Do I miss working?

[Blue531]

Someone just asked me if I missed working No, not at all. I don't miss that physically demanding job. I don't miss working for the bosses that made it harder for me to do that job and I don't miss feeling unappreciated by them. I don't miss being expected to work almost every weekend and rarely having all the big holidays off. I don't miss having to punch a time clock on days I would have preferred to stay home. And the older I got, the harder that became. But we all have bills to pay and that is how the system works right? Someone asked me if I missed working, but I did not say all that. I just said "No...would you?" She shook her head.

I stay busy now "working" on the things I want to do and accomplish, but it isn't work to me. When I make money, it involves "working" smart and not hard. It's not a "job", just something I love to do. I don't miss traditional work and in fact, can't imagine ever having to do it more than part-time hours ever again. It's a weird but joyful feeling when your life doesn't revolve around your job anymore.

 

[street]

Some lyrics from Jason Aldean song is my answer. Lol

"When I got what I got, I don't miss what I had
The old me before you belongs to the past
In the back of your mind, you might think there's somethin' more I want
But when I got what I got, girl, I don't need what I had"

 

[Go-NoGo]

Do I miss work?

From Office Space:

 

[jrcunniff]

It’s amazing what a career change (or possibly just a job change) can do to your mindset about work.

Ten years ago, I was in corporate America, and dreamed of early retirement every day. I could tolerate the job, but the boss, the office politics, and the culture were dragging me down. (Won’t you call into the west coast meeting at 7pm? Aren’t you checking email this weekend? You can take your laptop on vacation and work on that for a couple of hours.)

Left in 2014, now running a small business. There are headaches. You will always have problem clients. It can be tough finding good support staff. (Although - knock wood - I have a streamlined team in post-COVID that has been exceptional.)

I’m still planning to retire early. Owning your own business is tough and time-consuming, especially one that operates 365 days/yr. Limited holidays, my last vacation longer than 2 days was... 2014. But enjoying the work has me so much less frantic about retirement. And while I can’t save as much for retirement in this career, it’s giving me an opportunity to think and plan for retirement, vs. rushing into it to escape an unhappy situation.

TL,DR: I don’t miss my first career, but I’m having some fun with my second career.

 

[Souschef]

In a word, NO!

 

[pacergal]

No, do not miss the work at all, nor the politics.
Do miss the social aspect and most of the coworkers. I keep in touch with many via FB, and pre-covid, lunch meet ups.

 

[Dreamer]

I have no desire to work ever again.

 

[Dtail]

Never.

 

[Ronstar]

Nope.

 

[Walt34]

Now? You gotta be kidding.

 

[Dash man]

I’m confused. What is this thing you call working?

 

[Badger]

I would rather ride my bike every morning and relax knowing I don't have to work. Work would put me in close contact with hundreds of people everyday that are not practicing reasonable precautions during a pandemic. When things clear up and it is safe again to travel without the concern of getting sick then I will start back with even more trips to make up for lost time.
So No I don't miss that kind of anxiety.



Cheers!

 

[jollystomper]

I get this question frequently . My guess is because I never complained about my job, and spoke more about its enjoyable aspects vs. the problems. It took more than a year for my kids to believe that I was not going back to work. Most of my former co-workers are surprised that I have not gone back to work, or even asked about part time work at my former Megacorp. One did pay me a nice compliment, saying that she was glad I retired and enjoying not working;she thought I was handling too much on my plate and was worried about my health and burnout.

 

[Gumby]

After a year and a half of retirement, I would say no, I don't miss working one bit.

 

[scrabbler1]

I don't miss work one bit, either. What I was most glad to be rid of was the dang commute. But, even though I was offered a few times to do some independent work from home (pre-covid) for my old employer, I still turned it down without hesitation. I simply want no part of it, ever again!

