Reply to: Very boring contract

[TheFaQQer]

Yep. I always go through this on all of my contracts. Its the nature of the game. But as i always say, you have to scarifice.

Answering the phone can be boring, I would imagine...

[Moscow Mule]

thing is where do you go with a 9 month old child. The car is full up just to go round the corner to the in-laws. Would have to go on holiday by car as it would be a nightmare going by plane. Carrying all that stuff and then 3 hrs in the airport and 2-3 hrs on a plane. No way Jose.

If you do go by car you can't really go more then a few hours away as they need to have a feed, sleep, stretch, play etc. Once you get there you can't stay in a hotel as she goes to sleep around 7pm. we would have to stay in the hotel room lates out etc. If you get self catering then you might as well stay at home.
Still. I love her to bits and she makes my life more meaningful. There are some difficult times. Like now. I am shattered. She had stomach pain last night - we think she's teething. 4 hrs sleep. But 7am this morning she was laughing her head off. Brilliant.

Go camping/walking in Cornwall. Place child in carrier with child equipment, Place camping equipment on wife's back. Walk around a bit. You'll go to sleep at 7pm too...

[ChimpMaster]

El_Dudester - so you're saying just put up with it?

Swiss T - I think you've it spot on. Dunno if I will manage this soon but sounds like the plan I want to take.

Diescum - At 34 I'm too old to change and young enough to make that foolish decision. The only way I could learn a new skill would be to get a permie job and learn their technology. My 8 years in Consultancy taught me one thing though - I don't want to do Consultancy any more. Support would be a career killer and I'm not into PM so what's left?

[el dudester]

Guys - I am so so bored on my current contract. This contract has been running for 2 years now and rarely has it been exciting. Often there is little work to do and I have to make myself look busy otherwise I'll be made to do even more laborious work.

I stay in this contract because there isn't a great deal of work elsewhere around in my field, so contracts aren't exactly growing on trees for me. Furthermore, it's commutable from home and the rate is very good - higher than I could have got anywhere else over the past 2 years. The next highest rate I've seen is £100 less per day.

The people are OK to work with and the location is great (city life). The client often keeps contractors for years so there is some security there too.

The work though is of the incredibly dumbing down sort - when there is work to do. I'm actually really fed up with it but the wife and I both look at the financial side of it and I keep thinking that if I get another few months here it'll be great for the bank balance.

But I think I've had enough... I'm almost ready to chuck this contract in. In total I've only been contracting 3 years, so not that long, and this has taken 2 of those.

Anyone else been through this?

Yep. I always go through this on all of my contracts. Its the nature of the game. But as i always say, you have to scarifice.

My mother has a p/t job, where she is sooo busy she is on the go from the moment she walks in the office. She is payed 16k per year.

We get paid more to put up with boredom, but we have the pleasure of making flexible choices in life with our cash.

Kerching!

[Swiss Tony]

Book 2 weeks off. For one week leave the little one with in-laws or parents, brother sister etc, and get out of here and go somewhere sunny!!

Week 2 back here with little-un.

Or find somewhere sunny where you can take her as well. Does sound like you need some R&R and a bit of peace!

Oh and seriously book a holiday, you will find that by doing it you feel better, anticipation etc bikini wax if needs must

Self fulfilling prophecy and all, when ur hols are booked you feel miles better and so will the other half.

[DieScum]

Yeah LukeMg has it spot on. The problem is your skillset. You have been doing it for ten years. The opportunities are drying up yet you are still plugging away at the same stuff.

You want to look at expanding your skillset USING the skillset you have now. Do a bit of training on something, mix it in with what you are doing now. ITIL, Prince, whatever ... the root cause here seems to be you are depending on dired up skillset... the trick now is to get the motivation to develop yourself... which is super, super hard after years of being at the top of the tree.

[RightLaugh]

Rightlaugh, indeed it seems we are the same!

--> I haven't had a decent holiday since Aug 05.
Aug 06 for me, so not as long but still long enough!

--> since then wife was pregnant and she didn't want to fly.
We then had a baby girl 9 months ago but since then we've haven't been out on our own and we have no plans to go away this year.
Our baby girl was born in June 06. We still go out now and again but not so easy. Today's lunch was wrecked cuz the baby started screaming in Pizza Express... had to take our pizzas out and even then didn't get to eat it cuz the poor girl was in such a state!

--> Working flat out at the moment with hardly any days off. Starting to feel burnt out. I'm going to take some time off in the next few weeks.
Two weeks off I think.
Yep this is what caused my initial message. I keep telling myself I'll take some time off but God knows when. On the other hand I keep thinking it's better to wait until the contract ends... typical contractor thinking?

