My job is draining my soul [Archive] - Quarter To Three Forums

Dirt

11-07-2006, 09:42 AM

It's boring, tedious and uneventful. I spend the entire day going to everyone's cube talking to people. If anyone would have told me that I'd hate spending an entire day doing nothing but surfing the internet, I'd have laughed. But, I do.

Glenn

11-07-2006, 09:52 AM

Seconded. Sometimes I feel so frustrated I think about founding an underground bareknuckle boxing club.

madkevin

11-07-2006, 09:52 AM

If you beat yourself up outside a biker bar, I'll join.

Robert Sharp

11-07-2006, 09:54 AM

You must have SOMETHING to do. They pay you to just sit there and surf the net all day?

Brendan

11-07-2006, 10:05 AM

Never mind what you are actually doing. What is it that you are SUPPOSED to be doing, and shouldn't you be doing it instead?

Chris Nahr

11-07-2006, 10:21 AM

You were browsing the Internet for years and you still have a soul!?

Joel

11-07-2006, 10:25 AM

shift6

11-07-2006, 01:08 PM

I had a contract once in which my team was so far ahead that I ended up surfing for about four months and went crazy. Oh, did I mention it was on the company's shared 56K leased line?

It sucked balls. I learned more about Linux during that period than any other time (I could play with it on the laptops I had without hitting the net much).

Midnight Son

11-07-2006, 01:09 PM

That's what jobs are supposed to do! Quit bitching and enjoy the paycheck.

scharmers

11-07-2006, 01:13 PM

There's a meeting place for people who can't stand their job. It's called the bar.

Matt Perkins

11-07-2006, 01:37 PM

Lot of sympathy there guys.

Dirt, if you want to make good money, you're expected, in most cases, to do exactly what you're doing, work a mind numbing job and accept it.

It's a broken, retarded and wrong system. It melts your life away right before your eyes, I agree completely. So, if you decide you don't like it, change it. Make a plan to get out. Save money and start investing (this is the path I'm taking), take up a new career (the old saying if you have fun at your job it's not really work is very true), start your own business, etc.

The system is a trick, don't buy into it and you don't have to soul drained by it.

roguefrog

11-07-2006, 01:42 PM

Middle Management FTW!

Shadarr

11-07-2006, 02:08 PM

Obviously you need a new job. In the interim you should find a project that you can work on during the day so that you may enjoy the opportunity to get paid for something you actually enjoy, even if it involves a bit of lying.
This is a good solution. Just be sure the project isn't to start a blog where you bitch about your job, because then you won't have the job to bitch about anymore.

Jasper

11-07-2006, 02:29 PM

What do you do for a wage Dirt?

Dirt

11-07-2006, 02:36 PM

I'm the data bitch.

noun

11-07-2006, 04:09 PM

Middle Management FTW!

I'd take unemployment before becoming a middle manager again. You don't have enough authority to make any real decisions without consulting with your own boss, but you can't adopt the "it's just a job" attitude like the people you manage because of your increased responsibilities. You work longer hours despite not having any actual job functions to perform; instead, you spend all your time in perpetual planning, management and HR meetings discussing things that no cares about, that have no affect on how the company is run.

So if Dirt's a middle manager, then yeah, I feel his pain.

WarrenM

11-07-2006, 05:20 PM

It's a broken, retarded and wrong system. It melts your life away right before your eyes, I agree completely. So, if you decide you don't like it, change it. Make a plan to get out. Save money and start investing (this is the path I'm taking), take up a new career (the old saying if you have fun at your job it's not really work is very true), start your own business, etc.

The system is a trick, don't buy into it and you don't have to soul drained by it.
I agree 100% with Matt here. If you aren't saving/investing or forming SOME sort of escape plan, you're going to have to go the distance in a job you hate. Don't be that guy.

bago

11-08-2006, 02:16 AM

Pfft. There is this perception that jobs need to last for more than 6 months.

If you are too chicken to throw for the abandonment card, you won't execute the option. Bitch. If it gets you nowhere, leave the losers behind. It works out in the end.

There is something sanguine about pointing to your resume and showing projects which finished and earned money versus projects which died. Especially when showing which groups chose to fire you for being inconvenient.

WarrenM

11-08-2006, 02:57 AM

Job hopping isn't the answer either. That leads to becoming undesirable pretty quickly. The last guy I want to hire is the guy who has had 10 jobs in the last 5 years.

nutsak

11-08-2006, 03:13 AM

Job hopping isn't the answer either. That leads to becoming undesirable pretty quickly. The last guy I want to hire is the guy who has had 10 jobs in the last 5 years.

You know the only career where it's ok to go from job to job?

Hooker!

WarrenM

11-08-2006, 03:27 AM

Or is that john to john?

bago

11-08-2006, 03:58 AM

Pfft. If you can manage 5 years in the political bullshit that runs any given company...

Let's just say your dues are owed.

Witness the rage at the DGI crew among those in (http://www.wonkette.com/politics/late%20night%20shots/index.xml) DC...

Poor futile obsolete rantings of the children of privelege.

WarrenM

11-08-2006, 04:02 AM

That just sounds like generic raging against the machine to me. I've been at Epic for over 6 years now and never once have I had to deal with politics. Maybe you need to apply at a decent company?

bago

11-08-2006, 04:33 AM

As if any company with > 1 million in revenue has no politics.

Any company with >4 employees in other words.

bago

11-08-2006, 04:36 AM

Also: Jesus Tits! MS.Com? Seriously. The week I worked for them I was jaded in 30 minutes. Just ask Mike about his test team.

WarrenM

11-08-2006, 06:07 AM

As if any company with > 1 million in revenue has no politics.
I'm sorry you've only worked at shitty companies.

wildpokerman

11-08-2006, 11:57 PM

If your company provides proper incentives for hard work and entrepreneurial activity you should find something to do and get yourself a bigger paycheck.

If you workplace does not you should milk the clock until you are cut in the next round of layoffs.

If you understand what would motivate people to work and your workplace does not provide it promptly apply to your companies chief competitor or found your own company and make your million.

John Sansker

11-09-2006, 12:42 AM

Dirt=Wally?

EvilIdler

11-09-2006, 04:26 AM

Wally knows how to make the best of his soul-draining employment situation.

Qenan

11-09-2006, 03:55 PM

In-Cube sabbaticals!

Seriously, if it's awful, make a plan to get out and get a better job (which might require going back to school). But don't goldbrick.

krayzkrok

11-09-2006, 06:13 PM

I don't think there's any harm in cutting and running from a job that's doing you serious damage in some form, just as long as you don't make a habit out of it. You can normally explain away one short-term position easily enough, but two or three is much harder. But while you're there, don't waste time surfing when you could be doing something to help you in the long run - waste time benefitting yourself, in other words. Of course, being your own boss eventually is great if you have a product or service to offer, but until then you're going to be someone's wage slave. Set a goal to work yourself out of it, not further into it.

secretary

11-10-2006, 01:44 PM

Dirt, you should be thankful you can still feel your soul being drained. The next stage is crushing resignation and then complete numbness.

shift6

11-10-2006, 02:02 PM

Dirt, I don't get the thread title. Do you mean that the duties of your job are the accomplishment of self-soul draining, or that your soul is being drained as a side effect of doing other duties related to your job? ;)