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?

What makes you think our male counterparts are working harder? The bare minimum when you’re a woman working PT with children is a bar higher than a man who enjoys the freedom that not being the default parent allows, whilst working and being paid a FT salary but not having to prove his worth.

Im productive and I add value, but do I care? No.

🤣 oh to be as perfect and progressive and committed to work as you.

Please, nobody is going to engrave your e-mail signature on your headstone or remember the dizzying heights of management and professionalism you achieved in your career. You'll be in the ground cold and this company you've slaved away for to line the pockets of others will continue to roll on without a thought about you.

I dont dislike my job, I do all that's required for it, I'm just not a slave to it and don't give a fuck about it. It's a means to an end, a paycheck at the end of the month so me and my family can enjoy life.

same here

So many baseless assumptions about my job 👏👏👏.
🤣 to you too.

I don’t hate my job, but it doesn’t feel important to me. Actually it is what people consider an important job but my family and home life is what feels important. I have never felt like a job mattered much and I think that’s just how I’m built. Not everyone has a vocation that would energise and fulfill them. That’s why I’m wary of leaving. I spent over a decade training and working up in this career and there’s nothing else that I can get paid to do that would feel meaningful. The stuff that is meaningful in my life is not stuff you can get paid for! I just wish it was acceptable to do a good job without pretending you are giving your soul to it.

Nope. The older I get the less I care about it. Just there for the dough now and can’t be arsed changing jobs at this age. Not unhappy with it particularly but I have been in the industry for 35 years. I do the job as well as I can during the hours I get paid but you won’t find me doing any more than that and I won’t look back at all when I retire.

@CatchYouOnTheFlippetyFlop where do you work? Can you share? I am thinking of changing as cannot cope with the work piling up and the stress that is added by own high work ethics. Welcoming any ideas of what to consider///

Also @mycatsanutter can you share how you chose the hob / role you changed to? I need the experience you have had but fear the risks with the change, too.

I don't think bare minimum and doing a good job go together.

Depends what your job is, a doctor or dentist doing bare minimum compared to a cleaner doing bare minimum is totally different.

Are people happy to get bare minimum customer service, bare minimum care for their elderly parents or pay for bare minimum gardening/cleaning etc.

Imagine if we all did bare minimum.

If you're doing a good job and you want to stay for the money then fine.

It's the people who do bare minimum for the money, complain, yet won't leave the job so someone else can do a good job.

I don't care either OP. I am a professional in the IT industry. I could do much much better in my field if I desperately wanted a more difficult life, but after having kids I couldn't give a shit. I have the job I want which is flexible, easy, and pays the bills. I don't want any responsibility so will not apply for a managing role. When I was younger I'd do all the overtime in the world and was pushed into management which I detested. Now I never do any overtime (we are never asked to) and I work from home much of the time. They are superflexible with us all and as long as I get done what needs doing, everyone is happy. I am part time and on my day off, I do a different job in a Crafting field which I love and earn practically nothing for but it makes me happy.

Great timing of the thread. I did my 1 to 1 yesterday and half way through I realised I really didn't not care one bit about progression or development. Was more concerned if we had enough goat feed for the week bought.
It might be an age thing though at 36 months to R day

YANBU.

I loved my job, until a colleague left four months ago and suddenly I was responsible for his role too. I’ve been juggling both but what he did is not even remotely similar to my role, not what I would have applied to do, I don’t enjoy it and frankly, no - I couldn’t give a shit.

The only thing getting me through is that I’m now in the process of transferring to another internal role and will be handing it all over soon.
Perhaps the fact you’re feeling that way is a sign it’s time to consider something else?

My former boss insisted we all helped out the company with covering other units when they were short staffed leaving us all working harder. We all told her to say no but she couldn't. When the big boss had an offer to buy us out he jumped at it and we all lost our jobs. I won't put any company ahead of my own happiness ever again. Just do your job and no more

Sometimes doing the bare minimum is enough though to be promoted etc. Depends on many factors.

