I'm 34, and tired of working.

[BoberFett]

Welcome to Fight Club. If you figure out the answer let the rest of us know. Good luck!

Fixed.


"Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

 

[Triglet]

I feel you OP -- definitely struggle with that myself a lot. Definitely a first world problem, but when you spend 1/3 or more of your time at work you'd like it to be something you enjoy.

Maybe go back to school at night or online (MBA or something?) I was able to do it on the company's dime which made it even sweeter. It got me through three years anyway. Not a long term solution but something no one can take away from you. Even if you don't use it looks good on the resume depending what your undergrad was.

Long term, you're just going to have to man up and commit to do doing something else. DC probably isn't the place for you, sounds terrible actually. Move someplace warmer, slower paced, prettier women, whatever -- only have yourself to blame if keep running the race. And you'll still be a rat... (couldn't resist!)

 

[Imported]

If you can handle it financially, how about working for 32 hours a week ?
That gives you three free days to do what you want.
I had to work for medical reasons 32 hours instead of 40 hours a week for a year.
And i could almost live with the reduced pay check. Three days to relax is great. A long weekend so to speak for every 32 hour work week.
That is something i hope to gain in the future and am dreaming of, working 32 hours while having my current 40 hour salary.

I'd love to work 4 10 hour days than 5 at 8.. That third day off would be amazing.

 

[Drako]

"Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

LOL :thumbsup: Thank you Tyler Durden

 

[drbrock]

I feel you OP -- definitely struggle with that myself a lot. Definitely a first world problem, but when you spend 1/3 or more of your time at work you'd like it to be something you enjoy.

Maybe go back to school at night or online (MBA or something?) I was able to do it on the company's dime which made it even sweeter. It got me through three years anyway. Not a long term solution but something no one can take away from you. Even if you don't use it looks good on the resume depending what your undergrad was.

Long term, you're just going to have to man up and commit to do doing something else. DC probably isn't the place for you, sounds terrible actually. Move someplace warmer, slower paced, prettier women, whatever -- only have yourself to blame if keep running the race. And you'll still be a rat... (couldn't resist!)

This OP.

I would probably not get an MBA unless you have a computer engineering background or something. Get a degree more tailored to what you want to do.

I love DC I am actually strongly considering moving there in July. I spent my New Years there. At 75k I can see that being tough to live on and have fun. My min to live there is 110 to 120. Great thing about DC just like many other major cities is that there is a ton to do. The winter can be tough socially but the summer should be easy to join leagues and other interest groups.

 

[Engineer]

Sorry Engineer, but I call it as I see it. If you have vacation time built up, use it. The only legitimate excuse not to use it, IMO, is if you're given the option to cash it out.

At my last company, I was the only person who did my particular job. That didn't stop me from taking a couple of weeks off in the spring to go to Europe. My philosophy is that my work not getting done in my absence isn't my problem, it is the company's problem and their responsibility to address and plan for these sorts of things.

I wasn't putting you down, I was acknowledging that you are right. My problem is that I can't use my vacation for when I want because Scrooge McBoss closes down at certain times of the year (big chunk of Christmas as example) and tells ALL employees that we have to use vacation or not get paid (even the salaried staff - which is illegal of course to no pay us).

I use all of my vacation, all 10 days per year (at least until year 7 - then it will be 15)...but not the way that I would like to and most definitely not filling in days in the the start of winter.

 

[Subyman]

OP, I saw your situation when I graduated grad school and started the job hunt. I had a lot of potential jobs paying very well, but I kept seeing myself driving up and down the same road for 20 years and decided not to get a normal job. I started freelance programming and used the money to get into real estate. I haven't had a "boss" since my high school job at a hardware store and I feel completely free. Going self employed is very tough, but incredibly liberating if you have the self motivation to make it work.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Speaking of using up vacation I was checking at what I had left this year and turns out I have 5 days to use up. I asked for a week off next schedule. It's nice to have time like that when you don't even realize it. It's the same feeling as finding a $20 bill in the couch.

 

[MustISO]

I'd suggest finding a woman with an excellent paying job and become a stay at home dad.

 

[Ackmed]

Get a straw, suck it up.

 

[Franz316]

Get a straw, suck it up.

Kind of a defeatist response, but true. OP, if you don't have the courage to make a drastic change in your life, then get used to what you have now.

 

[Jeff7]

One or two jobs in my life I have actually liked - the rest I hated or just tolerated. Not liking your job is a pretty common 1st world problem. I doubt anyone looks forward to driving to some building then sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle. The other part of my life is what I live for - great wife, great dog, spending free time doing things that interest me...

I don't know....I got to play with some fun and expensive tools and toys.


But that doesn't happen as much anymore. :\

Now everything's more and more tedious, as well as frenetic. I'd love to just have a few hours now and then to work on something, rather than having interruptions in person, by phone, or by e-mail every 5-10 minutes for most of the day.



I really wish the work was more interesting, like it used to be. It's a nice place to work, at least as far as I think that small businesses go. Yes, there's the wacky office politics that acts as a constant drag on the company, and upper-level decisions that utterly baffle a lot of us.
There's also profit sharing, a holiday bonus, low weekly healthcare cost (<$2.50/wk) with reimbursement of the deductible, flexible vacation hours, random half-days, occasional surprise days off, and an owner that likes keeping manufacturing in the US. And I get along quite well with the other person in my department - very compatible work ethics.

 

[Tango]

Travel.

“The world is a book, and those who don't travel only read one page.”

 

[shortylickens]

holy crap, this thread is bringing out the lurkers.

