Els Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 I have self-diagnosed myself as pathologically lazy. I partly blame my above-average intelligence (yes, I'm slightly arrogant as well). I used to be able to do well up to high school without even touching the books til the day before. Slept in class instead of listened. Normal kid behaviour, perhaps. Now I'm in college. I'm in a course that's very respected where I live, and also rather demanding. If I were to attend everything that's scheduled, I'd be in uni 9 hours a day. As it is, I attend about 3-4 hours a day of stuff in which attendance is taken, and skip the rest in which it is not. My batchmates regard me with a mixture of amusement (it's a class-gossip thing, the girl who never shows up for any lectures and has still been passing all exams for the past three years and counting), annoyance (my lack of attendance makes me extremely difficult to find for groupwork stuff, I'd come if I knew I was going to be needed but most of the time we aren't told ahead of time), and, well, distance. Distancing themselves from me because I'm different, because I don't give two ****s (they're all Chinese and exceedingly hardworking). Recently, I went for internship. It was HELL. Just sitting there doing the same thing all day, from 8 to 5. I actually said 'screw it' and went for unexplained walks a few times. I was so desperate then that if the head supervisor had stopped me, I'd probably have shoved her aside. The point being that, I always do the MINIMUM that I possibly can to survive. Even the classes with attendance, when the lecturer isn't looking, I slip off into the shadows. I always come prepared to do so. No files, no bag, I look like I'm going to the toilet. Except I don't come back. And the class is big enough that they don't know my name, and usually it's interactive so there are people walking around anyways. I do think I'm a bit too old for such stunts, but if I know I'm not gonna get caught, why stay around in something boring when I can be relaxing at home? I saved up for a new laptop that I needed once, on an allowance of USD60 a month (in my currency -- 3.5 times smaller than USD). Instead of taking a job, I instead had buns for meals most of the time and bought NOTHING. No new clothes, nice food, entertainment other than my old laptop (which I could still Skype etc on, just not play many games on), nada, for about two years. It still seemed more worth it to me than taking a job. I wonder what will happen when I really do go into the working world. My plan is to freelance, actually, since with the way I spend I could probably live on an income of USD 300 a month, including rent. But it's a bit tough to do without a degree in any of the freelance-able skills, and I might not even make that USD 300. If that doesn't work out, I really might need to do the 8-5 grind. I'm just afraid of what will happen when I do. My profession deals with human lives, although I'm not a doctor. Would I slip off and go home whenever the supervisor isn't around? Hurry through calculations so that I get to return to messaging on msn? Tell people I'm going to do ward rounds and instead go out for a drive? Am I just immature and I'll grow out of it when the time comes, or am I really 'different' and I should make plans to ensure that I'll never have to do the grind when I get out? I was planning to learn programming for my freelancing plans for a long time now but never really got around to it.
Enema Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 What are your goals? Scraping by can't be it. Ideally what would you like to have achieved / done in 15 years time? I think most people get motivated when they have clear, obtainable goals in mind. Yours just seems to be existing without being noticed. Hopefully it's your last suggestion - immaturity you'll grow out of in time.
2sure Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 OK - so your lazy. And not particularly ambitious. Thats ok, a lot of people arent. The good news is that you dont also expect to live a lash a lavish lifestyle. So, thats a good balance. You have been going to school basically all of your life so far. Maybe your just bored with it. The trick when you enter the working world is to make a job, any job - even entry level - work for YOU. It is quite possible that after you graduate - your material wants will change and you will be motivated by that paycheck the way most of us are. But to getting the most with the least effort. The American Dream...lol. It certainly can be done - you just have to find the niche, the job that works for YOU. If it works for YOU - you will have success. It sounds to me like you are in nursing of some sort? If so, you might consider this: I have a friend who went a little further and specialized ...she now travels the world working per diem. Is gone for anywhere from 2 weeks to month...then takes off as much time as she wants. She owns property and takes great vacations.
