[Closed] Office Jobs are harder than manual labour...

😆

after spending eight hours sat on their arses eating Hob Nobs in a vain attempt to fill the emptiness inside.

Hell yeah, that emptiness requires plenty of Hob Nobs alright.

Too true to be funny 🙁

I just have had a couple of digestives but still feel empty inside, what biscuit for 'emptiness'?

no one is expected to get excited about digging a hole

Well that's nonsense. Last week I had to dig holes for fence posts, I found slicing through the damp clay with a spade hugely rewarding and satisfying. A bit like the satisfaction and excitement which comes with producing those very long thick curly wood shavings when using a recently sharpened plane.

I don't mind digging holes, nice and peaceful with a sense of having done some thing when it's finished.

Bugger when you get dense gravels and fill though. Low plasticity moist clay is a dream, or loose sand.

So true, when I'm in the office I drink 5 cups of crap coffee and 10 biscuits a day.

[i]Last week I had to dig holes for fence posts,[/i]

I suspect that if all you did for 50 years of your workign life was dig holes for fence posts then the initial excitement might wear off.

(Please Note: I'm not suggesting that digging fence post holes for a living is not worthwhile or cannot give job satisfaction but I can also see that it's not something someone would feel wildly excited about as they set off for work each morning after doing it for 30 years)

I'd much rather do manual work than been sat here in the office all day! Just a shame i can't find any offering decent pay 🙁

I've been in variations of my job for 20 years wwaswas and I feel like that, especially today as the office idiot is refusing to paste 3 lines of an excel spreadsheet into another spreadsheet, because in his eyes the "rules" state that I must do it.

Frankly, I could do it in 2 minutes, but I'd rather let his Director shout at him for delying a revenue generating opportunity when he doesn't need to. I'll just claim I was too busy selling to cope with this trite BS.

OoooOOO the excitement, pass the biscuits...

In my experience I genuinely find office work more tiring when really busy than manual labour. Its the mental drain that I find harder to adjust to than physically intensive work.

My job in IT has changed from crushing dull donkey work in an office to being an expert consultant doing (a bit of) jetting around the country solving complex issues. This is great, and I dind't have to retrain or anything, it's just a normal career progression.

The problem with digging fence posts is that you don't really get to progress to civil engineering without a lot of retraining.. at least I don't think so...?

Re fence posts themselves, it was next to impossible in my garden where the sub soil is by volume about 50% big rocks and 30% smaller ones. Until I borrwed a mattock from my neighbour!

[i]I've been in variations of my job for 20 years wwaswas[/i]

I've been doing mine for 30 🙁 still I can see myself retiring in another 25 or so...

As per the article - no one expects a 'post hole digger' to be a huge enthusiast (although they might be) office workers are.

molgrips - Member
My job in IT has changed from crushing dull donkey work in an office to being an expert consultant doing (a bit of) jetting around the country solving complex issues. This is great, and I dind't have to retrain or anything, it's just a normal career progression.

You are me 5 years ago - it then goes to Management (aka inheriting everyone else problems) to Sales (aka everyone's problem is your problem automatically)

Get out now and find a hole digging job while you can...

wwaswas - Member
I've been in variations of my job for 20 years wwaswas

I've been doing mine for 30 still I can see myself retiring in another 25 or so...

We had a nice pension chap present to us the other day to politely let us know the pensionable age is 68 after 2016. That's another 27 years for me. 😕

I suspect that if all you did for 50 years of your workign life was dig holes for fence posts then the initial excitement might wear off.

Well the 'initial excitement' might wear off after 50 years but it's still there now, so the claim "no one is expected to get excited about digging a hole" is clearly false. I expect, and do, get excited about digging a hole. Well at least when it's in stone-free damp clay which can be removed in thick easy slices 🙂

I_Ache - Member
In my experience I genuinely find office work more tiring when really busy than manual labour. Its the mental drain that I find harder to adjust to than physically intensive work.

After taking 6 months off to renovate my house and working day in and day out with a labourer, I can say from personal experience you weren't properly labouring if you find office work harder.

Basically, If you can talk at the end of a day its been an easy day, and if you aren't popping pain killers for back pain, or having to crack your fingers open in the morning as they have gone stiff/solid overnight you aren't working hard enough.

There's a reason that you don't see many bloke sin there forties-fifties labouring, as they are either to knackered or to slow!

I'd also say that a dug hole stays dug, whereas loads of my office work leads nowhere and produces nothing.

Take this book thing I'm working on for an industrial [s]asswipe[/s] client. Sent over a full draft 18 months ago. 😯 No response. Produced full book layouts. No response for six months. Prod. Prod. Prod. Changes. Prod. Changes. Prod. Changes. Changes. Changes... and what looks like almost the finished thing will probably be changed another six or seven times before - if - the thing finally comes out. So far, we're on to version 10. 😯

You only need one version of a hole.

