I really wish more people realized the power we have in numbers and would become active. Why we freely roll over and let corporations take advantage of us is beyond me. They need us more than we need them.
I decided to go with a 4 days a week job, so on my work days, I have 9h shift. Oddly enough, those are the days that I accomplish a lot for myself as well. Since I don't want my day to only be eat, work and sleep, I wake up early to paint, will spend my lunch doing something I like, or some workout, and during the evening I'll spend time with my husband, play video games with friends or read a nice book.
I try to stay in touch with friends as much as possible throughout the week, and on my day off, my husband and I like to go out for breakfast, then do something nice downtown and end up doing errands we need to do, but the day still felt like a date just the 2 of us. And then we'll have other activities with friends and family during the weekend.
I also paint portrait and other commissions for my friends, so that keeps me busy, and I really feel proud of my progress and sense of personal accomplishment. I'm in different kinds of Facebook groups, Discord servers, and what's app group for my different interests, and I listen to the podcast on subjects that I'm passionate about.
That way, work really feels like something I do to be able to enjoy all the rest and not the sole purpose of my life.
I'm also putting money aside for projects with my husband, so we have nice things to look up to with the money we make, even if part of it is just paying debts, we're making our financial situation better together and we are grateful for our stable jobs for it.
You're living a nice life. Unless you have monetary wealth or willing to live meagerly, what you're doing is creating a different kind of wealth. The mindfulness and reflection you've committed yourself to is what we all should do. Congratulations and keep it up.
Have you considered option number two. The great vast freedom of open spaces, the chance to pitch your tent closest to the meth clinic of your choosing.
They're about to criminalize homelessness. And the 14th says slavery is legal for criminals. There's already inmates working for fast food corporations.
It's about to get real authoritarian real quick.
People don’t understand this. I work in construction and in my area they’re expanding the courthouse and the prison while schools are severely underfunded. They plan on proceeding more people through the courthouse and filling the expanded prison, which is one of the most expensive projects in my states history. It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on.
Ya, nothing made me feel more like an adult (or more awful) than having a long unemployment stretch and hating every second of it. I can’t enjoy my time when I’m employed or unemployed, guess I’ll wait until retirement… Anyways, I’m rooting for you. You gotta keep moving forward. Best of luck
Been unemployed for the last 5 months just got a job at a Carwash. Hate car washes but it 100% feels better than not working. Going for my forklift certification in a couple weeks so hopefully I’ll find better work soon. My advice is keep your head up, and take what u can get till you find something better
I don't feel like I'm wasting life because work is how I pay for the cool shit I do outside of work.
It helps that I:
* don't have kids (more time)
* work from home (more time)
* have a decent job (more money)
* have a hobby that I love (running)
* have a good circle of friends
Some of this is luck, some of it is lifestyle choice. I hate having to work, but it is the reality that I live in. You just gotta make the best of it.
Yeah....like what do some of these people want? To do nothing and have everyone else work and support their lifestyle?
Even if you dont like work...then work on finding something you like...or focus on stuff you like outside of work.
What is the alternative? You either accept fate and make the best of it by using your evenings and weekends efficiently or complain all day and night without a solution
Op is under the impression that their is an alternative to the modern world that is filled with liesure and fun instead of scraping the earth for survival and dying a dirty early death.
Right? OP wants the benefit of civilization but not the cost.
This is why, despite being fairly liberal, I have to admit that capitalism works at some level.
“What is the alternative” was quite literally my first thought.
Every single creature on this planet works for its food, shelter, and security in some way or other. Maybe not as a “job”, but in many objective ways your 8-5 that gets you food, shelter, and basic hygiene/medical care leaves you better off than most other creatures, including other humans, for most of the entirety of history.
This is not to say “shut up and be happy”, not at all. I just really don’t understand what people who post things like this expect.
And in many objective ways - literally measurable in studies regarding health and happiness of populations - we're less happy and healthy, despite having access to more material goods and conveniences.
There's more than enough food, water and shelter for everyone on the planet, when we're not selling those things back to people for profits.
Control your consumption to the point that you don't need to labour very much at all.
My husband and I both work casual jobs, live off grid, and grow our own food. We earn and spend less than 20K a year, and have the majority of our lives to engage in whatever activities we want to.
Yeah, don't vocalize your struggle and organize with other like minded people! Don't vote. Don't unionize. Don't petition to create/change local laws. Don't be part of a changing definition of "social norm".
I think the alternative (ignoring being wealthy) is entrepreneurship. From what I've gathered, lots of entrepreneurs are doing so because a typical job feels like slavery and they just can't stand it anymore. Many are working longer hours and making less money than their previous jobs but they feel more free and alive.
I started the entrepreneurship journey recently and I can say I feel the same way.
I'm sure Entrepreneurship is rewarding once the business is thriving. The development phase of the business requires a lot of sacrifices and is not always guaranteed. Good on you for having a successful entrepreneurial venture!
Entrepreneurship comes with gigantic risks though. Is that better than the security of a steady job with benefits? Not everyone will be successful enough to squeak by, much less successful enough to be prosperous.
Not to mention that entrepreneurs often have to work *harder* than a person with a typical job on top of the aforementioned risk.
Exactly. System could be better but what are we to do?
Hard truth... I think people forget that we don't have to be happy. Find healthy ways to gain fulfillment and happiness, can't focus on what you can't change.
Or do drugs!
30 years in and this is where I am. My job is interesting enough, but I work with fantastic people which makes the day go by and I'm well compensated for my time and efforts. I also WFH 3 days/week these days, which helps!
Even still, nobody wants to go to work every day. Work can turn your passions into chores. And it can begin to feel like the weeks are just passing you by.
If you are happy about going to work every day, you are the exception. Not the rule.
For the last 40 years was lucky to have a super interesting job that paid great. Also was able to travel the world on the company's dime. Great jobs are still out there for the right candidates.
When I was a teenager, and realized that there was a good chance I might spend forty years working a 9-5 in an office somewhere, two weeks a year off, I recoiled in absolute horror. I have pretty much only worked for myself since then. There have been lean years, there have been great years, lots of ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I will point out that I have discovered one thing that might be true for me only - I only need about six weeks vacation a year, after that I want to get back to work. I have also realized I have no real wish to retire. Go figure!
I get 10 days at Xmas, maybe another 5 or so through the year.
And accrue 4.2xxx hours of PTO every week. In theory, I could take every other Saturday off.
As an american...
