Published on 12, July, 2020
I have recently retired from work. It was long awaited and I have not missed the job at all ( the people I worked with were nice, but the job itself had become a mixture of stressful and tedious)
I have never particularly enjoyed working. I have got some sense of satisfaction from doing a job well during certain periods of my working life, but in most jobs I had there were people - mostly managers - who I really did not enjoy spending my days with. I get bored quickly and so jobs became mundane in a short period of time, and if I put myself forward to do higher level tasks (that I was capable of) I was either refused the role or ended up doing the higher level stuff without getting the extra pay for it. And I've suffered burn out from time to time due to the stress of work making me exhausted.
I know that a lot of autistic people are unable to work but would like to, and that many people get a sense of self worth from working and a better lifestyle (due to having wages) But I feel that society may over value work in some ways, and that maybe it programmes us to think that not working is lazy or unproductive? However there are some wealthy people who do little to no work and nobody calls them lazy. I heard a saying somewhere that I like: "we're human beings, not human doings". Perhaps that's a good answer next time someone asks - "so, what do you do?"
I just wondered what everyone's views were about working?
If you currently work, would you give up working if you became financially independent?
If you do not work but would like to, or want a career change, what would your dream job be?
If you do not work and have no wish to, or are retired or cannot work due to health reasons, how do you structure your days?
For me I hate working for other people, but my nature also gets the better of me, I always want to help people or make them smile, as a result ive tried a plethora of jobs, most of which were by the time i turned 20, im now 26...Ive been trying to understand ways to work for myself as I cant stand having to wake up at 5am just to be at an office for a 7am start, leads to massive burnout, especially as I work in public services, I have tried a lot of things and luckily have found a side gig of a community manager that is compensated and I work my own hours as a second job, however I really wanted to back in the day become a streamer and entertain people and have "friends", this went well for a bit then fell flat because I forgot how to have fun.
Personally wish I could take a step away from full time jobs and work my own career, however my family hate that notion and will turn their nose up at the thought of me not being in a full time job.