|
|
| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Other - Careers & Employment |
Did you quit a high-stress job for a more laid back job? |
I quit a teaching job four years ago. Even with all the vacation time, teaching is a very stressful career. Since I left it, I am thankful every day that I was able to escape the stress. At one point an 鈥渙pportunity鈥?came up and I took a contract again. The deadlines, nonsense paperwork and hypocrisy made me feel like so dead and miserable. It was a great relief when it ended. How do people do this? Now I鈥檓 getting by doing low-pay work, hard work, but somehow I am more able to enjoy life. Being single and having no dependents makes it possible... probably a lot of people would 鈥渄rop out鈥?if they could. Being poor sucks, but I think I鈥檇 rather be dead than have to play those games every day. Do you have a similar story? Are there many of us? Can you recommend any books for people like us? Please, no sarcastic responses. Looking for sincere communication. Well you are certainly not alone in your experiences, and your background is illustrative of something that absolutely undermines the popular notion that greater income can bring about contentment. When I was in the university setting, I worked for the university paper as a graphic designer. I got paid slightly above minimum wage, but I would have to say it was one of the most fulfilling jobs that I ever had because it was one of the few jobs that I have been exposed to that allowed an outlet for my creativity and innovative spirit. After graduating from college with two Bachelor of Science degrees in technology, and now working in the Information Technology field, getting paid considerably more, I can鈥檛 say that I more satisfied with my job. Currently, I have no dependents and could take a less lucrative job in graphic design, but I one-day plan to have a wife and kids, and I am trying to prepare myself for that. I don鈥檛 know of any books that speak of the predicament that you are addressing. I am sure there are a few out there, very few. Quite frankly, you won鈥檛 find many books that address the advantages of taking a lower paying job that provides greater job satisfaction, because our culture is thoroughly materialistic. It is a society that is so enamored with the all mighty dollar, that it forgets the truism that money truly doesn鈥檛 buy happiness. Its sad, because any truly reflective person could see that some of the most happy people don鈥檛 occupy the highest income brackets in our society, but instead do jobs that impart meaning to their lives. I blame our education system, which is more tailored to producing highly skilled, though non-contemplative automatons. We produce top-notch engineers, lawyers, and computer specialists, but our education system doesn鈥檛 instruct those people how to examine their own lives to see if they are truly fulfilling themselves. As Socrates once said 鈥渁n unexamined life is not worth living鈥? By Socrates鈥?litmus test, many American lives, which have been seduced by the allurement of wealth over satisfaction, are wasted. I did the same thing nearly four years ago. I am a very hard working workaholic developed the trait from my mother. She and I have the same work ethics. Perfect example is I am a severe, severe asthmatic--I have went to work in full blown attacks only to be sent to the ER by my supervisor who is a nurse. But I would have worked until unconciousness. Anyway as stupid as that is it is true and I just wanted to give you an idea of my committment values b4 I start my story. I worked as a staffing coordinator for a home health agency which mean I was responsible for some 150 pediatric cases and making sure they were probably staffed. I had a nursing staff of 80-90 RN's so it was quite a challenging job. In addition every other week I was on call 24 7. The vast majority of the job was to make sure each case was staffed for the reuired hours and days. Of course daily there was staffing issues. Nurses calling off, pts family firing the nurse and wanting a replacement ASAP and then the issue the rn or patients families had with each other. Of course I would get the irate calls and get cursed out in every language imaginable. When I was on call I was connected to 4 very large binders with patients info and nurses info in them and a pager (yes a pager, not a cell phone). So I could be in the grocery store and the pager would go off and I would have to stop shopping run out to the car and call the pagee for what was always a problem. If a nurse called off, had to leave, or got thrown out, I had to immediately gothrough the binder of nurses and find a nurse who was 1-avalible 2-willing to stop what they were doing and go 3-make sure she was a nurse with the proper credentials for the said case. 9 out of ten times it was the biggest hassle one can imagine. I was a grown woman BEGGING a nurse to go to a case, offeing everything except to concieve a child for the nurse! Of course regardless of the out come good or bad, soeone would call my supervisor and complain on the next working day. I would get pages at 2 or 3 in the morning because the patients parent said something disrespectful to the nurse and the nurse was eaving the case!! Well remember at the beginnig I told you of my committment to work and how my mom has passed on the similar work ethics? my mom is the type if you called her and said trhat your arm was severly cut and was about to fall off--she would say put a bandade on it and pressure and go to work. Go to the doctor at the end of your shift. And I am deadly serious. I tell you this to say that my mom told me to quit that job, that it was to stressful!! That is how bad it was. My fiancee was a sweetheart, we got engaged around that time too. At 2 in the morning when the pager would go off he would stumble out of the bad and go get the binders for me while I woke myself up enough to be able to communicate with the caller. Finally after 2 years I couldn't take it anymore at started looking for a new job. I found one and quit the job from hell. If I had stayed I probably would have high blood pressure, or heart disease. Since I left they have had nearly two dozen people hired/fired or quit that tried doing that position. I too am single and have no dependants, my fiancee lives in LA (I live in Long Beach, California) with his mother who is quite ill. So I am own my own finacially. Ironic enough the job that I went to laid me off this April after 3 1/2 years of solid work. But they laid off a slew of people. I just found a job yesterday and speaking of sressful, wow unemployment is stressful. $8 lousy dollars a hour and they make you climb mountains for that. You are right being poor does suck, I always say the world sucks--if it didn't we'd all fall off. I have a new car note that I started last year so I was paniced. But you know what? what you and I did takes guts but its is more then well worth it. You only have one life and being 110% stressed out everyday is no way to live and eventually would have killed one of us. So we don't have a house on the beach, or a Cadialliac truck but we are two sane responsible hard working people. The fruits of our labor will come. Like I say god may not answer when you call but he is always right on time. I do not know if you believe in god or not, if you do the best inspirational book ever written it the Bible. Good luck partner I do have a similar story! I just dropped out of teaching myself, although I was still in training. Its such a relief to hear someone who was in there express the stresses of the job. Quite frankly, I was overwhelmed. I had all the theory down pat, but it was the organisation and management I couldn't handle. I made this decision yesterday! Vacation time? I was still a student (as of just the other day) and I was up at 6.30, at school from 7:45 until 4 o'clock, and then spent a good 3 hours a night doing organisation. I just want to have a nice life where I can earn enough to do the language courses I want. As of now, I am qualified to be a teacher's aide, (much less stressful, by a million miles!) so, maybe a part-time job as that, 3 days a week, with the rest of my time to just be at peace with me. Wow! This has taken a load of my chest! You ask good questions :ID |
| Tags |
| Credit Corporations Other - Careers & Employment Technology Marketing & Sales Law & Legal Health Care Government & Non-Profit |
Finance Categories--Copyright/IP Policy--Contact Webmaster |