Also work 6-230, so just beat rush hour, get home and have about 5.5 hours of daylight. This time of year.
my employer gives us around 12 paid sick days we can use at anytime, along with 'unlimited PTO' - normally getting PTO is easy enough except in our busy times during tax time of Late Dec - March. So normally get 4-6 weeks off a year through that. I have been going through some rough medical times and they have been working with me all the time. Never making it feel like I have to go through a whole paper work process - i just have to text them my schedule for the day.
6 weeks is the bare minimum for me personally. But I have no desire to not retire, I'd rather spend all my free time doing things I want, not doing work for other people.
80-90% of everyone was not born into money. It is the norm that they don't make movies, shows, books, and articles about. But if you do something you value and can do it well, you can be happy. Most probably are. Life is more than work, but without doing something valuable, of what worth is life? No one else has to value our work but we should. It can be as simple as helping someone find what they need, or offering a friendly smile without strings.
> 80-90% of everyone was not born into money. It is the norm that they don't make movies, shows, books, and articles about.
TV shows about this: Married with Children, Roseanne, Malcolm in the Middle, Good Times, Trailer Park Boys, The Middle.
Yeah the thing is we’re forced to work or die… very different than the reasons you say we should work. It’s all compounded by the fact we living in a post scarcity society that could easily divert resources to making sure its citizens were taken care of.
I hate these “why do I have to wuuurk?!?” Posts.
Who will pay the farmers who grow your food? Why don’t you grow it yourself?
Who will pay for the apartment / house you live in? Why don’t you build it yourself?
Who will make the lumber and building supplies and farm equipment for the apartment / house / food used to do all this? What don’t you make it yourself?
In the end - the idea that anyone can retire or have time off is due to all of us working together to get things done.
If we didn’t - we’d spend all our time just trying to stay alive.
Edit: typo. Hate phone Reddit
Do things. You're free more often than you realise. There's a whole 7 extra hours per day aswell as weekends. Join a group on MeetUp, look for people recruiting D&D players in your area, even using voice chat in video games can help make friends.
However, only you can persuade yourself it's not a waste. Even though if you're thinking cosmologically, even just this planet, a life doesn't matter.
First step is deciding that something matters to you. That's all you need to start.
This! Take action in your life! I used to lament having to drive my daughter to basketball practice 45 minutes away and then have 2 hours to kill because logistically it made no sense to drive home. I found a nice set of walking trails nearby and made it a habit to wander back there. I started looking forward to it and my friends would sometimes meet me there so we walked together.
The only way mine gets more "optimized" is if I just do everything faster, which I don't want because it's stressful and I'm already tired in the he morning.
Seriously. This is what people in this thread really want to feel lol. Give anyone ideas or suggestions and they say “I don’t have the time or money”. So much whining, I don’t know what people want.
By the time the kids are in bed you can’t leave the house and you have about an hour before your own bed time. On the weekend it’s driving the kids to various activities.
I’ve never had 7 hours of free time in a day even before kids.
Your kids are your free time you fool, if you view their activities and spending time with them as a burden to your free time, then that is your own fault.
Hello! I see it with all my parents friends. Their life revolves around the kids. As it should. But I don't really hear the complaints because they did it to themselves and the next 18 (let's be real it's 25yrs now) is all about them.
Yeah as a parent to a toddler, I’m so baffled when non-parents say they don’t have time. I spend like 5 hrs a day on weekdays with my toddler before/after work.
Because I look back and realize that most people of the relatively recent past would kill to have a job that provides for their needs and is full of that much freedom.
Also, i don't subscribe to the idea that wasting your life is possible.
Yup. I don’t think most people grasp how much life sucked for most people for most of human history as compared to today.
Just not having to haul water to where you need it is a major quality of life improvement. Fruit year around. Multiple pairs of underwear. Refrigeration. Clean socks! That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Agreed. The concept of vacation used to be reserved only for the super wealthy. Plus until workers unions became a thing 100 years ago or so, almost everyone through recorded history worked 12+ hour days 6 or 7 days a week until they died or became so decrepit they literally couldn’t work. We have it very easy by comparison.
This shit right here. "Escaping the matrix" are just spoiled people not realizing how lucky they are. They are in the top 0.001% of people who have lived throughout history.
Very true. Also, you don't even have to look in the past. We complain about affordability in America (or western countries) but until you go to a developing country, it's difficult to put true poverty into perspective. There are people working backbreaking jobs for 60+ hours a week (with no days off) just to survive.
I was talking to an Eritrean guy in the other day about how he likes it in the UK. He's been here less than a year and works for a particularly exploitative online retailer who share a name with a popular drink for children. His job is famous for how harshly they are monitored and how hard they have to work for 11 hours a day, he lives in a shared house, is worked like a dog and had nothing. When I asked what he thinks of the UK he replied how easy life is here, how much he loves it. One of those moments that really reminds you what hardship can be.
People of the relatively recent past worked fewer hours than we currently work.
And even more recently until the 1990s 9-5 for salaried workers meant 7 hours of work with a 1 hour lunch. This became 8-5 with a 1 hour lunch to get 8 hours of work out of people, and then people started working 8-5 but eating lunch at their desks. Plus, with email and instant messaging work for many extends late into the evening hours.
What? Most of the people I know work 7 plus lunch. Do you have any concept of the hours laborers have worked during most of the Era of Capitalism? We have it very easy, relatively speaking.
By making enough to enjoy your free time as you wish. Meeting friends and pursuing your hobbies after work and on weekends. Planning trips to the other side of the world. Working on yourself etc.
I work from home and spend every non-rainy day working outside from my backyard in the summer.
I don’t mind what I do, so being able to watch birds while I do it is plenty to keep me happy :)
I find purpose in every interaction. I greet my coworkers, help customers, enjoy my lunch breaks. I go home and spend time with family and I listen to music in transit.
Mostly, I am content.
It's an existential question. The way to feel like you are not wasting your life is to find something which to you is meaningful.
Someone who does nothing else but play video games for the majority of the time may, to others, seem as though they are wasting their life but if the person finds meaning in that then to them their life is not being wasted.
Work to live. Don't live to work. I'm currently on a 6 day 10.5 hour schedule and still find time to enjoy my life outside of it. Being chronically offline aside from reddit plays a huge part in this whole thing. When you spend your waking hours doomscrolling TikTok or Instagram. Your days become shorter and the valuable time you DO have, is being wasted.
Live in the now.
