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Conned by the 9-to-5 myth

I was brought up to be a security junkie. Happiness was the knowledge of a salary at the end of the month. You could plan your finances, you could pay your bills, and banks would give you credit. In short, you had somewhere to go to on Monday mornings whether you felt like it or not.

It also meant joining traffic jams twice a day, having to ask your boss at the age of 50 for permission to go the doctor, and spending time in large, open offices with people you would not necessarily have chosen. Then there are the endless meetings and the Saturday shopping crowds you can’t avoid.

The corporate personality


How good are you at playing the corporate game? It takes a special kind of personality, and I became acutely aware of the fact that I didn’t have it, nor wanted to have it.

Don’t get me wrong – I have worked in really interesting places, met an array of astonishing people, built up a range of skills that has served me well, and earned enough money to serve most of my needs during that time.

And then a series of events took place that made freedom beckon. A terrifying prospect, indeed. That first month when on pay day there was no dull thud of a salary cheque falling into my bank account, just a hollow ring, I could feel panic setting in.

But then I remembered - freelance work mostly pays only 30 days from invoice date.

Well, I’ve been lucky. I have had steady work for five months from many sources (I had had serious visions of landing in the night shelter or my mother’s garage). I am also acutely aware of the fact that had I not done the 9 – 5 drill for so many years I wouldn’t have had these contacts, so I am not bashing full-time work for one moment.

Tough economic times


I also know that these are hard times for freelancers and many have opted to go back into full-time employment, if they can find it. So I am not saying you should immediately desert your post and head for the blue yonder. It’s a big step.

But all of this has got me thinking about why we look at a 9 – 5 as our only employment possibility?

Think of the fear and panic that takes hold of an office when retrenchments loom – anyone would swear they were drawing lots for an execution.
And while financial destitution is no joke, there are thousands who do make it on their own. It’s tough in this economic climate, I know, but not nearly as impossible as I expected it to be.

My stress levels have gone down by 1000%, I sleep until I have had enough in the mornings, I can choose when I want to work and get to structure my day around my own needs. OK, I still have to earn a living, so I am working pretty hard, but seem to be earning more than before. I am not quite sure how that has happened, but the security junkie in me is saving for a rainy day. I think salaries are structured to be just a fraction too tight. It keeps people nailed to the perch, as it is difficult to build up any financial reserves.

The debt trap


Debt also traps people who are employed. People will lend you money if you have a payslip. Your car, house and credit card repayments are so high, you are effectively locked in. And it’s not just debt that chains you to your desk – it’s also the benefits you have grown used to: medical scheme, housing fund, car allowance, a pension fund.

I am not suggesting you all leave your jobs, but just keep in mind that there might be an alternative way to work and to cover your costs. And it might be more flexible and less stressful.

But before you do it, you need to get rid of all your debt, start doing freelance work on the side, make sure your contacts are solid, and build up a reserve of a few months’ salary, just so you won’t lie awake. (I did all these things,and still couldn’t sleep.)

The working world is definitely changing. Large offices might even be a thing of the past in a few decades. But I still wonder in whose interest it is to pay people for their time rather than their output – and to keep them stuck in their places of work. There’s something very Victorian about it.

But maybe, just maybe you can fly the perch and not face financial ruin. To quote Salley Vickers: “Somewhere in our being the scent of freedom lingers”.

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