EllieBean Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 You sound just like me! I have a very high IQ, passed exams by studying the night before, was never really committed at university but scraped through. I get bored very easily, my mind always wants to be doing something new, so I found jobs boring. I did a masters degree, then a PhD (for which you get a decent grant) and managed to stay at university until I was 30, albeit being fairly broke the whole time. By that point I was specialized enough to get a reasonably autonomous professional job - a lot of what I disliked about work was the inflexibility of a job and being told what to do by people I considered to be less bright than me, so being fairly autonomous suits me. I did a bit of teaching during my PhD, so at some point in the future I'll cut back on my hours and take the $40-50 per hour that universities offer to part-time teachers, and with a bit of experience I could also become a part-time consultant in my field. I could get a high powered job, but I really don't want to, I'd rather do the minimum hours to get the cash I need and spend the rest of my time reading or doing stuff that interests me - thankfully with my qualifications I can earn a decent amount per hour. Maybe when I'm older I might start my own small business - I work much better when I'm doing it for myself. You only get one life, so I really don't see the point in pushing yourself to do things you don't want to do. There are more things in life than work!
Author Els Posted March 27, 2009 Author Posted March 27, 2009 I'll be a pharmacist. Didn't know nurses could specialize. I certainly can't go around the world working on locum, because my cert's only recognized in my country. Most countries such as US/UK/Aus etc have extremely strict restrictions on pharmacist registration there. Even my neighbour Singapore won't want me, heh. My country just has that bad a rep. My goal is actually to enjoy life as much as I can while toiling/drudging as little as I can. In 15 years' time, I'd love nothing more than to be writing part-time for a few magazines, working on a couple of websites/programmes, with my whole family of pets around me, and welcoming my partner home. To sleep whenever I want, rest whenever I want, take on projects whenever I want. My definition of enjoying life isn't really affected by material things, or barely. I just need enough to finance a small comfortable place and my very cheap hobbies, and have my friends/family/partner with me... and that's about it. I could care less about whether I can afford any brands or a big car or a vacation to Miami. I do, however, care about having as much time as possible for myself to enjoy those things instead of spending the majority of the day staring at the clock and wishing 5 pm would arrive just a little sooner. Perhaps it's because I don't really enjoy my course. Then again, I'm not so sure I really enjoy the things I claim to either -- writing, programming, etc. If I did, surely I'd be more motivated to do them in my spare time?
2sure Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 Just FYI - people with degrees in pharm. can command great sales positions in the US. Sales, if you can do it - allow you travel, indepedence, flex, and unlimited opportunity. The worlds health care burden can be to your advantage.
Trialbyfire Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 What's to stop you from completing your degree and then, going for another degree, perhaps comp-sci? This way you can shoot for some form of consulting or free-lance work, keeping your own hours and being your own master. It seems kind of silly to me that you entered your field without really having a passion or love of it. Once you find your passion, you're going to enjoy what you're doing and thrive on the challenge, so mundanity doesn't necessarily take over. While interests don't last forever, if you find a field that challenges you enough, that's dynamic in its changes, it's less likely you're going to be bored. Also, if it's a lucrative field and since you enjoy a simple lifestyle, put away as much money as possible and you can then retire early, to laze around. Your options are endless, career and life-style wise, if you take a long-term view. I do recommend that people always think long-term v. copping out with the short-term approach of satisfaction NOW!
You'reasian Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 I've attended 2 different Universities and both times, I've had to work. The last one I attended - I was working approximately 30 hours per week divided between two jobs, while attending advanted technical classes and managing an organization. Wish I could've pulled the lazy card - maybe you're not appreciating what you have? or taking advantage of opportunities?
marc780 Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 A wild guess but you are female. No, you are. I will say nothing about your parents but mine kicked my ass from dawn til dusk, i could do no right. I became a published author for pay at age 17 and won first place in a college film award but they still kicked my ass until i enlisted in the US Air Force at age 19. I shoulda been a lifer but i was too young to know what you gotta do to put foodin you muth. So i got the hell outa there and went home to spend 5 years unemployed (Ventura county, CA....FU forever.) Parents said go to college since you cant find a job here. So i did, CSU Northridge, and even graduated. I worked 6 days a week in a bicycle shop for 4 years and netted $198 a week while carrying 29 units. Major: Business/real estate. Lifetime Income earned from same = 0. So now i hve managed to get a job from city of LA. I have 18 tears and so this my career as what else is there? I have no ex wives and no kids (thank the lord) my modest goal is do 10 and leave for another state. Ok my point is, you eally need to accept reality. Life is simply a piece of **** and you are not going to polish it much. Pull your head out of your ass girl. From the sound of you, no guy will ever make you happy. Take a sceenshot now, listen to me now and believe me later. You need to make it on your own with no one supporting youo.
