Un-jobbing is perhaps an extension of unschooling, both non-traditional approaches of life style choices. Where unschooling is a child-led learning approach, un-jobbing could be referred to as adult-led earning potential based on doing what one enjoys doing. When you break away from the society mind-set of “having to” work 9 to 5 until 65 and realize that is a “choice” you break down the limits of what is bestowed upon you from birth. When you make decisions based on choices of what you would like to do with your time, it becomes a pool of possibilities.
A job is your earnings equals your life force, many times being work you do not particularly like but feel you “have to” do. No longer is it really 9 to 5 until 65 either but rather 9 to 9 until 79, many really feeling they can not retire at 65 anymore. Much of this is based off of the feelings of what one must own in the form of possessions. It becomes a feeling of being trapped when one needs to earn more now to earn the same purchasing power for material items than even 10 years ago. You need to earn more, to spend more so the saying goes.
Un-jobbing is making the choice to get out of the 9 to 5 hamster wheel to nowhere in order to follow your passions. It means freeing up your time in order to do the things that have meaning to you and that you enjoy doing. It means of finding a variety of ways to earn a little income from things you love doing. In order to do this however you must be willing to scale back
If you really think about it, humans have very little “true” needs that must be attended to. Food, clothing and shelter, the shelter simply must be enough to provide comfort from the elements and can be obtained fairly cheaply with this thought in mind. By scaling down, one can reduce expenditures, allowing less money needed for true needs. This allows for a little creativity of coming up with a variety of ways to obtain income in ways you would much rather be spending your time doing.
You may decide to pick up a part time job from time to time, scrap metal, and have some sort of hobby that can provide a small stream of income or whatever. The important thing here is to know you are not a slave to the 9-5 world and your choices are based on things you truly find joy in doing. It is also about having more time to spend with friends, your partner, your children. Having time to pursue your interests and doing things that have true value and meaning for you to do so.
The hardest part is letting go of the fear that one can make it without the steady pay check of a job. Try reading the book, “Un-jobbing: The adult liberation handbook” by Michael Fogler which is a must have book before embarking on an un-jobbing journey! It is a great book that is a wonderful help in dissolving any apprehensions you may have and explains things in an easy to understand way.
As for myself and my hubby, we have been un-jobbing for 9 months now; in the beginning it was a very scary experience. However now after a successful 9 months I can not imagine another way of life anymore as we pursue things we are passionate about and have more than enough time for fun and leisure as well. While we have lowered our expenses by raising our own food and keeping bills to a minimum, we earn the cash that we DO NEED by scrap metaling, freelance writing, and odd jobs for people, selling off baby livestock animals, and selling angora fiber. I am sure as time goes on, we will find other opportunities for bringing in the cash we need.
The important thing is, that we enjoy all these activities and have time for building closer relationships with our children whom we unschool. We have time to play, swim, laugh and love, spending large amounts of time together. While Un-jobbing may not be for everyone, it certainly is an alternative choice worthy of consideration for many.
