Bored into retirement - the other side of the coin

[dex]

Many people think about early retirement due to overwork or how their work life dominates their time.

This may be difficult for some to believe but one factor in my decision is that I'm so bored in my position that I can't wait to leave.

Monday - I don't have anything to do until later in the day when I have a staff meeting where I will tell them what to do.

Tuesday - some meeting but no deliverables

Wednesday - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Thurs - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Friday - off -

The next few weeks are like this - so I surf the internet and watch TV (yes I have a TV in my office)

Some may say that why leave a job like this? It is the opposite side of the same coin as those who hate their job and/or work to much - but it is the same coin. Once you see that you can understand. Having this opportunity adds to my conviction that RE is for me.

 

[retire@40]

Sounds like a glorified prison camp.

 

[Sheryl]

It's hard for me to imagine.   But I'm sure the tedium would kill me off quickly.

Can't you FIND something useful to do?
What is the corporate entities reason for paying you a salary - if that's any of my business?

 

[brewer12345]

Hey, I have been stone bored even while working at a frenetic pace. Boredom is always a good motivator to find something better.

 

[MJ]

dex,
I remember you said you had an easy job making an extremely nice 6 figure salary. D-m golden cuffs.
I was in a similar position except, my boss was slowly eliminating my responsibilities until they finally let me go but I got a unforseen decent severance package. Now, if you could some how subtly convince management that your job is no longer necessary, maybe you too can walk away with a nice severance deal.

 

[riskadverse]

I spent the last 3 years of my work career with almost nothing to do (at least for what I was being paid for).  I used the Internet to educate myself in a variety of matters (mostly pertaining to achieving financial independence).  Sometimes I felt guilty, but rarely bored.   

 

[Martha]

After 20 plus years of too much to do at work and always feeling behind (until I cut back about six months ago), I am surprised at these posts about nothing to do at work and the posts in another thread about time wasting at work.

Very strange. Is this a sign of layoffs to come? Is it inefficiencies that have always been around? Or are only those workers without enough to do the ones on this website so it doesn't mean anything?

I am so tired of too much to do for so long, that now I feel like I can hardly work at all. Burn out, I know.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

After 20 plus years of too much to do at work and always feeling behind (until I cut back about six months ago), I am surprised at these posts about nothing to do at work and the posts in another thread about time wasting at work.

Very strange.  Is this a sign of layoffs to come?  Is it inefficiencies that have always been around?  Or are only those workers without enough to do the ones on this website so it doesn't mean anything?

I am so tired of too much to do for so long,  that now I feel like I can hardly work at all.  Burn out, I know.

Hello Martha. I had a couple of jobs where I purposely suppressed my
workaholic tendencies because I believed to give it my instinctive
110% would yield no fruit and might even damage my position.
Basically, I just dogged it until something better came along.
It was boring but I never saw that it held me back or caused trouble.

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Many people think about early retirement due to overwork or how their work life dominates their time. 

This may be difficult for some to believe but one factor in my decision is that I'm so bored in my position that I can't wait to leave. 

Monday - I don't have anything to do until later in the day when I have a staff meeting where I will tell them what to do.

Tuesday - some meeting but no deliverables

Wednesday - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Thurs - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Friday - off -

The next few weeks are like this - so I surf the internet and watch TV (yes I have a TV in my office)

Some may say that why leave a job like this?  It is the opposite side of the same coin as those who hate their job and/or work to much - but it is the same coin. Once you see that you can understand.  Having this opportunity adds to my conviction that RE is for me.

I admitted in a recent post that I "dogged it" at a couple of jobs during
my checkered career. However, that was very atypical, especially when
I owned and/or ran the company. I recall once when I was consulting
for a financial "basket case", I had all of their 5 phone lines
tied up by myself. That was my personal all time record

JG

 

[dex]

dex,
I remember you said you had an easy job making an extremely nice 6 figure salary. D-m golden cuffs.
I was in a similar position except, my boss was slowly eliminating my responsibilities until they finally let me go but I got a unforseen decent severance package. Now, if you could some how subtly convince management that your job is no longer necessary, maybe you too can walk away with a nice severance deal.

MJ,
I wish there was a possibility of a severance package. The company is doing well and there isn't any pressure to eliminate jobs.

