Your day-to-day work life
I'm writing a life advice book for my daughter. She just turned four and can't read yet, but I figure she'd be able to read it when she gets into her college years. At least, I hope she reads it ;).
I'm currently writing the career section, and one of the suggestions I have is to reflect on what she wants her day-to-day work life to look like.
Here is an excerpt from the draft :
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It’s critical that you pay attention to what you like and whether your chosen career will realistically allow you to do that. It may turn out you like going into the office because you have good friends there, there are free snacks, and the work is interesting. Or, you may not want to be an entrepreneur because of the instability, but you may want to become a teacher because you get the summer off to do something interesting. Perhaps you want to be a park ranger because you spend all your day outside and fresh air makes you feel happy. There are lots of options.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to help with this reflection process
- How antsy do I feel by 2 PM in the office?
- Is my commute terrible? Can I work from home instead? Do I like working from home?
- How much better do I feel working outside, even in bad weather?
- Do I feel trapped by only being able to take three weeks of vacation per year?
- Is my work getting in the way of doing other important things in my life?
- Does my work allow me to live in the place I want to?
As you think about your answers to those types of questions and get a stronger sense of what you do and don’t like in a work environment, you can start making moves to doing what you’d like. For example, say you work an office job that is based in a major city but you want to move to a mountainy area so you can go hiking (for some reason lots of people like moving to Colorado). If you get good enough at your job, you can negotiate a remote work agreement and make that move. Or, if your company is inflexible, you can find a different job in Colorado.
The key is to think both creatively and realistically and about how you can progress towards a vision of your day-to-day life that will make you happy.
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Ah I love quoting myself.
When it comes to going 1099 in the federal space, it gives you a unique set of opportunities and constraints. In my world, I have to be onsite if I'm doing billable work, which I have gotten tired of. On the other hand, I can make a lot more money and take more time off, which is fantastic.
If you do the same reflection exercise I advised my daughter to do, you may find that going 1099 moves you closer to what you want your day-to-day work life to look like.
If it doesn't, that's also good to know and you can stop wasting time trying to pursue it.
Either way, take some time to reflect, and then take incremental actions to move you closer to your ideal lifestyle.
Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.