I spent the first decade of my career in the world of education, half the time in the classroom and half in the after-school world. The schedule was a nice and easy transition from my previous life as a student and I enjoyed the freedom that came with it. I had ample time off and was not working a traditional 9-5 schedule which allowed me to go to the dentist and take my dog to the vet without having to take time off from work or better yet, not having to ask to take time off from work. My boss worked off-site and in my after-school job I had a flex schedule which I frequently used for three day weekends. I loved the work, I felt in control of my time and I could take time off when wanted and when needed.
Then I started to move up in the world, a path that spoke to my ambition, but as it turns out, not to my true calling. The closer I got to a cushy corner office, the further I got away from the work I had always known and loved. And, in a twist I was not prepared for, the higher the title, the less freedom I had. I had never really worked in an office outside of some summer temping during college. As I did my best to adapt, I struggled to make sense of the environment. It was like the first time I went to a baby shower, unprepared for what it actually was. I honestly thought it was a joke.
Suddenly, my time became less my own. I was expected to be at the office the same time every day, and I was given the Western standard 10 days of vacation which I was asked to schedule around a large and cumbersome number of very important work-related whatevers. For personal matters, I was no longer able to schedule my dentist appointments after school. Everything I needed to do to keep my personal life afloat seemed to happen during 9-5 which meant I now had to request time off whenever life needed doing. Unless I wanted to cram a life of appointments into Saturdays, which sometimes I did. On top of all this, because I was a senior executive now, it was important that people knew where I was at all times, so I was asked to share my electronic calendar and let my boss know all my comings and goings. I understood the reasons why but it felt invasive and restrictive all the same.
Being part of the senior management team also brought with it a level of meetings I had not anticipated. On average, I had three meetings per day and there were other days I had as many as 6. They often started late, lacked agendas, ran much too long and accomplished little. As work sat undone on my desk, my patience for such meetings grew increasingly thin.
Further, I began to experience the impact of office politics. Conversations in offices with closed doors too often were marathon sessions gossiping about whomever was being gossiped about that day or complaining about whomever was being complained about that day. Ironically, these conversations often centered around how busy people were. People who were so busy that they somehow managed to engage in these sessions on an alarmingly frequent basis.
After a few years, I decided to move on and began contemplating doing my own thing. I wasn’t sure what that thing was, but I was drawn to trying my hand at being my own boss. To explore this, I set up a number of coffee dates with people I knew who had started their own thing. On one such meeting, I was offered a job. In an office. It hadn’t been the aim, but the opportunity was a great one and, I felt, too good to turn down. After all, I had only really worked in one office and maybe my experience there was unique to that office.
It wasn’t.
My new office was different than my previous one in any number of ways, but the things that I struggled with in the first one remained in the second. And, with a higher title still, my freedom was further restricted. I knew almost instantly that the 9-5 life simply wasn’t for me.
I am now fully immersed in the self-employed world, and I have never been happier. For all that I long for in a rewarding and successful career, I have learned that freedom is of the highest priority, and this lifestyle provides it or at least my version of it. To others, having to work all day on a Sunday, or managing three different side jobs or having a schedule that can be entirely different day to day sounds like the opposite of freedom. And that is perfectly fine. It is never my intention to argue that the way that works for me is the way that should work for you. But it is my mission to help professionals find the way that works for them- whatever that may look like. For you, the 9-5 life may suit you to a tee and if that is the case, that’s great. Spending much of this piece on what could look like criticism of that life was only to show that it wasn’t right for me. I’m quite sure it isn’t right for others either.
WHAT I MISS ABOUT THE 9-5 OFFICE LIFE
Health insurance and other benefits- There are several practical implications of going out on your own, and this is a huge one. Paying for health insurance out of pocket when I’d never previously had to required a major budget adjustment. As for other benefits, I had to research and decide which ones I wanted to purchase on my own. Did I really need life insurance at this age and stage? Without a matching retirement plan, did I continue to put in the same amount or adjust it? I still ask myself these questions and I often wonder if I’m making the best choices.
