the zero hour work week

[Valhalla]

I am at a very weird place in life.  I am FI, not quite mentally ready to RE though.  I love my work... love what I do, although my work is very cyclical so it comes and goes. 

Here's the aberration of my work - I get paid a lot of times (I'm on salary for full time pay), to do absolutely nothing.  Most of you have heard of the "4 hour work week"... quite honestly I've literally had 1-4 hour work weeks, a lot more recently.  The beauty of my work is that I telecommute, so that means getting paid to do whatever I want to do.  It feels like an absurd dream, and my friends are just blown away at how "lucky" I am.    [On the rare occasion I am busy, I willingly put in 80 - 120 hour work weeks, if need be, to get the job done. It's not required by any means, but I love my work so I do it.]

So with all of the huge amounts of spare time I've got, I've been researching FIRE, how to enjoy my leisure, and also think about the nature of work. 

I've uncovered a few interesting nuggets of thoughts on "work". Here, in no particular order, are what I've found:

• If you didn't have to work... would you?  There is a concept called "basic living income" where you are paid the basic living costs for rent, food, no matter what.  So you would solely choose to work if you wanted to.  Google "basic living income" and you'll find some really fascinating videos and blogs on this topic.  As someone who is FI, I feel like I have a "basic living income" already and I'm just working to fulfill another purpose.
  
  
• I found a very interesting analysis of work here:  http://www.motivationalmemo.com/how-to-get-paid-never-work-another-day-in-your-life/  This blog breaks down work into 4 different types -
  a.    Do work that you hate = Hard
  b.    Do work that you love = Easy
  c.    Do work that you hate and get paid for = Bearable
  d.    Do work that you love and get paid for = Surprised & Very Happy
  
  I believe most people have type C work, where you do work that you generally would prefer not to do, given a choice, but must, for lifestyle support.  Most people would love to have type D work, where they wouldn't be as interested in FIRE because they wouldn't want to think about quitting work as much.
  
  
• I also found a blog on the idea of "zero hour workweek" - http://paidtoexist.com/the-lie-of-the-four-hour-work-week/  This blog expands much more on the type of work D, listed above... and provides a free ebook on this topic as well:  http://paidtoexist.s3.amazonaws.com/0HWW-updated.pdf 
  
  I found the ebook fascinating.  It is essentially what Mr.MM has done... free himself from type C work, and now does type D work.  Wouldn't the world be a much more wonderful place if we were doing type D work?
  

I thought this information was fascinating... which brings me back to my situation.  I do have type D work... except work can be very slow at times.  I have this crazy idea that I have too little work, which would sound insane to most people, except it is type D work.  I may yet be forced into early RE, if my type D work goes away permanently.  But right now it's not bad being paid a nice sum to enjoy the work (or not work)...

How many people here have type C work, and would love type D work and not really RE once you have FI?

[Cassie]

WE have type D work. That is why we continue to work p.t. consulting & would quit if it ever became C.

[Valhalla]

WE have type D work. That is why we continue to work p.t. consulting & would quit if it ever became C.

My personal belief is that those who do type D work tend to be more financially successful over the long run than people who do type C work.  Mainly because you enjoy it, you're good at it, so you'll do a much better job than others and make more money.

I think it would be important for folks to identify the type of work they are really great at, and then pursue it.  Our schools fail to help our kids miserably.  I had no idea what type of work I would enjoy, and I dumb lucked into my line of work that I love so much.

I have friends who earned difficult engineering degrees, only to find out they despised it, and ended up doing something totally unrelated to engineering and make 1/3 as much as what they intended to do.

This missing key would bring so much happiness if we had a mechanism to connect people to the type of work they would love.

[NaturallyHappier]

Very interesting topic.   I had a type D job and excelled at it.  Then things changed and my type D turned to a type C.  It was not so much that the work change but the office politics changed and my work became miserable.  I almost lost my passion for the work (programming and software design) but then got a new job in a new office and now I am rediscovering it.

I am curious what type of work you do Valhalla.

[goodlife]

Ah, great thread. I have been thinking about this a lot and have done a lot of soul searching and have also changed jobs twice in order to pursue what I thought could be type D work...but at the end of the day it is still type C work. My husband on the other hand totally has type D work. At the moment I am planning to FIRE end of 2017 when I hit my number. But to be honest, that's not very satisfying for me, I really want to find type D work, for me it's not just about having enough money and then retiring, I think that's just not what I would enjoy. But I have thought about this for years and still have come up with nothing. I am ok at my current work, I think people around me think I am very good at it, but me personally, I don't think I am that great at it all. And that's not because I couldn't do better, I am sure I could, I just don't find it interesting enough to do better at it. I am just putting in the absolute minimum effort required, which is not a good sign. Sure, I can coast along until end of 2017...but alas...I wish I could find my type D work.

[GetSmart]

We currently work in type D - two different businesses; one we consider our 'retirement career' that we both work at; the other the career I was trained for which at times has been "B" and sometimes "A" -due to office politics :( -- but working for myself has eliminated the politics and there is only stress and pressure that I create - not from outside forces.  I never planned on retiring because I always loved what I did for the most part even though it was not a high-paying career.  So right now, I'd just like to have the FI part and that's the current goal.

