Just pondering at this point:
Currently contracting in a large corporate – the work’s not that challenging, money’s good and I have loads of time to focus on other life stuff like my running and cycling – currently training 6 days a week and faster now at 41 than I’ve ever been – which is great.
In many ways this is not a bad way to spend my life…

But as a colleague said today I’m not that happy – the work’s not interesting and there’s no real energy to the place – it’s not very challenging or fun…

Best place I ever worked at was 25 people – everyone pitched in, it was a lot of fun and I made some real friends, but work/life balance was hard to achieve… despite that it was the happiest I’ve ever been at work.

I have an interview tomorrow where some of the people from that small co (which is long since gone) are now working. It’ll mean a pay cut but still a decent salary, very likely I’ll have to leave the personal bests behind but there’s a good chance I’ll actually enjoy the work and the company and regain my enthusiasm…

So life’s too short to waste it on a boring job, but work/life balance is a great luxury these days too…

Thoughts?

On their death bed no one has ever said “I wish I’d spent more time at work”

Work to live, not live to work.

YMMV of course.

Thoughts?

I can live on £6,000 a year.
After that it’s just your personal priorities.

Do whatever makes you happy.

you want to work more for less? you’re aff yer nut.

Find doing something you love and it no longer becomes ‘work’.

If it pays the bills too, that’s sorted.

You spend most of your waking life at work. If you’re not challenged and enjoying it then yes, time for a change. I’m self employed these days and hugely miss the melting pot of ideas formed when heads are clashed together to solve a problem.

So yes, I’d take a wage cut and more hours to be part of a vibrant team who take pride in what they do.

I can live on £6,000 a year

I’m intrigued – council tax, gas, water, electric, accommodation and food for £500 per month??? You obviously work the internet into that as well and I presume MTB’ing?

Mrs FD works silly long hours to the extent she doesn’t really have time for hobbies. I don’t get it, but she really enjoys going to work and gets lots of enjoyment from it.

I stick to 9-5 in a job that is ok, and use the time out of work to get my ‘kicks’ in life.

I would love a job that paid roughly what I get now, that allowed me to work set hours, was interesting and challenging whilst there, but I could leave at the door. Unfortunately they don’t exists Imo.

When I sold one of my companies I claimed that I had retired. I was genuinely restless after about 4 weeks and started another company after 6 ! When I eventually sold that one I didn’t even pretend that I would retire and am still working. Saying that I do have a decent amount of balance and understand better as I get older what is, and more importantly, isn’t important to me. I totally understand wanting to have that challenge and would say that they are not mutually exclusive, I think the most motivated people have a balanced life and know how to enjoy themselves and stay fit.

Pay cut and less time for hobbies…sounds terrible.

Work for me has always been about the money and work/life balance. Would you be more unhappy after you’ve settled in and realised you can’t do the stuff you used to do. Also you’re hoping the new place may be abut like the old one but it probably won’t.

Seems a crazy idea to me, sure enjoying your job must be a nice thing that a few are lucky to experience but I’d much rather have an OK job that pays well enough and doesn’t interfere with my other life than an enjoyable job that means less hours outside of work and less money.

When I was in corporate world, one of the most informative questions I would ask the interviewee during an interview was: ” How do you like to be recognised?”

There were generally two types of answer.

It always gave me an indication as to their home/work life balance and just as importantly, if I appointed them, I knew how best to motivate them.

@slackalice – what were the two types of answer?

but I’d much rather have an OK job that pays well enough and doesn’t interfere with my other life than an enjoyable job that means less hours outside of work and less money.

You could always have a job that’s enjoyable, pays well and is more a way of life than ‘work’ 🙂

@oldnpastit, money or time in lieu. Generally and not surprisingly, the field based salesy peeps liked their bonus and one off payments if they did really well. The office based staff generally liked to be rewarded with an extra day off.

I was fortunate to have the flexibility and freedom to utilise my budget as I saw fit, as were the other managers.

Doing a job you really enjoy and stimulates you is not much different from enjoyable things you may do in the rest of your life. It’s not as if all the time you are not working is enjoyable – household chores for example.

Brooess – you haven’t said if you have kids? With young kids then I would want to spend as little time at works as possible, if not then I would be happy to work harder and longer for me as long as I enjoyed it.

Earn the most you can for least time at work and enjoy life with your family and friends