A study of workers showed that 85% of them are unhappy in their job. When school goers were asked their opinion, 73% of them stated that they dislike school. Evidently, neither of them is a walk in the park, but what makes people dislike work and school so much? And is work or school harder? Find out the harrowing truth below!
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Is Work Or Study Harder?
The below table highlights the factors that make studying and employment challenging.
| Work is harder if you | School is harder if you |
| Work long hours or overtime | Put in long hours |
| Dislike the work or find it challenging | Dislike school or find it challenging |
| Can’t get good jobs | Dislike your class or teachers |
| Don’t get paid well | Have a lot of homework or study |
| Don’t like your colleagues or customers | Struggle with self-discipline or deadlines |
| Risk associated with your job | Have long commutes |
If you’re reading this, you probably already know the challenges associated with school. Work challenges are rather different in terms of their implications on your lifestyle and the repercussions of not doing your job correctly. A great deal of how hard you will find work or school will relate to your personal circumstances and preferences. Read on uncover how each of these considerations could impact on you!
A typical US school day starts around 7:30 am and finishes around 3 pm. Extracurricular activities are scheduled which could go on till about 6pm. Source
Work is harder if you:
Work long hours or overtime
Most employment will fall in between part-time and full-time work. This could equate to a 9 – 5 job, fixed or flexible hours. Working hours may be unsociable or shift work which can impact on your social and personal life, sleep and wellbeing.
You may be required to work overtime or put in long hours during busy periods.
In addition to that, if you don’t turn up on time, you may get docked pay or receive a warning.
At least with school, hours are regular and sociable hours. If you don’t turn up on time, your parents may be notified, or they may give you detention.
Ask yourself: Are you willing to work overtime, nights or shift work?
Dislike the work or find it challenging
Work can be challenging from multiple angles, whether it’s physical, mental, emotional etc. If you have limited education, you may be in a menial role or one which may require a lot of manual labor.
Additionally, being new to the world of work often means you have to learn all about the job and the realities of the working world.
If you’re working with a primarily older workforce than you, then you may not be taken as seriously. Additionally, they may pawn off the jobs they dislike onto you.
This learning curve does thankfully become less steep the longer you stay in employment.
Fortunately, a job isn’t really for life anymore which means if you dislike your work, you can change.
Ask yourself: What factors do you like and dislike about your job? Can you change them or move job?
Can’t get good jobs
Obtaining good jobs while in school or just finished school is often a challenge. Often, students find themselves waiting on tables, working on tills, cleaning or working in factories.
If the superior roles require experience or training, which you probably lack at this stage, you will either need to build up your experience or attend the necessary course.
This may also be some incentive to encourage you to stay in school!
Ask yourself: Will the jobs I want to work on in future be impacted by my grades?
Don’t get paid well
A side effect of not being able to get good jobs is that they typically don’t pay very well. You’ll probably be on minimum wage. If your fortunate enough to be in a job that requires tips, you may be able to elevate your earnings this way.
While you may feel rich the first few months you receive your pay cheque, this novelty will eventually start to wear off once you start realizing the cost of living.
Not getting paid well also impacts on your personal life if you have bills to pay and dependents relying on you to support them.
A substantial difference between work v study is income. At least with work, you’re getting paid.
Ask yourself: Could you get a pay rise or would switching job be worth it for an increase in pay?
Don’t like your colleagues or customers
We all come across people we don’t see particularly like. It could range from tricky staff members who give you all the difficult jobs or awkward customers who complain or make your life difficult.
If you’re working close to these people on a regular basis or numerous people you dislike during the day, it’s likely to make your day more challenging and exhausting.
If these people demean you or make you feel harassed, you’ll probably dread dealing with them and coming to work even more.
Ask yourself: Can you change your attitude or how you interact with these people?
Related: The Truth About Working In An Office
Risk associated with your job
Every job has risk and implications. Generally, the higher you are paid, the higher the risks or implications of the job can be.
If something goes wrong, you could be fired or jailed. If your job puts your health and safety at risk and you get injured, it can have a profound impact on your life.
Working on farms, in factories with heavy duty equipment and machinery or in the military are just a few examples of jobs where risks to health and safety reside.
At least with school, the worst outcome could be that you fail your exams or get kicked out for bad behavior and have to find another school.
School is harder if you:
Put in long hours
With study, there will be classes all day that you’ll need to attend. Additionally, there will be requirements for homework and study to be completed.
If you’re working a part-time job or you need to help out at home, this will deduct from your study and free time.
The number of hours you spend on assignments and study will depend on your pace and how committed you are to achieving good grades.
With homework, you usually have to labor over this in the evening after school. For study, you can complete this at any time that suits you and your schedule. However, this can be a double-edged sword as you may not know when to switch off.
