CallΒ  me crazy, but I don’t see how anyone can tolerate a sit-on-your-ass all day desk job. It blows my mind how people (my boss included) can literally sit in front of a computer and stare it for 8 straight hours.

If I’m at my desk for more than an hour, I start to go crazy. The people in my office probably think I’m selling crack on the street corner because I’m in and out so frequently.

There are so many things I can’t stand about office life, I honestly feel like I’m living in the movie “Office Space”.

I’ve seen the movie multiple times and it truly exemplifies my job and the jobs of millions of others as well. I’ve found several great quotes that really hit home and make me realize just how badly office life sucks.

I could probably give 100 reasons that I feel you should quit your job, but for now, I will just list my top 10.

10 Reasons You NEED to Escape the Cubicle

1. No Job Security

office-space-goodforthecompany
“They’re bringing in a consultant-that’s how I know. That’s what this staff meeting is all about!

That’s what happened at Initrode last year. You have an interview with a consultant and they bring in efficiency experts.

You’re interviewing for your own job”!

If you don’t know my stance on job security, you can read my post Why Job Security Is Complete Bullshit. Needless to say, I believe that there is NO job security when you work for someone else.

2. You Get No Respect

milton

“I don’t care if they lay me off either, because I told Bill that if he moves my desk one more time, then I’m quitting.

I’m going to quit. I used to be by the window, where I could see the squirrels and they were merry”.

I’d like to think that most people have a fair amount of self esteem. As employees, we are at the mercy of our superiors and their decisions and rules. If we don’t like it, too bad. If they don’t like us, too bad.

How our bosses treat us affects everything about our jobs. From our expectations to our performance. If we are regarded highly, we will tend to meet that expectation. If we are thought of as peons, we will probably meet that as well.

When I worked for Wachovia Securities, our branch manager didn’t like me. Why? Because my “numbers” weren’t up to par. I was brand new to the business and trying to learn what I could (with no training). I had passed my Series 7 license exam and was trying to build a business ethically.

Did that matter? Nope. He treated me like a complete idiot and didn’t even try to hide it. What do you think that did to my confidence? The last thing a rookie salesman needs is to have his confidence taken away. I lasted two years there and never even came close to reaching my potential. Coincidence?

3. No Choice Who Your Coworkers Are

Peter1

“Milton, uh..could you turn that down just a little bit”?

 

 

 

milton1

“They said I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume from 9 to 11 while I’m collating”.

 

 

 

 

Peter1“I know you’re allowed to, I was just thinking like a personal favor, y’know”.

 

 

 

 

milton1“I told Bill that if Sandra’s going to listen to her headphones while she’s working, I can listen to the radio while I’m collating”.

 

 

 

 

This can be very frustrating. It’s bad enough we are stuck in a prison cell size cube or office with little or no privacy, but when you throw in annoying coworkers that we can’t fire, our days seem 10 times longer.

When I worked for Wachovia Securities, I had a cubicle right next to a woman who drove me absolutely insane. The mere sound of her voice made me want to jam a dull screwdriver in my ear. The worst part was that her job was to make sales calls all day, so I HAD to listed to her for 8 hours each day.

4. No Control Over Your Schedule

office_space_18

“Hello Peter, what’s happening? Um, I’m gonna need to to go ahead and come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around nine, that would be great.

Oh yea, I forgot. I’m gonna also need you to come in Sunday too”.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to set your own hours, work when you feel like you will be the most productive, and have complete control over your schedule? Well, you will when you decide to work for yourself.

Being told when to arrive, when to eat lunch, and when to leave sucks. There have so many times whenΒ  one of my daughters has needed me and I had to leave for work.

My only thought when that happens is “why should I have to go sit in a meaningless job right now when my child is (sick, injured, etc.) and needs me’? It really kills me that I have no choice but to leave her and go do something I hate. It REALLY kills me!

5. Your Life Is Wasting Away

peterg

“So I’m sitting in my cubicle today and I realized that ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it.

So it means that every single day you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life”.

This is THE reason I am so passionate about writing this blog. Since starting this blog in October, I have heard from a number of people who feel just like I do.

