Life of a Working Stiff

After reading, “Wooing the Sandman” at Jugglezine (too bad I hadn’t read it yesterday since I was awake all night) I stumbled upon a couple articles “Productivity in the Home Office: Pure ROT” and “Working it Out”, wonderful articles with great illustrations from a nice zine.

Both of these articles bring up points that I have thought about during the past couple of weeks. I have tried telecommuniting in the past and it was something that never worked well with me. I enjoy the social interaction that is possible in an office environment. But most of my best creative output is always away from my desk and if I absolutely must finish a task it is best done at home. Being able to have that freedom is important. One of the great things about spending time in an office is that you can set up an (essential) environment for interaction between you and your colleagues. In theory I should be able to glean a ton of information from the people I work with – in theory we should share this sense of knowledge and experience. Unfortunately in my current experience this is seldom the case. With a staff of about 30 – 40 people perhaps 1 –2 regularly share knowledge in the traditional sense. There is some teacher student or boss employee stuff happening but that has little to do with the excitement of sharing with or wanting information from a peer. Very rarely does anyone these days say – “hey I have found out something cool I want to share” or “ I would like to gain your perspective on this issue”. Maybe it’s cultural, maybe everyone thinks they know everything, maybe they don’t give a shit, or perhaps it’s a communication problem (I don’t buy the communication thing – if you want to know something bad enough, you’ll find a way). I use to experience that sense of sharing but times and people change. Working in the office now holds little professional difference for me than working at home.

I have been wondering if the work or the amount of time put into work is really worth it in the long term. What will be the true pay off in three years when I finish this period of insanity where I have no social life or free time for any number of things – including personal projects. I have whimsically given thought to starting over with a small business in some tourist area. Living simply without unnecessary time and office pressures. In keeping with the dream I would set-up shop in Thailand, perhaps a traditional B&B – New England style – but set in the backdrop of Chiang Mai province. It’s a sure way to poverty but would certainly cure a lot of other problems. Perhaps a solution will present itself over the coming months. Events and decisions do have a natural order to them.

Categorized: Living in Taiwan

Tagged: , Living in Taiwan