How often in your career are you happy?

[MarillionFan]

It's all become a drudge now. A real
fag. I enjoy the chaos. I enjoy the challenge, but once that's past it's dull dull dull.

Give me a greenfield project next FFS otherwise I'll have to do my own thing. There's something quite soul destroying after a while knowing that you cannot fail to get a gig at 2k plus a week from surfing Jobserve. The
possibility of failing is what personally drives me.

[Spacecadet]

you cannot fail to get a gig at 2k plus a week from surfing Jobserve.

Not sure everyone on here would agree with that!

[aussielong]

Once you start talking about work and happiness in the same sentence, its time to start asking yourself questions. What happens in work is most of the time out of your control. So best not to let yourself be emotionally affected by it.

I don't like my work, and I don't dislike it. If i get given a great piece of work, it doesn't affect me emotionally anymore. I just do it without showing emotion. If i get given rubbish work, i don't care, i just do it. To keep motivated I try and engineer bits of interesting stuff within the tasks - ie. i invent interesting problems to solve if i can get away with passing it off as useful work.

This is the only way for me to sustain this madness long term.

The only goal is to make enough money to buy my permanent freedom from the rat race.

[Lockhouse]

I don't love my job but I don't hate it either, it's just what I do.

I was much more enthusiastic (the nearest to happy I can get whilst working as you never realise how "happy" you actually were until afterwards) in my twenties and thirties, my forties have been all about the cash, nothing more.

[MaryPoppins]

I'm pretty happy, yup. Life's too short not to be.

[SupremeSpod]

I'm pretty happy, yup. Life's too short not to be.

You're too short not to be!

[MaryPoppins]

You're too short not to be!

Shut it lurch

[minestrone]

The amount of absolute idiots working in the industry p1sses me off the most. The Bobs do my fuggin' head.

[SupremeSpod]

The amount of absolute idiots working in the industry p1sses me off the most. The Bobs do my fuggin' head.

Have another drink, you'll be fine!

[suityou01]

The last two gigs I have done have been total and utter nightmares, being 10 nil down before you even start. I think this is contracting, ie they only get the contractors in when the tulip really hits the fan. At least then when it does, it's the contractors fault and not the permies that totally fooked it.

Document everything is right. I'm just about ready to start looking again, and would easily take less money, less responsibility and just see how it goes. I've resolved to file a daily report every day, cc SY02. After all she is a part of SY01 Ltd. Then at least when I walk in the door we don't have to have the "how was your day?" chat while I relive all the tossers at work when I'm on me time. Additionally I will file a weekly report to Client Co (that is if they don't have any weekly reporting structure of their own - and more often than not this is the case). Then things stay manageable, everything is documented, and not buzzing round in my head.

I think the key is to interview a little more intelligently. For example, if you are a developer, ask them about their release management for example. If they murmour something about how they would like to implement something, and maybe they could benefit from your experience then unless you're prepared to put in the hard yards and set up the project procedures as well as being a developer then walk.

Again, the last two gigs had broken toilets and shocking kitchen facilities. Sounds daft, but this is always an indicator that it's going to be a tulipe project.

So in short, no it's not always bad on projects, but you interviewed and took the role so ask yourself what you dislike about this role, and what question you could have gently asked at interview to get an insight so you don't get caught out in the future.

There's no such thing as the perfect project, but I would happily settle for one run by a vaguely competent project manager with sufficient budget to deliver the project in a reasonableish timeframe.