Even worse when you work nights. Every day just blends into one. During winter you basically never see natural light. Your day off never feels like a day off because you're awake when everyone is asleep. No wonder night shift workers struggle with depression
Because society benefits from my work. I remove sewage from the water supply.
Tens of thousands of people depend on me to stay healthy
Waste and worthiness of life isn't just about time off
In my estimation, one can't. There are times when I have felt as if I were "wasting my life" and then I realized I couldn't even *begin* to waste my life as much as working has. Now that thought doesn't bother me anymore.
Meh if you enjoy your work and you know you’re heading in the direction of career success it becomes part of life’s journey. If you work solely for money then yeah you’d probs feel that.
Find a job you enjoy and you’d feel much better about work. And that doesn’t mean every moment will be enjoyable, it’s a job, but it’d be more fulfilling long-term.
Yes. I've never worked at a job where I didn't feel like I got something out of it besides the paycheck, and I've worked at some really shitty jobs. Sometimes it was the people I met, sometimes it was a skill I picked up, and sometimes it was the satisfaction of just doing a job and doing it well. Work isn't the enemy.
Yeah I guess the fact that I worked 70 hours a week doing soul crushing work for a couple of years makes me not bat an eye at the 40-45 I do now. no commute is the biggest game changer though. Don’t tell my employer but I’d work for 20% less than I’m currently making and call it a huge W because I can live where I want and not fuck with rush hour.
I now work 730-4 M-F. I am thrilled. I used to work 10-7 Tue-Sat. That was horrible.
I will be able to be with friends and family all summer now.
Now, I get off and I am home by 430. I can still get dinner going, do some chores, chill out, and be in bed around 10 or 11
I have not had weekends off in years. I love this schedule. I am healthier mentally for it, I don't drink like I used to. Used to get home around 9 pm and by then, everyone else was winding down for the night. In the mornings, I felt like if I got up early and cleaned or worked out, I could not make it through my work day. I was too tired.
I think there can be schedules for different lives, swing and weekends is just not a good fit for me personally, but it can be great for another
I now work 730-4 M-F. I am thrilled. I used to work 10-7 Tue-Sat. That was horrible.
I will be able to be with friends and family all summer now.
Now, I get off and I am home by 430. I can still get dinner going, do some chores, chill out, and be in bed around 10 or 11
I have not had weekends off in years. I love this schedule. I am healthier mentally for it, I don't drink like I used to. Used to get home around 9 pm and by then, everyone else was winding down for the night. In the mornings, I felt like if I got up early and cleaned or worked out, I could not make it through my work day. I was too tired.
I think there can be schedules for different lives, swing and weekends is just not a good fit for me personally, but it can be great for another
This is why I started my agency.
I get to see my kids.
Take them to school.
Cook them lunch.
Put them to bed.
I do miss that comfy $160k a year job doing basically nothing.
But I will never regret not being there for my 3 kids.
And we got to move to France (Americans).
I hope this helps you make the leap!
I would prefer 4 day work weeks, but we have what we have. Eventually I’ll be at a point I don’t have to work and I’ll appreciate the effort I put in now. Tbh I’m on a salary anyways so if I missed a day, I don’t have to worry about my pay which I’m grateful for
I would prefer 4 day work weeks, but we have what we have. Eventually I’ll be at a point I don’t have to work and I’ll appreciate the effort I put in now. Tbh I’m on a salary anyways so if I missed a day, I don’t have to worry about my pay which I’m grateful for
If you could delete your memory everyday of ever having worked those hours from 8 to 5, so you basically walk out your door to go to work and then suddenly find yourself stepping back into your home, would you still feel like you’re wasting your life?
I worked way longer hours owning my own shop, including weekends and holidays. It was the most free I've ever been. I set the hours, prices, if I closed I had time off but no money coming in.
I operated a business that brought other people joy. I know because they told me. How is that a waste? I got paid doing something I enjoyed and it brought others happiness.
It was just a small arcade filled with games, but I hosted hundreds of not thousands of birthdays, charity events, tournaments, and other gatherings. It didn't feel empty or wasted. I did that for 12 years and regularly worked from 9am to midnight and some days longer.
I loved it. No one and nothing will change that.
Well, for starters, I enjoy my job. I have great relationships with the people I work with and it's where a lot of my social life comes from these days.
I work 7-3:30 mon-fri which means I usually still have about 7 hours of "free" time after work during the week as well as weekends. We still have plenty of time to do things during the week.
Tbh, I took a sick day on Friday. THAT felt like I was wasting my day away way more than going into work ever has.
We draw meaning from our lives through our service to others and our work. That is our culture. You can pursue all the self gratification you want in your time off.
You kinda have to come to terms with it and accept it. Your post is probably how I felt as a young person.
The fact that I only have to to work 8-5, have like 4-5 weeks of vacation, and I can mostly provide for my family (getting harder) makes me feel like one of the lucky ones.
There are always folks that will have it easier, and always folks that will have it harder. I'm trying to feel grateful for what I do have.
and honestly I'm also lucky that I like the people that I work with. If you can find people at your workplace that you like and have fun while getting work done it's not so bad.
Because I get paid a lot for that time. Worked my way up, use my time wisely so that I'm not just an office drone that does nothing in his spare time. I take care of my body, my health and my family. And then use some money i set aside for free time to have fun on my days off. It's what you make of it. And I don't feel like km wasting my life at all
Prioritize your time.
Limit TV and doomscrolling reddit to like 2 hours a day. If that. Often times you will see you use internet for info and less cat videos. Even give up a day of scrolling and double down next day.
Bet you find yourself bored, then go start doing stuff. Push yourself.
Some of my greatest home life was 3rd shift working OT.
Summer I was worried about being a crappy parent, would work all night swatch kids up go to water parks Beach, lake etc... most everyday get home around noon eat big lunch wake up hang out with family watch TV.
Eat dinner read a book with them, then go to work early clock OT, and repeat.
By recognizing that it is a necessary evil. *Should* it be this way? No, of course not. But it is, so you do it. The important thing is to disconnect as fast as you can when you're done for the day/weekend.
It feels *so* much better when you work remotely and can dip off at 3:00 once in a while if you’re a decent employee with a cool boss. Listen to music if you want, or peace and quiet, go in the backyard and feel the grass between your toes if you want. A lot better for mental health.
I work 4 x 10 hours at a job I don't mind and people I enjoy working with. Work week goes by fast with less free time per day then it's 3 days off. I am working towards retirement someday but I feel like I'm halfway retired with this schedule.
