I’ve been unemployed for two week and it doesn’t suck. I can do what I want when I want. What really sucks is eventually being broke after running out of money.
I’ve had two multi-month stretches of unemployment since the start of covid, and before that I was employed for 15+ years straight.
The “not working” part never got old. I am a chill person and a homebody so it was wonderful sometimes.
The part about not earning money, yeah that sucked. Living below our means for years made sure that the financial side wasn’t life-shattering, but it was still a huge hit.
Maybe it’s because I lucked into a career that I can be content in but I would rather be employed than unemployed even if I was able to sustain myself through my unemployment. I’m happier if I have a job from which I can derive a sense of purpose and duty. If I was a multimillionaire, I would probably either volunteer or still be working.
Well, working for someone else and working for yourself is different i guess. Drawing cool characters and manga for myself than working for some company making garbage for social media. I don’t consider that 'work 'cuz I love it and have fun. It’s more of a playtime for me. I’m just saying I’d rather be doing that than making ads or editing corporate videos with that jarring background music all day.
I literally work in tech configuring and troubleshooting servers all day. I wouldn’t really call it fun but it is fulfilling.
I assume different people have different needs, but I feel so much more content with life when I get up early and drive my bike to work/Uni. Having some structure forced onto me is just way easier than living from day to day. But I have also struggled with depression in the past, I may require it more than others do.
People that really enjoy being unemployed might have only had jobs that didn’t feel fulfilling or were degrading, annoying or whatever. I used to feel great without work, between jobs because I worked shitty places. Now I have a job doing more useful work with a better environment and it feels nice to be there.
I agree with the depression also, it’s easy for me to procrastinate and be unproductive and live more slovenly, but when I am working more it does force me into a bit better of a routine.
It’s fun for the first few months. Catch up on games movies etc. Gets boring after a few months, most people need goals in life and find it hard to set them for themselves…
And what goals would I be getting done making advertisements to feed on people’s time? I felt like a zombie when I was working. I do understand that if you get a job you really love doing and don’t feel like what you’re putting in your time in isn’t pointless. But that kind of job is very hard to find, and you definitely can set goals for yourself. Opensource projects are a good example of that. Mangas, indie games, etc. You just need enough drugs to make it work.
It’s not impossible, but it can be hard. A job offers some obligated (often real life) social interaction. Might be annoying sometimes, but none at all isn’t healthy either. Many people really aren’t capable of setting goals for themselves, having their own business or networks etc. Most jobs offer more than money to an employee, the employee might not realise it themselves.