This perfectly summarises my working world, and I suspect many others on here.

Can't grumble, it's an industry and as such I have a job..

[IMG] [/IMG]

I like gardening, digging, cutting down trees, fixing cars, fixing bikes and tolerate decorating all on my terms, but I wouldn't want to do ANY of them for a living (possibly excluding fixing bikes).

Basically, If you can talk at the end of a day its been an easy day, and if you aren't popping pain killers for back pain, or having to crack your fingers open in the morning as they have gone stiff/solid overnight you aren't working hard enough.

Sounds like he's working too hard, if you ask me.

And in any case, what about all those office workers who are dying on the inside every day, stress, sedendary life conditions, depression etc etc...?

I think you're missing the point Ernie - that digging hole's excites you is good and all but no one is expecting it to excite you (and you yourself don't count).
My company spams us with all the various values we're supposed to follow (but history tells us are ignored by management once costs enter into the equation) and how it's such a great company to work for. I'd have much more respect for them if they just said they know we're all here for the money but they'll try and make it as pleasant as they can whilst not crippling themselves with additional costs.
I also hate in interviews that saying the primary reason for wanting the job is the money is considered a bad thing, ffs stop treating people like children - who the **** in their right mind would spend 40 hours a week sitting in an office if it wasn't for the money?

And in any case, what about all those office workers who are dying on the inside every day, stress, sedendary life conditions, depression etc etc...?

They're mostly on STW moaning about being overtaken in life....

This thread is [i]very[/i] STW...

crikey - Member
This thread is very STW...

I dunno it needs a...

[img] [/img]

i enjoy my work.

my mates go to the gym after work as they've too much energy and feel guilty for having sat on their arse all day for eight hours.

and the idea that manual work isn't mentally challenging is also wrong. ever thrown up a proper timber framed pitch roof with gables? or you've got 250m2 of flooring to lay and only .25m2 of board more than you need - careful with those cuts?

couldn't imagine being sat in an office with people that i don't particularily like. true, there are some people that i work with that i don't much like, but once the job is over - say a week or two - then i probably won't see them again for ages, if not ever.

and digging holes is rewarding. as is standing around at 4:30 with a beer and a rollie looking at what you've done.... 🙂

i worked in office enviroments all my working life, about 20yrs.
six months ago i moved abroad and for a couple of months before my new job started i took it upon myself to self renovate an old house. Manual labour nearly broke me not just pysically but mentally too as i didnt find it intensive mentally and i got bored. So i think they are as hard as each other just in different ways...

as is standing around at 4:30 with a beer and a rollie looking at what you've done....

I just have had a couple of digestives but still feel empty inside, what biscuit for 'emptiness'?

More biscuits.

I spend about 25% of my time actually in the office & that is enough for me. Anymore & I'd probably end up murdering at least half my colleagues to death.

Office work is tiring even if you do nothing all day.

Age has a lot to do with it: ten years ago I took three weeks off work between house moves to work solidly on skimming over all the naff Artex and doing other basic work on a house we bought. Labouring and serving up plaster wasn't too bad because I was fit and still the right side of 50. Now I'm the wrong side of 50 and DIY absolutely knackers me - I'm shattered today after a 45 mile ride followed by some relatively light garden work yesterday.

[i]I think you're missing the point[/i]

He's not the only one

I'd probably end up murdering at least half my colleagues to death.

is there any other outcome after murder?

alpin - Member
is there any other outcome after murder?

More biscuits for the rest of us?

What we need now is an office drone vs manual worker average Hob Nob/day consumption graph, plus subjective feeback on emptiness or otherwise.

Damn I could use a Hob Nob. 😯

Damn I could use a Hob Nob

For what? Skimming?

Nah, I use Rich Teas for skimming. Less surface resistance. Plus, they taste like wee-dried cardboard.

I'll have you know that Hob Nobs are actually rough enough to form a turbulent boundary layer when skimming, with associated drag reduction when compared to the smooth rich tea's laminar.

I've got a manual job as a forestry surveyor, but going on my day at work today I'd have to agree with the OP.

I rocked up at the forestry plantation, opened the gate, let the dog out and had him run behind the car for a couple miles. Got dog back into car. Found small steep and muddy track leading into forest, decided to play with car's 4x4. Eventually track petered out. Stopped here and slept for a couple hours. Decided better part of the day had been wasted, no point trying to save it. Headed home.

Trouble is that now I've got twice as much to do tomorrow, and wading though unthinned Sitka spruce is where the job rapidly moves to the other side of the coin.