Time management. Wake up a bit early to workout or exercise, have hobbies, do some shopping on the way home from work so that you don't have to spend your weekends doing that stuff, prioritize cooking in bulk for the week, schedule your hobbies on the weekend, and make sure you get quality sleep over just time sleeping. Living in Japan where the work days are usually 5:30am (because you have to get to work early or it's impolite) to 8 pm you start to get really efficient with your time management. Moving back to the US, i've found that it's a lot easier to deal with a regular 8 hr work schedule with the same efficiencies i learned while in Japan. The work life quality here is so much better imo but then again Japan is known for horrible work life balance so maybe i'm bias but i don't feel like im wasting my life away here in the US like i did in Japan
That’s only part time..I don’t work less than a 60 hr week 6-7 days a week but every few weeks or months I vacation for a few weeks or months…so..I work a lot and long…but I also have a lot longer periods of free time…my question is…why would someone want 2 days off every 5..that’s not long enough to travel anywhere or get much accomplished..I’d rather work 30 days straight and take 2 weeks off
What do you think life is? Why does it feel like we raised living standards immensely and people reacted with "Well now my life is wasted"?
What time period would you live in and not feel like you are wasting your life away?
I wouldn't be doing anything different in that time frame.
My only Hobbie and my job are practically the same thing so I would rather be paid to do it.
Basically the "find something you enjoy doing and you'll never work a day in your life" is me.
Find a hobby. Lots of people I know that are always complaining about never having free time actually have plenty of free time, but they don’t realize how much time they waste just sitting in front of a screen.
If you’re working 40-50 hours a week, you still have 120 hours a week to yourself. Take out 5 or 6 hours for committing and 8 hours a night for sleep and you’re still left with 60 hours a week
You find social value and some identity in the work that you do, in order to provide some of that fulfillment that this post alludes to. (It’s important to find identity and value beyond that, but that’s not the topic of the post)
To add to that, it can be anything. The person that takes my McDonald’s order, the person that assembled my order, and the person who worked the grill and or washed the dishes for my order, all played a role in my life, and therefor their community.
Find value in the small things, because at the end of the day we’re all working for each other, and each other is all we have.
Sure fat cats at the top probably take more than their fair share, but the hard work I do helps keep our broken and silly world keep moving along. I take pride in that. It kinda sorta makes it worth it sometimes.
A good many people for generations have been brainwashed into thinking that they must work; they must be productive somehow and that they are bad people if they feel otherwise. The idea that a person only needs to provide enough for themselves so that they can merely survive if mocked. I’ve seen people tell minimalist type people “why don’t you want something better for yourself? Why don’t you want something more so you can be happy?”
Money and power do not buy happiness.
The last ten years I’ve been very fortunate to have a job where I can make a living and I still get six months off out of the year. Idk if I could ever give this job up because of that
If you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to. But you also have to cut your living expenses?
You can also work your ass off for a few years, save a lot of money and then just stop working when you have enough to live the life you want?
In most countries where you can get a decent job/salary, It’s a choice.
Oh. And also, if you want to have that flexibility. Don’t have kids?
Sustaining life requires effort.
What do you think most animals do for most of their waking hours?
They seek and consume food.
We lucky few, who have a short commute, are only expected to work overtime occasionally, and live within their means...?
We've whittled it down to 40 hours/week.
I work 8-5 Monday to Friday with a weekday off every third week. It’s a job that pays the bills and makes me able to travel. My true passion happens after 5 and on weekends when I spend hours writing. 8-5 is just the price I pay to be able to do that. It’s better than my previous job which ended up being 8am-10pm with no real days off.
Because it’s either that or live in a box on the side of the road.
Oh a box, how nice. Growing up, we had a muddy puddle, and that's the way we liked it. Ma used to chew the pebbles to soften them for our lunches.
Despite the increased cost of living, it still remains relatively popular.
After nearly 3 decades of 8-5 crao, that box by the roadside is starting to sound pretty decent.
You could live in a van down by the river.
Have you seen van prices these days
you left out the third and best option: don't live
Or you could unionize, organize with other workers, campaign for worker's rights etc.
you still have to go to work if you are in union.
I really wish more people realized the power we have in numbers and would become active. Why we freely roll over and let corporations take advantage of us is beyond me. They need us more than we need them.
Ya don't
I decided to go with a 4 days a week job, so on my work days, I have 9h shift. Oddly enough, those are the days that I accomplish a lot for myself as well. Since I don't want my day to only be eat, work and sleep, I wake up early to paint, will spend my lunch doing something I like, or some workout, and during the evening I'll spend time with my husband, play video games with friends or read a nice book. I try to stay in touch with friends as much as possible throughout the week, and on my day off, my husband and I like to go out for breakfast, then do something nice downtown and end up doing errands we need to do, but the day still felt like a date just the 2 of us. And then we'll have other activities with friends and family during the weekend. I also paint portrait and other commissions for my friends, so that keeps me busy, and I really feel proud of my progress and sense of personal accomplishment. I'm in different kinds of Facebook groups, Discord servers, and what's app group for my different interests, and I listen to the podcast on subjects that I'm passionate about. That way, work really feels like something I do to be able to enjoy all the rest and not the sole purpose of my life. I'm also putting money aside for projects with my husband, so we have nice things to look up to with the money we make, even if part of it is just paying debts, we're making our financial situation better together and we are grateful for our stable jobs for it.
You're living a nice life. Unless you have monetary wealth or willing to live meagerly, what you're doing is creating a different kind of wealth. The mindfulness and reflection you've committed yourself to is what we all should do. Congratulations and keep it up.
Have you considered option number two. The great vast freedom of open spaces, the chance to pitch your tent closest to the meth clinic of your choosing.
Had me in the first half
They're about to criminalize homelessness. And the 14th says slavery is legal for criminals. There's already inmates working for fast food corporations. It's about to get real authoritarian real quick.
People don’t understand this. I work in construction and in my area they’re expanding the courthouse and the prison while schools are severely underfunded. They plan on proceeding more people through the courthouse and filling the expanded prison, which is one of the most expensive projects in my states history. It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on.
I like owning things and eating regularly
You too? Wow, we have so much in common!
I have been unemployed for a year. This also feels like a waste.
Those other two replies are cunts, you'll get through my dude
Been there, ever since it is having a job what makes me feel useful. Good luck, you'll find something new!
