Do you enjoy your job?

[Steppenwolfe]

You know what else makes you more happy?
Less stress.

I'm not so sure about that. My job is pounding out big commercial projects in just several weeks; my last one in FLA was 1.2 mil in 16 weeks. That is a lot of moving parts, men, and scheduling. Daily stress is not just the norm, but a job requirement. I love it... I find it incredibly challenging and rewarding; Is it for everyone? Nope... But then, I wouldn't want to be a dairy farmer either. I am always happier when I'm busy and productive. Stress is relative to the reward, I think.

 

[ultrarunner]

One thing I noticed in my time in Austria is many I came to know had much lower stress levels and were thankful for what they had.


They never worried about medical bills, property tax, and time off... lots of time off there... 42 days when I was there and that went for the lowly apprentice... plus parents got 2 years maternity leave and job must be waiting on return... kicker is you can extend twice so 3 kids 2 years apart and 6 years off with job waiting.

I did find things frustrating... there was absolutely nothing open on Sundays and Holidays except for some hospitality... so if you didn't get what you needed at Home Depot no chance of making a quick run... same for groceries... but, you adjust... many Saturdays business closed at noon.

People took a lot of pride in their homes... often built themselves over many years... and gardens were like mini parks with tons of flowers...

Always time for a beer with friends and or a late night schnapps and a beer over work day lunch quite OK...

They pay a lot of taxes but generally consumption or value added... so it was a choice and calculated when buying... so not as many material things... but high quality, healthy lifestyle... and most everyone counted on having that job to retirement.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm not so sure about that. My job is pounding out big commercial projects in just several weeks; my last one in FLA was 1.2 mil in 16 weeks. That is a lot of moving parts, men, and scheduling. Daily stress is not just the norm, but a job requirement. I love it... I find it incredibly challenging and rewarding; Is it for everyone? Nope... But then, I wouldn't want to be a dairy farmer either. I am always happier when I'm busy and productive. Stress is relative to the reward, I think.

Well here's wishing you lots more stress in your life.

 

[dragoneggs]

To me stress is inversely proportional to happiness. I changed careers twenty years ago and my stress now is so much lower and my happiness higher. Other things contributed as well such as re-marriage and moving from the 'burbs' to a semi rural environment.

That said, when I am under pressure/stress I can get more done than when not pushed but I don't necessary think the 'product' is better just got there faster.

 

[PILOON]

Depends on your frame of reference how you view it.

I have a friend who is genius level, Mensa and all of that. He is a successful medical malpractice trial lawyer in Houston. We have been friends since the 1980痴. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was always curious about things. Mechanical things, medical things, politics, etc. Every new thing that came out he wanted one. Before he was a lawyer he was a Physician痴 Assistant. Even after becoming a busy, successful lawyer he continued to practice as a PA because he could continue to learn so many things.

I notice that all the really smart people I know are very curious about things and are constantly wanting to learn more. They are very seldom judgmental about anything until they have really looked into it.


.

I'm fortunate in that I also knew a few folks like that.

Had a neighbor MD that specialized in cornea transplants!
On week ends he would help me do tractor maintenance and other dirty greasy jobs.
He was into every and any thing mechanical and or technical.
He was a HAM (VE2MD) rebuilt a church organ as a hobby and had an electronic lab to die for.
LOL, he made his DIY SCUBA wet suit by dipping long johns into tubs of latex.
Also made SCUBA compressor using WW2 unit and liked WW2 O2 tanks for cheap SCUBA usage.

Knew another MD (GYN) that owned a small aircraft.
He loved getting his hands into the oily greasy maintenance chores as we did his annual inspections.

Money isn't everything (it helps), there's more to life.
I count myself fortunate in that I always liked whatever job I did, be it sales rep, mechanic, production line worker or self employed renovator/builder.
I like challenges, bring them on!

 

[Molalla1]

I'm not so sure about that. My job is pounding out big commercial projects in just several weeks; my last one in FLA was 1.2 mil in 16 weeks. That is a lot of moving parts, men, and scheduling. Daily stress is not just the norm, but a job requirement. I love it... I find it incredibly challenging and rewarding; Is it for everyone? Nope... But then, I wouldn't want to be a dairy farmer either. I am always happier when I'm busy and productive. Stress is relative to the reward, I think.

No Wolf, you take stress out in other ways.

