I turned my back on office jobs last year after being fired for not turning up to the office after being in a car accident that was not my fault.
I did a total 360 in direction and now work in a nursery looking after little humans. I am a guy so I am the only male working in the place, always kinda loathed the company of other men especially in the workplace.
The little humans are so happy to see me and there is no other job where I have my name called over and over because people want to play with me, want my company or justbwajr a cuddle or hold my hand. That offsets the crappy management which I have come to realise is a feature of almost every employment.
I work 4 days, 30 hr week. After tax I take home £15,400 ish a year. I am poor as fuck but honestly it's so much better than the previous job I had where I was making £34K. I was wedged in that fucking chair, couldn't get up to stretch my legs or walk outside all fucking day. Back ached, eyes strained and I was so chock full of stress from trying to think and work my way up to targets that were outside of my control. Pointless meetings every day, spreadsheets, the tyranny of emails, the dread of networking, and worst of all you end your day having nothing more to show for your efforts beyond a gaping black screen.
My mental health during my office years was so bad I wound up crying and raging with my wife in the evenings, I couldn't dig deep enough to play with my baby daughter some days. Now I play with her and numerous others every day. I no longer need a therapist to keep the self destructive thoughts and behaviour at bay.
I will never have to participate in another fucking Teams Call. I can retire my mouse jiggler. The only spreadsheet I need to open is the household budget.
I can live with less.
Now I can breathe again