I'm in the very fortunate (and perhaps rare) position of being able to say I enjoy my job. Working for a charity (Community Action Furness) that serves local interests is very rewarding and provides a much more fulfilling sense of purpose than working to serve the interests of some rich shareholders. I also think it presents a greater challenge (something which us humans tend to enjoy) than working for some high profile national or international charity is likely to. I also like the people I work with, and I like the people we're here to support - both of which are very important aspects of job satisfaction.
Working for a non-profit is by no means well paid in my experience, and most people in my line of work (IT) tend to ask "what are you still doing there?" It's a fair enough question, and I'd be blatantly lying (as would any of the other staff) if I said the same question didn't occur to myself once in a while. My first answer is, ask yourself why the organisation has so many and such dedicated volunteers, who happily spend their time there for nothing. As for my personal answer, I'd rather be paid less in a job that I enjoy, than paid more in a job that I dislike; something which I think is a good example of balancing "living to work" with "working to live". We spend most of our waking lives at work, and I'll be darned if I'm going to be miserable there, for just about any money! Sure, one day soon I'll be needing something better paid one way or another (bills just seem to keep growing, whilst income remains consistently low), but until that time I'd rather stay put, even if I *could* probably earn 3-4x more by moving South a bit and/or applying to some IT firm. The place is finally starting to flourish and find its feet, and I want to be part of that success, having proudly been an active part of the team (for the past 3.5 years) who made it happen.
But despite enjoying it, I don't live for work, I believe a balance with a personal life and interests is crucial. In fact apart from one or two places where they sometimes intermingle: the occasional friend made in the course of working there, I tend to keep my work and private lives separate. Come 5pm, I mostly switch off and forget about the place. Whilst I do tend to find myself thinking about technical issues etc unnecessarily at home, it doesn't tend to take me long to find a distraction or zone out.
Work is work and life is life - staff booze-ups are a bit more difficult to place, but those are a whole different kettle of fish! (what cruel person puts fish in a kettle anyway? Answers: postcard@deryk.co.uk...)
What do you get out of work? The obvious answer that most people pipe up with is of course "money". But there's more to it. Surveys have proven that I'm actually in a majority when I say that I'd probably not give up my job if I won the lottery. If it was a large amount (enough to live off for good) I'd most likely switch to volunteering for that extra freedom to choose how my time was divided, but I'd still be there because I'd want to have the other elements that people tend to forget you get out of work - whether it's for a commercial entity or a non-profit:
- A sense of purpose
- Something to do when your other interests go through 'burnout' stages
- Gaining new skills and experience
- Being part of a team that accomplishes something good
- Being part of the biggest social network outside of the Internet
- Meeting an incredible variety of people (especially true for my current job)
I think living to work can be unhealthy - you get stressed, you miss out on other fun aspects of life, you can lose sleep and it can become an obsession. You can also end up being shunned in the non-work life for being 'sad' (not that you should worry too much about what other people think, but it is a disadvantage.) On the other hand, I think working to live is also unhealthy - you spend most of your waking hours working hard to support that little bit of free time you have left.. assuming additional responsibilities don't consume even that! Then you end up resenting the very work that you spend most of your life doing. That's a very depressing thought, and not the road that I ever want to go down.
The key, I think, is to try and strike a good balance. Even though I separate life and work very well most of the time, I still think that the two should support each other - it's just on a much lower, deeper, and less visible level.
Right, one more day to go before the weekend! :D
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