 

[hawkeye08]

I retired March 2020 after 38+ years with same company (sort of as company split at one point). I liked my jobs but had a few managers that should not have been managers. The last one had only been my manager less than 6 months when I decided to retire.. the second worst manager I had was in the 90s and I put up with him for 5 years before doing something about it. It only took a few months to realize last manager was going to make the top 2 list of worst managers... there were a bunch of us in key roles that took retirement and left in March... not a fun place to work with the knowledge drain. My coworkers that were taking on my work were looking for other jobs, they were already over loaded (we all were) and management was not adding people... I have not talked to any of them after I left..

It is still stressful some days and I will work through it, but retirement is good (would have been much better without Covid). Health insurance premiums just went up 30% for 2021 so that is stressful as we work on budget to handle that.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

No Wolf, you take stress out in other ways.

Whatever works... Right? :drink:

 

[5030]

I enjoy my job immensely and would never even consider doing anything else. I basically get paid for doing nothing.

 

[goeduck]

Enjoy it? Cannot say that, but I do not mind it. With as much experience as I have I can sleep walk thru most days and make good $$$.

 

[bindian]

Enjoy it? Cannot say that, but I do not mind it. With as much experience as I have I can sleep walk thru most days and make good $$$.

We would (most nights) sleep through half of our shift. Then I got home and couldn't sleep.
hugs, Brandi

 

[daugen]

We all handle stress and anxiety differently but for most of us it wears on you. My late wife was a charge nurse in a big city hospital, a real adrenaline junky, but after 19 years of that she simply
burned out and couldn't take it any more. So she went to work in private practice and enjoyed that much more.
They say one out of four Americans suffer some form of significant depression, which sure doesn't promote enjoyment of life, or work.
And during these covid times, depression apparently is on the rise.
this was posted this morning:
Here are 12 ways to cope with anxiety from the election, the pandemic, social unrest, wildfires and the upcoming holidays - CNN

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I enjoy my job immensely and would never even consider doing anything else. I basically get paid for doing nothing.

I get paid a lot for doing a lot...

 

[Steppenwolfe]

We all handle stress and anxiety differently but for most of us it wears on you. My late wife was a charge nurse in a big city hospital, a real adrenaline junky, but after 19 years of that she simply
burned out and couldn't take it any more. So she went to work in private practice and enjoyed that much more.
They say one out of four Americans suffer some form of significant depression, which sure doesn't promote enjoyment of life, or work.
And during these covid times, depression apparently is on the rise.
this was posted this morning:
Here are 12 ways to cope with anxiety from the election, the pandemic, social unrest, wildfires and the upcoming holidays - CNN

This is a difficult topic to lump all people together. I am absolutely miserable if I don't have something going on; always been that way. Doesn't mean I don't take a day once in the while to kick back and relax... smell the roses, etc. But I like to have a bunch of projects to juggle...

 

[lman]

I get paid a lot for doing a lot...

I'm surprised you would use your time to read and post here. I'm semi-retired and don't spend as much time here as you do as I have other higher priority things to do. I also noticed that you had earlier stated that you wouldn't want to be a Dairy Farmer and got the impression that it was because there was little stress in that occupation. Apparently you weren't aware that dairy farms are going out of business at a rapid rate because the cost to produce milk was higher than what it was being sold at not long ago. Dairy farmers are just trying to survive and I would consider that to be very stressful. My sister and her family milk about 1,000 cows and would definitely say that it is stressful when the price of milk remains low.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I'm surprised you would use your time to read and post here. I'm semi-retired and don't spend as much time here as you do as I have other higher priority things to do. I also noticed that you had earlier stated that you wouldn't want to be a Dairy Farmer and got the impression that it was because there was little stress in that occupation. Apparently you weren't aware that dairy farms are going out of business at a rapid rate because the cost to produce milk was higher than what it was being sold at not long ago. Dairy farmers are just trying to survive and I would consider that to be very stressful. My sister and her family milk about 1,000 cows and would definitely say that it is stressful when the price of milk remains low.

I grew up working on dairy farms in PA. I know exactly what it is; and I know all too well what it does to a farmer. So... you could say I am aware, and is why I chose that occupation to compare. As to posting here... 15 to 20 minutes a day I can spare. I place no priority on it...

 

[MossRoad]

For real. No mention of shooting guns, mowing grass, or making things. Do breathing exercises and yoga really help people? What kind of people? That stuff would just frustrate me more than doing nothing at all.

Breathing, yoga, stretching, etc... are no different than working out or going for a run.