Lucky_One Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 A wild guess but you are female. No, you are. I will say nothing about your parents but mine kicked my ass from dawn til dusk, i could do no right. I became a published author for pay at age 17 and won first place in a college film award but they still kicked my ass until i enlisted in the US Air Force at age 19. I shoulda been a lifer but i was too young to know what you gotta do to put foodin you muth. So i got the hell outa there and went home to spend 5 years unemployed (Ventura county, CA....FU forever.) Parents said go to college since you cant find a job here. So i did, CSU Northridge, and even graduated. I worked 6 days a week in a bicycle shop for 4 years and netted $198 a week while carrying 29 units. Major: Business/real estate. Lifetime Income earned from same = 0. So now i hve managed to get a job from city of LA. I have 18 tears and so this my career as what else is there? I have no ex wives and no kids (thank the lord) my modest goal is do 10 and leave for another state. Ok my point is, you eally need to accept reality. Life is simply a piece of **** and you are not going to polish it much. Pull your head out of your ass girl. From the sound of you, no guy will ever make you happy. Take a sceenshot now, listen to me now and believe me later. You need to make it on your own with no one supporting youo. O/T You're a writer? A published one? And someone paid for your writing? Interesting.
laRubiaBonita Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 I I wonder what will happen when I really do go into the working world. My plan is to freelance, actually, since with the way I spend I could probably live on an income of USD 300 a month, including rent. Am I just immature and I'll grow out of it when the time comes, or am I really 'different' and I should make plans to ensure that I'll never have to do the grind when I get out? I was planning to learn programming for my freelancing plans for a long time now but never really got around to it. i doubt if you will ever 'grow out of it'..... i know people just like you, very smart and capable of amazing things.... they just will not get over themselves enough to humble down to work a job. at least you are in school..... more than i can say for half of the people i know...... but the real world doesn't usually care how smart or dumb you are... as long as you are a contributing member.
Author Els Posted March 30, 2009 Author Posted March 30, 2009 Just FYI - people with degrees in pharm. can command great sales positions in the US. Sales, if you can do it - allow you travel, indepedence, flex, and unlimited opportunity. The worlds health care burden can be to your advantage. Unfortunately the USA is one of the most anal where registration of unrecognized pharm and medicine degrees is concerned; at least, that's what I gathered from their site and asking around. I doubt I could just go and work there with my degree. What's to stop you from completing your degree and then, going for another degree, perhaps comp-sci? This way you can shoot for some form of consulting or free-lance work, keeping your own hours and being your own master. It seems kind of silly to me that you entered your field without really having a passion or love of it. Once you find your passion, you're going to enjoy what you're doing and thrive on the challenge, so mundanity doesn't necessarily take over. While interests don't last forever, if you find a field that challenges you enough, that's dynamic in its changes, it's less likely you're going to be bored. Also, if it's a lucrative field and since you enjoy a simple lifestyle, put away as much money as possible and you can then retire early, to laze around. Your options are endless, career and life-style wise, if you take a long-term view. I do recommend that people always think long-term v. copping out with the short-term approach of satisfaction NOW! Thanks, that certainly gave me a lot to think about. I agree it was silly -- but it was the practical thing to do. CompSci does NOT pay off here. If I took that as my primary degree and could not find a job overseas, I'd be one of the horde of fresh IT grads working 15 hours a day for meagre pay; the IT market here is beyond saturated, because well, we aren't exactly a very developed nation. Lots of IT courses and universities... not so many jobs. I think if I just hauled ass a little I'd be able to start freelancing -- don't need a degree to design websites and maintain blogs. Just some innovative ideas, self-research and practice. But that'd feel like an awful waste of my expensive 4-year course, wouldn't it? i doubt if you will ever 'grow out of it'..... i know people just like you, very smart and capable of amazing things.... they just will not get over themselves enough to humble down to work a job. at least you are in school..... more than i can say for half of the people i know...... but the real world doesn't usually care how smart or dumb you are... as long as you are a contributing member. Yes, perhaps it IS that. I just cannot stand being made to sit there for a fixed amount of time, do all that TEAMWORK, pretend to be busy when bosses pass by, screw around with office politics... when I KNOW I can do my work far more efficiently by myself in my own time. It's the reason I never attended lectures. It may sound arrogant, but I usually cover in two weeks what the lecturers took 6 months to cover. They just feel so slooowwww. A wild guess but you are female. No, you are. I will say nothing about your parents but mine kicked my ass from dawn til dusk, i could do no right. I became a published author for pay at age 17 and won first place in a college film award but they still kicked my ass until i enlisted in the US Air Force at age 19. I shoulda been a lifer but i was too young to know what you gotta do to put foodin you muth. So i got the hell outa there and went home to spend 5 years unemployed (Ventura county, CA....FU forever.) Parents said go to college since you cant find a job here. So i did, CSU Northridge, and even graduated. I worked 6 days a week in a bicycle shop for 4 years and netted $198 a week while carrying 29 units. Major: Business/real estate. Lifetime Income earned from same = 0. So now i hve managed to get a job from city of LA. I have 18 tears and so this my career as what else is there? I have no ex wives and no kids (thank the lord) my modest goal is do 10 and leave for another state. Ok my point is, you eally need to accept reality. Life is simply a piece of **** and you are not going to polish it much. Pull your head out of your ass girl. From the sound of you, no guy will ever make you happy. Take a sceenshot now, listen to me now and believe me later. You need to make it on your own with no one supporting youo. I'm not quite sure what your point is. What on earth does this have to do with finding a guy who makes me happy? When did I ever say I need someone to support me?
