As someone who is going to have to get a job in 2-3 years, I’m dreading the day. Going to the same place 5 days a week coming home with no time and energy left for anything you actually like and doing this for FOURTY years or even more if you were unlucky, sounds HORRIBLE!! How could anyone actually like working?
There are two layers in this question.
In the literal sense, they want to work because it does something for them. For some, work is means to an end. They want to do X but they can’t survive on profits from doing X so they spend some time working to do the thing that they feel actually adds meaning to their life. The other layer of this is the fear you are experiencing because you are staring into an abstract void. ‘Work’ can mean many, many different things. Quick peek at your Lemmy history says you have some interest in books. What if it was your ‘work’ to spend hours each day getting paid to read books, as an audio book reader, a literary editor, or something similar? What if it was your ‘work’ to spend hours each day being paid to write books as an author, or a journalist? Work can be hellish if you end up doing something you hate, for and with people you hate, to produce something you feel is making the world a worse place to live. It can also be a process of going somewhere pleasant, to do things you enjoy, with and for people you like, to produce something that you feel makes the world a better place. Work is just the label on the box. It doesn’t tell you much about what’s inside.Find something you genuinely enjoy doing.
Also, having moneyz is nice.
The question is, what else would you be doing with your time?
Most people want to feel productive. Forty hours is too much but almost nobody wants to only sit on the bank that is depressing in the long run.
There is dignity in contributing to society, I do something I’m reasonably good at and therefore enjoy doing, my colleagues are friendly and decent people, it puts a roof over my head, food on the table, and something in the piggy bank for a rainy day.
Important distinction between “working” and “having a job”. You do a job for someone else. You should always be working for yourself. Labor for ones own ends in enjoyable. Labor for someone else is a means to an end. Recognize it is something to balance and balance it the best you can for the life you want to have.
This should be higher up.
I think a lot of younger people today struggle to figure out what is important for them to balance and this creates a problem where they just jump from one short term gain to another until they die and if they recognize this pattern without knowing what’s happening they just feel hopeless and don’t want to change it or themselves and then struggle to be a functioning adult.
It’s the money, generally. Life is expensive.
Yep.
I want to provide for my wife and kids. Its my purpose and I find it fulfilling.
I don’t want to work in order to survive but I want to be productive and keep my mind and body sharp while also contributing to the community. I like my job and while it seems mundane, it keeps me busy, gives me routine, gives my brain problems to solve, and is sometimes the most socializing I get. I just hate that I have to be afraid to lose my job or end up hungry or homeless because of it.
I just hate that I have to be afraid to lose my job or end up hungry or homeless because of it.
it’s not an accident that you’ve come to see it this way; controlled dissent and manufactured fear are effective ways at keeping a population under control.
That’s why I’m a communist, but most people are afraid of that term. I would settle for really good socialism in my lifetime though.
I hate being stuck as a wage slave creating wealth for the people standing on my shoulders, but I like to work and I like my job, it’s a strange place to exist.
same here; except i’m not a marxist (yet) and i’ve traded in my labor aristocracy slave status for a non-profit driven workplace that comes with union protections.
watching my union get their collective ass handed to them by starbucks; and others; makes it’s clear that union protection doesn’t mean much, but it’s the best i think i can get in this country.
I don’t enjoy having to do it to live but I really enjoy a large portion of my job and feel like I am actually helping people
For me it was finding something I love and using the job as training to help with it in situations I like
Then again I am working in ems so the vast majority of my time is spent sitting around doing whatever I want being on call to sprint out the door of the base and or start moving the truck quickly
But seriously if you find something you love and get an actual job that wont suck every last bit of enjoyment from it having a job isn’t the problem
Some places do different shifts you may wanna look into
Like the place I am at does the standard work days but you can also do like 4 12 hour shifts or at some bases a 24 hour shift 3 days one week than 2 the next with every other day off and as long as you have the pager set loud enough you can be sleeping a decent portion of the after dark period on either a 24 or a night shift 12
I can only speak for myself, but I enjoy having a regular supply of interesting problems to solve, and the daily routine keeps me grounded.
This is human nature. The “antiwork” crowd isn’t actually against work, but against the exploitative system of how work is executed under capitalism. We all like solving problems and knowing what tomorrow holds for us. If you woke up tomorrow and had absurd “fuck you” money, you’d retire from your job, but you’d still work on things.
Over the years, I’ve learned the sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from fixing a thing, replacing a broken/old/inferior thing, installing a thing, etc. I was never particularly handy. I don’t much enjoy the process itself, but the visible and quantifiable and tangible product of my labor and time are so much more fulfilling to me than the fraction of a fraction of an impact to a billionaire’s bottom line, given in exchange for being allowed to have shelter and food.
And really, some jobs are fairly enjoyable too. My wife truly enjoys her job most days, and a lot of that enjoyment comes from her job being less serious. She clocks in, performs tasks in a way that meets expectations while joking with co-workers for a few hours, and clocks out. It’s not all soul crushing, but it’s easier to stomach when it’s <30 hours per week.
He who does not work, neither shall he eat
I like my job, I wouldn’t do it for free, but I like it. I like the money it earns to buy cool shit and support my lifestyle. I’d also be so unhealthy if I didn’t have the routine it gives me.
There’s so many different jobs and situations out there, not everything is doom and gloom with employment or work. I assume you’re in school, which usually takes up just as much (if not considerably more) of your time commitment.
I might be an outlier, but I enjoy working. I like what I do. I also like having money.
Most days, when I get home, I do whatever housework is needed and still have time to spend with my family, work on home projects, or relax and play a game or whatnot.
Take care of yourself by exercising and eating right, find a job you enjoy, and you won’t be dead tired after work. Granted, there are occasional days when I’m exhausted, but they’re the exception, not the norm.
I’m middle age, and as much as you are not looking forward to working, that’s how I feel about retirement. I don’t know if I will ever retire, not because of money, but because I think I’d get bored.
I mean… we gotta eat.
Going to the same place 5 days a week
A lot of jobs involve travel, on a variety of scales. My brother is a civil engineer and is on a different site every week. I personally like the routine of going to the same place, but that’s not a requirement for employment.
coming home with no time and energy left
I mean, that sucks. But you don’t necessarily have to work that many hours or that demanding a job. I do work a physically and emotionally demanding job; I prefer to work on personal projects and household tasks during the day, go to my job in the evenings, and then it doesn’t matter that I come home tired; I go right to bed.
for anything you actual like
A lot of people like their job. Another respondent said she wouldn’t do her job for free; I probably would if I could afford to. It makes me happy. I can’t afford to and am pretty zealous about making sure I earn a competitive rate, but I even enjoy that aspect, the competition of it.
doing this for FOURTY years or even more
I mean, it doesn’t have to be the same work that while time. At forty, I’ve been a programmer, a teacher, a waitress, and a full-time parent. I’m thinking about picking up a trade, becoming an electrician or a carpenter or a plumber. As long as you keep learning and keep experimenting, you’ll have an interesting life.
