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View Poll Results: After becoming FI, did it get easier or harder to deal with office BS?
I found it harder to deal with aspects of my job I did/do not like. 51 35.17%
I found it easier to deal with those. 70 48.28%
No change to my attitude. 16 11.03%
No idea - I quit the moment I became FI! 8 5.52%
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Poll:After becoming FI, did it get easier or harder to deal with office BS?
Old 12-08-2014, 09:22 AM   #1
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Poll:After becoming FI, did it get easier or harder to deal with office BS?

In a recent thread, member Grigori posted the following statement:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grigori View Post
I have found that the longer I am FI, which is two or three years now, the lower my tolerance is to jobs and tasks I don’t really want to do, and the more I have this unbearable urge to go in there and tell them to “Take this job and shove it! I ain’t working here no more”.
I'm wondering how other members who are already FI see this. I would expect that once the pressure of needing a paycheck is off, one would not be stressed by ANYTHING. If you don't need the money, what do you have to lose? Let's say you have a job that you do not care about, and don't like your boss or colleagues. You can just show up, do enough not to get fired, and collect a paycheck. When given an assignment you don't feel like doing, call in sick. And if you are really lucky, you'll be let go with severance and can subsequently collect unemployment payments.

So, my question to those of you who are already FI is:

How, if at all, did this realization change your attitude towards your job?
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:29 AM   #2
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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.

This is especially in light of knowing lot of coworkers at my age who are not LBYM and are far away from FI

Besides for most part I had always enjoyed my work.
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:44 AM   #3
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Easier. If one is FI and has an unbearable urge to quit, one should listen to that urge. I never had that urge. I came close once but my boss, a good guy, came up with a solution to remove the somewhat unbearable part of my job so I stayed until my job went away.
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:45 AM   #4
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I loved all my jobs and generally ignored the politics. But when I was FI, I could ignore them with impunity! Made up phoney excuses for why that **** did not get done.
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:48 AM   #5
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I find that I have just as high a stress level as I always have. I try to tell myself it doesn't matter anymore, your leaving soon so why care. If anything having enough resources to leave anytime I want has decreased my ability to just do what is necessary to perform at a high level. I know in my mind that I only have to be true to myself but it's messing with my mind after striving to be "the best" all these years.
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:49 AM   #6
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It becomes much less fun at work. And I find I no longer have the time to go in. But I still do...
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:50 AM   #7
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My attitude has always been bad being FI didn't change it. Even prior I was always confident that I could find another job so I never worried about speaking my mind. It seems to have had the opposite effect...I have never been laid off and have always been on the do not touch list (even when I have volunteered I was told no ).

What is different right now is that I have a plan to retire in ~6months...so being in meetings where there are long term plans is VERY difficult...I so want to say I don't care cause I won't be here but right now keeping things quiet just in case there is a layoff (seems unlikely but you never know)
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Old 12-08-2014, 09:55 AM   #8
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I am finding it harder. Knowing that I am w*rking "just" to add cushion to my numbers before ER makes me more intolerant of the BS and stupid things I see being done. Instead of "HA HA - I don't need this job and can leave anytime I want to" my attitude is "OMG ! I do NOT want to deal with this BS anymore ! Why am I here !!!". I won't change my date as I am waiting for a final bonus and a final 401k match, but I struggle every day. In the long term the few months of stuggle are worth it. I just need to stop caring - and unfortunately I can't stop that ! After 30 years of being at the top in performance I can't turn it off.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:04 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by RISP View Post
...Let's say you have a job that you do not care about, and don't like your boss or colleagues. You can just show up, do enough not to get fired, and collect a paycheck. When given an assignment you don't feel like doing, call in sick. And if you are really lucky, you'll be let go with severance and can subsequently collect unemployment payments.
...
My experience is that it's not harder, but is more conflicted. I think most of us didn't become FI by having the ethic described above. ymmv
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:14 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by RISP View Post
I'm wondering how other members who are already FI see this. I would expect that once the pressure of needing a paycheck is off, one would not be stressed by ANYTHING. If you don't need the money, what do you have to lose?
I still had colleagues, bosses, and underlings that depended on me. Even though I might want to blow off work, I couldn't do that.

Quote:
Let's say you have a job that you do not care about, and don't like your boss or colleagues. You can just show up, do enough not to get fired, and collect a paycheck. When given an assignment you don't feel like doing, call in sick.
I liked many of my coworkers just not the overall environment.

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My experience is that it's not harder, but is more conflicted. I think most of us didn't become FI by having the ethic described above. ymmv
+1

Even in ER I feel like I have to set goals and constantly make progress towards those. I'm trying to reform myself but a lifetime of habits doesn't change easily.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:22 AM   #11
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Likely calling it quits 8/31/2015, as close to FI as I'll get. Getting harder every day.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:23 AM   #12
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There are many of us here who work/orked in jobs that are/were high stress but with more potential for job satistfaction--not the money, but a sense of accomplishment. As a physician, I really have little choice to not do a good job, and I would never want to. However, this summer, thinking I was going to retire in September, I found it harder to get going in the morning. However, the BS bothered me less, as I began to say what I really thought a little bit more, yet I stopped battling to change things, since it soon wasn't going to matter.