cat-power Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 You sound like me ! all you need to do is get yourself a plan ! I was always bored in school, juuuust making the grade (attending only half the time) even skipping a grade didn't cut it. I left school too early, had to go to work but couldn't stand the fact that I was always like the "assistent" so with whatever I did, I did nightschool and in a blink of an eye got the diploma or grade (whatever you call it-english is not my first language) but, lawschool, insurance, real estate, i did them all in half the time it takes normally:) But by the time I got it....i got bored with the job Then I went to work in construction on petrochemical sites...and I got my Safety Masters....the only job that really interests me. I'm now selfemployed and do projects (always a new challenge !) and happy ! can't see myself doing anything else
norajane Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 Well, work is boring. Even if you figure out what your passions are, it's almost impossible to maintain 100% interest and there will always be times when it's a chore and you can think of a million other things you'd rather do. I battle it by bouncing every now and then and trying something new when I get bored with what I'm doing. Whether it's the same company and different roles, or a new company, new city, new industry, whatever, change it up. You need some constancy on your resume or employers will think you're a flake and won't hire you, but you don't have to do any one thing forever. And if you are good enough and your skills are in demand enough, it's possible to take sabbaticals every now and then where you don't work. You just have to get really good at taking advantage of opportunities or creating opportunities for yourself so you can keep trying something different. Eventually, you rack up enough cred in something that you can free lance for a higher fee, become self-employed at something you do really enjoy and don't mind putting the time in to be successful, or you can teach. Pharmacy? Yeah, I'm not sure how engaged you'll be filling prescriptions every day. Perhaps you'd be more interested in the research side of things? I know a lot of people in the scientific research arena, and they seem to be happy. But, there's a lot of paper writing for studies and grant writing for funding, so it's not all lab work.
EllieBean Posted March 30, 2009 Posted March 30, 2009 Here's a suggestion based on my own experience: Do a PhD in pharmacy, which is very autonomous and you pretty much get to work when you want, and in the UK (where I did my PhD) you get at least a £13k grant. Do a bit of teaching during the PhD for extra cash, and afterwards become a university lecturer - you'd have quite flexible hours, you could probably teach in a university anywhere in the world, plus university jobs often come under special visa regulations which makes it a LOT easier. When you get sick of working full-time, go part-time and rake in £40 per hour for classroom teaching or £15 per hour for grading papers. Then with this basic income to rely on, you can do anything you want - write, or program websites, or walk your dog... I did a PhD and taught part-time, and now I have a fairly autonomous research job, plus I sometimes get freebie trips abroad to present my research at conferences. I'm hoping to get a few hours teaching at a local university to keep my foot in the door, because when I get sick of the 9-5 grind I'm hoping to rely on the decent hourly income I'd get from teaching - 8 hours per week would generate enough cash to live on, and I'd be free to do other things like raising kids and trying to write a novel If I don't make it as a novelist within 20 years I'm going to retire to Hawaii and buy a boat or something
Isolde Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 I feel like a slightly more motivated version of you. While I'm currently working around 55 hours a week for grad school, I definitely spend less time workig than most of the other students. I insist upon having my own way, come hell or high water. And while I don't have a major passion for what I'm doing, I like using my skills to come up with creative solutions--maybe I can consult someday, or do the phd thing. Luckily, the master's degree I'm getting will enable me to find work that's neither low or high powered--just right for me. I'll probably never be rich, but I'll make a decent income and I probably won't have toooo much of a hard time finding work (esp. if the economy improves a bit by then). I have to say, though, sometimes life actually feels better and goes by faster (in a good way) when you're working hard and motivated (if only motivated to finish the task at hand, heh). BTW, if you end up working 9-5, that's really not that bad. So many people work 60+ hours a week these days, now that is a grind.
