I quite rarely work 40 hours a week. My contract is only for 9 teaching hours and then I generally get forced to do another 3 hours of overtime for 12 hours. And then I’ll do some optional overtime for around 8 or 9 more hours. Prep and admin generally take up around 8 or 9 hours so that’s aroudn 30 hours/week.
Sure, I could do more overtime and work 40 hours or more and make more money, but I consciously choose not to. It’s not because I’m lazy or have no ambition. It’s just that I actually like having free time to exercise, go out with friends, read, study, cook up delicious food at home, chill out with my cats drinking a beer on the balcony or go to the beach for some Stand-up paddleboarding
, kayaking
or scuba diving. These things are important to me. I also like to have time to devote to blogging and investing and building up my other passive income streams. If I can make a decent “full-time” salary working only “part-time,” then why wouldn’t I do that?
Because I don’t make an outrageous amount of money I instead choose to live somewhat frugally. It’s not like I suffer, but I just choose cheaper alternatives for certain things: toilet paper, Internet, food (not processed is cheaper, but healthier too!), a cheap used car. Life really isn’t terrible. It’s just that I TRULY don’t care about these things and they won’t bring joy and happiness to my life. My body parts seem to have suffered no ill-effects from the cheapest toilet paper in my 35 years so far.
So what am I saying? Sure, I could work all the time and make more money but I just don’t need to. That’s what this whole blog is about: freedom to choose how I want to live. And I’ve made my choice, consciously.
