Things I Don’t Miss About the Corporate World

posted 23rd November 2009    Written by: Robyn    CATEGORY: All Posts, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Robyn, Season 1

Alarm clock 6amFirst of all, I don’t miss my alarm blaring in the morning. Desperate to start my days right, I used to try to trick myself into getting excited for the work day by having my alarm go off with a funny song. I rarely fell for my own tricks.

These days I wake up when I feel like it. There’s no alarm involved, and there’s no bribing myself with Dunkin’ Donuts to get out of bed and get to office on time. Actually, I now naturally wake up earlier than I did when I had my 9 to 5. I think I am happy to get an early start and do my own thing.

Secondly, I don’t miss the boredom, the meaningless work…the unimportant deadlines. I think the biggest problem I had with my past job was that my company seemed to be comprised of people who always took themselves so seriously. Everything was so structured and needed to be so flawless. There was no room to be creative or flexible or even to just question something and try a different way of getting it done.

There was always protocol. And it needed to be followed.

I always had a hard time taking my meaningless work seriously because it meant nothing to me. In the back of my mind I was constantly thinking about all the things that were important to me—things I truly cared about that could better benefit from my energy and dedication.

Now, I choose the work I take on. I make sure it’s interesting and challenging and forces me to use the skills I want to use. I aim to always have a variety of work so that my days never feel routine. I make sure I like the people I work with and that they are constantly open to change. Of course there is still the “bitch work,” but along with that comes the good stuff, and I get to put my hands in it all. Every ounce of work can be traced back to me, and that gives me a sense of accomplishment. Even when I have busy days or deadlines, I am doing it all for myself, and I get to reap all the benefits of it.

Lastly, I don’t miss being fit into this little box of “marketing coordinator.” At my past job, I was hired to do a certain type of work. Expectedly, I was given that type of work day after day. Even when I went above and beyond, I never got rewarded with different work or more challenging work… Instead, I got more of what I was good at. The position never offered me room to grow or to explore and develop new skills.

When I wake up each morning—whether it’s to edit a manuscript, write a blog, or take a dog for a walk, I am constantly thinking of new things I could learn or try to do.

Some days I think I need to take a cooking class or join a triathlon training team. Some days I think I should really start writing a book or learning some basic web design techniques. Some days I think I should go back to travel writing and photography.

The options are endless, and as of right now, I am the only one who can really stand in my own way.

robyn-bio1

photo credit: Living Now

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