AIBU to not give a shit about my job?

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I have always been a high achiever and work in a professional career with security, good pay, high responsibility and endless scope for progression. I get lots of opportunities to develop myself as a leader etc etc.

It’s a job most people consider to be worthwhile and important BUT I just don’t care. I want to do the bare minimum and then log off. I feel like I’m constantly pretending to care about my personal goals, what I want to achieve etc. Everyone else is so keen and thinks the work is so important.

Am I the only one pretending or do other people do this?

I really enjoy my job and it’s quite worthwhile socially. However, I am another quiet quitter.

Seeing how callous management are means I just do what I need to do, which takes about 18 - 20 hours of my full time paid week. Sometimes I nap on the sofa in the afternoon with my work phone in my hand.

Life is too short to get so stressed about work.

This is pretty much why a switched to being a freelance IT contractor - didn't give a stuff about progression and the accompanying office politics/brown nosing/corporate bullshit/performance reviews/etc.

I love my job, I had the same feeling though each time I got up about 33wks pregnant and went on maternity leave.

I can't imagine doing a job for a company I don’t care about.

I used to be committed and passionate, always giving 200%, sometimes to the detriment of my personal life. Never ever got any real recognition for it, people just got used to me always getting stuff done.
Then I got a new job, fresh start, more than double my old salary. I purposely made it all about setting the boundaries from the start and also managing expectations. I do my hours, I do my job really well but I no longer feel I need to give everything my absolute 100%. It turns out that a presentation prepared quickly in the morning is a good as the one I would have worked on for a week in my previous life (job).
To me, YANBU. Work is work. I’m now old and cynical and think unless it’s something really meaningful: saving lives, working for charities, teaching (you knows what I mean), it’s all just fake corporate jobs where it’s all about appearances, visibility and wanky speak.

if anything I treat work like a mini social with a bit of admin to do

I have found my people - loving this line! It’s quiet, nice colleagues, have a chat, an uninterrupted cup of tea (or ten), the actual work is a doddle and I get stupidly long holidays. Working from home - well, spend about half my hours catching up on soaps and washing. Everyone seems to think I work really hard and I keep getting promoted 🤣

I couldn’t agree more OP.

I pretend to care but really don’t. The management are crap and expect too much and give nothing in return. Certain colleagues I’ve seen their health suffer due to the job being so overwhelming.

I really try to log off and not care.

No one ever said on their deathbed that they wished they spent more time at the office

It's not just in the UK where people are questioning the relentless work culture. The Chinese have a phrase for it - the 'lying flat' or tang ping movement.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60353916

followed by the US 'quiet quitting' movement....

www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2022/12/19/quiet-quitting-is-a-sign-of-a-deeper-problem-heres-what-it-means/

I don't think there's anything wrong with this outlook, OP. In fact I think it's healthy.

I'm the same as a PP - at school, all I wanted from a career was good money, guaranteed switch off, and ability to raise a normal family around it.
I had my kids young and simultaneously played the 'keener' for 5 years to get that exact job. Now I have it, I'm happy to just do it well and clock off.

I'm 100% there for the money. I think that's ok.

OP, most people are like you. It is whether they can be bothered to fake it.

My work is reasonably interesting and I work for money (chasing the promotions to get it) and for my children (to set them up). I have reached as high as I need to so now just coasting and will be gently gliding down in 5 years once the youngest dc has graduated from university.

I don't think I would be happy giving zero fucks about my work because I want to be proud of my work product to be good. It is an internal barometer. I appreciate my employer does not owe me a job and can make me redundant tomorrow.

I was thinking about this just the other day. I used to be so ambitious, work so hard and really tow the company line. Marriage broke up, I was a single parent for years and worked my butt off then went back to a corporate job 3.5 years ago and now I love that I don't have to be on email in my own time. My boss and others work all hours but I've made it clear what my boundaries are.