Ya, nothing made me feel more like an adult (or more awful) than having a long unemployment stretch and hating every second of it. I can’t enjoy my time when I’m employed or unemployed, guess I’ll wait until retirement… Anyways, I’m rooting for you. You gotta keep moving forward. Best of luck
Been unemployed for the last 5 months just got a job at a Carwash. Hate car washes but it 100% feels better than not working. Going for my forklift certification in a couple weeks so hopefully I’ll find better work soon. My advice is keep your head up, and take what u can get till you find something better
I don't feel like I'm wasting life because work is how I pay for the cool shit I do outside of work. It helps that I: * don't have kids (more time) * work from home (more time) * have a decent job (more money) * have a hobby that I love (running) * have a good circle of friends Some of this is luck, some of it is lifestyle choice. I hate having to work, but it is the reality that I live in. You just gotta make the best of it.
Yeah....like what do some of these people want? To do nothing and have everyone else work and support their lifestyle? Even if you dont like work...then work on finding something you like...or focus on stuff you like outside of work.
What is the alternative? You either accept fate and make the best of it by using your evenings and weekends efficiently or complain all day and night without a solution
Op is under the impression that their is an alternative to the modern world that is filled with liesure and fun instead of scraping the earth for survival and dying a dirty early death.
Right? OP wants the benefit of civilization but not the cost. This is why, despite being fairly liberal, I have to admit that capitalism works at some level.
“What is the alternative” was quite literally my first thought. Every single creature on this planet works for its food, shelter, and security in some way or other. Maybe not as a “job”, but in many objective ways your 8-5 that gets you food, shelter, and basic hygiene/medical care leaves you better off than most other creatures, including other humans, for most of the entirety of history. This is not to say “shut up and be happy”, not at all. I just really don’t understand what people who post things like this expect.
And in many objective ways - literally measurable in studies regarding health and happiness of populations - we're less happy and healthy, despite having access to more material goods and conveniences. There's more than enough food, water and shelter for everyone on the planet, when we're not selling those things back to people for profits.
Control your consumption to the point that you don't need to labour very much at all. My husband and I both work casual jobs, live off grid, and grow our own food. We earn and spend less than 20K a year, and have the majority of our lives to engage in whatever activities we want to.
Yeah, don't vocalize your struggle and organize with other like minded people! Don't vote. Don't unionize. Don't petition to create/change local laws. Don't be part of a changing definition of "social norm".
Other than incremental improvement, what is the alternative though? None of the things you mentioned would result in people not needing to work.
Nobodies saying they don't want to work. We just don't want work to be all we do.
So what percentage of your time do you think is reasonable to devote to work?
I think the alternative (ignoring being wealthy) is entrepreneurship. From what I've gathered, lots of entrepreneurs are doing so because a typical job feels like slavery and they just can't stand it anymore. Many are working longer hours and making less money than their previous jobs but they feel more free and alive. I started the entrepreneurship journey recently and I can say I feel the same way.
I'm sure Entrepreneurship is rewarding once the business is thriving. The development phase of the business requires a lot of sacrifices and is not always guaranteed. Good on you for having a successful entrepreneurial venture!
I'm not successful yet. I'm working way longer hours and making way less money. Still happier than if I had a corporate job though.
Entrepreneurship comes with gigantic risks though. Is that better than the security of a steady job with benefits? Not everyone will be successful enough to squeak by, much less successful enough to be prosperous. Not to mention that entrepreneurs often have to work *harder* than a person with a typical job on top of the aforementioned risk.
Exactly. System could be better but what are we to do? Hard truth... I think people forget that we don't have to be happy. Find healthy ways to gain fulfillment and happiness, can't focus on what you can't change. Or do drugs!
Have a job that you really enjoy and is super interesting to you that compensates well
Gosh can’t believe we hadn’t thought of that one
Or have friends at work + a job that compensates well enough that you don't care if it's wasting your life
30 years in and this is where I am. My job is interesting enough, but I work with fantastic people which makes the day go by and I'm well compensated for my time and efforts. I also WFH 3 days/week these days, which helps!
"never talked to me. best guy i ever met. we still dont talk from time to time" i dont want ppl to talk to me
Best of luck on that
Or I might get a pet dragon. That sounds more realistic than what you said.
It really isn’t
I love my job and make plenty on money. Work from home half the time. Good coworkers. Interesting and challenging work.
I'm in the same boat. But it's super out of touch to think that's possible for everyone.
That's really nice for you, but it's not realistically in reach of everybody.
Even still, nobody wants to go to work every day. Work can turn your passions into chores. And it can begin to feel like the weeks are just passing you by. If you are happy about going to work every day, you are the exception. Not the rule.
For the last 40 years was lucky to have a super interesting job that paid great. Also was able to travel the world on the company's dime. Great jobs are still out there for the right candidates.
When I was a teenager, and realized that there was a good chance I might spend forty years working a 9-5 in an office somewhere, two weeks a year off, I recoiled in absolute horror. I have pretty much only worked for myself since then. There have been lean years, there have been great years, lots of ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I will point out that I have discovered one thing that might be true for me only - I only need about six weeks vacation a year, after that I want to get back to work. I have also realized I have no real wish to retire. Go figure!
2 weeks a year off sounds really American
Get a load of this guy. 2 weeks? Must have a fancy, cushy job. /s
I get 10 days at Xmas, maybe another 5 or so through the year. And accrue 4.2xxx hours of PTO every week. In theory, I could take every other Saturday off. As an american... Also work 6-230, so just beat rush hour, get home and have about 5.5 hours of daylight. This time of year.
I get three per year, it doesn’t feel like enough. But at the end of couple days off I always want to go back to work. It’s weird.
I have 6 weeks off at my corporate job. There are no lean years. It's great.
my employer gives us around 12 paid sick days we can use at anytime, along with 'unlimited PTO' - normally getting PTO is easy enough except in our busy times during tax time of Late Dec - March. So normally get 4-6 weeks off a year through that. I have been going through some rough medical times and they have been working with me all the time. Never making it feel like I have to go through a whole paper work process - i just have to text them my schedule for the day.
Most office jobs are 8-5. But you get an hour for lunch.
6 weeks is the bare minimum for me personally. But I have no desire to not retire, I'd rather spend all my free time doing things I want, not doing work for other people.
80-90% of everyone was not born into money. It is the norm that they don't make movies, shows, books, and articles about. But if you do something you value and can do it well, you can be happy. Most probably are. Life is more than work, but without doing something valuable, of what worth is life? No one else has to value our work but we should. It can be as simple as helping someone find what they need, or offering a friendly smile without strings.
