People say I'll never find working conditions like this again, but I'm so bored!

[southernbelle9]

I've been in the same job for about 10 years, a project manager in a very niche thing, it doesnt pay well however the pro's are;

• My boss is extremely nice and accommodating
• I work every day school hours, which enables me to sleep until 7.30 and get up with my son, have leisurely breakfast, and walk to school
• Pick up from school and enjoy spending time with DS
• If my child is ill, my boss is very understanding
• It's fully work from home and I have 0 commuting costs

Negative points are I haven't had a payrise in ages (which our company genuinely cannot afford, I can see the books) and I am bored out of my eyeballs. However, it seems really difficult to get into PM work in any other sector, so I am looking at doing a more general PM qualification and take it from there.

AIBU to stick it out a little longer, do a PM qualification (which one though?), and try to find jobs next year or so?

Going against the grain - I hate being bored, it's really soul destroying so I would look for other roles if I were you

I also don't find wraparound care particularly stressful or a big deal.

You are right, maybe I should take up some fitness thing I can do when it's quiet.

I'm the same OP, minus the kiddy.

I have been working at my job for 20yrs. I will get an occasional burst of being busy, but to be honest, a lot of the time I am bored. I haven't done anything 'work' all day. I have been sitting here reading this, buying stuff on Amazon and looking at TK Maxx online.

I work full time, and I am well paid. My boss believes in a good work / life balance, so I get to leave the office early (around now) and I get to go home. I have a computer at home and a work mobile, so if anything urgent crops up, I can deal with it - but it literally happens once a year.

If my boss is out all day or is on holiday, I just work from home. But seeing as my work is limited without him, working from home generally means a lie in bed, 2 mins on the computer working and watching Netflix.

I have occasionally considered a different job, but I have it cushty really. I also get a pay rise annually, and he has priced me out of the market.

I could've written this except Im FT and get paid slightly more.

I've added up the costs of wrap around care and commuting (even just a few miles by car) and I would need have a job pays a good few thousand more to make it worth while. Im going to sit it out until DD6 is in secondary school and go from there.

The peace of mind having an understanding boss when you have child is invaluable to me.

Is there something specific youd rather do, could you do any study towards that while you wait so you don't feel like the time is being wasted so much?

*sorry, not the end of the world, I meant, not year 😂

Or could you study something in your quiet time that will help for when you do eventually look for a new job.

Is it possible to use the quiet time to work on some courses that will potentially improve your job prospects? If so I'd try and do that. Ideally PM related stuff, but I've never done that so don't know if it's realistic.

I absolutely hate arranging before and after school care and rushing to get there/back in time for drop off/pick ups so I wouldn’t leave. If you’re bored could you not pick up some out of work hobbies/jobs/qualifications to do in preparation for later.

Could you do a big of consultancy work to make your work more interesting/enhance your experience?
Many people would snap up the offer of easy work life, no commute, no wrap around costs and a good boss. I have a stressful job (although part time), pay for wrap around, have a short commute and think I'm luckier than most!

My last three jobs have been

• work from home but meet in office once a month or less
• output not hours based, noone cares what actual hours i work as long as the work is done and I am available for meetings when required
• can take time off when I like for appointments, see above re output based
• flexi start and finish
• all paying over £90k

Job includes PM same as you. I am not qualified in it but specialise in an area where there is high demand and people are nice.

There are other jobs. Have a look around.

That's amazing, congratulations on your job, it sounds great! May I ask what industry this is in at all? In mine, that kind of money would never be possible... I would apply for others but I don't have any specific knowledge of say IT or similar...

Yeah, i am in tech. Can you get agile qualified ? I would think there is transferable skills. Tech pays well if you can sideways move and loads of remote work.

I would stay put and try to get a certification or something similar to help with the boredom and give you some educational background. Then use that to look for something higher paying. I know many PM that work remotely and have flexible hours so I don't think it would be difficult to find another role.

Side hustle making money while bored?! My friend writes reviews for stuff including restaurants and beauty products and gets paid for it, filling in an hour or two a day at work when quiet. Another friend has a 10 hour a week job arranging the cards in supermarket (via another company) and she does 2 hours per day during her working day, since it’s often quiet. If you can’t get a payrise then earn additionally. Not sure where people find these jobs though.

You actually sound like you're in quite a decent position OP. As well as the job suiting you, there's time in the working day that you can use for your own goals.

I wonder if any MOOCs would be a good option for you?

In a similair boat here op, and for me it's just not worth the money moving

My kids are 8 and 11 and it's hugely beneficial for me to be around all the time

I'd wait till your son is older

Our project managers earn considerably more than £30k p.a., in fact probably more than double that. I am a mere project support officer and I earn more than that, full time. Our project managers all have project management experience, project management qualifications and degrees in relevant subjects. I am at least 2 bands lower than them and I have a foundation level project management qualification and a degree.

If you want to go forward in project management you will need a qualification - when I started where I am in 2013 PRINCE2 was the desired qualification... nowadays it seems to be AGILE.

Our project managers work blooming hard though and can be under a lot of stress. Working late/at weekends to meet deadlines is more or less the norm. Even at my level I have had to attend meetings out of hours.

In twenty years time you won’t care in the slightest what project you managed at work, you will care that you got to walk your child to school every day and be there for them at pick-up.

Thank you all so much for your comments. You confirmed what I was thinking anyways, right now the good work life balance is definitely worth a lot more than more money! I'll enjoy it whilst it lasts, hopefully for a lot more time to come!

I second this!!

Hi op use this time to look at the job market and figure out what you truly want, not many people have the time or luxury to do that before they go back into full time work. I found my DS needed me more in year 5 and 6 as they don’t do much in the last year of school so he was bored and his anxiety ramped up and had more time off. Wouldn’t have been able to accommodate it had I been full time. Now have a full time job as of next month and it’s worked out quite well.