Planning my escape

[dave134]

I'm sick of work. I hate it. I can't work a 9-5. That I have decided. It is too boring and takes up too much time. It causes a chain reaction. When I go grocery shopping, its crowded. I had to adjust my weight lifting schedule to lift at lunch cause the gym is too crowded after work. The swim lanes are crowded after work. I have to find odd times to do laundry. It's just not worth it. Work just causes a chain reaction where everything is stressed out and I am bored at work the majority of the time anyways. I hate office work. I don't want to sit at a desk or be in an office most of the day.

Ok, I actually didn't mean to rant that much, but I did. What I wanted to post about was my upcoming plan.

I am currently a tutor and building my tutoring business. I'm also studying for my personal training exam and I'll become a personal trainer. The pay is good in both of those fields (I will work for myself), but it can be hard to fill up the hours right off the bat. I want to supplement that with, unfortunately, a part time job just so I have something reliable. The max I could tolerate would be 20 hours a week. I'd be willing to work about 10-2 since that is between morning personal training sessions and afternoon tutoring. I just saw another thread that made me maybe consider a bank teller job. I might ask my current employer if I could cut back to part time job. Yes, this contradicts my rant, but as long as its not 40 hours a week it doesn't sound so bad.

Well, that's my plan.

[winneythepooh7]

Good luck!!!

[E11e]

I relate to a lot of stuff posted on this forum, but this is the first topic that has TRULY hit home with me! And I haven't found anyone else who feels the same way! I try to explain it to people and they just don't get it.

I feel like the #1 main reason why I don't like working is because of the 9-5 hours. For me it's the fact that no matter how hard you work, you are still chained to your desk for 8 hours of your life a day. Basically your whole day, for the majority of your life. Do you really wait to live your life during your 2 weeks of vacation a year? And you are required to sit on your a** in front of your computer for just as long as your lazy co-worker. Why? Seriously, does anyone know? It gives you SO MUCH incentive to work hard, and be efficient....wait, no, it doesn't. Like, I understand that in certain jobs you need to be reachable during normal business hours so other people can do their jobs and blah blah....but in some, like mine, its just about getting the work done. But it doesn't matter if I'm actually working, as long as my body is in my chair at 9am every day! Bah, I could rant on and on. I feel like its another way for our society to bring everyone down to the mediocre working level of the general population. I guess if I worked super hard I could get promoted faster and make more money, but I'm completely not interested in making more money or working harder or continuing on working 40+ hours a week for the next 35 years of my life. Sorry, enough ranting......

I've been seriously considering going back to get a masters in education so I could teach high school physics. I'm not thinking about going into teaching because I think its easier or less hours or a walk in the park or anything. I'm interested in it because I need a challenge, want to use my creativity, like helping people, and want to be able to be a little more responsible for my own time, even if that means working in the evenings, etc. I'm so bored with my field, I feel like 95% of my energy is focused on getting through the day and making myself sit there. And I don't see a future in it. I think I mainly don't see a future in corporate America. It has nothing that I want. Seriously, nothing. In my field (engineering), just lots of boys' club type old men. The only reason I see myself staying in it is because I feel like I *should* because that's what grown-ups *do*. Ugh.

Good luck with your plan, I think it sounds awesome! What do you have to lose?! I think you have a lot to gain :)

[E11e]

Oh, one more thing: I also think a lot about asking to work less hours. There is such a social stigma about working 40 hours a week. That's what a productive member of society does, right? Sometimes I worry that if I worked less I would make less money, but, right now I'm making less than I would be if I was working 2 jobs..... and I don't feel guilty about that. It's so ingrained that you *have* to work 40 hrs a week. I feel like I would get so many funny looks if I even asked though. Like you have to have some socially acceptable reason to ask to work 3 days a week. How about the reason that I value time more than money?