Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I wish I could work.* I want to get off benefits and be independent. I want to be able to buy a new sweater. I want to move to a new apartment and afford the neighborhood I like.
Those desires are all well and good, but they don’t change the reality. The reality is that I’m not ready to work yet. The 
reality is that when I do return to work, it will probably be for about 5 hours per week at a low wage. I still won’t be able to afford my current expenses, never mind adding any to the list. And I can’t change that right now.
So as long as I can’t work anyway, I might as well focus on the good things about not working. Here are just a few:
- No commute! Not having to deal with traffic and/or crowded trains is fantastic at any time of year, but Boston has been buried under snow recently. Streets are narrow, parking is impossible, trains are breaking down, and commuters are miserable. Then there’s the ridiculous amount of time spent commuting each week. I’m glad to avoid that mess!
- Avoiding crowds and long lines! When I worked, it was always at a 9-5 kind of job. That means I did errands when most people did them: in the evenings and on the weekends. Since I’m not working, I make sure to only do errands on weekdays, and it’s great! There’s little traffic and few lines. Things like grocery shopping are so much easier when the roads and stores are mostly empty!
- Lounging in bed! Sometimes I have plans of some sort, but most mornings I have nowhere to be. I wake up to an alarm to keep myself on a certain sleep schedule, but then I lay around reading until I feel like getting up. This morning I spent 1/2 hour in bed fantasizing about what I’d do if I won the lottery. Because why not? I get up when I feel like it and not a moment before.
- No bad bosses! I’ve had my fair share of lousy bosses over the years. There was one good boss, and I loved that job. The others were horrible. It’s easy to forget about those crappy bosses sometimes, but when friends complain about their bosses, I remember how miserable it was. And I’m thrilled that I don’t have to do deal with their bullshit anymore!
- Skipping lousy weather! Sure, sometimes I’m seeing a friend or going to the doctor, but most days I have a lot of flexibility in whether or not I leave the house, or I can change things. I watch friends complain about going to work in downpours, blizzards, blistering heat, and arctic cold, while I enjoy my cozy apartment. If I have plans with friends and we see bad weather in the forecast, we just move things to a different day. Easy! I rarely go out in bad weather if I don’t want to.
- My time is mine! I remember those bullshit meetings where we all sat around talking and nothing useful got done. I remember sitting at my desk with nothing to do, but not being allowed to leave. I remember having to schedule time to use the bathroom. I remember getting chewed out for being 5 minutes coming back from my lunch break. And I don’t miss any of it. Now I spend my time how I want to. Ok, I can’t always do the things I want to do, but at least those limitations are set by my body (or some other reasonable source) and not by some boss or company. I do what I want to do when I want to do it and I don’t need to get permission from anyone. I feel free!
I can think of so many other great things** about not working, but these are definitely some of the best. When I think about these, I’m glad not to be going in to an office every day. Sure, a salary would be nice, but since I don’t have that option, these reminders sure help to lessen the sting!
What about you? What are some things you don’t miss at all about working at a job? Let’s get a list going in the comments!
*Note: When I talk about “work” I mean at a paid job. Obviously we all work a lot on maintaining our health, managing our households, navigating doctors and insurance companies, and so much more. Unfortunately, we don’t get paid for that kind of work.
**Note 2: I intentionally didn’t mention how great it is to have the time and flexibility to take care of my health. I think that for a lot of us, that’s a given. Trying to get time off for doctor appointments, ducking out of meetings to take medications, not being able to each the provided food at a lunch meeting and all the rest was frustrating, stressful, and detrimental to my own self-care. I could write an entire post just on that. Maybe one of these days I will. For now, I decided not to get distracted with this, but feel free to mention it in the comments if it’s what comes to mind for you!
Chronic Rants 
Being a part of my family has been the best thing for me. I’ve always had jobs where I worked long hours – or worse yet worked 8 hours but couldn’t let things go in my brain!
I’ve been a sahm now for 7 years, my younger 2 were 13 and 8 at the time. It was an important time for me to be available.
It also had the added benefit (in my eyes) of making my husband look outside his comfort zone for work. Even tho I got SSDI right away, it’s nowhere near what I earned. Bills still had to be paid. He’s happier now then if he’d stayed in his rut.
I find the not having to go out a bit of a double edged sword. It’s hard for me to get out the door nowadays. Why leave the comfort of my chair and Internet? LOL
Wow, it sounds like things worked out really well for you all! You got to be a sahm like you wanted and your husband even got a *better* job – congratulations!
I can’t think of anything else. Sometimes I miss even the bad things.
Hugs xx
I know what you mean, Lorna.