Why moving to a 9 – 5 job is perfect for me

I sometimes read posts about people loving the fact that they can finally leave the 9-5 world and work in a more flexible manner and do what they want. But as someone who has worked in a shifted format in cinema’s, retail shops and warehouses for the past 14 years. I have the exact opposite opinion now that I am moving to the 9-5 world to the point where I am stupidly excited about it. Here is why.

Hello weekends

If you have worked in any job that involves weekends, you will know that it can be grating when trying to make plans with friends and family over the weekend. Imagine having to request time off and hope someone hasn’t gotten in there first to spend time with people over a two day period where the vast majority of people have off as standard. It is difficult, you occasionally (read most of the time) have to plan your things midweek and that is only during the evening for the most part.

When you are a teenager or a student, it is an acceptable thing to do really. The weekend is when you are free to work, as you aren’t studying or have classes during the weekday. But when you hit post University or college and you are still in that sector, it can be annoying. Writing (well typing) this makes me realise how ungrateful I could potentially be sounding, but seriously, since University I have worked in cinemas, that is 8 years. Yes, I have been lucky to move to management and reach other positions in that time and have great experiences and opportunities. But to have evenings and weekends to plan things instead of maybe just the morning time as you are working at 12 or 2pm is stress relieving. I am not on the clock on what I can do before I go to work.

Bye bye working over the holidays

Working in the environment that I did, also meant one thing, having to work on days that EVERYONE YOU KNOW HAS OFF. Meaning working Christmas Eve, Boxing Day etc. Days where you are meant to be around your family and enjoying a little time off, nope. In work at 9am on Boxing Day or until 11pm on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, in many cases with no extra pay was heartbreaking, I think especially more so for me now when I think I have two young nephews and I want to be able to see them on these occasions

In my new position, I will even get Bank Holidays off, I will have never been in a job that gives me so much time off before. I remember being in England and because of my job I couldn’t fly home for Christmas because I was contractually obligated to stay and work on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, with the potential of  Christmas Day. That one not only broke my heart but my mother’s. To the point where I left that job, just to make sure that I wasn’t in that position again as although I am not a home bird, I had a horrid time not being with my family or even seeing them on Christmas Day. I had to post my presents to them and I wasn’t even in that well paid a job. If I was earning a considerable sum, I would have maybe have made them come to me as I could afford it for a few days. Luckily I had a friend who took me in with their family for the day so I didn’t spend it alone. But yeah, not fun.

Structure

One of the appeals to me other than the obvious is that I have a structure. I like that I know what I am doing every week for the foreseeable future. From 9am –  5pm I will be working, so now I can plan my blogging, time with Victoria and friends and my design work which I have been neglecting. Working says a 2 -10pm shift means you have to plan your day in this small window of 9-1pm. But maybe not even that depending on when you finished the night before. For instance, I like to try and walk home if the weather is on my side. So that means if I finished at 11pm then I would not get home until midnight. So I probably wouldn’t get to sleep until 1 or 2am.

So you almost have to be lucky with your shifts to allow you to plan things. As if I got up at 7 or 8am from that late shift I would have to cook breakfast and my food for the rest of the day (luckily I like a good meal prep) but that could take an hour or two, so it is now maybe 10am before you can do something with your day, but you have to leave your home or to work at 1pm. 3 hours maximum you are no limited to do something for the entire day. So for the fitness orientated like me, that just means a run or gym session is all I can spare for myself that day. Frustrating.

Now though, I can get up at 6am, make breakfast make lunch and pack a couple of snacks and either run into work at 7.30 or 8am and get that morning cardio sorted or pop into the gym near work and have a quick workout and then hit work. Finish at 5pm and either run home or go for a nice walk home, or even the gym for the first (or second) time that day. The point I am making is that in this case, I have options. I can do my workout before or after work and still be home for 7pm and have 5 hours to do things for myself or with others. Great!

An actual lunch break

This might sound weird, but since I moved to management in cinema’s, unless I had a shift that was in the office during a 9 -5 time, I couldn’t have a set lunch break. I couldn’t leave the building unless another manager was there, I couldn’t have a potentially peaceful break as I could be snapped up and needed for something while I was eating, which causes you to almost stuff the food into your face to make sure you don’t get stopped. Or you pick at your food all day instead. Which can be frustrating, but I have lived with that for a number of years in various jobs.

But when I had my chat about my new position, they mentioned that I got 40 minutes or so lunch break every day and I just have to let someone in the office know that I am off on it… I must have responded with something weird as they said that if I needed more time for a break then I could, I would just need to stay on a little longer. I had to explain the reason for whatever sound I emitted and said that the 40 minutes or so was perfect. They did laugh at my anecdote though.

 

So in closing, I am very excited for the structure that my life will have now, but I can fondly think back on my time in a world of shifts, but my time in that world has ended (for now) I am welcoming 9-5 with open arms and can firmly say that I will not be a “working for the weekend person” as I will just be happy not to be working in the evening anymore. So if you are in a shop, cinema, or anywhere where someone is working in the evening and weekend, be nice to them, their free time can be limited if they are in a full-time position.

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