"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"

In my last full post I talked about getting out of the 9 to 5, run of the mill, chained-to-a-desk type work. There are however a lot of people, who are not necessarily in an office, who work long hours for low pay and who may feel trapped in their work situation. Yet their work is essential to the smooth running of everybody's day to day life. The pay is low and they get little thanks. They are frequently looked down upon by some. Yet imagine what life would be like without the binmen, checkout servers, hospital porters, cleaners, mechanics, farm workers, plumbers or factory workers. It may not be 9 to 5 but it can be very hard work. Thankfully there are people who are still happy to do those jobs.

How have I never heard the term "dreadmill" before?
— Gretchen Rubin (@gretchenrubin) March 8, 2013

For those who are keen to stay in their chosen trade or who are eager to work in roles that society relies on there is lots of help from state sponsored agencies and organisations, ready and able to help them find work where it exists. The services in place designed to help these people are, it seems, not able to help those who wish to get out of that sector, the people who want to take flight, do something radically different, live the dream or go it alone. There seems to be a huge gap in the available advice and assistance for the people in between, the ones who want to get out of the essential services or ordinary office jobs and who want to be like the highflyers. Social mobility? Where is the roadmap for it?

In that recent post I mentioned a few people who have escaped the rat race and gone on to live life on their own terms. They are inspirational and their insights are invaluable. They ooze confidence and give the impression of having had lots of support, great opportunities and to have been given the sense that anything is possible.

For someone who has only lived in the '9 to 5' world, in a company that doesn't use up to date tech, whose family are from the same world, whose friends are in the same sorts of jobs, it can seem like a fairy tale. The photos of a freedom-from-work guru on a beach, in the desert or up a mountain can seem just as far away as the banker in his Maserati living in a penthouse apartment on the Thames.  It doesn't seem real if it is too far way.

I know because that is how I feel. I hope that one day it might be me telling people how easy it is to live life the way you want. But not yet. At the moment I am still at the bottom of that hill looking for the right path to get me a bit higher up. As I search for a way to make my life my own I will continue to post links to advice and guidance, inspirational and aspirational sites and to anything that relates to the world of work in all its forms, in the hope that some of it helps me and helps you to get to the point where we can take flight.


I have two challenges for you today.

1. Next time you see anyone in an essential job, such as those listed above, smile at them, thank them if you can. Just don't ignore them or look down on them.
2. Ask yourself what skills you have to offer the world. Are you good with your hands, good at planning, good at communicating, good at problem solving, good at making people feel good? Think hard about what your basic skills boil down to and how they might translate into your life's work. Go.

*"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" Oscar Wilde from Lady Windermere's Fan.

Not the 9 to 5

When I first set up the website I felt that the name of the site was self explanatory and would be understood by any readers who came this way. Now I am feeling the time is right to explain what Not The 9 to 5 really means.

9 to 5 is a well known phrase, in the west at least, and is a synecdoche, it is a description of a part of the world of work which stands for the whole of work.


Hearing the phrase 9 to 5 will invoke in many people an image of commuters jammed into a train, suited men walking across Waterloo bridge to the City, people head down hard at work in offices. In the USA it will summon the image of the ubiquitous cubicle familiar to anyone who has seen the Matrix or a Dilbert cartoon. In the UK where our buildings are older they may envisage people chained to their desks. 9 to 5 is a fairly neutral statement but it conjures slightly less than positive ideas of work being a chore.

In the pre-Industrial Age 9 to 5 made sense, daylight was available during those hours for most of the year and very little work could be done by candle light. Then the invention of machinery and electricity made it possible to work through the night but tradition and the need to interact with other workers meant that change didn't happen. Now we have connectivity and can interact with workers on the other side of the planet if we wish and 9 to 5 really makes very little sense. People working in London may have to work with people in Tokyo at 7am or San Francisco at 11pm, should they really be asked to work all the hours between? If your colleagues are a thousand miles away is it necessary to be in an office in central London or can you work just as well from home in the country?

In past jobs I have often felt how strange it is that bosses are happy for their staff to clock in at nine and out at five with very little regard for what they did in between. I knew staff who were penalised for not being at their desk on time or for leaving early and yet anyone working beyond those hours was never praised and anyone who achieved a lot in that time was given no more benefit than someone who slacked through the day. Seems a funny way to run a business to me.

I recently wrote on my other blog about ways in which the world of work is changing, hopefully for the better, in that some people believe a business should be measured not just by its bottom line but also on the good, or bad, it does in the world. The way employees are treated and feel about the company would be one of these measures. For now we live in a world in which there is almost nothing that is not business. Your health, wealth and free time are all tied to someone's business somewhere. How you meet, court and marry is now monetised. How you travel is almost never free, even walking costs shoe leather. Without money there is nothing in the modern world.

And yet we are still, by and large, tied to the 9 to 5 day. From shops and schools to doctors and bankers the majority live in the 9 to 5 world. But there are others breaking out.

Teleworkers, using home technology to 'be' at work any time of day. Crafters and inventors working in their sheds building beautiful things, people with big ideas about becoming Free Range, Multipotentialites or Paid-to-Exist. For many people there is no longer a need to be a cardboard cut out, boxed and packaged automaton or cog. And these roles don't need to be for internet geniuses. Any idea, any pursuit, any handmade item can be a success with very little start up funding.

