Office Work .... Not healthy ?

KEV EB XR8 · 03-12-2005, 10:00 AM

I have always been an active worker in the field. Listening to some of my relo's and friends who work in offices saying "I work just as hard" and
"mentaly i work harder" have all ended in ridicule as i did not see the comparison in physical terms.

I started "myself" doing "all" office work about 7 months ago and allbeit i still install machinery,service them, but spend more early mornings,nights and days in the office.

I have put on around 8 kilos, have a constant headache, and now "as i sell exspresso coffee machines and catering equipment" have high colesterol partly due to excess cafine and taste testing with chefs menu's.

I enjoy my work thoroughly but now sympathise with office workers & the like as it turns out to be totaly exhausting running both practices.

:

**Mechan1k** · 03-12-2005, 10:21 AM

I work both office and outdoors (Optus 12 hour shift work ... and all day outside delivery driving).

I can tell you I enjoy delivering parcels/pallets/boxes/envelopes .... much more than being in the office for 12 hours at a time staring at 7-8 screen on my desk.

I feel healthier doing delivery work ... plus i get exercise.

I know about the headache issue as well ... I get bloodshot eyes after long day in the office ... usually tpped off with a sinus headache as well. And being subjected to air-con that doesn't work that pumps everyone elses germs through the building.

I'd do delivery driving full time if i could ... but Optus pays me well enough to keep me hear ... the courier job is a nice supplement that pays the mortgage and allows me to mod the ute (claim it back on tax as well).

**Mechan1k** · 03-12-2005, 10:22 AM

Command Central at work ... it's a shared desk ... photo was taken by someone else on-shift when i was not there.

Yummy Mummy · 03-12-2005, 11:41 AM

I agree. I have just left an 8.30 to 6pm office based job, partly cos it had done my head in with stress. I am now on the road 9-5pm and only have to go into the office if I really need to. I am still working hard, although I feel guilty that I mustn't be, as I don't feel anywhere near as stressed as I previously was. I have so much flexibility and autonomy now, although the catch is not to take advantage of that.

Dark Horse · 03-12-2005, 12:04 PM

Be stuffed I was to become an office worker, never have been, and hopefully with any luck I never will. This view from my 'mobile' office - a Sydney Ferry.

I reckon life's much better on the water, fresh air, sunshine, a great perve in the warmer weather, lovely!

**Mechan1k** · 03-12-2005, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Be stuffed I was to become an office worker, never have been, and hopefully with any luck I never will. This view from my 'mobile' office - a Sydney Ferry.

I reckon life's much better on the water, fresh air, sunshine, a great perve in the warmer weather, lovely!

Nice ... what's it like on the harbour when the storms hit though????

Blue Oval Mopar Man · 03-12-2005, 12:18 PM

Dark horse , That is a great sunrise shot ! well done ! I will have to get one of a Darwin sunset for ya !

XRated · 03-12-2005, 12:19 PM

Darky, what do you actually do?

Dark Horse · 03-12-2005, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Nice ... what's it like on the harbour when the storms hit though????

Because I mainly work the inner harbour runs and occasionally up the Mekong Delta on the RiverCats, where the harbour is pretty sheltered, it's not too choppy. Just strong and gusting winds at certain wharves, especially on the Lady Class boats.

In really heavy swells the ferries to Manly are cancelled more so for passenger safety, the boats themselves can cop a fair pounding.

It looks miserable to most, but there's a lot to be said for working under such conditions. Less people around, less hassles, less wharves to make so hence less wear and tear on the boats, plus it keeps crew skills up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Oval Mopar Man

Dark horse , That is a great sunrise shot ! well done ! I will have to get one of a Darwin sunset for ya !

Thanks. Cool, I'd like to see that, I haven't been to Darwin before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRated

Darky, what do you actually do?

Try to get away with as little as possible lol. There's a bit of variety in it and ranges from doing customer service and the ticketing, to the deck work & tying up to the engineering side - starting up/shutting down vessels & some general maintenance, plus a bit of driving as well.

I often wonder when I come into the 'Quay and look up at all those buildings what the people working in there actually do!

paul7v7 · 03-12-2005, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Command Central at work ... it's a shared desk ... photo was taken by someone else on-shift when i was not there.

kinda looks like my desk at work, i have no issues with it. but then i have always liked working indoors.

