I'm lucky enough to have a job that, by and large, I enjoy. I won't tell you exactly what I do but I work in communications for a Government department.
It hasn't always been that way. I left my last job without a job to go to because it was making me so unhappy and stressed. So what's the difference?
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell gives a great distillation of the requirements for a satisfying job: autonomy - you get a role in deciding what you do every day or at least how to get it done; complexity - an intellectually stimulating challenge; connection between effort and reward/recognition (not just financial).
I can relate to all those, though he misses out people. In my current job I have a great boss. I can speak honestly with her and be myself. She trusts me absolutely and will back me when needed.
In my last job I had a dreadful overachieving bitch who would sell you down the river if it suited her career. She created a huge amount of stress which created stress in those around her.
I am quite career minded and one of my New Year resolutions was to chill out on the career front and not always be looking out for promotion or more money. It's really hard though - it's been instilled in us since birth to want to get to the top.
It was fantastic to take a few months off between my last job and this one and I plan on doing it again - maybe once every five years or so. Why not? We're not going to have kids, which by the latest reckoning saves us £200,000 per child according to latest research, so why not take things a bit easier? Got to be some benefit to being gay, right?!
What do you think? Do you enjoy your job and why?
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog on Jessie's (and isn't he just the clever clogs?)
Pete and I live in the Peak District in Derbyshire with our GSD 'The Former Bitch' (coz he vet got there first). We've been together nine years so far but we did go through with our Civil Partnership when we bought this little house together four years ago. No looking back, eh?
http://soitsgettingbetter.blogspot.com/ is my main blog so's you can read my profile if you like. My email address is also on there and you're more than welcome to mail if you want. I'm Following you now so I'll know each time you post something AND I've added you to my blog list so's a few more people might find you.
I started with a sort of journal blog but because I spent some years working for gay rights and then for a political party I guess it was inevitable that my blog turned into a news blog for gay news and related stuff. I have a couple of other blogs but they're all linked from each other so's you can go exploring if you want to!
Just lately I've been finding more gay bloggers in the UK - including one or two other couples btw - so I can point you in that direction if you want to make more gay friends.
Hi there, thanks for the comments and I'm glad you found the blog. I'm new to all this but enjoying writing it.
ReplyDeleteI have come across your blog before. I got a bit confused - who's Kieran? I spent a bit of time looking ropund your model railway site too. We had one as kids so I quite like them.
Congrats on 9 years together and on having a civil partnership. I said on a previous blog that some people felt different after they got married - did you? How old are you BTW?
There are more people in couples blogging and Tweeting though still not that many. Another one I've come across is Urs who is in Switzerland. You can find his blog via my profile if you haven't come across it