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The Pros and Cons of an Office Job

Nasar Karim
7 min readOct 15, 2024

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Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash

I’ve had an office job for just over 13 months. It’s the first steady pay cheque I’ve had in over 6 years. No self-employment, no risk of not making anything, no nasty surprises. There are upsides to being employed.

Before I got this job, I’d spent most of my working life self-employed. Sometimes it was great, but it hadn’t been that way for a long time. When you’re in business for yourself, there are a lot of upsides when it’s going well, but there are downsides too. Uncertainty, loneliness, lack of a routine, and the addictive specter of hope. When things stopped working, due to factors including Covid and Brexit, I kept hoping for the big turnaround that would change everything. It never happened. I got into a bad situation.

From the dark place I was in, financially, emotionally, and mentally, I got to my current situation. A steady job, with a regular pay cheque, benefits including free travel, a routine, and some stability. After more than a year in it, I’m glad I’ve been here. I’ve been thinking about the pros and cons of having an office job.

The office I work in is large, there are a lot of people here, and that’s an advantage. The same week I started this job, in September last year, I made a list entitled ‘Things I want to do.’ One of those things was to make new friends. Being in this office has allowed me to make at least…

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Nasar Karim
Nasar Karim

Written by Nasar Karim

BSc Psychology. Author of Myshi Moo and the Frightening Face.

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