Sheryl,
I don't see much benefit in my finding something to do. I'm counting down to my out date of April 2006 - 8 months and counting. I have my house on the market now.

 

[riskadverse]

After 20 plus years of too much to do at work and always feeling behind (until I cut back about six months ago), I am surprised at these posts about nothing to do at work and the posts in another thread about time wasting at work.

Very strange.  Is this a sign of layoffs to come?  Is it inefficiencies that have always been around?  Or are only those workers without enough to do the ones on this website so it doesn't mean anything?

I am so tired of too much to do for so long,  that now I feel like I can hardly work at all.  Burn out, I know.

Hi Martha -  in my case I was the system programmer for a mainframe computer - I controled everything associated with the mainframe and the company was intent on slowly phasing it out.  As long as any application remained on the mainframe, I was indispensable. I also was the one who ended up doing the work in migrating much of the workload off the mainframe.  Needless to say, the last application to migrate off co-insided with my retirement.   Funny how the timing worked out. 

 

[RockMiner]

I can relate, but what about the third side of the coin?  While stress does contribute to the mix, I'd have to say that mainly I am tired of the sameness...after 25 yrs, one work day is much the same as the next and though not exactly boring, it has become very predictable and repetitive.

I feel a bit like a machine, going through the motions   

Fortunately, relief is in sight   8)

 

[REWahoo]

I can relate, but what about the third side of the coin? While stress does contribute to the mix, I'd have to say that mainly I am tired of the sameness...after 25 yrs, one work day is much the same as the next and though not exactly boring, it has become very predictable and repetitive.

Well said. 27 years with the same company, the same job for the last 14 years. The only real change in those 14 years was the misery of 9 separate bosses. When #8 took over, she asked me what the biggest challenge was in my job. My reply: "Proving myself to another new boss" (I was getting close to FI and feeling semi-bulletproof). But she fooled me by getting fired 4 weeks before I retired.

REW

 

[MJ]

Very strange. Is this a sign of layoffs to come? Is it inefficiencies that have always been around? Or are only those workers without enough to do the ones on this website so it doesn't mean anything?

Most of my co-workers were pretty busy, so for me it was the writing on the wall. I probably could have made work for myself but just didn't feel like it especially when my salary was slashed by 33% over 2 years ago. Since I was planning to leave anyway, their decision to lay me off worked out better for me.
If I hadn't planned on leaving and they hadn't laid me off, I would not have minded the lite work schedule I had for a couple of more years earning 6 figures. I paid my dues putting in quite a few hours over the years at my former employer.

 

[JB]

Yup. I can relate. Was never bored as an engineer. Then I started managing, after a few years I started delegating almost everything to managers/team leaders. The group ran on auto-pilot, and there wasn't much need for me anymore. Got to thinking.... bye bye.

 

[cube_rat]

Hello Martha.  I had a couple of jobs where I purposely suppressed my
workaholic tendencies because I believed to give it my instinctive
110% would yield no fruit and might even damage my position.
Basically, I just dogged it until something better came along.
It was boring but I never saw that it held me back or caused trouble.

JG

I had to jump in here to say this statement by JG is EXACTLY where I'm at. I'm in a situation where I function way below my capabilities and ambitious desires. I've been looking for a change for months now...

 

[SteveR]

I agree. I did the 14 hour day sometimes 6 days a week plus nights and on vacation thing for many many years. After I took ER and then changed companies and moved 1800 miles, I have far less responsibility, less stress (now), less ambition (none) and no career path beyond getting a paycheck and "self actualization" for the next couple of years. The benefits are basically a paycheck, a 4% 401(k) match and full medical, dental and vision....can even have pet insurance if I wanted it. So as long as they can deal with me I will hang out and give them the benefit of my vast knowledge of this business while they pay me a discounted rate for this "free" consulting. I am happy, they are happy so unless they get sick of me then I will continue on this gravy train for a couple more years...........or not.

 

[shiny]

Pet Insurance as a company benefit! I'm so jealous ~ these old dogs of mine are costing a fortune these days.

 

[MattInAustin]

Dex,

Your post is my life right now and I TOTALLY identify. I have done the 14 hour a day thing and now I do the 'stare at the computer waiting for some excitement for 8 hours' a day thing. It drives me nuts. The problem is that I went from a 2nd level manager postion to an individual contributer position. The old role had lots of complicated tasks that were not defined and required lots of creativity and interaction with other people. The new role is a bunch of project management crap that I can do in the back of my head 1 day a week. That leaves 4 days not doing anything. All this equals major boredom. More than that, it equals major unfulfillment.

