I do not like my job. I have been in this field for about 10 years, which represents all of my working life. I have worked at a university, for a big government agency and a state-level one, for large and established firms, for teeny-tiny start-ups, and for companies in between. I have focused on domestic work, and international, and have done a fair amount of travel (although not all that much, by industry standards). In short, I have had enough experience to know that, whatever the day to day frustrations might be, the problem isn't with the company I'm currently with, but rather with the nature of the work. As I advance, the proportion my day consumed with the dreaded "management"- invoices, time sheets, performance reviews, report-writing- grows proportionally. At the same time, my love of the field work, which used to balance out the day-to-day grind, has dwindled. I don't want to be there- I want to be here, where my life is.
Does not liking your job matter? DC is a bubble, and the economy here seems to truck along, but I listen to NPR "Marketplace" every night during my drive home and feel ridiculous. Millions of people are unemployed, with additional millions not even counted because they've given up hope. Ron tells me that an extremely underpaid, junior position at his firm received 200 job applications. I am lucky, by any measure.
I know my dad has hated his job for as long as I can remember. He's not suited to it- he's a warm, social guy who gets energy and joy from interacting with people; professionally, he sits in a windowless office and reads and writes the driest, dullest legal contracts imaginable. But it's just a job. He gets up, goes to work, and comes home every day. He pays his bills and takes vacations with my mom and they live in a nice house. He loves his family. His job is just what enables it.
Some days, that seems like enough to me- or like it should be enough, anyway. But in truth, I want more than that. I spend at least 45 hours a week at my desk, plus another 5 getting to and from it. During that same period, I only spend 20 hours with my husband, whom I adore. With a proportion like that, I can't be unhappy at work.
So what makes me happy? This page is my running effort to see if writing it down makes my next steps any clearer.
Awesome
Spending time with Ron, Pippa, our friends
Our house
Athletics- doing them, not watching them
Cooking
Eating
The New Yorker, New York Times, NPR
Home decor and fashion blogs