I care about doing a good job but only in the hours I'm paid to do so - very rarely work extra hours but when I have to I always get the time back.

If I could give up work tomorrow I'd do it like a shot. Would find so much to fill my time with - I would never be bored.

I do wonder if it's an age thing though and you get fed up with seeing the same old policies being rebranded as sparkly and new and you're thinking same shit different day.

I used to love my job in one of the ‘caring’ professions. I was very passionate about everything I did, had some autonomy and flexibility in how I worked and believed in what I was doing on a daily basis. This government has slowly destroyed all of this over the last 12 years and now I am just waiting it out until the mortgage is paid off. I haven’t changed as a person but what I’m
expected to do has changed beyond belief. I go through the motions and do what I’m supposed to do, but the passion has been pretty much been destroyed.

I guess some people might think I should just leave and let some enthusiastic young replacement take over but there aren’t many people lining up waiting.

@DrManhattan Can I ask what you do with the other 80% ?
Im similar but feel I need to stare aimlessly at my monitor and think up things to do because if I do non-work stuff I feel guilty !

To those of you who get away with the minimum and not being fully present at work, don’t you worry about AI putting you out of a job? If you’re jobs that easy …

I try to invest my time in activities that will make the greatest impact and strategically avoid or rush the easier bits. I’ve got a good work life balance, but feel it’s important to care about work otherwise what’s the point of spending all my time and energy?

I used to love being a dinner lady, got lots of social skills from that job, it doesn’t need to be a career job. If your jobs too easy, it’s probably time to look for another one?

I’d be worried about checking out if you have a lot of years left in the Labour market. AI is already here and will revolutionise the economy!

I feel the same. I do have a tendency to get a bit wrapped up in my work, I stress at home and take things way too personally. But am I passionate about my job? Nope. If I won the lottery, would I keep doing my job? Hell no. If I could skip the annual performance rating bollocks I would, getting positive feedback is a cringe fest and getting ‘developmental’ feedback is demoralising!

I'm counting the days to retirement

YANBU

I’m a workaholic and wish I wasn’t.

TheToothofaPig

Oh my life, I could've written your post! Pushed at school, pushed in to uni, now in a good 'desk' job. (albeit ticks all the boxes in my post)

I really, really wish I'd become a Plumber.

I was like you. Went part time in my 30s and quit ASAP to be a sahm.

All the newly qualified professionals in my work are 'passionate ' about the job, if baffles me as I think they genuinely believe they are. They are so pious about it too. I work well and efficiently and am completely reliable and mostly enjoy it but am very far from passionate about the work.

I’ve moved to a better paid less stressful role and I’m loving it! I twiddle my thumb quite a bit during quiet times although do more than pull my weight when needed. But if I won enough £ I wouldn’t give a flying fuck about leaving work

My job is pretty stressful and longish hours mostly and I am exhausted most now the time. Indo enjoy bit but the exhaustion and back to back calls since lockdown have taken a bit of a toll. I used to travel quite a bit and it was way more motivational and fun.

Now in all honesty I just look forward to my next holiday. Ad soon as its Friday evening I switch off completely and I am relaxed. Unfortunately I can't afford to retire for at least another 5 years....

I would very much like to know what you do? I want a job where I don't think about it in between.

I'm well thought of at work and it's a traditionally challenging and not very well paid profession, I get great feedback but I spend a lot of time feeling resentful and not caring, then mask this and go in and act like a lovely person - when really I'm a simmering knot of exasperation and boredom. But I do also care because what I do has a direct impact on other people's lives and I think this causes the resentment. I don't really want to be needed.

Nobody ever said, " I wish I'd spend more time at work"
If working was so good the rich would do it.

I enjoy my job most of the time but it's so poorly paid & I do get stressed.
Now my mum is very ill with cancer plus mets & awaiting serious surgery.. its made me feel very depressed so I'm signed off & i know they can easily do without me. So why I care about my job I don't know.