Your Job is Draining Your Life Away, And It’s Your Fault— 5 Reasons Why
The way out is knowing there’s no way out
Quick Note: I’m back on my regular writing schedule. Honestly, I’m glad I took a short break — I’ve learned a ton from work and the people in my life over the past 6 months, and I’m ready to continue growing our Part Time community!
I posted this story on my Medium page too, so if you have time, send some claps my way!
Happiness at the ol’ 9–5 comes in waves.
Look at me. I work from the comfort of a spacious 3-bedroom apartment, but I’m still not stoked every Wednesday morning. I wake up, pop a capsule into my Nespresso machine, and sip coffee while editing videos in my room.
It's not a bad gig by any means. In fact, I'd call it my dream job (if such a thing existed). But that doesn't mean I'm impervious to lousy brain days.
These are the 24 hours when a spilled coffee drop makes you want to throw your mug out the window. The whole world is against you.
Luckily, there's an escape — no one is actually watching you. Pick and choose the reasons why you’re unhappy first, then learn how to get over them.
1. You work an office job
I read an article arguing that “in-person” is more productive than remote.
I laughed out loud the whole time.
You should've seen the comments. People acted like this author lit their favorite T-Shirt on fire.
The article was utterly misguided. We’ve increased productivity 47% since March of 2020. Your boss just needs a reason to keep their office lease.
I worked with a kindergarten class during the pandemic. Those kids need in-person help, just like you and I did when we were young. They don’t learn as well through a screen, and the job is more productive in the classroom.
Some jobs aren’t meant to be online. I mean, grocery stores are essential businesses. They aren’t ready to be autonomous — we saw that with Amazon.
We aren’t living in the Star Trek universe, where they deleted the need for currency because food is readily available through a wacky space hologram.
Even members of Star Fleet show up to work in person.
Here's the thing: if, and only if you can do your job remotely, but you’re still going to the office, your boss is making your life more miserable than it needs to be.
Or maybe you want to work from the office, spend precious minutes (or hours) commuting, and spend more money on work clothes and lunches.
My point is there’s nothing worse than doing something you know you don't need to do. It's worse when you know how much time you'd save without a commute or the need to do your hair in the morning.
2. You're working full-time
I just landed my first full-time gig.
There's no shame in it. It's a way to leverage yourself in a financially run world that's out to get you. Inflation is the devil, yet holding onto cash is better than losing it to the current bear market?
I've learned that when the stock market isn't going anyone’s way, or your side hustle hasn’t taken off yet, the best thing you can do is rely on a career to build up your nest egg.
On the flip side, part-time work, say four days a week, could be more your speed. I'm talking about the Tim Denning method before quitting his job to become a 7-figure writer.
When four days of work is enough to pay rent, you can use your Friday off to pursue your side hustle. Think how much faster you'll get to where you want to be with an extra 52 days on your side.
I tried this for four months before I decided to move to another state. The most important lesson I learned is that people are genuinely interested in what I write and put out into the blogosphere.
Imagine what an extra day could do for you?
3. You let your job define your worth
You are not your job.
Your job isn’t your life.
The way you perceive yourself is up to you and you only. A nice gig isn’t a personality trait. People don’t see your job you don’t like.
Personal growth happens when you step back and say, "Yo, I was wrong."
People who think their career is the pinnacle of their life journey are misguided. They make posts on Instagram when things are going well, but the 50–60 hour weeks take a toll.
They spend too much time working instead of in the gym or at home with their families. Passions are lost with this mindset.
Finding meaning in your work is about chasing your real dreams.
4. Your job doesn't let you express yourself
I'm lucky.
I play around with videos and photographs all day.
It's not all rainbows, though. My editing software randomly shuts down, and my computer is starting to show its age. That's just the reality of working with a high volume of data in the form of media.
Corporate jobs are set paths. There’s less wiggle room for new ideas.
When you can’t freely express yourself, a part of you dies and becomes a machine.
5. You're not willing to work for free
Wait, did I just say that?
I just reread my statement, and I did, in fact, just say that.
"Work for free for as long as possible" is the best advice I've ever heard. I've seen it pay dividends in my life. I wouldn’t have my job now without putting in the work upfront.
This doesn’t mean quitting your job—bills matter.
It means sacrificing 30–60 minutes of your day, every day, to work toward a financial goal, even if it means you don’t see a penny after a year of hard work.
So what is the way out?
Ayodeji Awosika hit it home for me.
He wrote about being happy without trying too hard and said this about the wishy-washy nature of happiness — life is hard but:
“You escape the trap by understanding that you’re always going to be in it. This isn’t depressing. It’s liberating.”
First:
Your version of happiness is constantly changing. True happiness comes from knowing that life really is meaningless, but your take on this reality is what sets you apart from looking at your life as half empty.
When your life is half-empty, it'll keep getting emptier.
From what I've found in my young 27 years of life, the way to go is to take yourself seriously enough to be considered dangerous.
I don't mean dangerous because you're threatening, more like you know more about more topics. No one can touch you when you listen intently and speak on subjects that matter to you.
Second:
Don’t take yourself, or especially your job, too seriously.
There are KPIs to hit at work, but would they really matter if the whole world ended? Nah, those metrics would be six feet under too.
So take that as you will. Do your work, make your money, but take your foggy world view glasses off and put on your metaphorical VR goggles.
Gamify the life you have because there are endless levels to it.
The trap the world sets for you is transparent. There’s no true escape from it because there's simply nothing else. You might as well treat it like a sandbox.