[RANT] I Hate Wasting My Time Working...But I’m Not Lazy!
Like most of you, I work to live and not live to work. Even so, I am not happy working 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. I do work in the hotel industry, where there are no weekends, bank holidays, or fixed hours. It could very well be my job, but most of my friends and family are in the same boat: they go to work because they have to pay bills, rather than because they want to.
There is a nice quote, “choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life”. While that is a great message, I believe it is far easier said than done. When I was in college, I had a few websites where I was writing about things I loved: fitness & travel. Through Adsense and other advertising platforms, I was making a solid income where I could pay my rent and have spending money. That’s the closest I came to fulfilling the message behind that quote.
Unfortunately I let go of that ‘hobby’ of mine and turned into a regular 40+ hours a week working man. Nothing wrong with that. I am not lazy, for I’ve worked and sustained myself for most of my life. I don’t hate my job, I like working in hotels. And with my salary my girlfriend can stay at home and look after our little son. I make enough money to support us all, pay our bills, and have some to put into savings. I like that financial security, but I just hate wasting my time working.
Maybe since I became a father it really hit me. Time is the most valuable (and really the only) thing we have and the way we choose to spend it on a daily basis and with whom is so important. I hate trading my time for money. It’s a vicious circle isn’t it? Working equals money but it takes up the time that you could spend doing things, yet for those things you need money.
I’ve looked up anarcho-capitalism and the definition says, ‘philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state in favor of individual sovereignty in a free market’ (Wikipedia). Unfortunately it’s one of those things that I can read about for hours and it doesn’t make sense to me. Am I anarcho-capitalist or not, I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. I’m just struggling with the situation I’m in...with the way society runs. The work to live premise seems to be more of a live to work after all.
Any thoughts and suggestions would be highly appreciated.
All the best til next time!
Hello, this post hit home with me. I also do not like being stuck in the system, working Monday-Friday 8.30-5. By the time I get home, have a cup of tea, feed the cat, stick on some washing, make some food, make lunch for the next day, it's almost time to go to bed. I don't have any kids and I do not have enough time to explore my passions. I draw, write poetry, play music, research, love nature, all kinds of hobbies and things fascinate me but I don't have time to pursue anything fully and it is so depressing.
It's the way the system was devised, spend all of our productive brain power time working for someone else because we need to earn money to live, giving us enough free time to do the basic necessities after work, eat to stay alive, keep on top of the house, and maybe some free time on the weekend to socialise and take a slight pause. It's infuriating. I took a decision last year to move back to my dad's place, I am 29 so it's not ideal. But I lived 3 miles away from him paying almost half my paycheque on rent and bills alone for the flat. The rest pretty much going on general living costs and able to save a tiny amount each month. I left university with some debt, took a car on finance etc so have debt to pay off but my current repayments mean I would be paying that off until I am 33 ish, so I would have to keep working to pay for somewhere to live and just to not be summoned to court, not only for the money I actually borrowed, but the huge interest slammed on top out of no where, invisible figures I now have to pay back too.
So I moved home, I now help my dad with the bill payments and put what I was paying on rent into my debt repayment plan. I should be able to pay it all off in early 2018. 1 year and a half and I would have finished with those repayments 4 years early. I wont owe anything to anyone. I know not everyone is in the position I am with regards to being able to move home, especially if you have your own family. I also have started studying again, I was put off at first as it was going to take so long to complete my studies, but I figures that time was going to pass anyway. Those 3 years will go by if I am studying or not, so why not? At the end of it I can start earning money slowly doing something I love, and build up from there. It's a small step in the right direction. You may not be in the same position to pay off debt if you have any, or to move to pay cheaper rent etc, but if there is something you are passionate about get studying. A lot of places accept partial monthly instalments, and yes it means you have to squeeze in study time in already limited time, but it would be so worth it wouldn't it? If you do nothing your situation will never change.
I used to get so jealous of my friends who had inheritance money, could buy a house, or had rich parents who bought one for them. I did not get anything like that, but just realised one day, well I'm not going to get a 20,000 inheritance, or half of my grandparents land or anything like this. So what can I do, what realistic steps can I make in my life, no matter how long it takes, to change my situation, because if I do nothing I will be a slave to the system for ever.
You're not the only one who feels like this by a long shot, and being on steemit is a good starting point, if this is all you can do to earn extra then spend every spare minute you have watching videos about steemit and how to earn. It may take you a year or so before you see anything significant, I don't know, but if you do nothing your situation wont change. So stick with it :)
Thank you so much @caronellis for taking the time to share your story. First of all, congratulations on making the smart choice to move back in with your dad and going back to studying. You are definitely on the right track and I wish you the very best.
The last words on your post, "if you do nothing your situation won't change", are so so so very true. I believe it was Albert Einstein who said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.
Once again, thank you so much for your comment and words of wisdom :)
Yes that quote is one of my favorites, how many people do you see on a daily basis that don't complain about a single thing.?........probably none, but how many of those people are taking any kind of steps to alter their situation?..........probably none. That is definitely insanity. But it is good to have a good old rant sometimes :D I love a good rant my self. It just helps to connect with people who feel the same way sometimes, because a lot of people act like they are unhappy as in they moan all the time, but are actually quite comfortable too with the flat screen TV, bottle of wine at night, sense of security etc.
Hope you feel better after your rant anyway :)
Even when you do stuff you love, you have to not do it for someone else in order to actually enjoy it.
I've recently been in that situation where I was doing something that was stimulating for me, and the money was ok but it wasn't great and it didn't seem to be moving towards being any better any time soon so I had to move on.
Money is a really complicated subject because when you talk about money you actually talk about everything else that money brings, not money itself. Sure there is a certain amount that defines that sweet spot for every person at a given time, and ultimately we all need to take a serious look at where we're at and where we're going and decide if we're at a good balance.
@ragequit thank you for your comment, you're spot on by saying you have to keep a good balance. Money is indeed complicated...how I wish it wasn't :)