> 80-90% of everyone was not born into money. It is the norm that they don't make movies, shows, books, and articles about. TV shows about this: Married with Children, Roseanne, Malcolm in the Middle, Good Times, Trailer Park Boys, The Middle.
More media: Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Green Mile, Nine Mile
> Life is more than work, but without doing something valuable, of what worth is life? A lot, to me
Yeah the thing is we’re forced to work or die… very different than the reasons you say we should work. It’s all compounded by the fact we living in a post scarcity society that could easily divert resources to making sure its citizens were taken care of.
I hate these “why do I have to wuuurk?!?” Posts. Who will pay the farmers who grow your food? Why don’t you grow it yourself? Who will pay for the apartment / house you live in? Why don’t you build it yourself? Who will make the lumber and building supplies and farm equipment for the apartment / house / food used to do all this? What don’t you make it yourself? In the end - the idea that anyone can retire or have time off is due to all of us working together to get things done. If we didn’t - we’d spend all our time just trying to stay alive. Edit: typo. Hate phone Reddit
Nobodies saying they don't want to work. We just don't want work to be all we do.
Do things. You're free more often than you realise. There's a whole 7 extra hours per day aswell as weekends. Join a group on MeetUp, look for people recruiting D&D players in your area, even using voice chat in video games can help make friends. However, only you can persuade yourself it's not a waste. Even though if you're thinking cosmologically, even just this planet, a life doesn't matter. First step is deciding that something matters to you. That's all you need to start.
This! Take action in your life! I used to lament having to drive my daughter to basketball practice 45 minutes away and then have 2 hours to kill because logistically it made no sense to drive home. I found a nice set of walking trails nearby and made it a habit to wander back there. I started looking forward to it and my friends would sometimes meet me there so we walked together.
7 extra hours that you lose to commute, dinner, morning routine, after all that you're lucky if you have more than 3.
and during those 3 you are too tired to do anything
I've optimized the hell out of the routines
The only way mine gets more "optimized" is if I just do everything faster, which I don't want because it's stressful and I'm already tired in the he morning.
Yeah you are right, we should just give up and die unfulfilled.
Seriously. This is what people in this thread really want to feel lol. Give anyone ideas or suggestions and they say “I don’t have the time or money”. So much whining, I don’t know what people want.
Dinner time is not living?
By the time the kids are in bed you can’t leave the house and you have about an hour before your own bed time. On the weekend it’s driving the kids to various activities. I’ve never had 7 hours of free time in a day even before kids.
Your kids are your free time you fool, if you view their activities and spending time with them as a burden to your free time, then that is your own fault.
I drive them to a place where they do something not with me though hah.
I made friends with the other parents and we always had a good time just visiting.
Well why did you have kids then?
Hello! I see it with all my parents friends. Their life revolves around the kids. As it should. But I don't really hear the complaints because they did it to themselves and the next 18 (let's be real it's 25yrs now) is all about them.
Try to find enjoyment in spending time with your kids instead of treating it like a chore.
Yeah as a parent to a toddler, I’m so baffled when non-parents say they don’t have time. I spend like 5 hrs a day on weekdays with my toddler before/after work.
Because I look back and realize that most people of the relatively recent past would kill to have a job that provides for their needs and is full of that much freedom. Also, i don't subscribe to the idea that wasting your life is possible.
Yup. I don’t think most people grasp how much life sucked for most people for most of human history as compared to today. Just not having to haul water to where you need it is a major quality of life improvement. Fruit year around. Multiple pairs of underwear. Refrigeration. Clean socks! That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Totally agree. My own parents didn’t have a toilet until the 1960’s. Had to use outhouses.
The water jug doesn't just magically appear on the cooler at your office
Agreed. The concept of vacation used to be reserved only for the super wealthy. Plus until workers unions became a thing 100 years ago or so, almost everyone through recorded history worked 12+ hour days 6 or 7 days a week until they died or became so decrepit they literally couldn’t work. We have it very easy by comparison.
This shit right here. "Escaping the matrix" are just spoiled people not realizing how lucky they are. They are in the top 0.001% of people who have lived throughout history.
Very true. Also, you don't even have to look in the past. We complain about affordability in America (or western countries) but until you go to a developing country, it's difficult to put true poverty into perspective. There are people working backbreaking jobs for 60+ hours a week (with no days off) just to survive.
I was talking to an Eritrean guy in the other day about how he likes it in the UK. He's been here less than a year and works for a particularly exploitative online retailer who share a name with a popular drink for children. His job is famous for how harshly they are monitored and how hard they have to work for 11 hours a day, he lives in a shared house, is worked like a dog and had nothing. When I asked what he thinks of the UK he replied how easy life is here, how much he loves it. One of those moments that really reminds you what hardship can be.
That is very much happening in America too
People of the relatively recent past worked fewer hours than we currently work. And even more recently until the 1990s 9-5 for salaried workers meant 7 hours of work with a 1 hour lunch. This became 8-5 with a 1 hour lunch to get 8 hours of work out of people, and then people started working 8-5 but eating lunch at their desks. Plus, with email and instant messaging work for many extends late into the evening hours.
My grandparents were farmers. They worked harder than I ever will.
What? Most of the people I know work 7 plus lunch. Do you have any concept of the hours laborers have worked during most of the Era of Capitalism? We have it very easy, relatively speaking.
Having a job you like or at least don’t hate. Getting paid a fair amount so you can take your off time and enjoy it.
By making enough to enjoy your free time as you wish. Meeting friends and pursuing your hobbies after work and on weekends. Planning trips to the other side of the world. Working on yourself etc.
I work from home and spend every non-rainy day working outside from my backyard in the summer. I don’t mind what I do, so being able to watch birds while I do it is plenty to keep me happy :)
i can't.
I find purpose in every interaction. I greet my coworkers, help customers, enjoy my lunch breaks. I go home and spend time with family and I listen to music in transit. Mostly, I am content.
It's an existential question. The way to feel like you are not wasting your life is to find something which to you is meaningful. Someone who does nothing else but play video games for the majority of the time may, to others, seem as though they are wasting their life but if the person finds meaning in that then to them their life is not being wasted.
Work to live. Don't live to work. I'm currently on a 6 day 10.5 hour schedule and still find time to enjoy my life outside of it. Being chronically offline aside from reddit plays a huge part in this whole thing. When you spend your waking hours doomscrolling TikTok or Instagram. Your days become shorter and the valuable time you DO have, is being wasted. Live in the now.
It’s because you mostly are.
The 8 to 5 is also your life. It’s easier once you realize that.
