Benefits of not having a job

[Aleksander Krstic]

I have been thinking a lot about Steve's article on not getting a job and why it is a smart thing not to have one.

Can you please tell me why do you think having a job is not a good idea?

Thank you in advance. Please don't post why you think having a job is a good idea because I won't read it. I would also ask mods to delete such posts.

[ohTen]

i can think of several.

1. you have complete control over your time. it doesn't belong to anyone else
2. you are not dependent on someone else for your livelihood
3. you are your own boss and you maintain your personal power

on the flipside, i also think it's a personal decision and not for everybody. I personally like having a job. Of course, I only take jobs that I really like and get some sort of benefit from. I also don't rely on my job as my sole source of income and am actively working to set up passive income streams in addition to my multiples sources of active income (all of which come from endeavors that I enjoy and are helping me get to where I would like to be in the future).

I like working because I meet cool people who share many of my interests. I've met friends, dates, and networking contacts sitting at my library desk! I also thrive on the structure my jobs affords my life. When I have complete control of my time, I tend to squander it. I could probably change this behavior and plan to, eventually. If you are working in a field you love and are at a position in the office/company hierarchy in which you are comfortable, having a job can be awesome. It's totally up to you and what you want.

[Kindred]

One of the greatest benefits is immediately seeing the result of your effort. If you give half-ass effort, you'll get half-ass results; if you give excellent effort, you'll get excellent results--assuming you're working intelligently. This is not possible in a job because you get paid by the hour no matter what your performance.

This is why I prefer unemployment.

[advancedatheist]

It also helps to have perhaps a year's worth of living expenses saved up, and some frugal habits. A lot of people can't "de-job" because they owe too much money, have children to support, feel that they have to buy the latest gadgets and so forth.

[Froztwolf]

Note: I still have a job but I intend to eliminate it within 5 years.

For me it's about having control over my own time and work and enjoying the fruits of my labor.

As my experience grows the importance of controlling my own work increases. I hate being told to do things that are obviously sub-optimal just to please an authority figure. I also hate needing to keep up the semblance of business at all times, even when there is nothing much to do.

When self-employed you also make money in relation to your contribution, something you do not do in a job. In a job some people create three times as much value as others yet they will rarely be paid three times as much. When you are self-employed you can tell easily exactly what amount of value you are creating just be looking at the money coming in.

So why am I still in a job? I am finally at a point in my career where I can learn from very experienced people. I'm a computer game designer and what we do can be carried over to any field having to do with systems and people. Thus, I am drinking up the learning that will benefit me later. Procrastination? Perhaps.

Jobs can be useful but in the long-term only what you learn there is important.

[CoolBee]

Before I had the 'wherewithall' to manipulate myself into my current lifestyle, I used to enjoy 'temping' now and then between jobs - I'm considering that counts to some extent as 'not having a job' (ie no sick pay, holiday pay, rights, anything) - only having a contract for a week or two at a time!

I found it very stimulating to be 'living on my wits', if I hadn't been able to jump in to a new company and be up and running and functioning with an hour in each new contract I would not have got any contracts. It was also good not being involved in office politics at all. Turn up at the requisite time, do an excellent day's work, go home, switch off.

To know that if I didn't turn in to work I wouldn't get paid was rather motivating too - I remember the 'Great Storm of 1987' (we had a huge hurricane in Southern England that October) - I was one of only 2 people to make it in to my central London office - there was me (the typing temp) and the chief engineer only all day - because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been paid.

The downside is I was wheeled in to the office in my coffin on a couple of occasions, and one time I was really ill a flatmate took the day off her own work to physically prevent me from trying to go to work.

Now, in my current lifestyle, I don't have an employer other than myself, I have a bought and paid for flat in a luscious area, don't have to worry about money too much for the next few years, and can take the time to chill out, develop my career as a coach which I love, start reading again (the last few years of my corporate work/commute/sleep lifestyle gave me zero mental energy for anything challenging outside the work environment).
Occasionally I will go and teach english to adults for an evening a week for a few weeks if I want something different or am feeling the need to have an outside accountability for a while.

[Leondegrance]

Originally Posted by Aleksander Krstic

Can you please tell me why do you think having a job is not a good idea?

Sure, here goes..

A job is a scam, because you get paid for the time you spend at work as opposed to the actual work you do during that time. Add an X amount of unpaid overtime hours, or fill-ins for people with higher pay, and your own pay goes down significantly. Don't forget deductions on your pay stub either, most of which you can't control except maybe the amount of dental/medical coverage. On top of that, you're expendable.

[KtotheB]

I'm an advocate for not having a job because I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss, and focusing on unlimited income potential

[One Life No Fear]

This subject caught my eye!

I don't think there is such a thing as 'unemployed'. If you do not have a job working for someone else you are, by definition, working for yourself, or 'self-employed'. Whether you see your job at this time as getting another job, or whether you use this time to make money as a self-employed person, is up to you.

I spent a short time without a job, but it gave me the freedom to re-evaluate life, a chance to look deeply at my goals, and move into a much more productive period in my life.

Of course, losing a job can be a devastating situation, and I feel for all those who are suffering at this moment, but self-pity is not a substitute, it is a time to show how resourceful you really are. Being without a job could actually be the best thing that every happened to you, as difficult as that may be to realise now.

[GlobalMind]

@ One Life No Fear

Losing your job is one of the best things that can happen to you!
It allows you to start with your financial freedom programm!!
At least it is what happened to me.

I only remember that moment as one of the best moments in my life.

[JRhodes]

I'm self-employed and I find the best thing about it is that you own all your time. It can be 2pm on a Wednesday and if I choose I can go to the cinema or the driving range with no issues.

[okogba64]

It really sounds good not to hold a day job. It comes with a lot of goodies too. But the caveat is that you aint never gonna stay back doing nothing. Its work and even harder work all the same. I have never really held a job since graduting from college. However I seem never to have done really better than those who do. I'm confused.

PAT OKONKWO
(Ogbuefi Oraukwu)
Welcome To without silverspoon.org

[great]

There is only one benefit of not having job is you don't have any boss.

[stantheman]

If it weren't for people with "Jobs" where would you get your computer or car or clothes, etc, etc, etc?