What are some mindless, low-stress jobs

[Lupe]

Ran wrote in his "how to drop out" article:

Some of the happiest people I know have dropped out only a short distance. They still live in the city and have jobs and pay rent, but they've done something more mentally difficult -- and mentally liberating -- than moving to some isolated farm. They have become permanently content with no-responsibility slack jobs, low-status, modest-paying, easy jobs that they don't have to think about at home or even half the time when they're at work. Yes, these jobs are getting scarce, but they're still a thousand times more plentiful than the kind of job that miserable people cannot give up longing for -- where you make a living doing something so personally meaningful that you would do it for free.

How to Drop Out

He suggested in his forum night-time security guard.

[Aleksander Krstic]

I completely disagree with the article and I don't agree with you either(wow I just won a Noble Prize of Being Harsh).

I believe that mindfulness is what keeps us happy, also hardwork is not painful if you enjoy your job/bussiness.

[aggie]

unfortunately not everyone loves their job or business...i enjoy what i do...but i would love to be freed up for what i think would be more meaningful, contributory, possible unpaid (or lower paid things) that i could do.

i think it is just a matter of wanting a break from the rat race and keeping up with the jones' and taking our work home (literally and figuratively) that is attractive.

some people also have these jobs because either they are unfortunately unqualified to do anything else...and i am not sure how scarce they are...a lot of people don't want jobs like that period...if they can collect unemployment, etc.

my suggestion would be working either in an animal shelter or vet's office just to exercise, feed and clean...i love animals and enjoy their company.

[Aleksander Krstic]

you are mistaking the chance of getting a job you love and the commitment of getting a job you love

What Are the Odds of Becoming a Black Belt?

[aggie]

point taken, and if one has the ability and freedom to do so, even if it takes a life time...that is how it should be...but i don't think everyone can afford that luxury....

[runningbird]

I have heard several times that dishwashing is a nice job. People have said that the hot water is soothing, and asked "why is there no dishwashing school of philosophy?" with all of the time you have to let your mind wander.

[aggie]

i think almost any kind of cleaning job would be theraputic...you get immediate results and gratification

[CoolBee]

Originally Posted by aggie

i think almost any kind of cleaning job would be theraputic...you get immediate results and gratification

Yes! I worked as a room maid in a big hotel once for a few months - excellent I had just left school and was going to uni a few months later.

I had about 14 rooms to do on a typical day, along with some communal areas, and you'd go into a mess, and 15-20 mins later walk out having changed sheets, made the bed, cleaned the bathroom and all that. You could do it when you'd only had 3 hours sleep the night before (important when you're 18 ), or plot, plan and ponder your way through it, stay fit (or get fit! I lost about 15kg in my 4 months eating as much as I liked!), and get the instant gratification of a job well done.

What I hated was doing mindless jobs where you had to concentrate (like packing surgical caps in a factory - I lasted 1 day at that) or temping in an office where actually they had no work for you but you weren't allowed to read or anything, just had to sit there.

[Dreamline]

Art...crocheting, knitting. Poetry. Dog walking/pet sitting. Mowing lawns. Painting rooms. Woodworking. Delivery.

One disagreement I have with Alexander's comments is that many people find fulfillment in their non-working hours and don't necessarily feel the need to have high-fulfillment careers. Some only get fulfillment from their careers and have low-interest personal lives. Couch, remote, beer, recliner.

Jennifer

[Plato]

ANY job is mindless and low stress, once you have achieved unconscious competence at it.

Unconscious: mindless
Competence: EASY

Originally Posted by Dreamline

One disagreement I have with Alexander's comments is that many people find fulfillment in their non-working hours and don't necessarily feel the need to have high-fulfillment careers.

Edit: Too soon...

[lifeforce]

I actually was a night-time security guard for seven months. I guess I just like stress, activity and responsibility in a job.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Why not be a cashier or bag groceries? That's low stress, pretty mindless, not to demanding.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by runningbird

I have heard several times that dishwashing is a nice job.

It can be a stressful job. Too much soap makes the skin on your hands start to become sore, especially between the fingers. Hours can also be long - expect to be working until maybe one or two hours AFTER the restaurant closes. Finally if you break one of those nice, fancy, fine plates in a high-class restaurant, there goes half your monthly salary (which wasn't much to begin with).

[runningbird]

Grocery bagger might be hard to come by these days. I hardly see any real cashiers, mostly just the electronic self check out; plus I think baggers probably rotate into different roles.

I love mowing the lawn though.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Lupe

night-time security guard.

It can be a stressful job. You'll see when the burglars come. Watch out for their pistols or knives - they usually have a couple of those.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Dreamline

Delivery.

Now, delivery can definitely be a stressful job. You get put in all sorts of ridiculous situations, like being instructed to deliver X to this address by this time, and deliver Y to that address by that time ..... and the times are close, but the distance between the two addresses are far apart. Then customers get upset and yell at you and complain about you and expect you to help them assemble their new wardrobe / computer / home theatre set quickly and correctly. If all goes well, they take it for granted ... If something goes wrong, they call the customer service hotline and complain about you.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by aggie

my suggestion would be working either in an animal shelter or vet's office just to exercise, feed and clean...i love animals and enjoy their company.

