tamaranth | Six Things I Love About My Job (Reply)

1. Commute - ten minutes by bike, 25 minutes walk. I can leave home at 8:45 and get into work by 9am. I don't have to rely on timetabled transport, or be delayed by traffic. I don't have a chunk of time to use or waste. If I cycle it's quick and gets my heartrate up: if I walk I listen to music.

2. Clear task list - I have a spreadsheet of books I need to look at, and I can work through them in any order I please. Nobody micromanages me. I am not expected to show initiative or prioritise or anything. Yes, it's menial, but it's also a massive relief after ExJob where I was left to make my own decisions, knowing that they'd just be overruled if people didn't like them. And it means I can come in, sit down and get on with it -- not reliant on anyone else.

3. Books - not everything I read is that interesting, but a lot of it is educational and gets me thinking, and some of it is beautifully written. I'm also more aware of authorial voice, and of the sense of the author's personality, warmth and humour that can enliven the dullest subject. I love the fellow who prefaced chapters of his book on contact geometry with quotations from Douglas Adams, John Lanchester's The Debt to Pleasure and Sheena Easton. I love French astronomy writers: they're so ... poetic.

4. People - I don't often have to interact with anyone in person, and when I do it's pleasant and civilised. I still find myself mentally bracing whenever anyone says "Have you got a moment?", but that's passing. I don't feel that people are judging me, or mocking me, or undermining me. There's nobody I have a problem with (except maybe the woman with the loud laugh! ... but nobody cares if I keep my MP3 player on all day.)

5. Canteen - the food here is marvellous and I am eating very healthily, salads and protein. (One Thousand Ways With Chicken Breast.) And it's nice to have lunch with colleagues instead of eating at my desk (though I do occasionally do that if I'm heading out or have calls to make.)

6. Flexibility - core hours are 10am to noon, and 2:30pm to 3:30pm, and I'm contracted for 7 hours per day. This week I've had a long lunch break (trip to the optician); I'm leaving at lunchtime on Friday; and, due to inability to get up in the mornings, I'm not starting work til 9am. I'm still going to work 35 hours and I shan't be here later than 5:30 any evening. I love the fact I can design my own working week around the rest of my life, rather than vice versa.

All of which may say as much about ExJob, which really messed me up mentally, than this one.

And may also say something about me: I get bored easily, I slack off and then can't get started, and that has only happened a couple of times and it's easy enough to pick up the slack with a book that looks intriguing.