Although you may not enjoy study, if it puts your grades in jeopardy, you have to wonder is weekend work worth it?
In contrast, with a job, you can walk out at the end of the day and be done with it.
Ask yourself: Do you need higher grades for university? Are you willing to commit the necessary time?
Dislike school or find it challenging
There are a large range of elements that make people dislike school. It could be that they struggle with the content, prefer physical or other types of learning styles.
Some classes will be more demanding than others. We all have classes that we struggle at, whether it’s physical exercise, math, or chemistry. Equally, if you are working on a group project, you may find it difficult working in a team or with particular people on your team.
You may even know the route you want to go down in the future and have less interest in certain topics because they will have no value.
In comparison to work, you’ll be attending school for about 13 years. With work, if you don’t enjoy the job, you can move on and hopefully find one you like.
Fortunately, school breaks for the summer, and there are other weeks off throughout the year too, which shortens the year down to about 180 days.
Ask yourself: What classes do you dislike? Can you change it or seek help on those?
Tip: Attending grinds and seeking assistance from the teacher or past students can aid your understanding of the topic.
Dislike your class or teachers
In school, you’re interacting with people all throughout the day. For quieter students or people who struggle to make friends, this is often the most challenging aspect of school.
Some students just don’t like their classmates and even get bullied or picked on.
Additionally, if you don’t get on with teachers, you will find some classes more dreadful.
Many people find that social interactions and making friends in school is the most difficult place to do so. Often, it’s only evident after they look back on their school, college and workdays.
If you can get through the few years of school, it should get easier.
Ask yourself: Can you switch seats or find ways to avoid bullies?
Have a lot of homework or study
Achieving certain grades or even a pass for any class warrants studying and completing homework. If you are working a part-time job or helping out at home in addition to studying, you will have even less time to spare.
Cramming study in usually means other activities need to be sacrificed; this includes your social life, family time, lie ins etc.
If you’re a high achieving school-goer that needs good grades for university, you may feel like you have little to no time off at all.
Putting your head down can be isolating and difficult, particularly when leading up to deadlines and exams. That said, it’s usually short-lived so there is an end in sight.
School will be harder if you don’t like books or studying; at least with work, you might have to do the odd course and you’re done.
Studying will be made more enjoyable if you have a good desk setup, a nice comfy chair and proper storage. If you’re looking for good quality items, my recommendation is check out Office Furniture 2 Go affordable furniture with a lifetime guarantee
Ask yourself: What’s the best time to study and how can you speed up the process or make it fun?
Struggle with self-discipline or deadlines
Studying and completing homework will require self-discipline to ensure that they are completed on time, and you have enough knowledge to pass exams.
You won’t have a boss standing over your shoulder pressing you to get these done either, so it’s usually your own motivation that’s being relied on. Unless your parents are on your case.
If you react better to a stronger level of accountability, which is often present in work, then you may struggle to get study done.
Ask yourself: Can you get an accountability partner (study buddy or parent) or improve your self-discipline skills?
Have long commutes
School journeys can be rather long, especially when you’re waiting around for buses and have to get up early to get to school on time. This can take a considerable chunk of time out of your day.
If you’re on the school bus, you may have a longer ride home than if you could go directly to and from your house. Plus, you may have to sit on your own or endure a rowdy bunch of students.
This isn’t usually the case compared to public transport or commuting to work.
If you’re fortunate enough to have access to a car and you’re old enough, you could consider driving if you’re allowed.
Ask yourself: How far of a commute would it be and how can I make it more enjoyable?
Recommended reading: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (link on Amazon)
Conclusion
Maybe you enjoyed both school and work or maybe you hated them both! By at least knowing why work and school are difficult, you can understand what aspects are difficult and be that much more prepared to tackle them.
Ultimately, by sticking out school, you’ll be able to create a stronger foundation for building a career that you’ll more likely enjoy! If you wonder, is work better than school, well it could be if you stay in school!
By asking yourselves the above questions, you’ll be able to better understand how challenging work or study would be for you and what to do about it!
If you would like to further enhance your knowledge on the world of work and study, I have written some articles that are without a doubt worth a look. Some of them I guarantee you’ve probably never even heard of!
Here are some other useful articles I wrote that you should go check out:
- Is Weekend Work Worth It? + Does It Pay Better?
- Is Work Or Study Harder? 14 Scary Factors To Make You Think!
- 7 Hidden Things To Know About Work V Study
- The Truth About Working In An Office
- Is Full Time Work Hard? – 10 Factors To Consider!
- Casual Work v Part Time – 6 Remarkable Differences!
- Annualized Hours Explained – Helpful Tips & How It Works!
- How Unlimited Holidays Work – An Insider Guide + FAQs!
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