Low pay low stress jobs/lifestyle | Hacker News Reader

Low pay low stress jobs/lifestyle

14 pointsdwong13 comments

This is something I've been wondering about for a while. How many of you have tried a low pay/low stress job or lifestyle and liked it? I'm talking about pretty low pay, like working as a waiter at a restaurant.

My parents have always pushed me toward the impressive jobs, so I'm curious about how "bad" (or not bad) these lower-salary jobs are. I like intellectually stimulating things, but I can see myself enjoying a relaxed 9 to 5 drudgery job for a few years. I don't plan to do it forever, just while I work things out and maybe develop a client base as a freelancer.

I feel like my parents have conditioned my thinking in a restricted way, and would like you guys to possibly provide me with a different perspective. Thanks for any advice and experience.

View on HN

I have a friend who worked at Arthur Andersen before it imploded. Before all of that went down, he quit, stopped working on the CA designation, and worked at Starbucks. After a while, he became store manager, then took a corporate job as a location scout/developer. He did that for a few years, and then pulled the plug again and is now a letter carrier for Canada Post.

AFAIK, he's enjoyed life more while in the two "easy" jobs - less money, but more freedom and energy to enjoy life.

I'm trapped on the hamster wheel myself.

You might want to check out Mike Rowe's Ted talk, he touches on some of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRVdiHu1VCc

I'm in the process of changing careers now. I tried doing the IT thing for several years and ended up hating it. There was a lot of poor work/life balance, stress with meeting deadlines, poor job security (I'm not a developer), etc. This was with several different companies so I don't think it was just poor luck. My passion is working with computers & technology but I realized one day that it just wasn't worth it for me to be so stressed out.

So I spent some time researching careers and I'm now going back community college for something health related. The job security is outstanding, the stress is fairly low, and I actually get to directly help improve the lives of others every day. The pay isn't anything crazy but it's definitely enough to live comfortably on if you just want a modest lifestyle.

I started a little catering business on the side. Italian and French cooking is a passion of mine, and I had this plan of starting a catering business. While it is a fun side project, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't want to do it fulltime. I can live with the pay cut if you're doing something that you love, but after a while you kind of miss using your brain instead of your hands. The upside is that you're directly in contact with your customers, which is refreshing after building web apps for people you never meet in person. Very rewarding to see and hear that they are happy with something you've made.

Occasionally I do a catering gig, so it's more like a nice, paid hobby.

On a side note, if you're looking for a stress-free job, don't do anything that has to do with restaurants or catering. It's like juggling six flaming torches in one hand while being yelled at.

You could try building out an online lifestyle-type business, like selling apps or some affiliate marketing stuff.

That would give you enough passive income for you do whatever you wanted with your time.

If it were that easy, we'd all be affiliate marketing to each other and hanging out at the beach...

Well, it is easy if you invest the time into learning it. Not absolutely easy, but relative to any day job, the return on investment ( time spent learning ) is exponentially higher than any wage.

I cut grass for a while immediately after college, and enjoyed it thoroughly at the time. I was always in shape, had a great tan and could do the job on virtually no sleep. I read a lot of books during that time and did a lot of thinking while I was behind the lawnmower, and the best part was that my mental energy was mine to spend. If all jobs paid the same, I'd have a hard time not going back to something like that.

Do your parents have "impressive jobs"? Beware of those who want you to fulfil their thwarted aspirations. And even if they do, you don't have to follow in their footsteps.

In my experience when in high pay/high stress jobs, I spent far more and could never save. The low pay/low stress jobs were the ones where I had fun and managed to save heaps.

That's interesting. What exactly did you spend money on when you were in the high-paying jobs?

I think you should try it. I have always thought that Albert Einstein was able to focus a lot more on his research thanks to his low pay/low stress job.

I have also been thinking on trying, it is a bit difficult to try that with family, but I guess it could work.

Do try it, it would be nice if you share your results after.

Yeah, I might try. I'm currently in college, though thinking about just taking a leave of absence.

There seem to be a good number of people who are happy working low pay jobs. I can't help but think that there's an unfair social stigma against it.

When you transcend being concerned with what other people think - that's when you truly become free.

Take the leave of absence and enjoy a semester of doing something different. Then with that experience under your belt, you will make better decisions for your future.

While it's a novel thing to try, I don't know how low stress those jobs can be when you have financial pressures to pay the bills. I think it's a matter of what stress you will face in today's society.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com