In my current temporary position as a hospitalist, I have a great deal of autonomy on how I structure my day, as I'm not nearly as busy. I can take time with the patients and the families. This particular hospital seems mostly devoid of BS, or I just haven't been there long enough to see it.

So overall I have found it easier to deal with the BS, because I can sidestep more of it.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:28 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by RISP View Post
In a recent thread, member Grigori posted the following statement:



I'm wondering how other members who are already FI see this. I would expect that once the pressure of needing a paycheck is off, one would not be stressed by ANYTHING. If you don't need the money, what do you have to lose? Let's say you have a job that you do not care about, and don't like your boss or colleagues. You can just show up, do enough not to get fired, and collect a paycheck. When given an assignment you don't feel like doing, call in sick. And if you are really lucky, you'll be let go with severance and can subsequently collect unemployment payments.
People keep posting about unemployment payments. You have to prove to the state that you are actually looking for a job every week in order to get unemployment. To do otherwise is to defraud the unemployment insurance system. I collected unemployment for a few weeks in 2004. It is for people who really lose their job and are really looking for work.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:29 AM   #14
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In the beginning, it was easier. In 2006 my company was acquired and it was the first time I could look at the finances and realize I could hang in there and see what happened because we could survive 6 to 12 months of unemployment if I lost my job. (I was in a field with strong demand, had a good network and could relocate if necessary so I doubt it would have been that long.) Others jumped ship (some ended up coming back a few years later). The merger worked well for me; I stayed there another 6 years.

When the politics at the job I took in 2012 turned toxic earlier this year, though, I decided I'd had enough. I met more people I couldn't trust in that job than I had in my entire career before that. Too bad because I loved the work. I was already tired of waking to an alarm at 6:30 every morning. What a relief to turn that sucker off.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:30 AM   #15
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Quote:
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I'm wondering how other members who are already FI see this. I would expect that once the pressure of needing a paycheck is off, one would not be stressed by ANYTHING. If you don't need the money, what do you have to lose? Let's say you have a job that you do not care about, and don't like your boss or colleagues. You can just show up, do enough not to get fired, and collect a paycheck. When given an assignment you don't feel like doing, call in sick. And if you are really lucky, you'll be let go with severance and can subsequently collect unemployment payments.

So, my question to those of you who are already FI is:

How, if at all, did this realization change your attitude towards your job?
For me, it was harder because I was SO tempted to just walk out and never return. Seriously, my thoughts were, "Why would anyone sane put up with this voluntarily?"

However, I needed to stay for 2 years beyond FI because I wanted federal retiree health insurance. So, I kept my mouth shut and forged ahead. I put that anger and energy into my financial planning efforts. Then two days after I qualified for federal retiree health insurance, I retired.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:33 AM   #16
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When I became FI, I found it a lot easier to go into work in the morning and I enjoyed it more. So much, that I thought I'd even continue to work until..... well, well past my full retirement date. I still hated the corporate BS. I was always outspoken and never held back on offering my input, even if that was not a popular position. That served me well over my career until a change in management and the day for downsizing came. Being FI made that day easy to accept. Now I am self employed and contract-work part time for a real good guy. I don't see anything changing there. He seeks out my "non-traditional" perspective.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:34 AM   #17
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Thanks for all the replies so far.

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Originally Posted by EastWest Gal View Post
You have to prove to the state that you are actually looking for a job every week in order to get unemployment.
I'm not American, so I do not know the specific requirements, but how hard could that possibly be?
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:35 AM   #18
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People keep posting about unemployment payments. You have to prove to the state that you are actually looking for a job every week in order to get unemployment. To do otherwise is to defraud the unemployment insurance system. I collected unemployment for a few weeks in 2004. It is for people who really lose their job and are really looking for work.
There is more money in Severance Pay then Unemployment benefits. If you really don't give a damn they may fire you instead of giving you Severance Pay.

But good employee may sucesfully negotiate to be laid off and get Severance

If you have 20 years with a same company you are looking at some real money here.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:37 AM   #19
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I care less but put up a good front.
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Old 12-08-2014, 10:42 AM   #20
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So, my question to those of you who are already FI is:

How, if at all, did this realization change your attitude towards your job?
When I realized I was FI (and truly FI, not just a notion) quite frankly it didn't affect my attitude at work that much. I suppose I picked up a certain "attitude" but thats about all.

Now, that I've moved along to the next step, ER in 2015, I most definately have progressed to a "la de da" mindset. I don't slack off or get sloppy in my work (it's safety related), but I no longer have the desire to "excel" or go the extra mile. I DO have to work hard not to be jocular about work-related "crisis" or office politics lest I tip my hand.
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