Thursday 30 September 2010

Why do i work?

I really do envy people who work from 9am to 5pm 5 days a week. For me that is just wonderful. I know many people will just hate me for saying this but indeed that is a luxury. How wonderful it is to only work for 5 days and have 2 days off a week to recharge!I have been working 8 am to 1pm the next day almost every other day for 3 weeks. So unless i take leave there are few weekends off. Either I'm on active call or passive call.So the days i am not on-call i am basically just sleeping. I'm not complaining though , things are looking up with a new member joining our team next month. But funnily never as i child would i have imagined working these kind of hours.

As a kid, my idea of work basically stemmed from my parents.I have a dad who works from 9pm to lunch time, and basically goes back to work whenever he wants after that if he wants to. My mother was a teacher who knocks off work at 1pm basically school hours. So my whole primary and most parts of my secondary school life i assumed ( yeah yeah when you assume you make an ASS of U and ME) that everybody worked school hours 7.30 am to 1 pm (6 hours a day).

Then during my first ever work experience as assistant editor, i realized that was not always the case.Working 9am to 5pm was pure torture as i am the kind of person who thinks afternoon naps are prerequisites to a better and happier life. But the good thing about my office at the time was that they allowed afternoon naps as long as you finish your work on time. Woo hoo.. great. But there was only one snag. If i slept there was no way i could finish my work in time. Blame it on my borderline OCD. I found myself double and triple checking myself. I was so afraid of making blunders that would cause secondary 3 children to commit fatal mistakes in exams. Ugh.. what a nerd.

Anyway regular afternoon naps are now a luxurious happy memory of the past.Sometimes though i do manage to slot a nap and that is something i am very thankful for.

But many people are working longer and longer hours to meet a target, to rush for a deadline, to close a deal or simply to edge out a competitor at their own free will. Is it all worth it?

I really don't know but i do know i just want to have more sleep!I know, i am such a pig.

2 comments:

johnson sau said...

Carol,

I work a five day shift and I still feel like shit, the pay is miserable, the work is hard (like a labourer aka carrying heavy stuff here and there) and monotonous work.

So no job it perfect, just how we deal with it

Johnson

saltvinegar said...

Sigh.. yeah i guess the grass is always greener on the other side.. When you rise up the ranks things will get sweeter?

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