Of course, Yahoo seems to disagree. But I planned this post last night and then saw this on my Twitter feed this afternoon:

Working life isn't 9-5 any more. The world is connected. Companies that do not embrace this miss a trick. Quote of the week @richardbranson
— Part Time Jobs (@timewisejobs) March 1, 2013

 So Not The 9 to 5 is a blog about all those other opportunities, ways of working, places to work and ways to monetise your life for yourself not some remote boss who has nothing in common with you. For anyone sick of being a desk jockey, anyone who wants meaning in their work, anyone fed up of being a nameless cog in a faceless machine, anyone wanting to break out and do things their way, the posts on this blog and the links on the Twitter feed are for you, they may be inspiration, information, advice or other resources but I hope that through them you will find a new way to work - Not The 9 to 5.

Laura. (Don't forget our motto - No Link Is An Island - when you follow a link and arrive at a new website have a clickabout and see what else is on offer.)

Reality Check, by Bill Gates.

Have you seen this recent meme about a speech by Bill Gates?

I think this chimes with our post What Is A Good Job?


Do you think your expectations have been too high? How has life in the real world turned out for you?

Setting up on your own

Leaving the rat race by setting up on your own is a move that is increasingly appealing to people across Britain, as well as many countries around the world. Increasingly, happiness at work is being valued as much as the other benefits of a job.


When your work, or lack of it, doesn't align with your passions and values it can seem that the obvious way out is to find a way to make your own livelihood. Even if you have never worked before you probably have valuable transferable skills.


The first step to this career path is to find inspiration. Do you have a great idea for a business or an invention that you believe can change people's lives? 


Next you need a plan. This might include making samples, testing them out and costing production, or it may consider what admin, accounting and other paperwork you are going to need on a regular basis, and whether you need to outsource that work. Will you need insurance of any sort? Are there licences or certificates for the sort of work you plan to do? 

Then a business plan is vital. There are lots of sites on the web that give advice and templates for business plans, and most banks offer advice as well in the hope you will go to them for a start up loan.


There is also a lot of advice about the whole process of setting up a business, including advice from BusinessLink and HMRC set up by the government.


This American site can help put you in touch with a mentor in your field and The Guardian offers some advice about finding a mentor.


If you have items for sale one place to market them is a market. Find stalls available in markets around the country at Stallfinder. Also try a blog to market your business, the basics are laid out here but there are lots of advice sites for new bloggers. If you are selling online make sure your social media presence does you justice.


Have a look at the post Starting Your Own Business on this blog for more ideas, and this link for tips on success.


And finally, if you are working from home try this design for making a room divider to keep your office separate from the rest of your home.


Don't forget, there is a lot of free information out there, make sure you do your research before you consider paying someone to help you.

Work. Life. Balance.

Work life balance is a phrase that gets bandied about by all sorts of invested parties in the world of work. Often it is over simplified as meaning the proportion of your time you spend in or at work. Equally though it can mean the proportion of your happiness or wellbeing that is a result of your work. Gradually experts in the field are coming to understand that the way work makes a person feel has a direct impact on their effectiveness as an employee.


Having a purpose in life seems to be a vital part of a healthy life, so it makes sense for work to be part of the fulfillment of that purpose. If career and purpose are well aligned then it easier to be fully engaged in your day to day tasks.


Engaging an employee with the work and goals of an organisation can be the difference between motivating him or her to work hard and be creative and active in moving forward, or them slumping over a desk barely getting the basics done.

How does your manager act?

The job interview is an opportunity for you, the would be employee, to find out if a company promotes staff well being and actively finds ways to motivate workers. Ask what the organisation offers in the way of

• staff education and training or CPD
• what opportunities there are to work outside the box of the job description
• what incentives or chances to move up or around the company structure are offered
• what staff support is in place to help on the days or in the periods that anything might not be going so well, this includes sickness payment but also if an employee is struggling with workload or being asked to do things beyond their remit.

Find out if these things are done departmentally by individual managers, or if there is a company wide policy that is implemented by the HR department. Think about which system suits you best. What else do you hope for from your bosses?

Commuting

The Rat Race. It's a term well known for referring to the competitive world of work but can equally be an apt description of the daily commute, particularly in cities. Fares are rising, often  above inflation. 


The route to work maybe a significant factor in deciding whether to apply for or accept any given position.

Is working from home a better option 

One alternative to public transport is to cycle and the Government it encouraging cyclists by offering a tax free Cycle to Work scheme. It is up to employers to join the scheme but as an employee you can ask them to sign up. They may then choose which cycle shops to work with so you may find your local bike store is not part of your employer's arrangements. Never the less, finding the right bike and getting to work under your own steam will improve your fitness and your carbon foot print.


In London and Liverpool river boats are a viable alternative to road travel, as well as a speedy option through congested town centres, a river trip can be a calm and relaxing break from the stresses of every day life. 


One option for reducing transport costs and emissions is car sharing. This can be something informal or something your employers arrange, either way it is most effective if people in the car live close together and are based in the same office. It could even be just one part of your commute, consider sharing with neighbours as far as the station, don't forget though that the costs of using a car are not confined to fuel and parking, and be sure that the driver's insurance covers your car share.


If trains are your best options, check out the Money Saving Expert's guide to finding the best value tickets and take some Real Simple tips on making the best of the commute.








.