12 Reasons The Workday Our Parents Created Will Never Satisfy Gen-Y

Millennials get a bad rap. Lazy seems to be our defining adjective these days.

People say we don’t want to work, and I think they’re right.

We don’t want to work in the same way our parents did, running on a hamster wheel toward the finish line, adhering to what we are told to do and when we are told to do it.

No, what we want is to find our own way, work according to our own schedules and make our own dreams come true, not someone else’s.

Now, with the Internet and easy access to education and knowledge, we are closer than ever to reaching our goals.

These are all the reasons why I want to work for myself and work from home:

1. The only annoying and nosy coworkers I want to deal with are my cats.

I would bet most of us have experienced that one coworker who is just a nightmare to have in the office: the one who whines, complains, asks for attention and keeps a close eye on what you’re doing so that he or she can run and tell your boss every time you slip up.

I don’t need people like that disrupting my work flow. The only annoyances I’m willing to deal with these days are my cats laying across my important papers and pressing random buttons when they walk across my laptop.

2. I want to take naps when I’m tired. I don't want to have to rely on coffee to keep me awake.

Sometimes, our bodies feel worn out. When we feel tired, we don’t need coffee. What we need is sleep. However, people working in offices and stores don’t get the opportunity to recharge with a nap.

Instead, they must force their bodies to stay awake with the 9-to-5 drug of choice, caffeine. With its frequent crashes and addictive properties, I don’t want to have to depend on coffee to get me through my workday.

3. I want to finish my work efficiently. I don't want to have to find things to keep me looking busy for an entire eight hours.

At my last job as a teacher, I finished teaching my classes at 12 pm. But I wasn’t allowed to leave until 4 pm.

Luckily for me, I had freelance work to do. But others didn’t.

They spent their time watching videos online and browsing the Internet. Many employees are required to stay at work for eight hours, but can actually finish their work in half the time.

I would rather have the freedom to finish my work efficiently and spend the remainder of my day doing what I please.

4. I want the person paying me to only have something to say about the final product, not about how I do my work.

Managers and bosses are always trying to control the way in which people accomplish their work.

At one of my previous jobs, the manager made sure to voice exactly how he wanted our desks to look and how our lesson plans were meant to physically appear.

He would even peek into our classrooms to make sure our lessons looked “active and fun.”

I want my boss to judge me on my final work, not whether I achieved it with a smile on my face or with blue ink instead of black.

5. I don’t want to commute because it’s a waste of time and money.

Formerly living in suburbia, I had to commute to and from work every day like most people. Depending on the distance you live away from your job, this valuable time is wasted on the commute instead of being put toward getting quality work done.

The money spent on gas, car insurance, repairs or public transit fees ends up eating significantly into your monthly wage.

Walking from your bedroom to your home office is free and takes no time at all.

6. I want to wake up naturally when my body has gotten the rest it needs.

Waking up to an alarm clock every morning is not the most pleasant way to start a day.

I don’t want to be forced to get out of bed at a certain time. I want to give my body the rest it needs and deserves.

When I am in charge of the hours I work, I can go to bed and wake up whenever I feel like it, but still get my work finished.

7. I don’t want to live an existence where I spend five days of the week wishing for the weekend.

I used to have this one co-worker who would always start each day with a countdown to Friday. I think it is a strange and horrible existence to spend five days out of the week just wishing and waiting for two days of “freedom.”

I want to be in charge of my own work days, and be able to take a Tuesday off if that is what I feel like doing.

8. I don’t want to ever have a “case of the Mondays.”

The Monday blues are a real thing. I used to spend half of my weekend just dreading going back to work on Monday.

Even the morning of, I would feel depressed, wanting to quit rather than deal with another start of the week.

I want to feel good about when I work, not feel like a slave to the Monday through Friday routine.

9. I want to eat whenever the hell I’m hungry, not have a specified lunch break.

I love to eat.

When I get hungry, I find it hard to focus on my work. Working in an environment where I am told exactly when I am allowed to eat just doesn’t sit well with me.

There have been countless times I had to skip breakfast because I would have been late getting to work or days when I felt too weak with hunger to concentrate on getting anything done.

I want to eat when I’m hungry, not when someone tells me I'm allowed to.

10. I want to have the freedom to work in my underwear because it’s more comfortable. Buying clothes for work is a waste of my income.

I don’t want to wear a uniform, and I don’t want to spend the money I am earning on specific clothes for my job.

I want to roll out of bed and get my work done in my bra and underwear if I choose. Spending money on work clothes is a waste of funds and spending even a second making myself look “work ready” is a waste of time that could be spent getting work done.

11. I want to be able to swap my work day on Monday for Sunday, so I can go to that event, enjoy a beautiful sunny day or spend time with a friend who’s in from out of town.

When I used to waitress, my normal hours were nights and weekends.

I missed out on so many parties, birthday dinners and family outings because I had to work. When I was teaching in Thailand, I was surrounded by a community of people who worked from home.

As I was friends with many of them, I constantly missed out on workshops, lunch dates and coworking sessions due to my normal 7:30 am to 4 pm hours.

I want the freedom to switch work days around so I can attend events and gatherings when I feel like it.

12. I don’t need anyone to tell me when and how often I can take vacations or be sick.

Sick days? Vacation days?

Why is it up to someone else to decide when I don’t feel fit for work or am mentally exhausted and need some time off?

I don’t want to drag myself out of bed when I have a migraine because I already used up all of my sick days, and I certainly don’t want to cram in friends, family and travel into a two-week vacation once a year.

I want to work from home, and I want to work for myself.

The 9-to-5, benefits package and job security are not for me.

Times have changed. The Internet has been and will continue to transform the way people work.

In my eyes, this antiquated model is on its way out.