Work-free nights and weekends- This one is not entirely accurate but the premise is. For me, I have always worked side jobs and I have always taken work home with me, but neither has ever been required. So for me, going home on a Friday afternoon and not thinking about work until Monday morning sounds lovely. Even though it was never entirely true in practice, it was nice in theory.
My work relationships- Some of my closest friendships started in offices. Others were relegated to the work day but were special still. There is something entirely social and human about the natural growth of office relationships. There is also something powerful about having a network of people who intimately know your work life and who can understand your questions, concerns and funny stories about it.
A stable paycheck- Starting a business while bringing in money in other ways has taken away the stability of knowing exactly how much money is coming in week to week. The shift has forced me to be much more diligent about budgeting and planning ahead which is a good thing of course, but there are days I really miss knowing what those numbers will be.
A support system- No man is an island and having people to help brainstorm, problem solve and think through solutions is invaluable. Working on my own has forced me to seek these people out and while they are more spread out and disconnected- a business mentor here, a peer coach there- it has been vital to make them part of my professional support system.
WHAT I DON’T MISS ABOUT THE 9-5 OFFICE LIFE
The lack of freedom- This is perhaps the biggest one for me. Being expected to be in the office at the same time every day, regardless of what was going on was both restrictive and nonsensical to me. There were several days that flexing my time would have accomplished just as much (if not more), but because of policies aimed at others who would take advantage, this freedom was not allowed. Same goes for working from home. Vacations needed to be approved and were limited. I resented needing approval to live my life, even while I understood the reasons why.
The meetings- I am not inherently against meetings, but I am against meetings that are inefficient and ineffective. Time is invaluable and sitting in meetings that were going nowhere was hard to take. I perhaps miss this least.
The commute- And the parking. Or the subway. Or whatever way I have gotten to and from work throughout the years. Granted, I live in one of the most traffic-heavy cities in the country, but working from home saves gas and time and frustration. I definitely do not miss the commute.
The policies- I am not inherently against policies, but I am against policies that are arbitrary or aimed at those who abuse them while punishing those who won’t. Case in point, shortly after starting at one job, I had to take a Friday to go to my uncle’s funeral. Upon my return, I submitted my time sheet with a day off for bereavement only to be told that uncles don’t qualify. How any company can pick and choose whose death is worthy of mourning is beyond me but so it is.
The interruptions- ‘Flow’ has become a buzzword which is enough to turn people off of it, but the concept is valid. In order to create thoughtful, meaningful work, we need to be in the flow of it. When that flow is interrupted, it takes an average of 8 minutes to get back into it. Working in an office, the number of times that flow was interrupted by phone calls, impromptu meetings, unscheduled visits and suddenly urgent emails was enough to make my head spin.
Giving up ownership of my work- Throughout the years I have created lesson plans, curricula, articles, speeches, presentations, reports, websites, databases and more only to be told that they are the property of the company I was working for. I knew this was part of the deal when I signed up for that life, but this never sat well with me. One of the greatest joys I have now is creating work that is mine and that I can use as I see fit.
The politics- Yes, this is everywhere, not just offices, but keeping up with who you had to be nice to just to get paper for your printer was exhausting to me. And I was never comfortable with how much time people spent talking about other people behind their backs. It became a constant dance of excusing myself from conversations or deciding when and how to speak up and I don’t miss it one bit.
In my case, I left the 9-5 office life to start my own business, but there are any number of other alternatives to the 9-5 office life. For me, I wanted to try the life of working for myself, and you may want to explore this too. Or maybe you want to work for someone else but only on weekends or at night or on some other different schedule. Maybe you love the office work but want to find a job that will let you do it from home instead. Maybe you love the 9-5 schedule but no longer want to work in an office. Or maybe the idea of two part-time jobs instead of one full-time job appeals to you. There are so many alternatives way to work and live, and my mission is to help people explore what works best for them. In the end, this may be the 9-5 office life and in that case, bravo! I encourage everyone to invest the time into this exploration. For many of us, we walk through the traditional path without giving it a second thought. With such monumental consequences, I argue it is worth the exploration to find the path that will bring us the most satisfaction and joy. What about you? Are you at least willing to try?
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