1. Does anyone have some quick and effective frustration beaters? I'm stuck working on a project that has me pulling my hair out, but I've got to get it done and don't have time to find a punching bag or go for a walk in the park.

2. I've been working in offices for the last few years and I'm tired of it (see above). I want to find a different kind of job, but my imagination is so stunted from all these years under flourescents that I can't even figure where to look first. Tips anyone?

3. Why can't working be more fun???

What's your job?? Is it fun for you?

My job has its good times and bad times, like most I speculate. For now, I think I'll keep it.

But it is also the truth that sometimes it takes more than an attitude adjustment for life to be more pleasant. Sometimes a person has to change their real, material situation. Like me, for instance, who really needs to find a different kind of job before I go off the deep end, pushed over the edge by three too many triplicate photocopies.

There must be some other way to earn my living...

[ September 24, 2002: Message edited by: Lima Bean ]

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But it is also the truth that sometimes it takes more than an attitude adjustment for life to be more pleasant. Sometimes a person has to change their real, material situation.

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I think, though, unfortunately, that the type of work I'm currently doing is just not what I'm best at, and not what I like, and so it's quite frustrating and disheartening.

I am definitely finding other ways to entertain myself and keep my brain alive while I'm here at work. Thanks to babble, I've still got all my hair.

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There must be some other way to earn my living...

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And knowing I can wring another foot a minute from my line is, like, orgasmic!

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*gufaw*

I know.

[ September 29, 2002: Message edited by: audra estrones ]

I agree with those who suggest should assess what you would like to do, then take steps to get there. Of maybe what you're doing is OK, you just don't like being in an office. Or you don't like the nine to five routine.

Careers

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2000
Articles | Ask the experts
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The Rules of the Game
Celebrity bon vivant Ben Stein offers helpful advice for the hardworking.

By Ben Stein

When I think about jobs and money and success, I am drawn to memories of a
boy I will call Phil.
He and I were in college together. He was always a quiet, unobtrusive
fellow, but no student. He
was not physically prepossessing--more pudgy, sweaty, and hairy--and he
certainly lacked even
a shred of charm. Phil is also the richest man I know. And I barely know
him now because he still
lacks even a shred of charm and can really only talk about how rich he is.

Rule 1: Find the Right Business
So why are the fantastically smart boys and girls I went to school with
still struggling as law school
teachers, trying to make that next payment on a Camry? Why did they become
corporate lawyers,
happy if they can balance a home and a vacation house? Why did they become
doctors, wondering
if they can get by until Medicare cares to send them their next
reimbursement? How did Phil, of all
people, get so rich?

Because he followed the number one rule of making money: he got into a good
business. By total
chance, mostly because he could not find another thing to do, he went to
work for a well-to-do
retired scientist. That scientist became a venture capitalist. He had Phil
bring coffee to the meetings.
Then, because he trusted Phil, he brought him in as a partner in his
business. And this was in the late
1960s, when venture capital lived in the servants' quarters of capitalism.

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No amount of money compensates for the horror of working at a job where the
blood flows backward
in your veins as you do your daily tasks.
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Times changed. Venture capital turned out to be one of the great businesses
of all time. If you are
involved with it, you cannot help but make a killing. You can be a pleasant
guy--well, not really pleasant,
but passable--and still make a fortune just on the lucky shots. Meanwhile,
there is no money to be
made in teaching and little to be made in law, unless you're in the
plaintiffs' class action bar. That's
almost as good as venture capital. Nowadays, it seems, you won't get rich
in medicine unless you're
in elective surgery.

Thus, I offer the main rule of making money in your career: go into a
career where people actually
make money. This would include finance of most kinds, but mostly investment
baking and venture
capital. Huge amounts of money slosh through those fields. You need only
have a tiny bit stick to your
fingers and you're all set. On the other hand, tiny little dribs and drabs
drip through academe, unless
you work in the endowment side. And even if you get an endowed
professorship, you might live on peanuts.

You may hate working in a counting house. And, of course, the old cliche
dictates that you must
work in a field you like. That's true. No amount of money compensates for
the horror of working at
a job where the blood flows backward in your veins as you do your daily
tasks. It is far better to work
at a poorly paid job you enjoy than to spend your one and only life doing
time.

Rule 2: Don't Settle
But how happy can you be if you're broke all of the time? Yes, a few saints
can work for low or no
pay and still love it. But it's far better to find the work you love and
the salary you want. Hence, I offer
rule number two: try a lot of different things in the work department
before you settle on something--and
even then, don't settle. You do not know your range of talents unless you
venture into a number of
different fields. If you venture into enough of them, you will likely find
one that you enjoy and that pays
a good wage. In a nutshell, commit yourself to activity and inner mobility,
the logic of the cowboy, which
I long ago described as "Bunkhouse Logic."

Rule 3: There's No Substitute For Hard Work
Rule three: work hard. No one will want you and you will be of negative
utility to your employers unless
you work hard. By this I do not mean working until midnight during the week
and every Saturday or Sunday.
You should focus on what you are doing, pay attention, don't talk to your
girlfriend on the phone, don't listen
to the radio. Learn from those around you and get your assigned tasks done.
No employer benefits from
lazy and disorganized personnel. Remember that you are always your own
employer; you derive most of
the benefit of your labor, such as it is.

If you make yourself into a well-oiled (preferably not with alcohol)
machine, you will reap the rewards for life.
There is no payoff in being lazy on the job, and none from being surly, and
none from disorganization. Learn
this, pay attention to it, and you will be far ahead of the game.

Rule 4: Learn All You Can
Keep learning about the world around you. You cannot expect that you have
gotten a lifetime's worth of
knowledge in any school. You have to add to it constantly. Read, read, read
about your field and others
that interest you.

Finally, and of vital importance, I would advise you to save money. Save
enough so that you can change
jobs, take time off to consider your direction, and follow another path.
In this life, savings are not an option
but a necessity. The more you have, the freer you are to make something
happen in a big way. And you
will also be preparing for a less active life, which we all confront at
some point.

Were you taking notes?

Work in a good business
Work in a good business that you enjoy
Try new things
Be active
Be effective and productive in your work
Stay informed about your world
Save money
That's it for now. Class dismissed.