Thou shalt love thy job.. or do something about it

I am young. I have a job. I get paid for my work. I have got new, absolutely great friends at my workplace[1]. My family and friends think its cool to be employed. But, it still sucks!

This seems to be the story of almost all the young and employed people I know. Here's an example. In my opinion, not loving your job is one thing, but to hate it seems very wrong (at least) to me. Just don't forget  there are lots of people without any job. In this post, I've decided to put forward some of my thoughts on the matter, and point all people who whine on this topic to this post. Here are some frustrations/arguments/rants that are most frequent.

I just work to pay the bills

Yeah. First of all, good for you. The line you just read in bold is just a simple remark, but its a very important one. You may be able to enjoy your work and all, but this remark is very important in retrospect. To me, you saying this means that

a) you are truthful, and 

(more importantly) b) you keep your work and life apart.

I know this is a very bad, even silly way to find out whether somebody keeps their work and life different, but it works for me. Except that people who just love their jobs won't ever say this. But we are not talking about how-to-find-if-somebody-loves-their-job. Hope you got the point.

I spend almost all my productive time at work

This is an accurate and equally valid reason. No one wants to come home tired, and go to work the next day continuing the same grind. But no one, yes no one ever got paid for doing nothing[2]. 

There's no solution for this problem. Yes, no solution. Maybe except loving what you do. Ever seen a sportstar saying 'I'm bored of playing?' An exception is when you have (rather are) heavily invested in some work or business related pursuit. To me, it seems like loving what you do is the only solution, but most of us are not that lucky. Another solution is to quit your present job, but I'll come to it later.

I don't have any time for my hobby

This is the pet peeve for most people who have just started working. And no reason why it should not be. The basic reason for this is the change in lifestyle that accompanies with starting a new job. Particularly when that job happens to be your first job. And even more so if you have had to move to another city or province or country for it.

But lets face it. Moving to a new place, or starting a job for the first time (or both) are of course changes in your life. You just can't go on crying about them. In my present job, there are lots of people who have had to change their hobbies. One was a dram-e-baz (amateur actor in college dramatics club...), another played video games all the time etc. But the time and resources available change, and you've got to adapt. The dram-e-baz at office got interested in photography a few months back, and now the dude has got half the office interested in it[3]. The basic thing is to find something else. Something that can be included in your (now) limited time and resources. Like blogging:)

I just want it all to end!

What, i ask? Your job or this blog entry? In case its the latter, there's a close button somewhere on your browser. If you wish to end your present job, be patient for a while and think. Plan. Explore and simulate your options in your mind. Think and decide if you will be happy in your current situation over a longer period of time, say next 2-3 years[4]. Mind that you don't have to feel satisfied at the end of this period. Satisfaction is like excellence, better thought of and tried for than achieved! Develop some new skill, or refine/enhance your current skill set, and then go looking for other opportunities. Leaving your current job without another job in hand is better explained with the old dictum- one bird in hand is worth two in the bush (or something like it). Thats what I would suggest. To the people I know anyway.

[1] Not that previous friends are not any bad, its just I didn't expect to find such good people at work!

[2] Well, if we exclude rich people's children. Also people who are enjoying the fruits of hard work over a period of time (e.g. a startup guy whose startup just got acquired). 
[3] I work in a small company. Everybody knows everybody. Just like college.
[4] For me, working at one place for any more than this will be unexpected, or so it seems.