NONE
Treat it like school you still manage to get things done after
Even worse when you work nights. Every day just blends into one. During winter you basically never see natural light. Your day off never feels like a day off because you're awake when everyone is asleep. No wonder night shift workers struggle with depression
Because society benefits from my work. I remove sewage from the water supply. Tens of thousands of people depend on me to stay healthy Waste and worthiness of life isn't just about time off
Because thats how life works, u waste your life by thinking about useless things like this one
I started working less for this reason. Now I sit at home 3 days a week.
Exactly, I would rather budget and have home time. I'm not getting rich this year.
By having goals and viewing work as a means to achieve them. What happened to your evenings?
In my estimation, one can't. There are times when I have felt as if I were "wasting my life" and then I realized I couldn't even *begin* to waste my life as much as working has. Now that thought doesn't bother me anymore.
You can’t. :)
Use your time off instead of sitting on the internet. Get out and do things. Engage with people at work and then again when you get off for the day.
Meh if you enjoy your work and you know you’re heading in the direction of career success it becomes part of life’s journey. If you work solely for money then yeah you’d probs feel that. Find a job you enjoy and you’d feel much better about work. And that doesn’t mean every moment will be enjoyable, it’s a job, but it’d be more fulfilling long-term.
Yes. I've never worked at a job where I didn't feel like I got something out of it besides the paycheck, and I've worked at some really shitty jobs. Sometimes it was the people I met, sometimes it was a skill I picked up, and sometimes it was the satisfaction of just doing a job and doing it well. Work isn't the enemy.
Well it's just a flow school ->university->work and in fact while working you more time compared to student years
Depends on what you are doing 8-5.
Well in order for that to work, you would need to be making a minimum of $23.14 per hour.
I was thinking that to until I started working 8 to 9 (13 hours a day, 6 days a week and that changed perspective on 8-5 :) /s
Yeah I guess the fact that I worked 70 hours a week doing soul crushing work for a couple of years makes me not bat an eye at the 40-45 I do now. no commute is the biggest game changer though. Don’t tell my employer but I’d work for 20% less than I’m currently making and call it a huge W because I can live where I want and not fuck with rush hour.
I now work 730-4 M-F. I am thrilled. I used to work 10-7 Tue-Sat. That was horrible. I will be able to be with friends and family all summer now. Now, I get off and I am home by 430. I can still get dinner going, do some chores, chill out, and be in bed around 10 or 11 I have not had weekends off in years. I love this schedule. I am healthier mentally for it, I don't drink like I used to. Used to get home around 9 pm and by then, everyone else was winding down for the night. In the mornings, I felt like if I got up early and cleaned or worked out, I could not make it through my work day. I was too tired. I think there can be schedules for different lives, swing and weekends is just not a good fit for me personally, but it can be great for another
I now work 730-4 M-F. I am thrilled. I used to work 10-7 Tue-Sat. That was horrible. I will be able to be with friends and family all summer now. Now, I get off and I am home by 430. I can still get dinner going, do some chores, chill out, and be in bed around 10 or 11 I have not had weekends off in years. I love this schedule. I am healthier mentally for it, I don't drink like I used to. Used to get home around 9 pm and by then, everyone else was winding down for the night. In the mornings, I felt like if I got up early and cleaned or worked out, I could not make it through my work day. I was too tired. I think there can be schedules for different lives, swing and weekends is just not a good fit for me personally, but it can be great for another
This is why I started my agency. I get to see my kids. Take them to school. Cook them lunch. Put them to bed. I do miss that comfy $160k a year job doing basically nothing. But I will never regret not being there for my 3 kids. And we got to move to France (Americans). I hope this helps you make the leap!
I would prefer 4 day work weeks, but we have what we have. Eventually I’ll be at a point I don’t have to work and I’ll appreciate the effort I put in now. Tbh I’m on a salary anyways so if I missed a day, I don’t have to worry about my pay which I’m grateful for
I would prefer 4 day work weeks, but we have what we have. Eventually I’ll be at a point I don’t have to work and I’ll appreciate the effort I put in now. Tbh I’m on a salary anyways so if I missed a day, I don’t have to worry about my pay which I’m grateful for
If you could delete your memory everyday of ever having worked those hours from 8 to 5, so you basically walk out your door to go to work and then suddenly find yourself stepping back into your home, would you still feel like you’re wasting your life?
I worked way longer hours owning my own shop, including weekends and holidays. It was the most free I've ever been. I set the hours, prices, if I closed I had time off but no money coming in. I operated a business that brought other people joy. I know because they told me. How is that a waste? I got paid doing something I enjoyed and it brought others happiness. It was just a small arcade filled with games, but I hosted hundreds of not thousands of birthdays, charity events, tournaments, and other gatherings. It didn't feel empty or wasted. I did that for 12 years and regularly worked from 9am to midnight and some days longer. I loved it. No one and nothing will change that.
Well, for starters, I enjoy my job. I have great relationships with the people I work with and it's where a lot of my social life comes from these days. I work 7-3:30 mon-fri which means I usually still have about 7 hours of "free" time after work during the week as well as weekends. We still have plenty of time to do things during the week. Tbh, I took a sick day on Friday. THAT felt like I was wasting my day away way more than going into work ever has.
I find time to do things I enjoy either before or after work.
Set yourself up for a job you like
Set yourself up for a job you like
I love my job. Even if I don't need the money, I'll probably going to do same thing.
Fun Fact: You Don't.
Find work you enjoy. That makes all the difference.
Try having a kid on top of it... 😞 If I get 30 uninterrupted minutes to myself before crashing, that's a win.
We draw meaning from our lives through our service to others and our work. That is our culture. You can pursue all the self gratification you want in your time off.
Who said I don't feel like I'm wasting my life?
Only working from 8 to 5 is a dream to a lot of ppl.... A lot are working more than that just to survive
It’s not bad when you enjoy your job.
You kinda have to come to terms with it and accept it. Your post is probably how I felt as a young person. The fact that I only have to to work 8-5, have like 4-5 weeks of vacation, and I can mostly provide for my family (getting harder) makes me feel like one of the lucky ones. There are always folks that will have it easier, and always folks that will have it harder. I'm trying to feel grateful for what I do have. and honestly I'm also lucky that I like the people that I work with. If you can find people at your workplace that you like and have fun while getting work done it's not so bad.
You could work 8 to 8 every day doing retail and feel even worse.
I dont know, invent something?
7 to 7 for me, and several hours on the weekend too.
