All I do is work

[mw2530]

Man I feel a lot of what you are saying. I know what it is like to have a 16 year old grasp of things like relationships much later in life (32 in my case).

I seems kind of profound to read about work the way you put it. "That's a all job is when you break it down - someone pays you to solve a problem that someone else has." That is the way the world has become. I was mildly shocked (is that an oxymoron?) to learn that the majority of people in developed countries work in some kind of office job. First of all I am a trades person and fairly removed from the "office world." But to think about that... how does a country run that way? Most people essentially aren't producing anything. Many are probably doing something very redundant. Isn't that almost like a false economy? Before the industrial revolution, the majority of people were employed by agriculture. The industrial revolution came along and eventually the majority became employed at manufacturing/production of some kind. But now, the majority solve someone else problems. Why does the someone else have that problem? Because they were trying to solve someone else problem... and so on end an endless rotating wheel. What a strange kind of existence.


Spending all your time working is something else I can relate to. The solution is to find a way out of it. How can your rise above? I might recommend a book to you that I read called "The 4 hour work week." It mostly seems to involve outsourcing your job to give yourself a ton of free time, and maybe become wealthy at the same time. I found it was not very applicable for a person like myself who works with my hands. An office/white collar kind of person however is the target audience.

I guess the economy works due to the fact that so much production is automated and products are mass produced very quickly and relatively cheaply. It seems to be that services are what are very expensive in developed economies. I guess it is similar to the fact that a long time ago, the vast majority of people worked in agriculture and farming, then it was production and manufacturing, and now it is the service industry.

As far as the short work week goes, it hard to see that working in my job. We make our money by charging our clients based on billable hours. Plus we have annual total hour budget goals. The worst part of it all is being a salaried employee. Basically, we have to work a ton of overtime during this part of the year and are not paid one penny extra for this overtime. It is such a rip off and I consider hourly to be a much fairer system.

 

[mw2530]

With the hopelessness you feel, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping, do you think you could have clinical depression? I know lack of sleep can do a number on you!

It sounds like you are talented in your profession, and you help a lot of people. But you deserve time too. Hope you can find a work life balance that helps you grow and evolve. It is possible!

We all go through a series of life crises. They are painful, I know! I’m not on the spectrum but I’ve struggled with depression since my 20’s and it’s been tough. Sometimes really tough to muster the energy to do ANYTHING except work.

Good luck and keep us updated

Oh I'm certain I have chronic anxiety and depression and have had basically since I was a teenager. So basically half of my life and my entire adult life. This time of the year my mindset is to just get through the day and the week. Things got much worse once I graduated college and entered the real world nearly seven years ago. Since then I've been miserable the vast majority of the time in all areas of life. It is sad to say that this has been my life, but it is not an exaggeration.

 

[Pariah Dog]

As far as the short work week goes, it hard to see that working in my job. We make our money by charging our clients based on billable hours. Plus we have annual total hour budget goals. The worst part of it all is being a salaried employee. Basically, we have to work a ton of overtime during this part of the year and are not paid one penny extra for this overtime. It is such a rip off and I consider hourly to be a much fairer system.

You might be surprised. Did you know you can hire long distance assistants in places like India to do the menial parts of your job for you, very cheaply? The author goes into many details covering both employees and self employed people. It might be worth a read. As I said I am fairly removed from the office world, but you may find items in there useful to your situation.

 

[sisselcakes]

Oh I'm certain I have chronic anxiety and depression and have had basically since I was a teenager. So basically half of my life and my entire adult life. This time of the year my mindset is to just get through the day and the week. Things got much worse once I graduated college and entered the real world nearly seven years ago. Since then I've been miserable the vast majority of the time in all areas of life. It is sad to say that this has been my life, but it is not an exaggeration.

Have you considered treatment? The whole world looks grey when we are depressed :-(