Job Choices

[KCboy]

Would you rather:

A) Have a job you love when you are working. You like being there, enjoy what you do every day, and it seems that you don't really want to leave when your shift is done.

BUT, it absolutely wrecks your social life. You work hours and days that leave you with no friends. Even if you did have friends, you wouldn't have any money because your job pays so little. Saving money is not an option, purely paycheck to paycheck. Plus, you cannot do some of the old hobbies that used to be a major source of enjoyment in your life.

OR

B) Have a job that is 9-5, M-F. Pays good, little stress. You have time and money to go out with friends and do other activities; be a part of society. You can save for a future, go on vacation, etc.

BUT, you don't like to be there. You dislike going in every day. It bores you, doing the same thing every day. And while you are there, you are dreaming of being at the other job.



So, I guess the question is, what's more important to you:
Enjoying your time at work?
Or enjoying your time outside of work?

[wordsmith]

Ideally, balance between the two. But since that wasn't a choice, forced to choose between the two, I'd go with choice one, myself.

I did have, as my first job out of school, one that was in some ways similar to the first option. I absolutely loved the job, loved the environment, loved my coworkers, loved the way it was set up, loved my day to day tasks. I had a great time, was happy all day long and excited about what I was doing, laughed all the time. I ran afterschool and evening youth programs for a nonprofit agency run through a church. The pay was low, but the real downside was that the hours ran from midday to later into the night, so my evenings were rarely mine for socializing, I did run Friday night youth activities, and did van rides home for the kids our programs served, so by the time I was done delivering kids safely back home all over the north side of Chicago, dropped the van off, and got my bus back home, it was normally too late to catch up with people who were out and about, and I was generally fried, anyway. And because I worked for a church, that meant Saturday nights were pretty much out, as well, because working Sunday a.m. would be hellish.

I found, though, that I didn't lose all my friends. People who are your friends don't ditch you if they really like you. I still spent time with people, and got very adept at being happy spending time on my own (I didn't work Mondays and often Tuesdays, so I treated those like my weekends). I wasn't out partying every Friday and Saturday night, but I was nonetheless very, very happy.

I do know that I can't bear a job that I dislike going to. The entire quality of my life suffers, far more than in the above scenario. I find that if I enjoy my time AT work, I also enjoy my time OUT of work, even if I'm not able to do some conventional things due to the work schedule. But if I'm not enjoying my time AT work, that dissatisfaction definitely bleeds over very much into all areas of my life.

[Bocheezu]

Depends what you find more stressful, really. I simply cannot work a low-wage job I love and then come home to roommates. I can't live with other people. I just can't deal with them and they stress me out continually. So I'd rather suffer 8 hrs of mindless servitude with good pay and come home to MY house and the freedom of doing what I want to do instead of what some roommate demands that I do. I work to live, not the other way around.

[Samwell]

I work to live, not the other way around.

Ditto. I've never had a job that I really was all that passionate about and am beginning to suspect I never will. I kind of enjoy "renting" myself to a "B" type job and saving my energy and passion for off the clock activities. Maybe I am underestimating the satisfaction one would derive from an "A" job, but to me having a buffer from constant money stress and some time to hang out with friends is worth a boring job.


I'm sure either of those options would be better than:

C) You don't like to be there. You dislike going in every day. It bores you, doing the same thing every day AND it absolutely wrecks your social life. You work hours and days that leave you with no friends. Even if you did have friends, you wouldn't have any money because your job pays so little. Saving money is not an option, purely paycheck to paycheck. Plus, you cannot do some of the old hobbies that used to be a major source of enjoyment in your life.

Those jobs almost killed me...

[mahlerssecond]

In a job sense I would pick job A. I think that how you feel about going to work every day, has a lot to do with how satisfied you are about the rest of your life.
Many of the jobs I have held, have had both the negatives of job A and B. But I have had some job A's that I have enjoyed. I always seem to compensate for the social and economic issues.

[Adam Strange]

I have a tepid version of job A. I have a job that gives me a buzz when I am working hard on something I enjoy and sometimes the prospect of doing something more in depth gives me a sense of hope. I enjoy much of what I do, although there’s some drudge work, and I usually don’t want to leave when my shift is done.

But I have no social life. My work drive—in addition to my new area and awkward social skills—leave me with no friends. Even if I did have friends, I wouldn’t have money to do anything because my job doesn’t pay enough to keep up with cost of living. Saving is not an option, purely paycheck to paycheck. And it really pains me that I cannot do some of the old hobbies that used to be a major source of enjoyment in my life (and a source of friends).

It’s kind of a cycle. I have no home life so I go into work. I like going into work because I have no home life

Still, I’d go with A over B, as long as I can make the arrangement healthier. I need a center. I think other problems would fall into place or at least not seem like mind-destroying crises if I could say, “You can do this. It will be difficult but it will ultimately be satisfying. Your life isn’t aimless and you aren’t clueless.” It seems like writing has the best change of being that center right now.

