My Problems With The Work Ethic

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I am unemployed (and on the pension) and there's a reason for it.

When I do a job, I won't stop until the job is done to my satisfaction. Doing that, takes about twice as much time as 'normal'.

I don't like doing a rough job just for the sake of time and motion management.

Productivity means doing the best job possible (to the boss' standard), within the most minimum time framework possible, because as we all know, 'time is money' and if you are going slow to do a 'good job', you are only wasting the boss' time.

So, they stand over you (or get a supervisor - why they are called 'supervisors') to do it, not only telling you what to do, but how to do it, reminding you that it all should have been done yesterday.

Not only that, I have a huge problem with what I like to call 'cockblockers' - human beings who place many obstacles in your way while you are trying to work, delaying you on purpose, so that you get into trouble for 'going slow' and they come out of it with a promotion, praise and such.

People learn the art of 'cockblocking' at a very young age!! ! (my niece and nephew are professionals at it).

You feed them until they are full, get them anything they want to drink, make sure they are all okay...go to wash up the dishes and they will STILL find a bloody excuse to NEED to use the kitchen and get in your way for the next half an hour while you are trying to work!

You ask them to take a shower...they refuse UNTIL it's time for me to clean the bathroom or take a crap and they do it on purpose just as an 'attention-seeking' game and it drives me insane...TOTALLY insane and I have a meltdown, start stimming and cannot work then....that's the end of it.

I also cannot say anything or chastise them because they are not my kids (I just 'babysit' twice a week - they are 11 and 13) and their parents don't care about discipline and let them run amok and have their own way ALWAYS. Never have I seen such spoiled children!

Anyway, another example of cockblocking are those who give you impossible tasks and expect their completion.

I got a note today from my sister; 'can you please go down to the wood pile and chop some wood for me? I'd like to get the fire going tonight'.

It is raining torrentially and has been doing so for the past three days...

Yeah, cockblockers - I hate 'em with a passion.

I'd like a job where I have a 'to do list' and I am given a reasonable amount of time to finish my 'to do list' in the way that I want to accomplish the tasks on my 'to do list' (I refuse to do a job according to another's way, because that always leaves me asking 'well, why do you need ME to do it when you can do it yourself then? - then I get fired), without anybody supervising/observing me while I do my items on my 'to do list' and nagging at me and without any fellow workers interrupting me while I do those items on my 'to do list'...I just want everybody to piss off and just leave me alone to work, until the jobs are done and I will inform them at that time.

Unfortunately, a job like that doesn't and will never exist...and hence why I totally refuse to work or gain employment, no matter what.

I have a job like that and I wish that I was supervised more because although I enjoy my job I wonder if we are productive enough. That concerns me because I want to stay in this job, but if we don't make money on the work I do then I become a financial liability and may loose my job.

Plus I am the youngest employee here and when everyone else retires I wonder if I am learning my trade well enough to get another job in this industry.

The grass is always greener on the other side so they say.

1. You need a job where your OCD-ish drive to do things perfectly is desired. Otherwise, you need to have the employer/supervisor define was is "acceptable" and learn to let it go when it meets that standard.

2. To deal with "cockblockers," you need to diligently document what they are doing and take it up with the appropriate people OVER them or OUTSIDE the "chain of command" to show that your poor performance is caused by other employees and not your own ineptitude. You also need to learn to assert yourself to keep them from getting in the way of you doing your job.

The first issue is easier to deal with than the second. Often, you won't be hired if the boss doesn't want someone OCD about getting things right...or if you can't learn to let stuff pass when it's not perfect. Our problem is more about knowing what is "good enough" rather than being unable to let anything pass that's less than perfect.

The second issue requires that management actually MANAGE their staff, and in most places, they are incompetent in that area...seeking the simplest resolution rather than the proper one.

There are very few jobs where perfection is prioritized over speed and volume. Two that come to mind are art restoration and surgery. In both those jobs the person is supposed to take as long as it takes to get it done perfectly.

However, there are plenty of people wiling to pay high for perfect work as long as they don't have to personally wait for the work to be done and pay per hour. If you self-employ as a creator of objects that you then sell, you can take as long as you like. The catch is you need a skill to make these objects. But if you can hone a craftsman skill, etsy.com is a wonderful marketplace.

I wanted to share this quote about embracing imperfection: