Serious question. Is it normal to not want to work at all?

[Psychonaut]

I feel awful if I just sit at home, not doing anything productive. Hell, I feel bad when I go to work, get paid, and don't do anything particularly productive. I need to create something or make some kind of measurable progress in order to feel fulfilled. I would need to work. The problem I've been having for the past few years is that, while I do need to do some kind of work to feel alright, there's no particular job that I actually have a legitimate desire to fulfill.

Now, I definitely would not have a job that is as stressful as my current job if I didn't have to work. With a safety net, I'd try to build one of my hobbies into a profession or take a smaller, part-time gig just so that I'm not wasting away all day.

 

[kirby_fox]

Depends on the work.

I've got a job I'm trying to get out of because I honestly can't stand it anymore. It's not bad work, it's just not using my talents and I'm overly bored.

But I started writing again and realized I've got to be careful because it's just as much work as a regular job. The difference is that I don't mind it. I've got no deadlines, I can stop and start when I want. I can take days off, mostly because I'm at my actual job. I'd totally work like this if my bills were paid.

 

[Rosebud]

I hate it too. I literally need medicine to get out of home.

 

[mxbison]

I like my job, and I'd still quit the next day if I had the money.

Fuck working. No way I'm gonna spend all my life doing it.

 

[Van Bur3n]

Find something you love to do (that isn't just consuming a product) and make a living off of it. A life that isn't productive is miserable.

 

[Mavis]

I don't work, mainly because I financially don't need to. I'm happy.

 

[Vex]

OP I feel you man.

It just fucking sucks. No matter how many days I take off from work I go back in, I'm fine for a bit, and then Im just done. I just don't want to work anymore. Sick of it.

I always have this feeling like I'm there all day when it is only (most of the time) 8 hours. But it feels like more than 8 hours. I feel like as soon as I get home I have to start preparing for work and soon after it is time to go to bed. It pisses me off sometimes.

..... But then I remember a time where I was jobless. And things don't look so bad anymore.

 

[thetrin]

I love my job (it's a bit of a dream job for me, despite the workload and the stress), but when I'm burned out, I just want to take an infinity vacation. But then when I'm on vacation, I want to get back to work.

The eternal struggle.

 

[Deleted member 10612]

A 2 days on 4 days of week would be good. The status quo feels like a grind, especially if you are a young family.

 

[Neo C.]

I love my job as a teacher enough to want to do it even after reaching retirement age, if possible. I have an obvious impact on society and can work independently to a degree even though I'm technically employed and have a boss.

I would reduce my workload to 3 days a week though if I could.

 

[VariantX]

I don't mind working, but I would love it if I even had an idea what a dream job would be. I do know one thing, I want to get the hell out of retail pretty soon. I make a good bit more money than when I started but negatives are just starting to outweigh the enjoyment of what I do, the satisfaction of doing your job well. Its just a bunch of shit you cant control decided by people way above you in corporate on top of having to deal with your occasional unreasonable customers.

 

[Landy828]

I dont know how people end up workaholics.

I hate working so much.

Click to shrink...

I know a lot of people that are.

I actually don't mind my job. Still wouldn't show up if I was a millionaire. I'd work on my own projects and ideas.

 

[Poppy]

i only enjoy working to satisfy myself and people i love, so basically myself

 

[shenden]

Take out salary and economy out the equation and no one would ever want to work. Simple mathematics.

When I was unemployed, it was sort of the best/worst time of my life. Best? Do whatever I wanted whenever and never be bounded by time or dates. I did not even keep track of the days in the end and it was wonderful. Worst? Well...You sort of realize you can't do shit because everything cost..But walking, taking the bike everywhere I needed to go was great though.

 

[apocat]

I like my job, and am on my way there right now. But there is no way I'd be headed there if I didn't have to.

 

[Rosebud]

Find something you love to do (that isn't just consuming a product) and make a living off of it. A life that isn't productive is miserable.

Click to shrink...

I would prefer to have a "miserable life" if I had a choice, honestly.

 

[Leunamus]

Fuck jobs.
They will be remembered as a stain in our collective history. Future generations will wonder just how and why the fuck we not only put up with but also fetishized them for so damn long. How we traded 1/3, or more of every one of our days in exchange for some chump change. Truly barbaric.
Work, on the other hand, is natural and beautiful. Humans will never stop working. I don't think there's ever existed a human specimen that didn't love work.
Remember, jobs =/= work.

 

[Banzai]

Man this thread came at a perfect time. I am currently struggling with that exact problem. I know I would never work in a million years If I didn't have to, and just fill my time with things I actually want to do.