 

[BoberFett]

How many hours you sit at work and work you actually do are completely different things.

The hardest working people in America are the ones at the lower pay scales. Those have no choice but to bust their asses.

Office work on the other hand.....whole bunch of slackers.

LOL, it's the "slackers" sitting in offices that know exactly how lazy the average person is.

 

[JumBie]

1. Go out to the bars and clubs, drink as much as you want, meet women, have sex with them.
2. Find a hobby, something you enjoy and stick with it.
3. Venture out on your own and start a business to your liking.
4. Quit your current job and find something new, even if its almost the same, maybe a new environment will make you feel better.
5. Move to a new place, even if you still have the same job maybe moving might make you feel like your getting a fresh start.
6. If you have no girlfriend, find one, that might take your mind off of things.
7. Buy something, a new computer, a game console, a car. Anything, to invest time into.
8. Find a job in a new field.

What it mostly seems like, is that the repetition of life is boring you and making you feel depressed. It can be hard to look ahead and feel like you will be doing the exact same thing every day for the rest of your life, its scary and quite frankly it is a little depressing. That is unless you enjoy your job, if you don't enjoy your job then its almost a burden to wake up and go to work everyday, especially when its all your life revolves around.

Meet some friends and hang out every now and again, take a walk down the street, go out to a bar if that's your thing. Socialize, being alone and having no one to talk to is actually destructive especially growing up in a society that depends on us being social. I know the feeling your going through, but spending time with people is actually a way to get your mind off of the current situation, at least momentarily.

So work is feeling like a never ending loop of the exact same thing day in and day out. Spice things up, if your current job and environment is whats making you feel depressed, then search for a new job in the same field or different field at a different establishment. That might freshen things up for a while, or maybe work towards a goal? Say you want to purchase a house, save and work towards that and use work as a template for getting your self closer to that goal.

Realistically, I feel that you might be scared and set off by thinking about doing the same thing day in and out, for the rest of your life. Either this is a true feeling, or a feeling of anxiety. You need to look within, and figure out if this is just anxiety being brought on which is causing these depressing thoughts. Or if this is actual boredom, and your actually tired of working a 9-5 everyday and you actually need something else in your life to take away that feeling. Either way, I wish you the best of luck OP.

 

[Red Squirrel]

To those saying travel, how is he going to do that if he's working?

Though, I do know someone who saved up everything he could so he can quit his job and travel around. Could potentially start saving up now and do that in a few years. In that process maybe find a fun job/lifestyle to make more money.

You have to be very social to do that though, you're not living in hotels, you're crashing on random people's couches. Hotels would be too expensive.

 

[Ruptga]

To those saying travel, how is he going to do that if he's working?

A few quick ideas:
1. vacation days he has saved up
2. a sabbatical
3. taking a new job that will take him new places
4. employing himself and doing whatever he wants
5. breaking his hand, taking FMLA

 

[manimal]

Nervous breakdown, fmla, learn to surf

 

[Tango]

To those saying travel, how is he going to do that if he's working?

Though, I do know someone who saved up everything he could so he can quit his job and travel around. Could potentially start saving up now and do that in a few years. In that process maybe find a fun job/lifestyle to make more money.

You have to be very social to do that though, you're not living in hotels, you're crashing on random people's couches. Hotels would be too expensive.

Save a little ---> quit the job ---> go for it.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Save $$$
Quit Job
Travel World (on cheap)
Profit?

 

[Fingolfin269]

To those saying travel, how is he going to do that if he's working?

Though, I do know someone who saved up everything he could so he can quit his job and travel around. Could potentially start saving up now and do that in a few years. In that process maybe find a fun job/lifestyle to make more money.

You have to be very social to do that though, you're not living in hotels, you're crashing on random people's couches. Hotels would be too expensive.

I was really just referring to a two week vacation. We travel quite a bit but it's 4 days here, 4 days there, 2 weeks somewhere else, etc. This is using vacation and holidays together.

 

[DaWhim]

had my first real job after college and lasted about 10 months there. I took a price cut to do a 1 year work abroad internship in london.

I never have a "permanent" job again and either do I want one. I was unfortunate enough to have my first job in taxes and fortunate enough to make it work for me. doing tax is just plainly boring, but I manage to just work during tax season ONLY and enjoy the time off for the rest of the year.

I did 2 years of backpacking travel (when I am off tax season from april/may-nov) and actually got bored of traveling by now.

your perspectives in life change, especially living out of your backpack. you will realize you don't need alot of sh1ts to start with. I only traveled to 3rd world country, constantly remind myself how lucky I was. my money last a lot longer too.

lately, I have found starting a business is a lot more fun and challenge. I really don't see myself getting a "permanent" job ever again. It feels like a life time sentence. I can handle coming to work a few months a year and I know there is an end date for my assignment.

 

[drbrock]

That is one of the great things about Tax. This year I have it set up that I can stop working after Oct 15th. Next year I am going to try and to work only tax season and see if I can make enough money doing that. My side business is growing every year to where I can possibly make a switch to my own clients.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I hear you man. I totally hear you. I'm 34 myself but unlike you I have a wife and kids and a mortgage so I'm both burned out and stressed.

I think part of my problem is I got married and had kids too early (mid 20's). Lots of my friends that age were traveling the world and doing cool shit. Don't get me wrong, I did manage to do that as well but not with the same freedom they had. So anyone reading this that is single and in their early 20's....don't rush to get married and stuff. Enjoy your 20's.

I wake up tired and just burned out. I took off a week from week over xmas with all these grand plans to go places with the kids but I was so burned out I barely left the house. Feels bad man.

First world problems unite.