Low-Stress Jobs

[Pointedstick]

Engineering is rough. Really rough. But I've never been unemployed a day in my life despite being laid off in 2009 and working 3 jobs since then. The flexibility and compensation makes it tough to beat at supporting a family (married no kids yet).

However the stress is hard to manage.

I'll bet in the city it's even worse.

RE is absolutely right that it's unbeatable for raising a family (wife, one kid). MT is right that its really rough doing it in a city--especially the SF Bay Area where rents are through the roof and home ownership is pretty much out of reach.

[RuralEngineer]

Engineering is rough. Really rough. But I've never been unemployed a day in my life despite being laid off in 2009 and working 3 jobs since then. The flexibility and compensation makes it tough to beat at supporting a family (married no kids yet).

However the stress is hard to manage.

I'll bet in the city it's even worse.

I avoid cities like grim death, so other than my year at Cessna before receiving the WARN notice where I was a single renter in Wichita, I've commuted.

[dragoncar]

I should explain that what motivated me to start this thread was that I found out this past week that one of my coworkers--an extremely intelligent, talented guy in his early 30s, single with no kids--is going to be taking an unpaid leave of absence for a few months so that he can "figure out what he wants to do." Realistically, he probably won't be returning; the "leave of absence" thing is just a formality to keep all of his options open. (No need to close doors unnecessarily, I suppose.)

I'm really curious what his (intended?) process is for figuring this out.  I'm on the ERE path (actually there for the most part, just slowly lowering my withdrawal rate to safer limits) but I haven't pulled the cord because I'm not sure exactly what I'd do.  If after a year off I decide I want to do X, I'm worried that the employment gap would close doors.  So I've been trying to determine "what I'd really like to do" but haven't found much guidance on this besides "do what you love.". And if you don't know what you love because you've been employed for maximum profit for too many years?

[notsheigetz]

I should explain that what motivated me to start this thread was that I found out this past week that one of my coworkers--an extremely intelligent, talented guy in his early 30s, single with no kids--is going to be taking an unpaid leave of absence for a few months so that he can "figure out what he wants to do." Realistically, he probably won't be returning; the "leave of absence" thing is just a formality to keep all of his options open. (No need to close doors unnecessarily, I suppose.)

When my first wife died of lung cancer about 13 years ago and I was left raising a grandchild by myself, I took the better part of a couple of years off to "figure out what I wanted to do".  I was 50 years old at the time. I had enough money to do it but unfortunately I'm paying for it now by having to work a few years longer than I would have liked.

Still, if you hate your job that bad and you can afford to do it, I say go for it. I didn't find much I wanted to do beside driving around the country in my RV and drinking beer while watching the sunset but you never know until you try.

[RuralEngineer]

Between hunting, fishing, and raising/growing my own food I'm set on what to do if I can get the financial security to pull it off.

I have more than enough hobbies to occupy myself without working for a wage.

[Tortoise]

I'm really curious what his (intended?) process is for figuring this out.  I'm on the ERE path (actually there for the most part, just slowly lowering my withdrawal rate to safer limits) but I haven't pulled the cord because I'm not sure exactly what I'd do.  If after a year off I decide I want to do X, I'm worried that the employment gap would close doors.  So I've been trying to determine "what I'd really like to do" but haven't found much guidance on this besides "do what you love.". And if you don't know what you love because you've been employed for maximum profit for too many years?

I'm not sure what his process is for figuring out what he wants to do. He's a laconic guy and we're not that close, so I haven't tried dragging details out of him. My guess is that he has one or two ideas for alternate careers that he might investigate during his leave of absence. If nothing pans out, he will still be able to return to the company since he isn't "quitting."

As for not knowing what you love because you've been employed for maximum profit for too many years: All the more reason for a dissatisfied person to pull the cord earlier rather than later in life, no? Life paths have inertia, so the longer we stay on a given path, the harder it is to extricate ourselves from it.

If you hate your job that bad and you can afford to do it, I say go for it. I didn't find much I wanted to do beside driving around the country in my RV and drinking beer while watching the sunset but you never know until you try.

Sounds good to me!

Shop Class as Soulcraft sounds like a great read -- I'm going to check it out.

I picked it up from the library based on Tyler's recommendation, too. It's pretty good so far.

[gizmo_rat]

If after a year off I decide I want to do X, I'm worried that the employment gap would close doors. 

I had and still have to some degree similar worries, the way I work around it is by transitioning out by freelancing. Your resume turns into specific projects without dates so no gaps are apparent in the same way as stopping one permanent job and starting another.

What I found was I did actually quite like my work, my dissatisfaction stemmed from the corporate bollocks that had entwined it. That said, 4 - 6 months a year is plenty enough and surprisingly with the more favorable tax regime that goes with operating as a company, I'm still "accumulating". 

I'm with notsheigetz on the sunset and beer, sometimes just staring into space is the thing you need to do most, but you don't know till you try.

Reminds me, I came across this article the other day where people talk about the stresses in their jobs, as a result regrettably I've had to cross bikini waxer off my list of possible future careers. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/ma ... about-work
 

[annieB]

Sitting in Forseth Park in the historic district of Savannah,Ga.,people watching and taking in some rays.
I found that for me,I had to be self employed to be happy working.Worth a try..

[flyingpylon]

Sitting in Forseth Park in the historic district of Savannah,Ga.,people watching and taking in some rays.
I found that for me,I had to be self employed to be happy working.Worth a try..

I'm very jealous... I love Savannah's historic district.  Enjoy!