Age 56. Can't be arsed at work anymore.

[Whosaidthattt]

I'm a tired 56 year old. All these 'initiatives' and 'CPD'- I just can't be bothered anymore. Been there, did that 20 years ago. I have NO INTEREST in pretending to be excited/motivated by these 30 year olds and their enthusiasm! I get that they are young and excited about how they can change things but I just can't be arsed. Hoping to retire at 60 but that means another 4 years of excited puppies bounding about with their ideas. I'm not sure I can take it (or even care). How can I get through this final part of working life?? Help!!!

I’m 44 and I feel like this. Im a manager and sick of endless conversations about objectives my team have no interest in and faux concern from the civil service about wellbeing 🙄. I’ve lost the love I used to have for work.

60 feels too young to retire
😂 Feel free to crack on until your 70 if you want but that’s when I’ll be retiring.

And this is why my career stalled so early! I was a cynical 23 year old, in a department of cynical 40+ and could already see much of it was bollocks.

Learning not to care and just roll with it made me much happier and much more successful.

Oh, and if anyone's found a way of getting white, working class boys to read more, then we're still waiting. Even though I'm sure some initiative back in 2002 was meant to have fixed that.

Yep - I am also a tired very nearly 56 year old who can afford to retire at 60, but is counting down the next 4 years...

I have always loved my career and feel very lucky that I've been happy in my work for the past 35 years, but the last few years have been a real struggle - mergers/restructures/redundancies and I've had personal struggles as well - divorce, kids leaving home etc. But I still need to work and try to not hate it until I'm 60, so this is what I've done so far:

1. Compressed hours - I can't afford to reduce my hours, so I now work a 9 day fortnight, having every other Friday off. Same hours, same pay, but that fortnightly Friday off is brilliant - has made a real difference to my state of mind!
2. WFH for 2 - 3 days a week. This is what we all do now, post-Covid, in my organisation, and I love it. Definitely wouldn't ever take a job that requires full-time office working!
3. I've taken up a new hobby that has given me something else to think about - and tires me out, which is helping with the sleep (although still too many 3am wake ups).

I'm hoping that maybe when I'm 58/59 I'll be able to go to 4 days a week, but until then, the compressed hours thing is amazing and I've let all my staff do it too - if you balance out the days of the week amongst the team it works really well.

Keep going OP - 4 years really will fly by 💪

Retiring early is fine if you can afford to.

And you need a good pension or a partner who's providing it.
And enough money for seriously old age and maybe care home fees.

Being retired and poor is not fun.

Far better to find something to do which you enjoy, part time, and which brings in some money too.

My people! Saving thread

I'm 50 self employed, have a job I love but I'm am still done!
Just putting money away & paying a family loan, when the loan is finished I hope to have enough investments to stop work but also have a retirement I like the look of along with my caring responsibilities

If you're self employed can't you avoid all that crap and choose places that fit with how you want to work? It sounds more as if you're freelance rather than being truly independent and calling all the shots.

In theory, and yes I can stop working with really terrible clients and have done. But it’s an industry where you build up long-term relationships with clients so it would be difficult to just ditch my main ones, and the time-wasting and dicking about affects the whole industry.

Isn't it tragic though that girls are far more educated these days than 100 years ago, more professions are open to women, we strove for equality, yet this thread is full of women who just hate their work.

What a waste. My gran (born when women didn't have the vote) would have given anything to have been educated and had the choices women today have.

Oh the grind is real, yes I can totally Identify with that at 43.

The corporate rubbish that is dictated is beyond annoying. I’m over it.

It was the corporate BS that started to get to me along with years of commuting to London. Due to various circumstances I started over self employed 15 years ago working remotely and that has made so much difference. I am now 61 and work flexibly with a very young remote team. I am old enough to be their grandmother but I love that I am learning new things and they seem to appreciate that I have a tonne of experience. I will try and hang on in there til 65.

"Smile and nod" is my work mantra.

@ClaireduLuney this thread is unlikely to attract women who love their work though so it's unsurprising it's full of women who are not enjoying work.

