Nate Armbruster
Let’s be honest, work sucks, doesn’t it? It’s particularly agonizing when it’s a job you just flat-out hate or you have coworkers you can’t stand.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just pursue what we love every day instead of worrying about money? Whether it’s reading books or working in the garden? Maybe I’m crazy, but I think it would be much better than having to work.
Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works so here I am typing away.
Someone asked people who don’t want to work why they feel that way and here are the top responses.
People who don’t want to work, why?
#1
#2
I want to work, but I only want work to be a small part of a very colorful and varied life.
Instead, it’s required to work 40-60 hrs a week just to make ends meet and at the end of it, have no energy left to enjoy what little time you have outside of work.
#3
People love to be useful and productive if they have autonomy and are in control of their own time. The modern workforce is so unnatural that it strips away much of what makes ‘working’ fun.
People aren’t built to be robots, but workplaces often expect that you will behave like one. Where’s the fun in that?
Mind you, I do enjoy my job.. but decades of spending 40+ hours on something is enough to make anything feel unenjoyable.
#4
I want to work.
In my garden.
On my home.
With my family.
On crafts.
But I don’t want to work.
#5
I want to do things I enjoy. Work takes me away from that.
Edit: I have a f*cking job, people. Just because I don’t WANT to work doesn’t mean I DON’T work. I don’t have much choice if I don’t want to be walking, homeless, and hungry
drflanigan Added:
Doing things I enjoy for money eventually strips away all the joy
I run a small Etsy shop where I make little crafts. It’s fun and relaxing and I enjoy working with my hands to make something that someone else will enjoy.
Recently something happened that made me go slightly viral, and I had about 500 orders in a week.
I now despise looking at my fucking crafting materials I want to throw it all in the trash after doing nothing but crafting for 10 hours a day to fulfill all these orders.
“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is a bullshit lie. Doing anything for money eventually turns it into a passionless slog.
#6
Just dealing with people in general I find fucking exhausting
#7
The loss of a personal life & control of your own time. The stress & demand now of being available 24/7 to your job. Working to afford what you want but never having time to enjoy it – or – being guilted by your job for trying to take a day off to enjoy. Even if you’re paid 9-5 you know more than that is dedicated to working – getting ready, commuting, decompressing, OT, messages from work after 5 or on weekends, thinking about or prepping for the next day, & so on.
The reward for the work put in isn’t there anymore. We’re tired, undervalued, and way overworked without much of an upside other than a roof & some probably unhealthy quick food. 🤷
#8
Spending 80% of my life at a desk was awful. I found I was spending more time at work than with my husband. We struggled to make ends meet, I wasn’t happy.
So we shifted, sold the house, quit our careers and bought a trailer, and now travel and work only fun jobs for part of the year (camp host, tour guide, help at fun events). We have money in the bank, tons of options, and zero debt and I’ve realized that our weird life is so much better. I would rather not work at all but we need to eat and need fuel.
There are so many other things to do and try other than work. Work takes up too much of your time, your 2 days off get used to doing laundry and groceries for the next week. It’s not a life, you are living to work. I decided to try something different and I’m so glad we did!!
#9
There is nothing that I love enough to want to spend 40+ hours a week doing it
Alrik Added:
“Do what you love and the money will follow.”
Umm, no, high school counselor… Pretty sure nobody is going to pay me to play video games and drink beer all day.
#10
It’s not that I don’t want to work. I want to work LESS. Like max 30-32 hours and be compensated well enough that I can put my bills on autopsy.
Work isn’t the issue it’s how much we have to work to live I make well above minimum wage but it is still a struggle to make ends meet.
#11
I don’t want to work.
I want to read. I want to watch the tv shows and movies I enjoy. I want to ride my bike. I want to be able to cook meals and try new recipes. I want to go visit friends who don’t live within walking distance. I want to play video games. I want to provide my pets with the food and healthcare they need. I want to be able to take care of myself and get the healthcare I need. I want to build things, and tinker with cars, and build fish ponds.
Unfortunately, all of those things take money, and since I was neither lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon up my ass, or won the lottery, I have to work to do them.
#12
Things I hate:
Having to wake up early
Having to be somewhere I don’t want to be
Having to be around people I don’t like
Being away from home and my dog
Using up all my energy and having none left for the things I enjoy
Having to be polite to people who don’t reciprocate the respect
Not being able to freely eat or use the bathroom whenever I want/need
Having to wear clothes I don’t like
Long commutes
Things required in most jobs:
See above
#13
If I could do a job that was much less stressful, simple, and enjoyable, I would. But to just survive this world, you got to make a lot more than minimum wage.
#14
I think most people want to be valid and useful members of their societies. What they don’t want is to be ground down to nothing for their whole life. The people aren’t the problem.
#15
Who does? (obvious and lazy answer)
People got sick of being treated like crap in retail and in restaurants. I’ve been out to dinner with people who are rude to the waiter, who’ve told me in the past “nobody wants to work.” I wonder why.
#16
#17
I want to work, but the primary caveat is that I want to work on something meaningful. The majority of jobs aren’t doing much for society and are a waste of time
#18
60% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck, of which I am one and have been most of my life.
Three people have more wealth than the bottom 50%.
The game is rigged for most of us to lose, and that is becoming more clear every day. I’m simply tired of playing.
#19
#20
I hate working. But we need money in order to live. Yes, money does mean everything. But at the same time, it ironically means nothing. I just want to play video games, work out, and do stuff I actually like instead of coming home exhausted and having to do laundry when it’s bedtime.
#21
I feel like the 40-60ish hours I’m working could be better spent either with family (namely my grandparents) or on improving myself.
Hell, I know this to be the case because I was just off work for 2 weeks due to an injury and spent all my time either with my grandparents, reading, or working on the little side projects I hadn’t touched in 2+ years.