But how do I get out? I need the money to live. Just win the lottery?
I feel like I might have it in me to write a good book, and make money that way. Except to really get into writing I would need to not have to work. It's a dilemma.

 

[brainchild]

But how do I get out? I need the money to live. Just win the lottery?
I feel like I might have it in me to write a good book, and make money that way. Except to really get into writing I would need to not have to work. It's a dilemma.

Click to shrink...

Financial investing is one of the more realistic options for those who aspire to be rich.

 

[Malcolm9]

I would do voluntary work helping others if I was set for life financially.

 

[Staf]

Love my work. Would undoubtly still work if i was financially set.

 

[Kaim Argonar]

There is so much more I want to do that if time and money weren't a problem I would not have a single minute of boredom in my life. I would not have a job. I would still work on things I want to. Like building stuff for myself. Most of them have no finantial return at all. I already do that, but there's only so much free time.

 

[Rocket Man]

I would definitely still work, mostly focusing on entrepreneurial goals

 

[RM8]

I'd still enjoy doing stuff like translating or interpreting a couple of days a week, I think.

 

[Qikz]

We work to live, not live to work.

Click to shrink...

While this should be the case sadly in society it doesn't work that way. All of us are born to work - if we didn't work we wouldn't be able to live.

Fuck working if I had the chance to not do it I would stop.

 

[Chasex]

I work in cybersecurity and love it. If I wasn't getting paid to do this I would be hacking away at computers anyways. I love figuring out how things work and finding creative ways to bypass controls and get around boundaries. I also get paid extremely well, set my own hours, can work remote if I want, and have actual unlimited vacation if I feel like doing something else for a bit. I have other issues for sure, but a career isn't one of them, and I should probably be more grateful for that.

 

[Altrich]

Never like school, never like work, I'm ok with just doing nothing e.g. watching movie, playing games, going to the beaches etc eveyday
However, I got mouths to feed and society view on lackadaisical adult male is not the greatest so I make sure I at least accomplish something on those things

 

[Banzai]

Financial investing is one of the more realistic options for those who aspire to be rich.

Click to shrink...

Got a "get rich quick" investing scheme I can follow? I feel like with as little as I know abouting investing I'd probably lose more money than I would make.

 

[PaulloDEC]

I feel super guilty having days off when I know all my friends are still at work. There's no way I could stop working entirely without feeling like an absolute scumbag for the rest of my life.

 

[Aldi]

Id like to say that if I suddenly came into millions of pounds that I'd quit work and set up my own business...but if I'm being really honest with myself I wouldn't. Id most certainly spend more time bettering myself, learn a new language, take cooking lessons, travel the world. I certainly wouldn't work anymore.

Edit: I love my job btw, it's great, but, like any job, I don't like the time it takes away from my family and my hobbies.

 

[brainchild]

Got a "get rich quick" investing scheme I can follow? I feel like with as little as I know abouting investing I'd probably lose more money than I would make.

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You definitely don't want to get into investing without having a broker or doing adequate research on your own, but at least it's a realistic path towards amassing more wealth, if that's what you want to do.

'Get rich quick' schemes are a complete waste of time and money, so I have nothing to recommend on that front.

 

[Blent]

I am lucky to have a job that:
- I enjoy
- I am good at
- Uses the skills I studied at University to develop
- Has management that I feel genuinely values me as a person
- Has a range of very helpful benefits, such as a free bus service making my annual commuting costs £0
- Is actually contributing to my society in a positive way

...and yet, if I had the resources, I would much rather not have to work so I could stay in and play games all day lol

 

[Banzai]

You definitely don't want to get into investing without having a broker or doing adequate research on your own, but at least it's a realistic path towards amassing more wealth, if that's what you want to do.

'Get rich quick' schemes are a complete waste of time and money, so I have nothing to recommend on that front.

Click to shrink...

Wasn't serious about the "get rick quick" thing, no worries.
I have spoken to people about investing, but I have always had difficulty trusting them because they work on comission. Might have to hit up an independant investment ...person.

 

[Prax]

I picked screw work.

I would find other meaningful things to do. I am the type that has creative hobbies, so really, I'd be "working" but not necessarily for monetary reasons. I'd also just start attending lectures/do more schooling for fun.

 

[Acorn]

Yes but then you get bored after a few weeks. I usually resign a few weeks before I actually start somewhere else to recharge and by the end of it I'm dying to have something to do.