Falcon Freak · 03-12-2005, 05:34 PM

I am stuck in an office at least 10 hours per day staring at a LCD screen most of the time. Maybe the sarcoidosis I was diagnosed with last year is due to my sedentary work environment.

FF

xceler8shun · 07-12-2005, 05:07 PM

I used to be a process worker working at the Electrolux Factory in Orange, now i'm stuck in an office from 9am - 6pm everyday staring at a screen. Put on weight, constant headaches, and sick of it.

4.9 EF Futura · 07-12-2005, 05:28 PM

I work in an office from about 8am to 6:30/7pm most nights. I guess you could call it a "higher stress" job. Interstate travel, running all over town for meetings etc etc but the lionshare of my time is spent in the office preparing working papers, financial analysis and applying legislation to the places i regulate.

Physically its easier than when i used to work in a factory. Physically meaning - my feet and back dont get sore. But im still exhausted when i walk in the front door at 7:30pm.

If you're getting headaches, sore eyes etc etc in the office then you're doing something wrong. Lol. The most uncomfortable thing I find is wearing a suit on a 40 degree day because my bosses believe that regulators should always look like regulators, lol.

It's not about "mentally I work harder". That's a cop out, probably from someone who plays solataire all day. Anyone who is any good at their job concentrates bloody hard, wether you're answering phones, diggin holes, going to meetings, whatever. I cant put my finger on it but 55+ hours in the office takes it out of you. Maybe its the stress - but then, every kind of job has time constraints and pressure to get more done.

One thing i dont tolerate is the attitude that office workers are a bunch of slackers who "wouldnt know what real work is".

EDIT: One thing i prob should add... ive lost weight compared to when i used to work on a production line. Probably something to do with never having time for lunch whereas in the factory you'd down tools at 10am and 1pm regardless.

Nevermind · 07-12-2005, 05:59 PM

I use to work in a 9 - 5 office job, but now i'm out doors all day (and night), 12 hour shifts 6 - 6 (both ways). Only thing I don't like about it is the weather, a when its stinking hot (thats when its good to work the back shift) and when it rains! I also do 8 hour shifts , 10am - 6pm and 1am - 9am. The 1am starts are a killer.

07-12-2005, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I often wonder when I come into the 'Quay and look up at all those buildings what the people working in there actually do!

I'm on the other side - North Sydney in the Hyundai branded building, one of the top floors. Its behind the Optus building when looking from the harbour.

Office work is unhealthy. Although I do walk around the office a lot, since March, I have gone from 75kg to 95kg :(.

I get sick more often as well as the aircon does push everyone's germs around so much so that people get the s**ts when someone who's sick comes into work.

big_pete · 07-12-2005, 06:42 PM

this thread reminds me of the movie office space..............

neb · 07-12-2005, 07:08 PM

office space is a good movie..... i work in an office and i agree it is unhealthy. you need to get up and walk around every now and then, and also eat healthy and do exercise out of work otherwise I would put on weight (well I did but lost it now).

and just like on office space i want to smash the printer to pieces as well :P

42.57lb · 07-12-2005, 09:53 PM

I've had lot's of jobs Forklift driver/call centre operator/ retail sales/data entry, frankly my ffavurite job is in the office cause I get paid sh1t loads of money to drink coffee and talk to "people" on the phone. Then I can go home, get out with my woofas, go to dinner with my missus and still be in bed by a reasonable hour.

it's excellent.

merlin · 08-12-2005, 07:50 AM

My office has turned me into a baby. All day everyday sitting in a luxurious air conditioned private office doing not much of anything really gets to you after a while. :baby bott

I mean I earned money whilst at uni being a brickies labourer on my off days, and well at the time it was hard work but I could handle it. However after being a lazy office worker for a few years now I reckon if I even stepped foot on a building site I would keel over and probably die of a heart attack.

I recently bought a pushbike and made it about 100 metres down the road before I pushed it back home, then cried for 4 hours about how tired I was and ate ice cream in front of the air conditioner.

Yesterday it was so hot in Sydney that whilst riding the motorbike home I stopped 3 times to get a drink and at one stage considered jumping into the Lane Cove river to cool off...

So to answer your question - yes - office work makes you a big unfit pansy.

EF, What else? · 08-12-2005, 09:44 AM

I hate working in an office! Sitting behind a desk, you get sore eyes, sore back, no excercise. Mate, put me back into a bannana farm anyday! It's healthier and cheaper, as you dont need to go to a gym!

