If you want to stop being creative, take a job for the USPS. There are many ways to kill your creativity, but any job that requires you to work more than 40 hours a week on a regular basis is a good start.
In July, I took a job for the USPS. On September 30, I resigned. Here’s why, and this is only my experience and opinion.
- Too many hours. I was working 5-6 days a week, 10-12 hour days.
- Not enough money. I made a similar amount every two weeks as I do as a part-time college instructor. I expected a little more than that.
- There was what appeared to me, a culture of hazing of new employees. I’m too old for that shit.
- Safety was preached, but not really practiced by the organization.
- Management and communication was very weak.
- Repetitive movement would lead to injuries.
- No time to be creative.
I’ll leave it at that. There is a lot I could say about working for the USPS that would not be very positive, but I’m out, so what’s the point. It’s time to move on.
But here’s my argument. Creativity is something that requires time. If you want to practice creativity you might have to sacrifice money. I could have made $5000 a month in December. But I’d have been working 60-80 hours a week. Not only would that have killed my creativity, it might have killed me. I saw it coming and bowed out.
During my short tenure at the USPS, I was rarely able to post here. I was able to write a few poems and lyrics. I played the guitar maybe three hours a week at most. That was about it. I want to continue my creative work as I get older, not watch it dry up and disappear altogether.
So, that’s how you kill creativity. You take a job that requires you to work 50 or more hours a week.
I’ll be decompressing over the next couple of weeks. I might have another work opportunity. Time will tell. In the meantime, I’ll continue teaching and working some hours in retail. I’ll also be doing more photography. I ordered a new camera and it should be coming in any day now. More on that soon. – dse
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