When growing up I always had a fear about working for someone else and that was that one day I would become truly bored and hate my job because everyday the same thing happened. I also know that in life you have to pay the rent and lots of people don’t mind doing the same thing day in and day out. However, what happens if you run your own company and you find yourself starting to fall into the same routine? What mode of escape exists for you?
Now I don’t think everyday at work can be fun, but I do think you can start to see the signs of burnout and when you need a refresher. Maybe you just need to go outside and work from there or start another project that you really have no intention of finishing. I can’t recall meeting anyone that loved what they did and stuck with the same exact thing every single day.
Even worse is when you love what you do, but the people you have to interact with make things unbearable. I know many times a lot of us wish we were rich just so we can do the things we love to do without having to interact with certain people. As a designer you might have finally stepped out on your own and can’t believe you have been given this opportunity to design for a living, but after your first five asshole clients you will question why you even made the decision in the first place.
In a weird and unusual non-Wisdump topic, that is what scares me about marriage as well. The same thing day in and day out, which I know can be changed by mixing things up, but how often do you see that happen? How many marriages end in divorce and how many people stick with one long term job their whole life? Some people are cool with nothing new because they have to do what is needed to get by.
I’m in the very fortunate position of being able to mix up what I do everyday to keep things fresh, but I do occasionally let myself fall into the trap of doing the same thing over and over or simply becoming too complacent and letting the chips fall where they will. It’s the beginning of the month and the weather is nice (at least here) so maybe this is a chance for everyone (if you want to) to spice things up a bit and make some little tweaks to our days to change the feeling we have towards them.
If you love your life and love what you do and never get tired then completely ignore this message and feel free to share your tips on how you encountered utopia.
Originally posted on April 3, 2007 @ 1:23 pm