Nobody can understand why I am not satisified with this. Even worse than that, I mainly work from home! I do my share of goofing off and running errands during work hours, but the fact remains that I need to be available in case questions from my boss or co-workers come up or some other task. Its not like I have true freedom.

If I had more work to do that required lots of thought and creativity, I would enjoy my job a lot more than having little to do, but needing to be around just in case.

I would quit and find another job, but I have golden handcuffs here and the pay would be very hard to beat in the local market. All this has inspired me to drive hard for FI in the next year or two (I am soooo close) and then I will have the freedom to take time off to find something better to do, or just enter retirement or some sort of semi-retirement.

In the meantime, I spend a lot of my day trying to educate myself on investing. I also spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I want to do besides work and how much I will need to live on to do that.

The short of it...I can't be this bored for much longer without it being a waste of my life. Also, in the meantime, Google and reading all the posts on forums like this are a great diversion. Unfortunately the Tour de France is over and watching it while on conference calls is no longer an option :-(

-biker

 

[dex]

Biker,
It looks like we are at the other end of the spectrum from others on this thread - they are working long hours and are burning out.

I think if we were to tell our stories to others they would think they are crazy for giving up such a plush life.

I recently heard of a guy I knew since I was 13 died - he was about 56 - that kind of news tends to keep me focused on my RE.

 

[Nords]

Many people think about early retirement due to overwork or how their work life dominates their time. 

This may be difficult for some to believe but one factor in my decision is that I'm so bored in my position that I can't wait to leave. 

Monday - I don't have anything to do until later in the day when I have a staff meeting where I will tell them what to do.

Tuesday - some meeting but no deliverables

Wednesday - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Thurs - 2 meetings - no deliverables

Friday - off -

The next few weeks are like this - so I surf the internet and watch TV (yes I have a TV in my office)

Some may say that why leave a job like this?  It is the opposite side of the same coin as those who hate their job and/or work to much - but it is the same coin. Once you see that you can understand.  Having this opportunity adds to my conviction that RE is for me.

From a military perspective, times have been boring and times have been exciting. Boring is better.

Geez, Dex, why are there so many meetings? To find out why no one has any deliverables? (At least you're taking Friday off.) Maybe you could show John Cleese's video "Meetings, Bloody Meetings" at one of them and persuade people to skip a meeting or two.

If you weren't stuck in the office would you be surfing the net & watching TV? Could you bring in "homework" and do some of it in the office? Your workplace might not be happy that you're not working on work stuff, but at least you're not completely wasting their your time.

The military has a "joint" program that includes "Joint Professional Military Education". Much of it is done by correspondence where you finish the self-paced work, take a test, and mail it in for your certificate. The lower levels of JPME consist of reading up on military tactics, strategy, logistics, etc. So on boring days I was essentially getting paid (your tax dollars at work) to sit at my desk and read history books work on my JPME. Surely there's some workplace task even remotely tangent to your personal interests to allow you to do it in the office!

If you're watching TV & surfing the net at work, what will you do when you're home & retired?

 

[saluki9]

Dex - I'm right there with you. I have plenty of days like you are describing. It really can bring you down because as an educated person I feel like I should always be adding value, but a lot of times things slow down and there is nothing to do.

When that happens, I like to watch webcasts of investment conferences which count as continuing education for my CFA charter. IF anybody asks I tell them I'm on a conference call and I slam my door shut. They can't tell because my monitor faces away from the door.

 

[dex]

saluki9,
It is interesting how many people identify with my situation. It is a story you do not hear or read about in the media. The stories are usually about how overworked people are.

 

[saluki9]

Believe me, it's not that rare. All you seem to hear about it people complaining about their 60, 70, 80, or 90 hour weeks. Then you go look at the labor market stats and see that the typical work week still isn't even at 40 hours.

 

[Eagle43]

Dex, you are spot on. I've been in that position. Plus, when I did something, in my heart of hearts, I knew it was silly and meaningless. Corporate work sucks and, in many cases, is demeaning. It does provide a nice pension, though.