I suspect that if all you did for 50 years of your workign life was dig holes for fence posts then the initial excitement might wear off.
... I can also see that it's not something someone would feel wildly excited about as they set off for work each morning after doing it for 30 years)

My dad started off in very unmechanised hard farming at about 14 then when a bit older moved over here and was labouring on building sites which he did till he was 68, he loved manual labour and quite often worked seven days a week with the weekend just being overtime or working for a mate. He still wants to go and dig things up and work when he's visiting back over in Ireland - madness. Fortunately this gene(it's a Kerry thing) has bypassed me 🙂

I had a manual job for years running a petrol station & doing car repairs/servicing. That went egg shaped & I joined the prison service which is where I've been for the past 12 years. Now when I get home I'm usually mentally battered! Never felt that bad when I was mechanicing. Holidays & pay are miles better though.

Has Stoner not provided the biscuit graph yet?

I don't last long with office work and the mental exertion that accompanies it. Give me some decent hard graft however and am happy. I like to take off my boots at the end of the day when I'm exhausted and get a sense of satisfaction from having physically tired myself out through the day.

I find office jobs harder, so would have to agree with op.

I suppose it depends what sort of manual labour it is. Some people I know who do manual labour get on site at 8 swan around pointing at stuff leave at 2:30 and get paid a day's money easy!

On the other hand I have done 5 years on constant 5 o clock wake ups on site for 7 to prep material inside house by 8 and then on the go till 4:00 home for 6 where you feel physically and mentally messed up by Friday's everything aches. I know have a semi office job and I can 100% say I have never felt less stressed or happy in all my years of work. all depends on what manual labour it is I suppose

Anybody saying working in an office is harder than manual work hasn't had a 'proper' manual job, simple.

Try underpinning a house where machine access isn't possible and you have to dig by hand 2m down then a metre back underneath the original footings, each hole fills an 8 yrd skip and you need to dig a hole a day Mon to Wed, Thurs is then spent shuttering those holes and barrowing approx 4 tons of materials round the back ready for Fri, which is spent mixing concrete to fill said holes. Repeat for 3 weeks before an "easy" week reinstating slabs, block paving lawns etc. Then you get to go next door and start all over again.

Or, how about having to carry 15 x 30min fire doors (approx 35kg each) up 3 flights of stairs followed by your tools, all before you start to hang them.

I could go on, but as it happens I (mostly) enjoy my job, but easy it aint!

BTW I had a short stint in an office, easiest job I've ever had.

Two manual jobs I wouldn't want are removal man (lifting heavy crap all day in likely stuffily hot houses, then being sat in a van driving for hours with other stinky sweating blokes) and picking crops in a field (like cabbages) looks back-breaking to me (with plenty of opportunity for slashing your hand after a moments lapse in concentration).

I work from home/coffee shops/hotdesks, so don't have to deal with the soul-destroying office environment, a breeding ground for existential angst.

On the weekends I get involved in work groups fixing old buildings but wouldn't want to do it for a living.

Home-working in a non-manual job is the best solution as I see it.

Dig lots of holes, carry lots of weight, work out aerobicaly for hours on end for weeks on end while people try to kill you for not much pay but are generally so satisfied that when you get bits traumaticaly removed from your body all you want to do is to stay on.

If you're a leader of the above you get to do all the physical and then the 'office' bit as well.

Infantry - be the [s]best[/s] most knackered.

I had a short stint in an office, easiest job I've ever had.

So why did you give it up? Why don't you go back?

Why is infantry so-called?

So why did you give it up? Why don't you go back?

Found it boring, and have been doing what I do for too long now.

Plus if I started in an office it wouldn't pay me what I earn now as I'd be starting from the bottom again.

Found it boring

And that's the whole point. The boredom gets very difficult to deal with mentally after a while, never mind year after year.

^^^^ This is what STW is for

This is what STW is for

Agreed.

I've done labouring(kitchen fitting), worked in a cafe kitchen(ASDA), and office work(graphics).

Of the three, ASDA was the most soul destroying.

But labouring was much harder, you get into it and it keeps fitness up, especially if you get hit with a run of top floor tenement flats, needing walls knocked down, kitchens, rubble and tools needing carted about, but it doesn't knock your pan in.. Doing it long term wasn't my choice that's for sure, done me a turn while I was at school and college though.

Office work is a dawdle.

After being made redundant from a stressful office job, which I did for 11 years, I have gone back to laboring, working in a large park, I lost a stone in six weeks!

It was hard on the body for the first month, feet, back, arms and Knees all hurt like hell, I did think at the time, what the hell was I doing, as I lugged dead trees about in the snow and wind!