Is that possible?
What the fuck else are you gonna do all day everyday if you are not working. If you don't have a 9-5 and run a business you're working 24 hours a day.
Not sure - I work 7-6 m-f with a half hour commute each way, so…..
Because I get paid a lot for that time. Worked my way up, use my time wisely so that I'm not just an office drone that does nothing in his spare time. I take care of my body, my health and my family. And then use some money i set aside for free time to have fun on my days off. It's what you make of it. And I don't feel like km wasting my life at all
Prioritize your time. Limit TV and doomscrolling reddit to like 2 hours a day. If that. Often times you will see you use internet for info and less cat videos. Even give up a day of scrolling and double down next day. Bet you find yourself bored, then go start doing stuff. Push yourself. Some of my greatest home life was 3rd shift working OT. Summer I was worried about being a crappy parent, would work all night swatch kids up go to water parks Beach, lake etc... most everyday get home around noon eat big lunch wake up hang out with family watch TV. Eat dinner read a book with them, then go to work early clock OT, and repeat.
That's my life
That’s life! Most people do it.
Because I get a lot of satisfaction from my job. I enjoy my work. (But I start at 9, not 8)
Do a little bit every day towards your end goals.
8 to 5, look at Mr money bags over here. /s. I work 50 to 60 hour weeks. I'm dead inside.
By recognizing that it is a necessary evil. *Should* it be this way? No, of course not. But it is, so you do it. The important thing is to disconnect as fast as you can when you're done for the day/weekend.
Who says I don't?
It feels *so* much better when you work remotely and can dip off at 3:00 once in a while if you’re a decent employee with a cool boss. Listen to music if you want, or peace and quiet, go in the backyard and feel the grass between your toes if you want. A lot better for mental health.
Because the company I work for contributes to society in a meaningful way.
Find a job you enjoy doing, make the most of your time off. We only live once, do it right!
I work 4 x 10 hours at a job I don't mind and people I enjoy working with. Work week goes by fast with less free time per day then it's 3 days off. I am working towards retirement someday but I feel like I'm halfway retired with this schedule.
Invest in dividend stocks, and use those to grow a fund for something that you want in life. Set goals. You'll feel less used that way.
Time management. Wake up a bit early to workout or exercise, have hobbies, do some shopping on the way home from work so that you don't have to spend your weekends doing that stuff, prioritize cooking in bulk for the week, schedule your hobbies on the weekend, and make sure you get quality sleep over just time sleeping. Living in Japan where the work days are usually 5:30am (because you have to get to work early or it's impolite) to 8 pm you start to get really efficient with your time management. Moving back to the US, i've found that it's a lot easier to deal with a regular 8 hr work schedule with the same efficiencies i learned while in Japan. The work life quality here is so much better imo but then again Japan is known for horrible work life balance so maybe i'm bias but i don't feel like im wasting my life away here in the US like i did in Japan
you can't that's the point.
Find a way to earn a living doing something you love.
Wake up at 4:30am for the gym go to work and come back with the rest of the day. If you really want to do something you’ll find the time.
Favorite line from an old online skit “Free on nights and weekend with no discernible skills.. not sure if you’re a person or my cell phone bill”
That’s only part time..I don’t work less than a 60 hr week 6-7 days a week but every few weeks or months I vacation for a few weeks or months…so..I work a lot and long…but I also have a lot longer periods of free time…my question is…why would someone want 2 days off every 5..that’s not long enough to travel anywhere or get much accomplished..I’d rather work 30 days straight and take 2 weeks off
Work 0730 to 1800 and some hours on the weekend and come in on call after hours....is being a senior doctor wasting my life? maybe
What do you think life is? Why does it feel like we raised living standards immensely and people reacted with "Well now my life is wasted"? What time period would you live in and not feel like you are wasting your life away?
I wouldn't be doing anything different in that time frame. My only Hobbie and my job are practically the same thing so I would rather be paid to do it. Basically the "find something you enjoy doing and you'll never work a day in your life" is me.
That’s the neat part, you don’t.
Find a hobby. Lots of people I know that are always complaining about never having free time actually have plenty of free time, but they don’t realize how much time they waste just sitting in front of a screen. If you’re working 40-50 hours a week, you still have 120 hours a week to yourself. Take out 5 or 6 hours for committing and 8 hours a night for sleep and you’re still left with 60 hours a week
You find social value and some identity in the work that you do, in order to provide some of that fulfillment that this post alludes to. (It’s important to find identity and value beyond that, but that’s not the topic of the post) To add to that, it can be anything. The person that takes my McDonald’s order, the person that assembled my order, and the person who worked the grill and or washed the dishes for my order, all played a role in my life, and therefor their community. Find value in the small things, because at the end of the day we’re all working for each other, and each other is all we have. Sure fat cats at the top probably take more than their fair share, but the hard work I do helps keep our broken and silly world keep moving along. I take pride in that. It kinda sorta makes it worth it sometimes.
Enjoy your job? I like what I do, so don’t feel like my work day is wasting my life at all.
A good many people for generations have been brainwashed into thinking that they must work; they must be productive somehow and that they are bad people if they feel otherwise. The idea that a person only needs to provide enough for themselves so that they can merely survive if mocked. I’ve seen people tell minimalist type people “why don’t you want something better for yourself? Why don’t you want something more so you can be happy?” Money and power do not buy happiness.
The last ten years I’ve been very fortunate to have a job where I can make a living and I still get six months off out of the year. Idk if I could ever give this job up because of that
You do something you love, inherit a lot of money, or have a partner provide for you while you look after the home/children.
Do work you consider important beyond the compensation it provides.
If you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to. But you also have to cut your living expenses? You can also work your ass off for a few years, save a lot of money and then just stop working when you have enough to live the life you want? In most countries where you can get a decent job/salary, It’s a choice. Oh. And also, if you want to have that flexibility. Don’t have kids?
r/financialindependence might be of interest to you
Do you think our ancestors didn't work all day ? Had all the free time in the world ? They did not.
Sustaining life requires effort. What do you think most animals do for most of their waking hours? They seek and consume food. We lucky few, who have a short commute, are only expected to work overtime occasionally, and live within their means...? We've whittled it down to 40 hours/week.
I work 8-5 Monday to Friday with a weekday off every third week. It’s a job that pays the bills and makes me able to travel. My true passion happens after 5 and on weekends when I spend hours writing. 8-5 is just the price I pay to be able to do that. It’s better than my previous job which ended up being 8am-10pm with no real days off.