Still, I think I’d like to try B for a while. Some of the older people I meet in this job talk about the copywriting or paralegal work that made them wealth(ier) in their younger days. I don’t know if I could find a job B, one that pays money to go out with friends, do other activities, save for a future and go on vacation. A higher end McJob in a cheaper area that doesn’t require a car may be the best I can do.

[Tiff58]

For me right now, B. I place a VERY high value on financial security. But, my dream is that while I am working at a job with a lot of financial security I can start up a business that is my passion, make a ton of money, and quit the daily grind.

[shorty]

My last job was kinda like Job B because I made good money and I kinda had decent time off (for the most part, but sometimes I had to work crazy hours). The only thing was... I don't see how you can have little stress working there if you dread going there every single day. I freaking HATED that job and I think it really brought everything down and made things worse. In a way, I'm glad I took that job because I have a pretty decent savings account now, but in a way, I feel like I also wasted those years when I could've been working toward something I actually WANT to do.

I'm in a job now that's more like Job A. And it is MUCH better. Work is a major part of anyone's life, so I think it is something you have to like (or at least be able to tolerate without wanting to kill yourself). I'm not exactly living paycheck to paycheck, but I do have to watch my expenses carefully. But I know I'm working toward a career and eventually I'll be able to make more. It is hard to go out with my work schedule, but it's not the only reason why I'm a bit lacking in the social department.

If I had to choose one for the REST of my life though? I don't know... that's difficult for me, because I need to feel financially secure. It would depend on how little I'd be making in Job A and how miserable I'd feel in Job B (but I'd probably take little money over misery any day).

[KCboy]

I don't see how you can have little stress working there if you dread going there every single day.

Think one or two steps up from data entry, the same thing every day. I have no passion for it, and my mind constantly wanders, wishing I was doing anything else.

My preferred career would be as a chef/cook. I love making food, and would love to work in a high-end restaurant and experiment with unusual ingredients and flavors. When I used to work as a cook, I loved the lifestyle and camaraderie between me and my fellow cooks.

But cooks have to work 60-70 hours a week, including nights, weekends, holidays, and get paid half what I do now.

[SWMOchick]

B.

I took my social life for granted. Even what little I had. I guess my job just isn't high on my priority list of things to enjoy in life, even though I like it well enough.

[dacrunkest]

I tried to go for A. There was a hiring freeze in effect that will be there for several years. I was working for a private contractor of the government entity that I truly desired to work for. Working for the private contractor was a big step down...they still took care of my living expenses, but the pay was pretty much minumum wage and I didn't get that nifty National Park Service uniform.

There are several "type A" jobs out there for me that I would gladly give up the extra salary for...type "B" is so uninspiring.

[spiritedaway]

That's a hard one to answer, KCBoy. Really depends.

I value financial security because it allows me to get a lot of the things I wanted to get done (outside of work), so I don't feel inclined to pick Job A. But, I've been in Job B before and it bored me out of my mind.

I'll probably go for option Job A if I have to pick one. I"ll probably actively look for Job C since I don't think I could last long at either option A or B.

[EmberMae]

B
I really doubt that job A even exists for me. No matter what Im doing, if I'm doing it that many hours a week, i start to resent it and get tired of it. So I'm perfectly happy taking a job that pays the bills and leaves me at least some time to pursue other interests. Although even with only working 40 hours, it still doesn't feel like enough time.

[KCboy]

I work to live, not the other way around.

I used to think that too. But that's when I had a great social life. Now I just go home and do nothing M-Th. Go out Fri & Sat (which isn't nearly as fun as it used to be), chores on Sun. The routine is boring me.

Work is such a huge part of your life (which gives me shivers just thinking about).

Except for sleeping, we spend more time at work than doing anything else. Shouldn't we enjoy it? If your job is also your hobby, wouldn't that make life better?

[wordsmith]

Work is such a huge part of your life (which gives me shivers just thinking about).

Except for sleeping, we spend more time at work than doing anything else. Shouldn't we enjoy it?

Def. always been the way I look at it. I'm not willing to grit my teeth and suffer through such a large part of life. But, I think we've had that debate approximately 9.5 billion times since the boards began.

If your job is also your hobby, wouldn't that make life better?

Better than a job you have to suffer through, IMO.

[Bocheezu]

If your job is also your hobby, wouldn't that make life better?

Then half the guys would play video games for a living and the U.S. economy would collapse.

[caostotale]

For me, the job has to be interesting in some way, or I can't stick with it, especially if the pay is crap (under $32K). I'm not exactly opposed to disinteresting work, but in cases such as that, I'd hope that the work environment could pull up the slack, in terms of there being interesting co-workers to talk to, enough flexibility, etc.... Right now, I've got none of that going on and I'm ready to get myself fired so I can collect unemployment. I've never really let work cripple my life to the point of destroying any of my other pursuits in music and academics and I don't plan on it. I'm just hoping that eventually the twain shall meet and I can stop bouncing from shit job to shit job.