--> Thing is weather is so pants I have no idea what to do.
hmmm yes I also think that we can't go abroad but the weather is so tulipe here. Wife says let's go to Wales or something daft like that.

thing is where do you go with a 9 month old child. The car is full up just to go round the corner to the in-laws. Would have to go on holiday by car as it would be a nightmare going by plane. Carrying all that stuff and then 3 hrs in the airport and 2-3 hrs on a plane. No way Jose.

If you do go by car you can't really go more then a few hours away as they need to have a feed, sleep, stretch, play etc. Once you get there you can't stay in a hotel as she goes to sleep around 7pm. we would have to stay in the hotel room lates out etc. If you get self catering then you might as well stay at home.
Still. I love her to bits and she makes my life more meaningful. There are some difficult times. Like now. I am shattered. She had stomach pain last night - we think she's teething. 4 hrs sleep. But 7am this morning she was laughing her head off. Brilliant.

[lukemg]

Yep - been there gents. Partly contractors life due to only being hired for what you know now, no career development/training etc (yeah I know you learn some stuff and are supposed to keep up to date).I was in a mind-numbing role and the market went off a cliff so moving to anywhere else would be the same work for half the pay. I felt really ungrateful as well because millions would have seen my job as an absolute dream compared with theirs.
The money didn't make me any happier and I blew most of the cash on a fancy car. Eventually, with a couple of other minor things I ended up seriously depressed and wouldn't have cared if a bus took me out of the game. Place got outsourced I went somewhere else for less money and was a lot happier, just the change of scene helped.
I ended up permie, got sent on ITIL training and fought/lied to get better jobs and now contracts, now back contracting earning 4x my perm salary.
Point is - change things, sounds like your skills are dead, do Prince 2 course/ITIL, learn new programming skills and get the hell out, even less cash in a more demanding job would be an improvement.
You will never feel better about the current role the rut will just get deeper and deeper - took me years to realise and I still waited for the change to be imposed on me.

[ChimpMaster]

Rightlaugh, indeed it seems we are the same!

--> I haven't had a decent holiday since Aug 05.
Aug 06 for me, so not as long but still long enough!

--> since then wife was pregnant and she didn't want to fly.
We then had a baby girl 9 months ago but since then we've haven't been out on our own and we have no plans to go away this year.
Our baby girl was born in June 06. We still go out now and again but not so easy. Today's lunch was wrecked cuz the baby started screaming in Pizza Express... had to take our pizzas out and even then didn't get to eat it cuz the poor girl was in such a state!

--> Working flat out at the moment with hardly any days off. Starting to feel burnt out. I'm going to take some time off in the next few weeks.
Two weeks off I think.
Yep this is what caused my initial message. I keep telling myself I'll take some time off but God knows when. On the other hand I keep thinking it's better to wait until the contract ends... typical contractor thinking?

--> Thing is weather is so pants I have no idea what to do.
hmmm yes I also think that we can't go abroad but the weather is so tulipe here. Wife says let's go to Wales or something daft like that.

[RightLaugh]

are you me?
I feel the same.
I haven't had a decent holiday since Aug 05.
since then wife was pregnant and she didn't want to fly.
We then had a baby girl 9 months ago but since then we've haven't been out on our own and we have no plans to go away this year.
Working flat out at the moment with hardly any days off. Starting to feel burnt out. I'm going to take some time off in the next few weeks.
Two weeks off I think.
Thing is weather is so pants I have no idea what to do.

[MrRobin]

Though wouldn't mind a stint there myself, sounds easy money. Do they need any Technical Architects?

Yeah, where are you working, what do you do, will they need a replacement, when are you going?

[portseven]

I would save up what I need for a few months on the bench, then take the 1st convenient exit!

Though wouldn't mind a stint there myself, sounds easy money. Do they need any Technical Architects?

[Swiss Tony]

Hence why I try to grind through my daily boredom at work - I'm trying to see it as a means to an end rather than the be-all-and-end-all of my career.

I always say that money buys you the freedom to do what you want to do. Sounds like your earning it but not doing what fulfils you. While it would be great to be paid buckets for doing what we love, reality I’m afraid will not let me be paid for watching the sunset over the sea.

Get out there and do something different!

[Swiss Tony]

Take a Holiday

Sounds like you need a break to be honest. How much time off have you have over the last 2 years?

Have a chat with the powers that be and take some time out for R&R. Go somewhere you’ve been meaning to go, do something different and make it a long trip.

While being a contractor means that your there all the time, permies get a holiday allowance (days wise) for their sanity as much as anything else.

Oh and go somewhere sunny, tis the weather that effects your mood the most I find.

[Epiphone]

Sounds like you're fecked for IR35 at the very least.