This can also be a stressful job. Expect scenarios like this. A woman runs in, carrying a bloody dog with its intestines oozing out of its tummy. The woman screams, "Save my dog! Save my dog! It just got hit by a car ...!" Etc etc.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

Why not be a cashier ....

It is not necessarily a mindless job. Nowadays, being a cashier can entail keeping track of all sorts of complicated details. Eg a customer comes up with 12 toys and says:

"I actually have this Toys R Us membership card. So you need to give me my reward points. Then I want to redeem some of those points to get my free gift. 25 Star Points is equal to $10 right, up to a limit of $100 per purchase per customer. Next I have this coupon. It gives me 20% on two toys. However the expiry date is today's date. Does that mean I can still use it today, or does that mean that yesterday was the last day for using it? Also, I understand that Citigroup credit cards entitle me to a discount of 10% on all Barbie toys this month, so could you give me the 10% on that Barbie doll. Do you give me 10% discount on the Barbie doll, and another 20% off the discounted price because of the voucher, or do you give me 10 + 20 = 30% discount on the original price?"

Etc.

[Lupe]

Is kindergarden teacher relatively low-stress job?

You get to be around cute little kids who don't cause much trouble and you teach really easy stuff, not much to grade, no?

[aggie]

5 year olds today scare the heck out of me...they have attitude and are more technologically advanced than i am

[runningbird]

Godot, don't all dishwashers wear gloves? I don't see why you wouldn't. And one plate is half a month's salary? I don't think many restaurants use $500 plates.

Anyway, can you give us your idea of a low stress job?

[Ferrino]

I would say that what I do right now is low stress plus I can spend a lot of time listening to audio programs whilst I work. It is however quite physical but you do get used to it and it does help to keep me in shape!

[Lupe]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

I would say that what I do right now is low stress plus I can spend a lot of time listening to audio programs whilst I work. It is however quite physical but you do get used to it and it does help to keep me in shape!

That's the exact type of work I want to get. But I'm wondering what kind of job it is, since my family cleans car by going through automated go-through cleaning machine and using coin-taking machine vacuum.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Lupe

Is kindergarden teacher relatively low-stress job?

You get to be around cute little kids who don't cause much trouble and you teach really easy stuff, not much to grade, no?

You have got to be kidding!!

Little kids puke, fight, pee in their pants, cry, throw tantrums, eat crayons and you may have to help wipe their little arses after they finish their business in the loo.

They give their teachers hell on the first few days too, screaming and crying and yelling in grief, due to separation anxiety.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by runningbird

Anyway, can you give us your idea of a low stress job?

A low stress job is one where your mind is able to regularly maintain an attitude of relative calm, peace and satisfaction. The key is your own mind. It doesn't matter whether you are a security guard or a CEO or a car cleaner or a surgeon or a judge or a cook.

[Angela]

Hmmm. I was tempted to take a part-time job setting appointments for a dominatrix. That could be fun, and not too stressful.

[Ferrino]

Originally Posted by Lupe

That's the exact type of work I want to get. But I'm wondering what kind of job it is, since my family cleans car by going through automated go-through cleaning machine and using coin-taking machine vacuum.

I admit that it is not necessarily going to be the same set up everywhere. Where I work I prepare new and used vehicles in a unit on my own for half a day then have a colleague join me in the afternoon. It is in the morning when I tend to listen to the audio programs.

I used to wash and prepare cars for sale on forecourts. When the weather is good then this job is ideal, no stress - own boss, no distraction, plenty of time for comtemplation, audio books etc. Bit more stressful in the winter though if you don't like the cold!

I have a friend who works as a long distance courier who loves his job as he only travels to one place in a day. I reckon this would be a lot less stress than doing multi-drop and great if you can rely on your sat-nav!

[CoolBee]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

You have got to be kidding!!

Little kids puke, fight, pee in their pants, cry, throw tantrums, eat crayons and you may have to help wipe their little arses after they finish their business in the loo.

They give their teachers hell on the first few days too, screaming and crying and yelling in grief, due to separation anxiety.

LOL - absolutely! And imagine it when they're doing their crying, whinging, whining in Arabic and you don't speak hardly a word of it, let alone arabic kiddyspeak - there's me going "Hmairm?" "meeya?", "omtik?" (toilet? water? mummy?).

Teaching small kids is a WHOLE order of magnitude greater stress than anything else! Consider this, most parents (who have got rights to discipline their kids) can't control 2 in a supermarket. As a teacher you'll have maybe 20 of them in your 'care' and not only do you have to try and control them but knock some kind of information into their heads too!

A friend of mine who was a good, experienced primary school teacher said it was like having a factory full of products on a production line, that you have to send off the production line fit for sale, but the products keep jumping off the line and running round the factory.

Junior girls spend the whole time whining - "miss he pulled my hair", "miss is this word in this sentence alright" constantly seeking approval for EVERYTHING. It's utterly and completely draining.

Give me a classroom full of yobby 14 year olds taking math or physics any day!

[Lupe]

Originally Posted by Ferrino

I have a friend who works as a long distance courier who loves his job as he only travels to one place in a day. I reckon this would be a lot less stress than doing multi-drop and great if you can rely on your sat-nav!

What is a long distance courier? I googled it but still don't know.

[Lupe]

Would 1st grade teacher be better?