Duffman · 08-12-2005, 11:36 PM

Office work is terrible im working 8:30am till 5:30pm and barely every get time for lunch, its mega stressfull and today i got really sick at work and had to go home I reckon it must of been stress (really tight chest really tight! anyone got it before from stress?).

I want to get outside SO BAD it might be hot but dam its better then office work!

gozza · 09-12-2005, 11:10 AM

i work from 8.30-5.00 everyday in an office
in a small business 2 so doing 10 things at once isn't uncommon
stressfull yes
enjoyable yes...when you see what you acheive and how your skills actually make a difference
i'll be damned if i ever work on a roof with 1000 degree sun burning off my flesh
i get sick of the office worker vs tradey beef 2
any tradies that come into my office gets treated with respect and are givin help when needed...i walk past a trady in a suit or business attire and you can feel resentment
i spose working in the sun all day would do that to people

Citric GT · 09-12-2005, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gozza

i get sick of the office worker vs tradey beef 2
any tradies that come into my office gets treated with respect and are givin help when needed...i walk past a trady in a suit or business attire and you can feel resentment
i spose working in the sun all day would do that to people

I remember when I worked in an office and there was quite often the feeling of tradies thinking we're snobs and the suits thinking the tradies were poor uneducated lower class people. The funny thing is that most of the suits were probably earning half the $$$ the tradies were.:hihi:

gozza · 09-12-2005, 11:30 AM

yeah well i earn less than my mate and hes a chippy

gozza · 09-12-2005, 11:30 AM

and i earn less then another mate whos a mechanic

pauljh74 · 09-12-2005, 11:35 AM

You go downhill when you stop doing physical work. In my case, when it gets quieter and we finish early - this being as a dockhand, so the work is physical - when it picks up again, you struggle and start getting sore from working harder, but later it feels "normal" again. I've got a second job - where I get to sit around and look at Aust Ford Forums for example and get paid for it - it's not busy here that much. A bit of stores work and answering phones. I haven't lost any weight despite almost doubling my work hours. Chalk and cheese these jobs are. My new employer is much better as well. My other job is pretty much full on - we've had people walk out or tell the supervisor they're pulling the pin because it's too much for them or they don't want the work. The record is 50 mins before the guy pulled the pin. Didn't even stick it out for the shift and then say no thanks.

4.9 EF Futura · 09-12-2005, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gozza

i get sick of the office worker vs tradey beef 2
any tradies that come into my office gets treated with respect and are givin help when needed...i walk past a trady in a suit or business attire and you can feel resentment

Here, here. There's a lot of construction going on around this part of town so whenever i go into the coffee shop downstairs there's always a table full of guys from the various sites taking their lunch break/smoko.

I have enough days at work without copping daggers or smart *** comments from these guys who seem to be of the opinion i am not engaged in "real" work. However, I must admit i get a bit jealous when i see them packing up and going home at 3:00 and realise ive got another 4 hours before i knock off, 3 of which are basically unpaid.

Seems to be the guys that dont work with anyone from an office that give you a hard time tho - i.e. the tradies that come into our office to lay cables, put up/remove walls etc seem to get along well with us, i guess coz they specialise in that work and spend a lot of time in the office environment.

I've never once had an issue with a tradie and know damn well they'd be earning better money than me so dont see what the problem is. I work my *** off and dont need to put up with crap from these guys on their working class hero superiority trip. I try to ignore that crap now - you do your job, i'll do mine.

Citric GT · 09-12-2005, 02:42 PM

After having worked in 2 completely different industries I can honestly say that one has no idea what is involved in the other. I tend to look at jobs with an open mind now as opposed to accusing one side of being overpaid/underworked etc. When I was in an office I perceived my current job as being easy and if anything overpaid. After doing the job for a while my attitude changed.

eb91xr6 · 10-12-2005, 12:47 AM

I work for my old man and its great. if i cant be fu*ked going to work due to hang over i don't have to show. and the pays good too

gtfpv · 10-12-2005, 01:07 AM

i worork as a supervisor in engineering sometimes . it is interesting and challanging . but not the same as actually being out there doing the jobs . but in the office is more stressfull no doubt and you would go crazy and put on weight . i once had to put a title to 20 000 engineering drawings took 1 week 8 hours a day . boring . if i done a job like this you couldn't pay me enough . i would leave.