Back

Bad habits of full time work

3rd May 2018

Article written by:

Chris from iContract

As a full time employee, you’re likely to be fairly content with your work. But there are many cases now of people who find their full time roles extremely rewarding! If you’re one of those people, good for you! But there are in fact a lot of people out there who are unsatisfied with their jobs. But not to a point where they are so unsatisfied they decide to quit their full time role. No, instead they decide to trudge on unhappily, grinding through their miserly, daily commute and rigid 9 to 5.

This acceptance of inevitably in a permanent role is just one of the biggest bad habits of full time work. There are other negative rituals that become a regular, almost daily occurrence for full-time workers – so what are they?

Clock watching

Imagine the scenario; it’s Friday afternoon, it’s sunny outside and the weekend is almost upon us. Like the productive worker you are, you’re fully caught up with your work and there are no immediate or even long term requirements to deal with. But it’s 4 pm and you’ve got to show willing till 5 pm or even 6 pm. The rest of your afternoon you’re left twiddling your thumbs and impatiently watching the clock tick by.

Wouldn’t it be great to be in a role where a work day would finish when you’ve finished your work?

Working beyond what’s required

Full time work can be like a marathon. It’s an upward climb in which you invest extra time and effort in your work to only be rewarded long-term at occasional points throughout your journey. Whether it’s working that extra hour late to get that project over the line, or coming in extra early to be ahead of the curve, or even investing some time over the weekend into extra work. Whatever the extra input, there is sadly no extra reward for this. Any reward you may get for this, will likely to not make a huge impact on your life for the short-term and there’s likely only be long-term recognition.

Wouldn’t it be great to be in a role where you’re rewarded for all the work you do and where you’re rewarded instantly?

Getting too comfortable

Full time work can become a routine. Wake up, go to work, do work, go home, eat dinner, watch TV, go to sleep and repeat. Going down this path, it’s easy to get stuck in a bubble where you’ve become too comfortable with your work routine. As a result, your career stagnates as you’re not challenging yourself or finding time to enhance your offering. From there it’s an uphill struggle to positively change your life for the better.

Wouldn’t it be great to be in a role that was constantly changing and offering you different challenges all the time?

Negativity

All of the above bad habits can lead you into a negative spiral about your work. It leaves you cynical about the work you do and you’re quick to share this cynicism with others and complain about your work without actually doing anything about it.

Wouldn’t it be great to be in a role that you were extremely positive about all the time and you found challenging and exciting all the time?


Say goodbye to the bad habits of full-time work and become a contractor today! No more clock watching and being overworked and underpaid, and instead work on exciting projects that challenge you in new and exciting ways!

Start your contractor journey today with iContract and join our growing contractor community. Register for free at www.icontract.co.uk