However if doing the bare minimum means no promotion then it's a life choice. Money doesn't make you happier but not having enough money can make unhappiness worse. I think a wonderful place to be is enough money to live the life you want and to fund the retirement you want. If you can find a job that allows you to do that and go home on time, prioritise your loved ones and sleep peacefully then I think (and this is only my opinion) this is enough. Your employer doesn't need your heart and soul and no job can pay you enough for them.

@letthemalldoone You said among other things that "I am not about to humiliate myself by applying again. I wouldn't be appointed anyway if I was the only applicant." -- do you think it is they see you as hard to line manage or as a difficult employee, a sort of trouble maker? I've had some of the experiences that you list, too.

This sums up my feeling exactly. Before I retired I was a PA in a City law firm working for 9 fee earners. It was a tough job juggling all their needs, especially when they were extremely demanding. I wasn't interested in developing, going on courses, doing stuff outside my role to justify being put forward for a meagre bonus, I just wanted to do my job to the best of my ability, support my fee earners and go home.

When DH took a look at our figures and said he thought I could retire at the same time as him (assuming I wanted to of course) I nearly took his arm off! I'm just starting to think I might fancy looking for something to do part time, but having spoken to old workmates I definitely made the right decision.

Nope. Me too. On paper - fantastic job(s) but just counting down each day....

I’ve never had much fulfilment at work and I'm nearly 50. Currently doing a zero-hours job with a spot of freelancing.
Wondering whether to enter a new sector just to switch things up a bit. I guess I know at this age that the grass isn't necessarily greener.

Thank you for this thread OP. It help to know I'm not the only one who feels like this. I'm mid-40's, high achiever at school/Uni, and spent 22 years being passionate about my career (NHS clinician), devoted to my patients, working all the hours, lots of additional qualifications etc, then burned out badly 4 years ago in a chronically understaffed and unsafe role. Since then I'm struggling to want to do my job at all.

I stayed in a clinical role throughout the pandemic then, two years ago, I moved into a mostly non-clinical role, which should be better and is much more flexible, but I still feel very unmotivated and burned out. I think maybe I'm just done with healthcare. I'm in an organisation where everyone seems to be really 'passionate' and working above and beyond, so I worry that it's really noticeable that I'm not. I miss seeing patients, but not enough to subject myself to the overwhelming stress and workload again.

I'm really bad at not caring. I feel guilty and like an imposter most of the time, despite being well qualified and experienced for my role. I'm trying to detach emotionally and just turn up and do the minimum, but it makes me feel really sad and deflated. I'd love to make a career change into something completely different, but I feel institutionalised by a lifetime in the NHS, and don't know what I would do - most of the 'non-clinical' jobs I've seen are still very much healthcare sectors, which just gives me a sinking feeling. I'm also limited in location (too far away from London to commute), as DH and DS are very settled here and we have caring commitments for elderly parents too.

I worry that I could make a career change, probably take a huge pay cut, and still not feel motivated, but at the same time I'm not sure I've got another (minimum) 15 years of this in me. Any ideas or positive stories would be much appreciated!

I have recently found myself thinking similar thoughts.

Spent ages trying to get progression to management level and now I've got there, well its just as shit as before in a different way.

I can't even be bothered to change jobs as I'll just end up hating the next one, as I have done all the ones before.

Haha I could have written this.

This thread makes me feel better

@ClareBlue this really made me giggle: “Was more concerned if we had enough goat feed for the week bought.” 😂😂😂
Having goats is a lifegoal for me!

I do think there is some point to work though....money = financial freedom. Colleagues can be good mates. I'd rather not be a sahm as Im rubbish at it but if I won the lottery i,'d be off like a shot!

If I won the lottery I'd probably set up a little hobby-business to keep me entertained whilst not having to worry about making an actual living. Maybe jewellery making . Or retrain in something interesting like psychotherapy that I could do on a self employed/ pt basis. Basically not working for 'the man'.

So many ways to keep oneself busy with a bit of money in the bank!