Office Life in the City: Is the 9 to 5 Daily Grind Really Worth It?

Sitting on a bus, in your car, at your desk or at your leisure, it does not matter, at some point, you have asked this question. If the traffic is really bad or Monday morning seems to come around way to quickly, then you ask it regularly. Chances are, you answer ‘ NO’ and mumble something about there being more to life before carrying on for another day of relentless hassle and public transport turmoil. What if, one day, instead of taking the time to ask the question, you took some time to truly answer it in depth?

Begin with another question, why? Why am I doing this? Am I interested in this or is it to pay bills and meet my responsibilities? Or worse, are you taking a path that ‘seems like a sensible option’ or is similar to what friends and family are doing? Is you current position in the office more about meeting the expectations of others than your personal ambitions in life? Did you only intend to do your current office job for a short while and suddenly 5 years whizzed by!

Let’s examine what is really involved in terms of costs and rewards. The rewards are salary & benefits, security, career progression and the social interaction. Some of these need to be looked at a little closer to see if they really can be classified as rewards. Office workers are rarely satisfied with their pay and many resignations coincide with the salary review month. Most offices have an ‘un-official’ salary cap and it is never really negotiable regardless of what your boss tells you! Turnover is an accepted part of office life and managers tend to roll with the punches, an employee unhappy with their wage almost always has to simply live with it.

Job security is not what it once was, most office workers know little about who actually owns the company and how quickly ownership can change hands. With low cost alternatives common, fierce competition in the market place and countries like China emerging as a major force, times are much less certain. Career progression is more about long hours, sacrifices and politics than ideas and ability and the social side often tends to involve complaining about the above!!

And what about the costs? Long hours, cramped desks, little control of what you do or the people you work with. Tiresome commuting, fatigue and burnout. Stress and other health problems. Generally most office environments are identical: three trays of paper, phone and computer, 6-8 people to a bank of desks and a watercooler in the corner for the Monday morning gossip! The biggest cost comes to those doing a job they have no passion for and this is the cost of routine. Continuous, monotonous routine. A sense of life passing them by, dreams fading and little to look forward to. This erosion of spirit is the biggest cost and can be witnessed both by the office worker’s body language in the office and the transformation of this body language once they are out of the office! Why do so many office workers over indulge on the weekend, is it to get the working week out of their system or to drown the thoughts of having to go back on Monday? Is weekend excess a symptom of office life? It appears many live for Friday night and the other days of the week are simply to be endured until 5.00 Friday rolls around. Can this be what they want from life? If so why is it so hard to get out of bed on Monday mornings?

Now try and imagine how things might be if you have a passion for what you do. Imagine being challenged by your work and enjoying looking for a solution. Imagine having strong opinions about what you do and having a true desire to excel in your given field. Imagine looking forward to Monday morning as much as you look forward to Friday night! Imagine the feeling of satisfaction that comes with genuine progress. If you do what you love the money will come in time. You enjoy it, you want to do it, time flies by and you will only get better at it. The money will quickly follow as well as the rewards that money cannot buy. Pursuing a career you really want is not easy but you will find it is worth the struggle. Or rather, there will come a point when there is no longer a struggle, just a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Do teenagers really go to bed at night dreaming of one day becoming a Pensions Administrator, an Accountant or a Legal Secretary? Yet the majority end up in those or similar office roles. Perhaps letting go of childish dreams is their big mistake?

Career choice involves important decisions. It is difficult for graduates to assess office life without having experienced it. A summer student placement can be a real eye opener! The independence that comes with earning money can sometimes lead you down a path that you have not given enough thought to and before you know it you are part of a system. Ultimately decisions from a place of genuine courage will serve you best. The courage to go after what you truly desire will have a major impact on your quality of life. This courage involves a few things, ignoring the fear of rejection (rejection will happen, it is part of the journey), believing in yourself more and worrying less about what other people think.

The truth is there is nothing to stop you but yourself. Excuses and reasons why not are not hard to come up with, but taking the plunge is difficult. Most rewarding things don’t come easy but the sweet is all the sweeter when you have tasted the sour! The first step is the hardest but attitude and determination will see you go a long way. One thing is for sure, if you don’t go after the job you want, someone else will! There is one other question when wondering if the daily grind is really worth it. How would you like to answer someone when they one day ask ‘what have you been doing for the last twenty years’? No doubt you wish to look fondly back on a career filled with great memories. If someone asks you right now to name three genuinely exciting things that have happened to you professionally in the last year, what would you say? If you cannot think of one then perhaps it is time to ask ‘Is the 9.00 to 5.00 daily grind really worth it’?