Making the most of working a full-time job when you have other pursuits
If youâre reading this and youâre working a dull-time job, sorry, full-time job then this is for you.
If this masterpiece is too long for email, you can read it here in Substack. Or download the app.
As I write this Iâm currently in the toilet. Too Much Info? YES! But Iâm labouring the point in real-time.
Iâve wasted [too much] time moaning about my job to myself and my colleagues. They share my dissatisfaction but then nothing changes. So Iâve knocked that on the head and now Iâm making the best use of my time in gainful full-time employment.
Iâve been reflecting on where that dissatisfaction comes from, more so what is it exactly. I donât love or hate my job, I think itâs ok, itâs the best job Iâve had, so then why the nagging feeling for something different?
Let me tell you. For me, itâs the lack of freedom and the subject matter of said employment. Iâve tasted freedom as a younger man when I was doing freelance web design, it is an absolute miracle how I kept afloat with the amounts of anxiety I had, but on the whole, I was content with the freedom equation of it all.
One time I decided to do some work from the OXO Tower Cafè in London, I sat there watching over the river Thames, high up on the 6th floor, drinking a £6 pot of Earl Grey (that was extortion back in 2009, well for me anyway) and in that moment I was so grateful not to have a boss.
I hadnât really experienced much full-time exploitation employment other than contract work, and jobs in warehouses and building sites, but I had relative time freedom. Iâm ignoring the fact that I was highly socially anxious and found it hard to get a job for now, as I often regret not doing more with my life in my twenties.
So fast forward to 2016, Iâm employed in a proper job, I start to feel secure work-wise, I have regular money coming, I pay towards our wedding, things are great, and I got out of debt too. Fast forward to now, 8 years later, Iâm buying my first home with my wife and Iâm making my escape plan from 9-5 work, working towards my life as a highly paid professional artist (Note: This is the whole point of my Substack).
I went off on a bit of a tangent there but itâs all related, Iâve experienced both employment and self-employment and they both have their pros and cons which I wonât list here. But if youâre working full time, please at least try and tolerate it for now, rather than loathe it. Do things towards your own pursuits in those little moments. You own a device you couldnât even dream of having 20 years ago (if youâre old enough to know the internet sans mobilè).
After reading
âs books, I make so much use of my work time to do other useful shit.What I now do in lunch breaks at work*
Pay bills
Do the online food shopping at Asda
Work on Crypt art exhibition planning
General life admin
Book Holidays
Plan my weekend
Write my Substack
Have a Power Nap or meditation session
Print postage labels for my latest sold eBay items
Create graphics on Canva
Print letters and place them in envelopes
Renew my car insurance
The thing is, weâre so focused on work when weâre at work, that we donât think weâre allowed to do anything else. Sounds silly, of course, we are supposed to work at work, but dear reader, we are in 2024 and the world is different to when my dad was a painter and decorator in the 1980s. Especially if you work in an office now.
When you start to realise how precious time is (Iâm not being smug, I always forget) you can make the most out of your working day to do other things. Of course, this mainly applies to office workers, but even in other industries, you have a toilet and a smartphone, itâs just the case of knowing what to focus on and when. (I do hope you do have a toilet at work, unless, you are employed by a kebab van).
Itâs all down to the context, if you have something creative or important to work on combined with the self-permission you might need, you can do other things in between times at work. Iâm back in the toilet now and writing a few words whilst I poo, just kidding, itâs number 1 this time but Iâm just getting a few words in while I can.
and have both been my muses for making use of my time as a âwage slaveâ as Rob calls it. Heâs become free from employment for years now and helps others to do the same through his brilliant writing.Everyone has time, even the busiest of the busiest people who have the most kids. You donât feel like you have time is the truth if you really think about it. Itâs having the headspace to say to yourself âI have 2 minutes, letâs send that email proposal offâ instead of spending two minutes auto-scrolling on your phone. You donât have to have something to work towards like me and your exhibition, you can just have a simple list of errands and life admin (some twat ex-colleague called it âLadminâ one, and the idiot booked a day off for Ladmin! What a waste! will hate the term Ladmin, I will tell him about it).
Iâm now eating a Brie & Cranberry Sauce Wrap by UpperCrust, sitting in a blue pod, looking out the window at a bush thatâs obstructing my view of the car park full of Teslas. Thank you, Bush. I was so engrossed in coding today that I forgot to eat lunch, my colleague exclaimed my craziness but I totally forgot myself and the idea of food didnât appear in my interiority. Itâs not the same âlosing myselfâ as when Iâm painting but itâs still a âlosing myselfâ all the same. Coding for me is more like a âfuck fuck fuck fuckâ followed by some âyay it worksâ but itâs a fun, mentally engaging exchange. Painting has a fluidity to it, devoid of any tension, and total freedom.
A 2023 study by Gallup found that a whopping 66% of UK workers are spending more time daydreaming about lunch than actually caring about their jobs. And if thatâs not sad enough, another 18% are so fed up they might as well come to work with a giant âI Quitâ sign strapped to their back. Now, they didnât quite say everyone âhatesâ their job, but letâs be honest if youâre counting down the minutes to the weekend by Monday lunchtime, itâs not exactly love, is it?
My closing point is this: make the most of your work time at work to do other things, so you can free up your spare time. This includes doing things that are small steps towards your own pursuits or another job youâd truly love.
If you want some other workplace-related reading by yours truly (that you can read while at work), check out these two posts.
Love to you full-time workers out there!
Thank you for reading,
SLART
Some cool related links:
- âs books: https://amzn.to/3XSHvR9
Robâs Mag: https://newescapologist.co.uk
- post entitled: âWork Firstâ is a Sickness: Itâs NOT Following Your Calling.
Bethâs free resources: https://raisingclarity.com/raising-clarity-instant-downloads/#instant
*When I say âlunch breaksâ I mean any possible scrap of time I can in the day between other tasks. đ¤Ť
Wise, wise words - especially what you've said about time. I never have enough time - but I have SOOOO much time at the same time. It's a paradox. I just need to SPEND IT BETTER.
It cuts both ways, of course - sometimes time can feel hard to fill. I was listening to an audiobook yesterday and had to hit the pause button to note down these words:
"It was possible that her problem in life was not to save time, but to occupy it.'
Really made me think, that one!
I'm so tickled you are evangelising about this, SLART! I loved your wicked wanting to tell Wringham about "ladmin". And your candor about when, um, exactly you wrote this post. It's very very inspiring.
PS: The "free resources" link you shared aren't all free. Just full disclosure! Folks will find lots of free things there, however, and in my blog about the whole "work first" thing. WOW.