ihatemyjobihatemyjobihatemyjob

[Lisa99]

I've been a manager and didn't care for it. The track I was on was in sales management and I was working regular 80 hour weeks including most weekends. After five years it almost killed me and my marriage.

I much prefer being an individual performer since I only have one boss rather than the many that I had as a manager. (dotted line reporting extraordinaire)

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I've been a manager and didn't care for it. The track I was on was in sales management and I was working regular 80 hour weeks including most weekends. After five years it almost killed me and my marriage.

I much prefer being an individual performer since I only have one boss rather than the many that I had as a manager. (dotted line reporting extraordinaire)

In many cases the extra money to be a manager just isn't worth it. As an individual contributor you may not have the power to make big decisions, but you certainly have the power to make the small ones. In business, it is often the small decisions that make the difference.

 

[Rosie]

Plans are to hang on until 55 because my employer subsidizes retiree healthcare and because we save my entire salary.

Excellent plan. Clearly, you do not underestimate the importance of employer-subsidized healthcare. That is huge.

Without the employer's group plan (which generally has no pre-existing condition limitations), you're subject to the whims of the individual health policy underwriting guidelines.

I'm waiting to see "hangnail" listed as a pre-existing condition / automatic denial.

Hope you had a fabulous bike ride. I'm about to go do that myself!

 

[BigNick]

Someone sent me this today, which sums it all up nicely:

 

[citrine]

I am sorry Lisa....I went through idiots like that at megacorp as well. You could just leave and learn a whole new field like I did I work about 15 hours a week now and can live, save, and enjoy life off the money.

 

[Milton]

The "Nelson touch" was in part the abilty to give clear "general" orders. Most famously:

"Captains are to look to their particular Line as their rallying point. But, in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no Captain can do very wrong if he places his Ship alongside that of an Enemy."

The immortal memory!

Excellent plan. Clearly, you do not underestimate the importance of employer-subsidized healthcare. That is huge.

Well, perhaps. Personally I don't see it as a big deal.

While it is nice to have one's dental expenses and prescription lenses covered, those costs are not much in the grand scheme of things. I certainly don't see my benefits plan as an important incentive to delay my departure from the workforce.

I kept it a complete secret until the very last moment possible. Had planned it for many many years. A lot more than you are looking at. I didn't even tell my closest friends at work for fear they might leak it.

Very prudent. Good for you!

 

[Midpack]

Not every day is bad and in fact most days are bearable. I was having a very bad day and was able to blow off steam by venting to a group that I knew would understand where I was coming from.

We've all had bad bosses and it's unbearable - but I'm glad I stuck it out (vs quitting). Longest "episode" was 3 years, and the boss eventually got fired. It can take longer than you'd like, but more often than not organizations have a way of catching up with the jerks in time.

If venting works for you, by all means. It never worked for me because it means I have to relive a bad experience. I try very hard to live in the present, spending as little time in the past (learn from mistakes and move on, the past will never change) and future (make plans, but living in the future condemns the present) as absolutely necessary. And I know my supporters are going to take my side no matter what - so it's sort of pointless.

If it helps - at those bad moments, I tell myself, 'will this matter when I'm 65 and sitting on my front porch enjoying a new day?' The answer is always very clearly 'no.' And more often than not, it's not important much sooner. The whole thought process takes me a minute or two and I'm over it. I've shared this with many of my co-workers and once they internalize the idea, most of them find it very helpful. FWIW.

In the meantime, eyes on the prize...