) who had moved home with her parents, who she cared for a bit, and had two children. Her life was quite hard, I think.
She worked as a telephonist. She really liked that at the end of the day she just unplugged and went home. Never had to give it a second thought til she plugged in the next day.
I was a bit if a snob then and thought how boring and unambitious to settle for that. 😔 Now I understand absolutely 100%. Each day is a clean, fresh page.
I think it must be like that to be a cleaner.

At least half of these involve long-term projects! Writing a book takes months!

I know what you mean.
Any sort of driving job, or emergency type work, firebrigade, paramedic.

Train driving has a certain appeal, no traffic jams but I think it could get boring after a while.

I've been having my mid-career crisis for 2 years now and slowly working out what would make me happy.

I do social research in a charity- which doesn't pay very well for already being nearly at the top of my game but pays enough for me to live comfortably on. I'd like 40k min but would settle for a bit less- enough to pay the mortgage and the bills. Which rules out most of the school/office jobs suggested. I have no sense of style so even if I knew how to do nails/cut hair I'm not sure anyone would want to be styled by me!

I like solving problems. But I'd like to be able to do that and close the case, if not every day then every week.

Receptionist or PA would really be great but having done them in a previous life I know they either don't pay enough or need a lot of working your way up the ladder.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I really will investigate nearly all of them to see what I would need to do.
I do love driving but I have 2 kids so office hours are better.

I've had a book in my head for 10 years now so I know that's definitely not a tomorrow is another day job! 😄

@PartingGift I am with you - GP surely is the worst as overarching responsibility for someone's long term health. Nursing will have some degree of patient continuity unless you are an A&E nurse (and sometimes patients are in A&E for >2 days at the moment!)

@ODPintheNHS is right - ODP, scrub nurse. Maybe radiologist, some physio roles, biochem/lab jobs. Medical specialties: anaesthetics, A&E.. anyone who doesn't have inpatients or run outpatient clinics.

The flip side of it OP is that for some jobs like that it means you don’t know what the work day will bring and are reactive with a sense of not being in control of it.
whilst I keeps it interesting I found I felt quite anxious going to work in a role which involved dealing with what came up on the day, crises etc and have enjoyed moving to a role where it’s more predictable, I have longer term cases and projects and a sense of being able to plan my own day and my work and knowing roughly what the next day will look like.

It’s a bit niche but DH’s job is in an artistic field. Each day he completes the jobs he’s been commissioned to do and that’s it, they’re done. He only ever gets stressed about having too much work, he never worries about work once it’s done.

Most public sector jobs.

Just don't assume the grass is greener - many who work that way would long for meatier projects.

Absolutely. That's if you even leave on time.

Supply chain and logistic are like this, but I could only do it for so long as because everything is during that day that brings its own stressors and the stakes are high on the day.

I'm an acute hospital speech therapist in general medicine and stroke. It's not completely like you describe but not far off. Tbh I think most speechies would want it to be more long term, I prefer to fly in and fly out! But its taken 14 years of training and experience to get near your salary (some do it a lot faster).

I'd say pilot, and also whats the name for the guys who actually run a TV show? Is that the producer or the director? The ones who say 'coming to camera 3, less of that woman's arse please camera 3'?

May not be useful if you want a total change but social research roles in the civil service are often like this although it does depend on the role. There are roles where you are advising people on the governance side of their research or advising policy on projects and therefore just deal with short term/daily things as they come in and then send them off again without getting attached to any of it. I certainly don't think about work when I leave for the day and take it as it comes when I next go in.

This is my life! Except I have one child not two. I work in a contact centre (mainly from home since the pandemic) and I love that once I log off I have nothing to do until I log back on, it allows me to devote all my non working time and energy to my son while he is little. I'm also struggling with peri menopausal brain fog and fatigue so it's ideal for me at this stage in life

I’m a works planner for a waterboard. I have a defined start and end time, jobs come up I plan them out and move on to the next. Occasionally there are complicated jobs that can’t be solved on the day, e.g awaiting permits or specialised equipment but they don’t end up hanging over me like a dark cloud. They get ‘shelved’ and dealt with when they are ready to be dealt with. I do a daily handover with anything unresolved and the next shift picks it up. It can be stressful in the moment, but I prefer that to long term stress that can eat into my days off or AL.

I’ve done similar jobs for other industries, like gas maintenance planning etc that tends to be a be the same. Very reactive. You complete whatever the task is as and when it comes up and move on to the next. It sounds boring but it’s varied and I prefer it to long drawn out projects, where you can end up having the same meeting to discuss the same unresolved issue week in week out.

Logistics planning might be a similar type of thing.

that tends to be a be the same.

Obviously should read: that tend to be the same…

Those jobs do exist and they are the BEST jobs. BUT they are the least paid……

Ooh. Bus driver?

The problem is that you only get that feeling once every few months or years. And then it's mainly relief you feel rather than jubilation. (I do a similar job to the OP).

Teacher. No 2 days are ever quite the same!

Amazon driver

@stargirl1701

Nar, the days never quite over and the work is never finished. Being a TA fits the bill though but obviously crap pay.

Teaching assistant

All the TA's in my school are involved in ongoing projects or completing pieces of work with children over a period of time. They will often have to carry over tasks to the next day like calls/emails to parents, following up on safeguarding issues, planning interventions, documentation, they'd never get home if they didn't carry tasks over to the next day!

@neverbeenskiing

True. I work as an agency TA though so for me once it’s done it’s done. If the school is crap I add it to the one hit wonder list.

An electrician!

Decent pay too. We’re renovating just now and our bill was an eye opener!