I (33F) started a new job back in December of last year and I absolutely hate it. I hate everything about the way the team is structured, the way they crap train people, the way the workload gets dumped on my teammates, and how my boss just has conveniently been “sick” multiple days of the week sine I started, the way we are chained to our desks all day with strict hours, and the way I feel all day from when I wake up to when I go to bed. We all answer calls from both reps and customers, and the new people were explicitly told to ask our teammates questions we don’t know how to answer, but they’re all so busy with everything else, it’s nearly impossible to be able to get a straight answer. To top it off, I thought I’d like the 9-5 kind of deal, but it’s just another form of having no time to do anything I love, (I know, welcome to life).
Anyway, my passions lie in painting, music, design, etc. and I was even thinking about getting a certification or going back to school to become a counselor. What I’d like to do in the meantime, though, is find some freelance work like transcription or admin assistance and just do wfh jobs to earn income while I educate myself and practice a bit more on the things I love to turn them into a career. My current job has more PTO than I’m used to, but I can barely take it bc every single one of my teammates got sick the month I started, (2 with Covid, one of them has it now), and I got sick twice, so I have no more floating holiday hours. They even made a comment about my “attendance” despite me having doc notes for both times. So, my question is, what’s the best way to move forward with a plan? Is freelance work a viable option? How do I start to be able to make my own schedule and quit this soul-sucking job? I want to be brave and grab my life by the horns and take control of it before I realize it too late and I’m 55 with arthritis. If I left out anything or you need clarification, please ask. Also, please don’t give me the “suck it up buttercup” answers, bc while I know you have to do things in life you don’t like like everyone else, I refuse to drain the rest of my youth on this rat race. TIA.