[azure975]

I agree with you, Goodlife--I'd rather have a job I love than be retired. However, I haven't been able to find Type D work, despite several career changes and multiple jobs. The closest I've gotten is "work that I like most days, but still am not crazy about a decent amount of the time." I think I'd have an easier time finding "work" that I enjoy if I was willing to not be paid for it, ie volunteering. So I'm going to still try to find Type D work, but at the same time aim for FI, so that if I never find it then at least I can do Type E work, which is work that I love that isn't paid (or is poorly paid). I actually don't even know if Type E work exists for me either--I hope so!

[goodlife]

I agree with you, Goodlife--I'd rather have a job I love than be retired. However, I haven't been able to find Type D work, despite several career changes and multiple jobs. The closest I've gotten is "work that I like most days, but still am not crazy about a decent amount of the time." I think I'd have an easier time finding "work" that I enjoy if I was willing to not be paid for it, ie volunteering. So I'm going to still try to find Type D work, but at the same time aim for FI, so that if I never find it then at least I can do Type E work, which is work that I love that isn't paid (or is poorly paid). I actually don't even know if Type E work exists for me either--I hope so!

I am in the same boat. Once I FIRE, I will just try out a bunch of new jobs even if they pay peanuts or nothing and hopefully I will find something that I really enjoy doing. I see how engrossed my husband is in his work, and I don't mean in a workaholic sense, he just really enjoys what he does and it fulfills him. I so wish I had that.

[Ynari]

I think, more likely, most people find themselves somewhere in between types C and D.  They have a job that has aspects they like (perhaps the subject matter, or the people they work with), but all the negatives of the activity, which may be bearable in smaller doses, get blown up if you do spend so much of your time working on them.  There are lots of jobs I'd be very happy doing at <20 hours a week, and nothing I enjoy doing for 40 hours or more.

I do intend to keep working after "RE" like MMM. I.e. perhaps become an athletic instructor. I could see myself doing 2-4 hours of athletic classes and training every day, but 8? That's absurd. If I were to "work" full time, it'd have to be a mix of wildly different things, like athletics and data analysis. I need the balance between physical and mental.

[Davids]

I agree with you, Goodlife--I'd rather have a job I love than be retired. However, I haven't been able to find Type D work, despite several career changes and multiple jobs. The closest I've gotten is "work that I like most days, but still am not crazy about a decent amount of the time." I think I'd have an easier time finding "work" that I enjoy if I was willing to not be paid for it, ie volunteering. So I'm going to still try to find Type D work, but at the same time aim for FI, so that if I never find it then at least I can do Type E work, which is work that I love that isn't paid (or is poorly paid). I actually don't even know if Type E work exists for me either--I hope so!

My idea of Type E work (and only if I am FI would I ever consider) is work at a movie theater and just watch movies all day.

[okits]

I would certainly love to find my type D job.  Have thought about it lots, big head-scratch on what it would be. 

I don't envision ER as watching TV all day or tanning with a book in the back yard.  I will still engage in productive activities, though most likely they will be unpaid (if I could get paid for doing something meaningful that I also liked and in the quantity I wanted, well, I'd be doing it already!)

[azure975]

I think part of the reason I haven't been able to find a type D job is that I don't like the traditional corporate work model. I'm attracted to the idea of a "portfolio career"--ie, having a number of different micro-careers, such as being a part-time chef who also does tax returns and teaches yoga. However, it would be hard for me to make a decent amount of money this way unless I were wiling to spend all my time working. I figure when I am FI, I can do this without needing to make a certain amount of income. The money I make would just be gravy.

Here's a good article about portfolio careers:
http://www.careershifters.org/expert-advice/portfolio-careers-for-people-in-their-20s-and-30s

[Valhalla]

I think part of the reason I haven't been able to find a type D job is that I don't like the traditional corporate work model. I'm attracted to the idea of a "portfolio career"--ie, having a number of different micro-careers, such as being a part-time chef who also does tax returns and teaches yoga. However, it would be hard for me to make a decent amount of money this way unless I were wiling to spend all my time working. I figure when I am FI, I can do this without needing to make a certain amount of income. The money I make would just be gravy.

Here's a good article about portfolio careers:
http://www.careershifters.org/expert-advice/portfolio-careers-for-people-in-their-20s-and-30s

Nice read.  It really addresses something that's so missing in today's world, which is asking a young person with virtually no real world work experience, to commit to a life-long career with his time and money.

I think that is a huge problem because how can you make a life-long decision with no real idea of if that decision can bring you happiness or not?

We really need to find a way to give young people the way to "taste" different careers so they can make an informed decision on what they may really like and excel at.

You really don't buy a car without a test drive, why would you pick a career without any information about its fit?  I think today's education model has a serious gap in this area, and needs to be addressed.

There's a saying "how many brilliant minds are lost to the tedium of work?" or something like that.  We may have cursed some really incredibly talented people to meaningless work because there is no better way to unlock their potential. 

If we could find a way to optimize human potential by giving our kids exposure to the different careers I think we would vastly increase earning potential and happiness, as well as improving the world.

Imagine if someone like Steve Jobs was condemned to doing bookkeeping work, how much of a great loss would this world suffer?