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Don't know if lazy is the right word, but the opposite of ambitious. Don't care about raise, promotion, recognition - just want to go in/out and do the least amount of work possible.
If this is you - why? Have you always been like this?
I'm not lazy, but I am unambitious. I haven't always been this way. I was always an over achiever. I had a strong desire to give everything to my work and always learn more. I went back to school and got an MBA in the evening. If I was bored I would go to my manager and ask for more to do. I was promoted 3 times at the company I worked at for 19 years. I missed many family events because I wanted to keep getting promoted. I had 7 weeks of vacation because I carried it over every year. I was so dedicated I never took longer than a week (and when I did take a vacation I would still answer email). I remember talking to a VP on Easter Sunday because there was a major customer issue. And then in 2014 it happened-they laid me off. I was 54. They gave me a good severance package and an additional 2 1/2 months of severance if I agreed not to sue for age discrimination. I wasn't worried about finding a job so I took the additional 2 1/2 months.
It took me 15 months to find a job. I was getting interviews both phone and face to face. I flew to San Jose, Cleveland, Tampa, Richmond, Denver, and New Hampshire. I was told my education and experience were impressive. I wasn't getting any offers. I finally accepted an offer (at 50% of my previous pay) just so I could work. It's a horrible culture and the work is mundane, but it is something and I can keep applying. There is no room for advancement here, and everyone gets the exact same raise so why should I offer to do more? I do the least amount of work possible, but I do the work I am given. I am now 58 and have had a couple of phone interviews and face to face interviews. It's always, we've found another candidate whose skills more closely match our needs. As a matter of fact I received one of those rejections last night after waiting for 4 weeks after the face to face. It was still lower pay but it was better than where I'm at and there was more vacation.
In conclusion, corporate America has sucked the life out of my once ambitious soul. I don't work 1 minute more than I have to and I don't go to my manager and ask for more to do. I read and respond to this forum.
Does working hard make you irreplaceable? Earn you more money, or respect? Most people are just cogs in a machine.
I said this before: You are not working for the machine! You are working for yourself. If you are killing time; you are wasting your time and energy and making your day drag on. Who do you see when you look in the mirror? Altogether most people spend 25 to 30% of their lives at work. If you had to go out and hunt and gather you would spend a lot more time than that. Of course; you would be in better shape if you did not starve to death or get killed by your prey.
Work for yourself, work for a positive mental image of yourself, work for recommendations that will follow you to the next job, and work hard for the time to go fast.
My ex. Works for government. One third of the day planning/scheming (vacation, on-line shopping, surfing, time off, outside meetings. lunch, etc.), one third of the day actually working, and one third of the day executing the scheming plan (basically doing nothing).
My ex. Works for government. One third of the day planning/scheming (vacation, on-line shopping, surfing, time off, outside meetings. lunch, etc.), one third of the day actually working, and one third of the day executing the scheming plan (basically doing nothing).
With great benefits and retirement to boot at the end of the rainbow. It’s why government jobs are so highly coveted these days
Private sector you will just be kicked out to the curb by middle age unless you’re highly connected
I've always worked harder than anyone else around me. Didn't get me anywhere. I guess I just don't have that "sucking up" skill. So I do what I do to keep my paycheck coming. Doing more won't help me. It won't get me a promotion.
A few years ago I was on a different mindset. But I saw the opportunities appear and vanish right in front of me. Changing jobs would just be a lateral move and I'd be at the bottom of that pole so no interest there.
It sucks but that's the reality of things. If you do more you don't get promoted... you're just making your boss look good. Look at it this way... if you're a fantastic sniper bagging 30 bad guys an hour, why the hell would anyone in the right mind want to move you to a non sniping position?
No, because there is no one else to pick up my slack if I don’t do my work. Although I do unapologetically have a day now and then where I put my phone on silent all day and just let it go to voicemail
I've never been that kind of person in my life... until recently. But only kinda. My first job when I was 16, I would do 8 hours worth of work in 5 hours and then bail. As opposed to, working nice and slow (boring) so that it spreads into an 8 hour shift for more pay. That is what every lady that got the job after me has done, but me, couldn't do it. I can not sit around waiting for work to fall on my lap. Then I moved on to a new company... learned the job... transferred among stores (moved 5 times in 7 years), slowly worked my way up the ladder as far as I could make it.. a lower management level position. Toughed that out for a year and stayed alive. Helped get that store into second best in the District (which is out of about 150 stores), so it's not like I sucked at it at all or anything. Just had a boss that was always in my face and aggravated me enough that I couldn't wait to move on. And luck had it, I moved again, lost the position (but don't care), and now the new store I'm at is just so freaking horrible that I am suddenly "Calling in" nearly twice a month to the point that I just told them I can only work two days a week now. I'm not lazy when I am on the clock by any means, but I have grown to despise the Company enough to feel I'm clearly not doing as great as I was for 7 years prior, considering I called in like zero times. Needless to say, I'm looking for a new Company to work for.
On that topic though, those people that come in and work really slowly on purpose, like wtf. If you don't want the job because you feel the pay isn't good enough for you, then do the business a favor and just not apply there or give your notice to quit the next day. Anything except making them have to weasel you out the hard way (by giving you no hours), or waiting for an opportunity to fire you because you can't do that job efficiently (after like 6 months and a lot of grief on the other employees). As someone who was a Manager (but was not in charge of hiring), getting those new employees on a monthly basis that showed up for one or two shifts then started ghosting the company, just makes the workload a nightmare for everyone else, especially the Managers.
As a matter of fact, I need to stay extra hours to get done what I need to get done to stay afloat. If I put in the minimal amount of effort, I'd have been gone a long time age, and a lot of people have met that fate since I've been here.
However, I have had a job in the past where that was possible and lo and behold ... I quit because it was too boring.
Um, yeah. Of course I do the bear minimum. That's what being a government employee is about.
Unless you're working your dream job or doing something that directly impacts health or lives, like a doctor or social worker, I see no benefit to destroying yourself for your paycheck.
T
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