Poll:After becoming FI, did it get easier or harder to deal with office BS?

[papadad111]

I find having much higher tollerance for office BS. I don't feel like I have to compete with anybody for raises or RSUs. I don't give a f**k.

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+100

 

[growing_older]

I'm not FI, but in the last year or so I'm close enough that I could be if I wanted to live a little less lavishly. It's a liberating feeling. I am much less affected by office politics and BS now. I used to care and find it very stressful to deal with superiors who made clueless decisions or wasted time and resources on pointless projects. Now I don't have to feel personally affected - since I'm so close to being free.

I have also been in jobs with very flexible notions of what is part of the job. I could spend 48 hours a day doing all the things that could be part of the job. Instead of stressing about how much I'm not able to do, I'm able to concentrate on my ideas of the highest priority tasks and do those to MY satisfaction. I feel more productive and effective now than ever. Work is back to fun.

The annoying politics and inefficiencies are still there. I'm just no longer bothered and so able to enjoy the good, while mostly ignoring the bad.

 

[foxfirev5]

I voted it was easier, but that's not really the case. The first couple years were easier but I have found that I can't really backoff and not support my coworkers and customers. At the corporate meetings my tirades and snarky comments are met by laughter, so that's no longer fun. Now I find my self hundred of miles from home with a snowstorm coming. One of these days I'm sure I'll make a not so graceful exit.
The remote possibility of a severance package has not helped. It appears the only people that get one are slackers who do just enough to put the fear of a lawsuit into play. Not my style. Also, playing the unemployment game for a few bucks doesn't feel like good karma in my case.

 

[Cooked]

I voted for no change. My office attitude did not change because I caught a severe case of OMY syndrome. With OMY syndrome and a job that was 70% fun, my attitude towards the jobs stayed fairly stable.
With chronic OMY syndrome, perception of FI is always just beyond the next rainbow.

 

[Midpack]

Things did get easier when we reached FI, and I voted accordingly. But I didn't retire until about 6-7 years after we reached FI.

My other observation, in my last few months, when I did a part of my job that was distasteful - I was always conscious of 'this is the last time I'll ever have to do this!' For example, I was almost laughing when I wrote my last 'monthly report' after 35 years of it. You'd never have known reading it, but it was the easiest monthly I ever wrote knowing I wouldn't be following up on any of the many 'problems du jour...'

 

[Independent]

There wasn't much of a gap between the time that I felt I was FI and the time that I gave my boss my retirement notice. I provided six months warning.

One reason for the long lead time was that I didn't want to deal with HR nonsense, and when my boss knew that I was leaving he was happy to let it go.

So, actually telling them I was retiring provided the big gain for me.

 

[pullmyfinger]

I believed FI would make it easier to handle work stresses and challenging personalities. Boy, was I wrong. Instead, it raised the bar for me. I thought, "If this isn't going to be fun and satisfying, then I don't have to be here. I now have the freedom to do something else." I lost all patience.

That was my experience as well. I was disappointed because I had hoped to work a little longer for even more padding for the portfolio. I just couldn't do it.

 

[MRG]

Got worse. I was FI for a couple of years, then a huge reorganization happened. Little did I know my manager of 10 years was hated by some. There were so many resentments all of his direct reports were cast aside.

I moved to an IC role as I knew that VP and respected him, still do. One of my new peers was an id10t, abusive, and while he could talk a good game he only did 50% of any task before he handed it off to someone else, claiming it was done perfectly. I didn't have the fight left in me to prove where the problem was.

I retired saying nothing about the abusive co-worker. As far as HR and my VP knew there was no problem. I knew the VP would eventually figure it out.

I had 25 great years and only 4 bad ones.

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[eyeonFI]

Some things got harder: the tasks that have to be done in the short run but I think they are a waste of time, and I don't feel like doing them (yet, it is my job). Hard to get motivated to perform.

Some things easier: much easier not to stress about (poor) decisions being made now that will come to "fruition" in a year or two. I won't be around, so it won't be my problem!

 

[Options]

With 11 weeks to go, I have become positively vacant at work. I don't attend any useless meetings anymore, say no a lot, am way less social, and ignore anything the least bit petty. Fortunately, I've been doing this so long I still continue to add value.

 

[CoolChange]

Vacant at Work

With 11 weeks to go, I have become positively vacant at work. I don't attend any useless meetings anymore, say no a lot, am way less social, and ignore anything the least bit petty. Fortunately, I've been doing this so long I still continue to add value.

This describes me almost perfectly.

• I am not sure that I still add much value; but, some seem to think that I do.
• My date is not set yet; maybe I am secretly hoping for something like this: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...ayoff-check-at-big-oil-74729.html#post1528049

 

[flyingaway]

With 11 weeks to go, I have become positively vacant at work. I don't attend any useless meetings anymore, say no a lot, am way less social, and ignore anything the least bit petty. Fortunately, I've been doing this so long I still continue to add value.

This looks like me, although I have at least 5 more years to go.

 

[Terryjm51]

So when you hit your limit and have 29yrs with megacorp should you quit or retire. What's the difference from HR stand point ?


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[Sasset]

I find it very hard. I have 13 1/2 months until I am 55, but who is counting. At 55 I will have retiree medical and access to 401K without penalty, so I am trying to hang in there.

The pressure to work with fewer on the team, work more hours and not to take vacation days (yeah got 5 weeks this year and have 2 weeks still from last year, but can't seem to get them in) is stressing.

First time since I was a kid I wished I was year older!

 

[LoneAspen]

With 11 weeks to go, I have become positively vacant at work. I don't attend any useless meetings anymore, say no a lot, am way less social, and ignore anything the least bit petty. Fortunately, I've been doing this so long I still continue to add value.

This will probably be my plan once I give notice in February. I keep waffling back and forth on whether I'm going to tell them I'm leaving for more money, so I can squeeze them for everything I can my last few months (I know they'd throw money at me to stay if they thought I was leaving for another job), or if I'm just going to tell them I'm quitting entirely and leaving the IT field (which is the true story).

The problem with telling them I've leaving for more money means that yes, they'd throw money at me to get me to stay, but there would also be heightened responsibilities and expectations, and I'm not sure it would be worth it just for a few extra thousands of dollars.

On the other hand, if I tell them I'm quitting for good and I'm not leaving just for more money, then I get to be a lame duck my last few months. I could come in late, take long lunches, leave early, not attend anymore BS meetings, and do a little turnover and documentation, and not have to care. With only about 8 weeks to go until I'm fully vested, I'm already mentally checked out of the place anyway. Turning in my notice just makes it official.

I wouldn't mind an exit strategy that just consisted of setting my own schedule while they scramble to do all the knowledge transfer they can before I walk out the door for good.

I would absolutely love to Decline every meeting invite for three months, and there's nothing they could do about it.

 

[dunkelblau]

It got easier for me. I worked a few years past FI until I was ready to go and I took a surprise buyout offer. But then my management didn't want to let me go, so they rearranged my job to avoid anything I find unpleasant. I guess they saw how doing the parts I enjoy and am good at helps the business while my results from the parts I never liked were nearly worthless. Anyway after a couple of years of this new arrangement, I find I'm actually looking forward to Monday mornings, and management seems to be happy with the outcome.

This sweet deal probably can't last for long, all it takes is some management reshuffle and my special treatment days are over. Hopefully that restructuring comes with another buyout I can take. Gone are the days where I'm doing anything I don't want to-- at least for work.