Author Els Posted March 31, 2009 Author Posted March 31, 2009 Thanks to those who didn't judge and gave advice, and to those who made me realize I'm not alone too! Yeah Isolde I realize there are people working longer than that, I personally know people working 15 hours a day even. But to me, 9-5 is plenty grind enough. It is the benchmark I set in my mind because it is the minimum that a full-time job will usually entail. I wouldn't even consider a job that required 15 hours a day -- I'd rather be a McDs waitress and live even more simply than I usually do, which is very simply. And I certainly know how to live simply, I've lived off an allowance of 300 a month (in my currency, less than 100 in USD) excluding rent, bills and tuition... while saving about 100 or so a month still. Besides, 9-5 is just the working hours. My current internship working hours are 8-5.30 as well. However, today for example, I left at 7am to beat the traffic, reached home at about 7pm due to peak traffic again. Had dinner with family, an hour or so of talking to my LDR bf, prepared my cases for the next day, filled in some reports, and now am about to crash at midnight so I can wake up at 6.30am tomorrow again. HOW DO PEOPLE EVEN STAND A LIFE LIKE THIS? Everyday, just this.. I understand some people need to do it to survive. That's unfortunate but unavoidable. However, some do it to get their designer labels, and fancy cars, and luxury homes... why?? Even if you have a great house to come back to, how is it worth this sort of life where you barely even have the time to appreciate that house? I don't really understand. Ellie: Yes, that was actually my plan initially, except that now I'm weighing between that and acquiring financial independence to get off my parents. If I were to go on to do postgrad, I most likely won't be supported, since my country doesn't give grants to Chinese (and we're so incompetent I don't even trust our postgrad programmes... and most other countries don't either), and I don't think most countries give grants to international postgrad students unless you're extremely outstanding. So I would probably need to either take money from mum and dad again (that's not unusual where I live -- we aren't granted much freedom, but parents usually sponsor ALL of a child's education until said child starts earning a significant income), or work for quite many years to accumulate the $$ to do that, especially given our crummy currency exchange rate. Also, what happens if I go all the way, get a PhD, and the universities there don't have an opening for a lecturer, especially a foreign one? What other options would I have? Also, for a PhD holder to lecture, wouldn't you need to take part in ongoing research to maintain your position in your university? I thought that was the case. Or does that just apply to Professors? I suppose this is veering a little off-topic, but reading Ellie's post sparked off so many questions that I'd had for some time as well.
Isolde Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 I feel the same way. Modern life is just way too rushed. The only consolation is that everyone is going through the same old grind Seriously I don't understand how some women work full time, take care of kids, and do other activities besides. Doesn't that require cutting sleep down to about 3 hours a night? I would die.
whichwayisup Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Seems you don't have work ethic inside of you. Are you scared of hard work? Is it fear of success or fear of failure? Also, you don't hold yourself accountable for your actions, really..To take off and not care also could mean you're also slightly depressed (not lazy).
EllieBean Posted April 1, 2009 Posted April 1, 2009 I guess that to teach the more cutting-edge courses you'd have to be involved in research. But some courses are the same every year - for example the "basic programming in C++" class I used to teach will probably be the same until C++ becomes obsolete. Full-time lecturers usually do at least some research, while part-time lecturers are more likely to just teach and grade papers. If you can't get a university job, you're still an experienced teacher and a PhD specialist in a particular field, you'd have no trouble getting a good research job, or even a job in another field such as finance. As I said, I'm doing a research job while waiting for a suitable university job to be advertised. While my current job is 9-5 (because I need to save up some cash) I wouldn't want to do it forever. I like having the option of being able to fall back on teaching, or even private tuition, when I'm sick of my job. Also there's no rule that you have to work in an area related to your qualifications - you could take your superior brain power and work in another field, start a small business, anything you want.
Recommended Posts