The Wage Cage

WPT @NatAudio2

Goodmorning gamers

Section C: The Goal Your job can be one of a few things a. A way to make money to live b. A tolerable way to make money for your family c. A career you want to climb d. Training for when you start your own business in that field If your job is just a) then start looking for other jobs. That'll catch up to you one way or the other. If it's b) or c) or d) then tailor everything towards this. I do highly recommend d.

Section B: The People 1. LARP LARP as the kind of guy who would fit in. If they golf, you golf. If they all stretch together before work, join them. They are old, gay and stupid and if you were them you would kill yourself? LARP enough to get to know them a bit better. Take it slow. You've entered their world, not vice-versa. You can be cool again on the drive home. 2. Don't make friends, make allies. If you're making friends with people, great, it'll make the day better, but it's almost neither here nor there. Identify the kiss-asses, the backstabbers, the lazy, the incompetent, the boss's nephew... they all have their uses and risks as allies. You've played enough map games to know how to do this. Get their approval levels into the green. You need to make at least one manager or supervisor an ally or you are dead. 3. Don't make enemies, kill enemies. Route around dead-enders, make them useless. Etc. Too broad a topic to cover here. Watch your ass, use your allies and send your enemies on stress leave. 4. Avoid Negative People Everyone complains, but there's a time and place, and some complain instead of working or improving their situation. Find the people who complain efficiently. You want to keep the job (given), so find people who want to keep the job. You want your days to be better (given) so find people who try to make the days better. Tune out whiners. They will drag you down with them.

How to Survive Work Section A: The Work Work come in two flavors: Monotonous and Grueling. Both require different approaches. Common to both: Step 1. Describe a goal (write this report, finish this drawing, process these forms). Step 1a. If the goal takes more than a day, divide it up into pieces. Step 2. Really want to accomplish that goal. "Finish it so I don't have to do it anymore" is a perfectly reasonable motivation and works as well as any. If you don't feel it, summon a motivation and then pretend you do feel it. Step 3. Complete the work depending on type below. Monotonous Work: Characterized by repetition. Recommended supplies: Zyn, pocket flask, YouTube. Step 1. You are an ADHD zoomer, so put on some music you like, no lyrics. I like Carpenter Brut if I'm in a rush, makes me feel like a hacker. Step 2. Embrace the Grind. Imagine you're a speed runner or are playing Power Washer Simulator. When you complete a subtask, think Ding and play a Vampire Survivor rainbow loot box opening in your head. Step 3. Embrace your autism. How fast can you do it? Can you do it cleaner? Can you batch it differently? Grinding is fun. Grueling Work: Grueling work is actually a bunch of different monotonous work disguised as a lump. Or a job where the subtasks are too varied to break down into consistent monotony. Recommended supplies: Cigarettes, coffee, AM radio (inaudible). Step 1. Find the edges. It looks intimidating because you haven't subdivided it into monotonous subtasks. Find a single thread and pull on it. For instance, running power to your garage consists of 4 monotonous tasks. Going to Home Depot, trenching, running cable, wiring a sub-panel. Step 2. Instead of just doing the work, create tools and methods. Grueling work can be kind of fun if you are making Grueling_Calculator.xlsm while you do it. This has the added benefit that you can post your tools, techniques and procedures on Teams, Atlassian (whatever) and look good to management. If your tool's good enough you may totally automate it. Keep the automation to yourself and make your job easy, or turn it in for goodboy points. Difficult Work: Difficult work that is neither grueling nor monotonous is not really work. You'll do it to your ability without noticing much.