But six months on, no two days are the same, cutting trees down one day, then planting them the next 😉 My body has recovered, got used to the extra strain, compared to the stress, constant hassle of working in a office, where everyone was clock watching, this new job is like getting a new life for me.

Personally (I know some on here will disagree) I think mental stress is worse than physical, at least at the end of the week, I can 'hobble' to my local and enjoy a good pint, without the burden of work still praying on my mind, while some of my old office mates, still find it hard to switch off.

[i]And that's the whole point. The boredom gets very difficult to deal with mentally after a while, never mind year after year.[/i]

You know those jokes where you have to explain the punchline... STW takes it to a whole new level.

malted milk in the office today - an unusual offering but well received. 😉

I'm fully aware that the article was saying that office jobs can be boring and mentally stressful, what I don't agree with is that this makes it a harder job than a 'proper' physically demanding manual job.

I wonder how many people on here with manual jobs get to have a snoop and post on this forum during the day, I certainly don't.

And before you all start on me about todays online activities Mrs Pocketrocket had Pocketrocket Jr no3 this weekend so I'm having a couple of days off! 😀 😆

It is clear that we have to define what 'hard' means. They can both be hard in their own way.

Also perhaps it is worth restating the article itself was ironic.

The reason I could never work in an office again is because of cake !

Cakes for birthdays
Cakes cos someones leaving
Cakes for babies
Cakes cos its friday
Cakes for the new bloke/bird !

I love cake dont get me wrong, but its got to be in private, its personal, just me and a slice,,,,,,,,you know, nudge, nudge, wink, wink eh, eh !!!

Outed cakists are ruining it !

molgrips - Member

It is clear that we have to define what 'hard' means. They can both be hard in their own way.

Posted 3 minutes ago #Report-Post

Fnarrrr, Fnarrr

It is clear that we have to define what 'hard' means. They can both be hard in their own way.

And that's probably the answer, we'll have to agree to disagree, mind you office or manual after seeing Mrs pocketrocket pushing out Jr the weekend that's one job I definitely don't want!

I think that was a good thread. Well done everybody.

Employed as a brickies labourer on the NW of Sutherland involved getting wet cold and knackered on a daily basis. Bloody hard work, for sod all money. If some office wallah wants to swop, let him crack on.
Worked subsequently in retail on shop floor and as a manager. Shop floor is even more unrelenting than labouring, but involves less rain and wind, - in contrast the managers job was stressful, unrelenting, waaayyy more interesting, AND a damn sight easier than busting your gut pulling 600kgs of beer across the store on a busy sat afternoon.
Results are in - labouring is crap, office boys have it easy and arguing over who is going to wash the cups is not stressful at any point.

What? is it over? just like that?

Edit, too late, obviously not. 😆

I have been a waiter, trolley collector, door to door sales rep, parcel force delivery driver, loaded arctics with carpet underlay, worked in a call centre, a data analyst and now a middle management bean counter.

Loading the carpet underlay was the hardest physically, call centre was soul destroying. Hardest mentally was door to door sales.

Working in an office with data is dead easy in comparison, and luckily its significantly more lucrative...

Working from home today, seems to be the perfect balance of both:

a) Talked to some customers and provided some quotes
b) Lubed the Garage door and "fixed" a padlock to the garden gate.
c) Stood around looking smugly at said padlock orientated manual labour with coffee* in hand
d) Ate some orange chocolate thins.

Overall, a good day at work.

*Nespresso, naturally.

[i]Lubed the Garage door [/i]

I've not heard it called that before...

In all seriousness, I reckon the most satisfactory job I did was working in THE factory that used to make clothes fittings for BHS.

I used to braze on brackets and arms etc. Basically, it was turn up, so brazing with fixed tea-break/lunch break times, do more brazing, clock out and go home, get paid cash at the end of the week.

Got greasy, tired but overall it was good honest stuff, and really made the end of the day pint feel worthwhile.

Get a bit fed up with Scumbag office politics a fair bit these days.

I reckon retail is worse than either tbh!

Most of my mates work remotely these days, in a home office or office shed. When I work on projects (video animations for small businesses) the voiceovers are outsourced to other people working from home. Talk to clients on skype. Even our software is browser-based so all you need is a laptop and good wifi.
Soon enough I will be taking my holidays on google earth.
No complaints, compared to crappy commutes, high rail prices/petrol costs, crap/annoying work colleagues, it's pretty much heaven.

You never come home tired like you come home tired from a mentally draining job. Now whether that's being a brick layer, chef, office wallah, CEO is irrelevant but in my experience, physical exhaustion is nothing compared to something that messes with your head.