And yes it is great that women have access to education and paid work but equally how many of us see useless men advancing ahead of us at work because women are undervalued? How many of us have experienced sexism at work? It's hard to maintain enthusiasm for an environment where you are not valued

I agree they shouldn’t be mandated. But I just don’t understand why people wouldn’t use them to allow others to feel comfortable. It’s like 30 years ago insisting on using the term ‘husband’ or ‘wife’, when ‘partner’ allowed gay people to avoid outing themselves if they didn’t want to. Now it’s common for straight people to use that term. It’s progress. If people don’t want to consider how to make others feel comfortable at work, they’re probably best off retiring.

Haha me too 😂

I'm guessing you're in the civil service OP? YANBU.

Isn't it tragic though that girls are far more educated these days than 100 years ago, more professions are open to women, we strove for equality, yet this thread is full of women who just hate their work.
Many men are just as disillusioned at 55-60.

In my case younger women I'd coached and mentored were overtaking me, and I quit before resentment about being taken for granted really set in. I like working self employed to my own timetable but I still miss that job.

Being fully retired doesn't appeal to me.

Unfortunately I suspect most of us took time off for maternities and then got overlooked or stagnated in our careers. Now we are bored
or perhaps not but still undervalued. There is still a lot of sexism and misogyny in the workplace. I am almost the only one of my peers still working.

Nodding along. Good will towards my employer has ran out. I suppose I do a version of quiet quitting but pick up some corporate initiatives. Saves being allocated something awful and brings some variety.
I am trying to find positives in the work. Doesn't come easily. For me, retraining at nearly 50 does not stack up. Best to maximise benefits from where I am whilst it is still just about bearable.
Love reading FIRE stories.

I can relate. I'm your age, been in my sector for 30 years, now senior manager (puppy handler!) But have another 12 to go. I cope by contributing what I do have, which if not constant excitement over 'new' (aka old with a new label, but still flawed) ideas, then its my knowledge and experience. I listen patiently to their ideas and enjoy their enthusiasm. Then will encourage them to reflect on whether it would work exactly as they think...what will happen to A in the event of B? What changes have there been that you think will mitigate C that happened the last time we did D? Etc. And occasionally, tbf, they do have something. Because there are areas that their more recent education, their higher level of awareness of trends, and willingness to burn the midnight oil keeping informed, mean they do know or have thought of something new, and I learn from them.

The majority of people in the UK don’t subscribe to gender ideology. Pronouns are the thin end of the wedge of a harmful ideology that has homophobia and misogyny at its core.

It’s not about making anyone feel comfortable. What does having she/her on my email signature achieve? Who actually benefits? I don’t understand why anyone other than a tiny handful of people would have interest in pronouns.

Should we declare our star sign, religion or sexuality on our emails? They’re just as irrelevant to our jobs

Mid 40s. I like my job and I like working (ND and the structure is good for me), but it does get pretty wearing trying to fake enthusiasm for the same old rubbish.

It goes in a cycle - year one, let's try this brilliant new idea! Year two - brilliant new idea is not going that well. Year three/four - the not new any more idea withers and dies/is quietly shelved. Year five - change of leadership and bright eyed new manager comes in and says "I've had this great idea that we should try..." When I was earlier in my career I didn't understand why some of my older colleagues were quietly cynical when someone came in with a new idea - now I completely get it.

The best advice I was given, is that for most people work is just a game. Don't take it too seriously and don't get emotionally invested, because you are only ever a number on a spreadsheet. Do what you need to do to turn the handle and be productive, but don't put it ahead of your own health, happiness, family or friends.

Oh I have found my people. Just about to hit 50 and I do not know how I am going to make it into my 60s before retiring. I have done the maths and there is no way I can not retire any earlier than 63ish. I am already part time. Sob!

I have changed jobs/careers and it isn't work. It's me. I have found some fab hobbies and I love them but just as hobbies not to make money from.

I just want to be left alone at work. No daily meetings, no buzzwords, no personal development, no happy bunnies, no team building, no 1-2-1's, no mandatory bl**dy e-learning, no having to 'be nice'.

Just let me log on, do my work, wiggle my mouse because I am not doing extra just what I am paid to do and for the love of all things holy, do not at anytime expect anything of me.

I feel better getting that out.