Our lives are literally being sucked into a black hole and we will NEVER get that time back. Every second we spend doing something we hate is a complete waste of precious life.

How many of us just stare at our computers wishing for a different life? I do every single day.We have to make it happen for ourselves or we will spend our entire lives working our jobs. If we don’t make great changes for ourselves, nobody will.

6. You Are Way Too Stressed

bobs

“Well….what would you say..you do here”?

 

tom-smykowski3“Look, I already told you. I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don’t have to!

I have people skills! I am good at dealing with the people!! Can’t you understand that?!?

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE”?!!!

 

 

Job related stress is normal and part of most jobs. However, when it becomes so overwhelming that you are constantly on edge and snap at every little thing, it’s time to take a break.

A break can mean a vacation, a day off, a walk around your office building, or best of all, QUITTING YOUR SHITTY JOB!!!

Of course, quitting isn’t an option for most of us right now, but if you are stressed out to the max, you NEED to find an outlet or you WILL blow!

7. You’re Bored Out Of Your Mind

PeterGibons

“You see, they wrote all this bank software and to save space, they put 98 instead of 1998.

So I go through these thousands of lines of code and uh, it doesn’t really matter.

I, uh, I don’t like my job. I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore”.

Is work supposed to be exciting? Ask almost anyone and they will say no. I say why not? Why can’t we be excited about our work? It’s simple, we CAN! We just need to find what it is we love to do and then do it.

Working a job you are bored with isn’t a good situation for anyone. Your employer loses because you aren’t really interested in your job and productivity is probably suffering. You lose as well because your days drag on and you’re miserable.

 

8. Your Productivity Is Awful

xthe-bobs-peter

“I just stare at my desk but it looks like I’m working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too.

I’d probably say, in a given week, I do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work”.

First off, nobody works all day. Even the most diligent and dedicated employees take time away from their duties. However, when you hate your job, it’s natural to try to do anything and everything to avoid actually working on work.

When productivity is poor and it continues for a significant period of time, you probably will get fired. If you don’t, you probably should be.

9. Your Boss Is A Worthless Asshole

Lumbergh

“Hello Peter, what’s happening? Uh..we have sort of a problem here. Yeah. You apparently didn’t put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS reports”.

 

 

 

Peter1“Oh yeah. I’m sorry about that, I forgot”.

 

 

 

 

Lumbergh“MMM, yea. You see, we’re putting cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out. Did you see the memo about this”?

 

 

 

 

There are few things more aggravating than a bad boss. There are many types of bad bosses out there and a few of the worst are the lazy ones, the micro-managers, the condescending ones, and the ones who hold a grudge. You have a few choices when dealing with a boss who really shouldn’t be a boss, so decide which it will be and stick to it!

You can choose to play nice and turn a blind eye to their behavior, talk with them about why you aren’t happy, or you can be like me and let all the anger, frustration, and contempt build up to a point where talking to them, looking at them, or being within earshot of them, pisses you off so much that you would rather be ANYWHERE else on the planet than there.

10. You’re At Your Breaking Point

milt

“OK, I, I, I’m going to set the building on fire. I told him, if I don’t get my stapler, I’m going to have to get my stapler back because it’s my stapler”.

When your stress at work is unbearable and you know some thing’s going to give, you need to walk away. It’s rare of course for an employee to lose their minds and shoot their workplace up, but it does happen.

While I have never thought of doing anything that extreme, I have been very, very close to flipping out on my boss, telling him to fuck off, and getting the fuck out.

When this happens, it an automatic day off for me. I don’t care how much work I have to do, I call in sick the next day. If I don’t I fear I WILL quit and I’m not financially ready for that just yet.

Getting Out

If any or all of this resonates with you, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you are in the same situation as I am. It sucks something fierce to be stuck in our jobs, so all I can say is that I really hope you are taking action on getting out as soon as you can.

Please don’t let fear, indecision, lack of confidence, or lack of direction stop you from finding a way out of the grind. There are success stories happening every day and all around us, so let’s be next!!

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