 

[cbo111]

I haven't been employed in over 5 years and absolutely do not miss it. Of course, that is what my rational, logical, conscious mind says. But, oddly, I still have work-related dreams several times a week. It makes me wonder about what I really believe. Maybe I should listen to my inner voice and go back to work?? Nawwww!

 

[Koolau]

I QUIT because I missed my j*b. HUH?

Mentioned before, I created my own little corner-in-a-cube j*b for myself. I became more and more an expert in a smaller and smaller area of expertise. While I had a boss (everyone where I w*rked had a boss - that's just the way it was) I rarely interacted - he left me alone and I only told him if I needed something. I had a few reports and I more or less left them alone since they knew what the j*b was and what I expected.

Eventually someone 3 or 4 levels up decided they didn't need what I did and (probably without even knowing my name) decided my j*b was no longer. I was informed of this decision and my boss now had to act like a boss and give me a new assignment. Since I was FI, I said "No thanks! I'm outta here Friday." I enjoyed the various shocked looks from my boss and his boss and her boss.

So, in my unusual case, the missing came before the end of the w*rking. But after that Friday, I never looked back and I can't say I ever missed the w*rking (or j*B) again. As usually, YMMV.

 

[mystang52]

Hell no. I've been on a no-work high since Day 1, 7 1/2 years ago.

 

[travelover]

Maybe. It has been 13 years, so I'm still waiting to see if it happens.

 

[street]

I actually thought I would have a hard time retiring, do to missing it. The one thing I never wanted to happen was that I was the oldest person still working with my company. I retired because I could, but I was one person away from being the oldest still there. Lol So, it I ever think I miss working, all I have to do is think about being the oldest person still there and missing work disappears immediately.

I much rather belong to the club of FIRE.

 

[like2]

Being retired a little over a year, I don't miss it at all.

If I had to go back I would surely miss retirement..

 

[1242Vintage]

I retired six months ago. Don’t miss working and have no plans to ever work again.

It’s late Sunday evening and remembering how when I was working the stress and tension of the week ahead and crap that needed to be done at work would build up in my mind and stress me out on Sunday nights.

Love Sunday evenings now.

 

[Cassius King]

I was in corporate America, and dreamed of early retirement every day. I could tolerate the job, but the boss, the office politics, and the culture were dragging me down. (Won’t you call into the west coast meeting at 7pm? Aren’t you checking email this weekend? You can take your laptop on vacation and work on that for a couple of hours.)

You just described my current career life to a T. So depressing.

 

[Markola]

It seems to be weather-dependent for me. I left in July and had a glorious summer and early fall. I like building things and doing outdoor home improvements. We live in a very cold state and as soon as the first snow fell, I was instantly bored with being indoors. Now that I suddenly can’t do all the things I like, my mind has drifted to being productive in the right job setting. If I find a “He%% Yeah” situation, maybe I’ll talk to them. I’d need lots of flexibility and independence, however, so it’s a needle in the haystack.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I am about a week out from my 6 year anniversary of "freedom" and no, I don't miss it. On occasion I will see a jet fly overhead and a slight tinge of jealousy starts to creep in, but then I recall how much w*rk was required to actually get airborne and actually ENJOY the j*b and that jealousy goes right out the window.

It's really scary how fast these last 6 years have gone by...I am certainly not getting any younger and I am quite fortunate to enjoy my freedom at such a young age.

There are so many benefits to not working. Latest example is that we experienced quite the damaging ice storm a couple weeks ago. We had to have 25 trees removed and countless others "cleaned up" as well as have lots and LOTS of debris removed. We also lost power for 10 days. All in all, a real pain in the ass. What wasn't a pain in the ass was trying how to figure out how to get life back to normal (finding tree contractors, leaving the state for a few days to enjoy a cabin in the woods that HAD electricity) oh...and have your dogs torn CCL surgically repair all while juggling a j*b.

Yes, life has been quite an adventure the last couple of weeks, but I am so very, VERY happy that I didn't have to deal with a boss!