 

[lazygecko]

I don't believe in the concept of a dream job. Once your passion or hobby becomes tied to your livelihood it inevitably alters the whole dynamic around them. I think a lot of people getting into stuff like youtube/streaming and esports professionally are going to find this out the hard way.

 

[baron doggystyle von woof]

I enjoy my work, but if I had the chance to not work and not starve I would always choose it.

 

[Skade]

I can understand liking what you do and not wanting to quit. But that tend to be the exception.

Most people in the world work so they can live, they don't live so they can work.

So yeah, it's totally normal to not want to work.

 

[ara]

I enjoy my work and I'd still stop working in a heartbeat if I could

 

[Kismet]

Well, I've been dating this guy for three weeks now. After one week of dating he told me he's very wealthy. I think he saw that I'm well off myself so he confessed about his situation. I work very hard for my money. He's born wealthy.

He wants me to work less so I can spend more time with him. Go on vacations and just relax together. And he tells me I can eventually stop working because we don't need that income.

It actually sounds great. Let's see what I'll do. He seems lonely. Great guy, though.

 

[Temascos]

Ideally I'd work more with purpose and knowing that I can be flexible. I'm currently working at a good office job but it feels like it lacks purpose, or I'm just waiting on people so I can proceed to the next steps of my tasks/projects which I find frustrating.

You know that feeling that you work better at home sometimes? Not all the time mind you, but having those days when you can knuckle down, get shit done and not have to commute for ages when you don't have to. I'm not advocating being a hermit and certainly like going places, but I want to be able to look after my health and feel like I accomplished something useful.

 

[BobbeMalle]

if my finances would be so incredbly secure that i don't need work ever for the rest of my life, i would spend only 25% of the time just playing games and other hobbies. I would spend the rest of the time travelling to see the world, being lazy all day is painful.

 

[Rendering...]

This poll is quite depressing if people really mean they wouldn't want to do any job. This thread suggests that 85% of this site doesn't want to create anything or help anyone.

Click to shrink...

No, it suggests that a group of self-selected respondents from a pool of self-selected forum posters, on an entertainment oriented site, aren't in love with being trapped in dozens of hours of labor every week.

For all we know, this forum is full of workaholics who aren't interested in talking about the question posed in the thread title. Even if that's not the case, and most members really are averse to jobs, that's not a something to shake your head over. People like freedom, and many people need to keep busy to stay sane and fulfilled. Take away financial pressure and everyone's not going to immediately fall into a hedonistic stupor, no matter what they might say about work.

 

[Tetrinski]

OP, did you know that hunter-gatherers worked on average 4 hours per day? If you eliminate unnecessary spending you can either retire way earlier or work less every week.

 

[gcwy]

Sometimes, yeah.

 

[Mage_of_Cinder]

If I didn't have to work, I'd still work. It gets me out, gives me something to do, and I get to meet people. I'd only work four days a week though, and never early.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

I'd say the feeling is normal but the reality is brutally unfulfilling sometimes. After a while you get bored and seek work again because you need something contributory to society and to get out of the house. Also helps in relating to others in your life.

Note that I'm talking about being on a passive income which facilitates living (i.e. paying your bills, fuel, food etc), not one that lets you travel the world 9/12 months or buy expensive shit on a whim.

 

[Sleuth]

If I didn't have to work, I'd still work. It gets me out, gives me something to do, and I get to meet people. I'd only work four days a week though, and never early.

Click to shrink...

Yeah three days a week, and not having to come in early would be great. In this circumstance I too would like to work. But most jobs don't give you this option.

Think I would work too, just to force me to get out and meet people. But i am one of those people that can really occupy themselves just with reading and movies.

 

[Deleted member 8674]

Why do you think we work OP?

 

[Kittens McMittens]

I had a job I hated, but was pretty much trapped in for a decade, as the pay & conditions were just a little too good to leave and I had no chance of getting anything better with my lack of qualifications. Thankfully I managed to get a severance package last year, so I've spent the past year chilling out doing very little and studying part time to get ready for studying full time this year and finally getting a degree.

Even if I won the lottery today I'd still go through with getting this degree I've enrolled on. It's a computing degree, so by the end of it I'll able to get a job as a software developer. I know that can be a boring grind too, but at least it's something I'm interested in. Even if I didn't have to do it as a job, I know I'll still enjoy developing my skills to be a more professional and competent developer. I've been able to code at an amateur level since I was a kid, so this is something I've always wanted to do.

With having the past year to myself, I've found I really can't waste all my time doing nothing. Obviously I've spent a lot of time just chilling and gaming, but if I have a deadline or even just some work I know I need to be getting on with, I can't enjoy games / watching stuff.