We are so caught up in the job/work environment we don’t ever take a step back to look at some of the bad aspects of having a regular job. Many of us know we don’t want to go to work on Monday, but do we know why? Is our body and more likely our brain trying to tell us something? Our bodies have incredible defense mechanisms. For the most part, they keep us from being sick all the time and can heal us when we do get sick.
Is our body trying to heal us from an unhealthy environment when we don’t want to go to work on Monday morning? I’m writing this on a morning that I don’t feel very well. I’m glad I don’t have to go to a job today because to work when you are sick sucks. Yet, I’m sitting down at the laptop plugging out this blog post. There is a difference. If I get up in the middle of this to go back to bed, so be it. I couldn’t do that at work.
At the moment, I don’t feel ill enough that I would have stayed home from work. But, I know if I had to be at a job right now, I wouldn’t be 100%. That is what the job would want. Jobs don’t want to pay you for 50% or even 70%. They want you 100% right out of the gate. The stress of being 100% all the time is one of the reasons jobs are not right for everyone. So, let’s dig a little further into the five reasons I think a job might not be right for you.
Living Life Reason #1; Stress is terrible for your health.
Just every day and straightforward stress from a job is enough to destroy your health. There are way too many research models which prove this. We still put ourselves into stressful situations to earn enough money to pay our bills. Some jobs are less stressful than others. Maybe we have just grown so accustomed to the fact that jobs are stressful, so we grin and bear it. We deal with it because we see no other alternative.
It’s become something I don’t fully understand the further I dig into it. We have jobs because we need to make money to live. We need to pay bills, so we are at least comfortable in life. We spend all of our money every week on things to try to make us happy. Then we go back to our stressful jobs on Monday to make more money and continue the cycle. We dream about vacations and retirement to get out of our jobs, but we do things to keep having to go back every week.
The stress keeps building. Our health deteriorates, and we never get to enjoy vacations or retirement like we probably wanted to in the first place. That is why I make avoiding stress the number one reason for trying to get out of the nine to five.
Living Life Reason #2 Squashes creativity and reprograms you to be an order-taking machine.
Not all jobs destroy creativity. Some workplaces are wonderful incubators of creativity that will allow you to prosper and grow. Some disguise themselves as having creative positions like copywriters or designers. These can be a little more creative than your average assembly line worker or even middle management position.
I say these are disguised because there is still someone squashing or vetoing your creativity for some reason or another. A good editor can contribute a ton to the growth of a young creative knowledge and experience. The jobs that do end up being a little more creative can often be more stressful. So, the positive aspects of having your mind be able to work at solving problems creatively, add more stress because of the pressure to have to create on demand.
Having to create when your mind isn’t ready can be a daunting task. More stress is piled on with mounting deadlines, and then your brain locks up and refuses to create at all. I believe human beings were meant to be problem solvers. Any job that squashes the problem-solving adventure crushes a significant part of your mental well-being. I think there is a move to a more open and creative work culture. But, this is not true for everywhere you work.
Living Life Reason #3; Forces you to work to pay the bills even if you are not healthy.
We are all chasing that end dollar. Like I said earlier in this article. I’m writing this at a time when I don’t feel so well. I don’t feel so bad that I would stay home from work, but I’m not well enough to say I could give 100% at a job. I would typically get up and trudge to work to pay the bills. If you’re sick, your body needs to heal.
Most jobs give sick time, but they regulate how much you are allowed to be sick, and many jobs scoff at you when you do call in sick. I cannot say all. There are many flexible workplaces where management is a little more compassionate than others. There are still too many places which do not. This mental pressure to not miss any work keeps you going in even though it is not in your health’s best interest.
Living Life Reason #4; Forces you to work on someone else’s schedule rather than one that fits you best.
We all operate differently. Some people are morning people. Some work better in the afternoon or evening. Some people, like me, enjoy starting early, taking a break in the middle of the day, then picking it up again in the late afternoon. I break up my workday into four to five-hour chunks. But, I need a sizeable break in the middle to regroup and refocus. The half-hour or even the hour lunch offered at some businesses isn’t enough to rejuvenate me.
And, blocking productive time throughout the day is not the only way a regular job kills your life. Some have family functions and events we don’t want to miss. Some businesses are more accommodating than others when employees need to take off because ‘life just happens.’ The general mentality is that the job comes first, and life comes second. I do see a change coming, but disparagingly, not fast enough.
Living Life Reason #5 Forces you to work in the best environment to make the company money rather than one that suits you best.
Lousy working conditions still exist. OSHA and other organizations try hard to make the workplace as safe as possible, but accidents will happen. I think what is more important than the occasional workplace accident is the frequent harmful exposure to working environments not yet figured out unsafe. Workers who got injured in work-related accidents should consider hiring a Manitowoc worker’s compensation attorney to ensure that their rights are protected. If your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence, a personal injury attorney can help you seek compensation.
Let me give you a couple of examples because I may not be completely clear.
I’ve heard for years that fluorescent lighting is terrible for our health. Some people may have taken precautions against this in their homes, but their workplaces may still have fluorescent lighting. They are at their jobs between eight to ten hours a day. If fluorescent lighting does turn out to be harmful, and it is too expensive to change all the fixtures in the building, would the workers have to keep working in those environments until some government regulating agency stepped in and said, ‘No more!’
By the way, I hear the same thing about LED lighting. And, LEDs are getting very popular for the amount of light they shed against the amount of power they consume. Computer screens are another potential hazard. I know it sounds weird that a blogger complains about the possible health effects of computer screens, but that is also why I like to break up my day, so I don’t have to sit in front of one for an entire eight to ten-hour span.
Now, there have been advances in the work environment by some of the more progressive companies out there, but those advances are not the norm. The fact is the majority of businesses still see the work/employee relationship as it has been for decades. Will it ever get better? Maybe, but the speed at which things are changing now is at a snail’s pace, and I doubt I will ever see mass changes in the work environment in my lifetime. So, if you find yourself in a hostile workplace, seek legal advice prior to contacting the EEOC to ensure you understand your rights and the best course of action. That’s why I push so hard for people to look at multiple streams of income and become more of a personalized business; more of a freelance mindset and get out of the nine-to-five grind.
Businesses will still need work done. This is why I think freelancing and remote work is the key to the future. We still need to figure out systems and have standards created, but the amount of potential here could benefit both the business and the worker.
Till next time, be safe.
Kevin