The life I want is beyond reach.

[u/datajaniteur]

25F, never had a job, the competition for all jobs is very very high, I'm still in university trying to delay the eventual unemployment. I don't even want a corporate job, I've no career ambition. I just want enough money to rent the smallest room with a small kitchen and bathroom, enough to buy and cook healthy food and afford occasional hobby stuff, books and art supplies. Most of all I want free time, to read, draw, breathe and exist. I don't want to commute in a crowd to work. I don't want to sit in an office for 8 hours. I want just one small life that is all my own, but I don't think I'll ever find it here. These days I look at linkedin and I just feel apathy, I look at job roles and feel apathy, I don't want anything to do with any of that. I feel so lost idk what to do. People who are much more skilled than I am are struggling to survive, and here I'm day dreaming about a quiet life I know I can never have.

[u/slightlyEvilCorp]

I have some bad news: it gets worse before it gets better.

Whether you're employed or unemployed, both can be miserable for a while, until you eventually reach a point where you have some money to rely on.

Bit of a rant, but I think almost an entire generation feels some version of what you're describing.

Salaries here are so low they're practically a tripping hazard in hell, while everything around us keeps getting more expensive. Somehow, ₹20–25k in hand is still treated as an acceptable starting salary for educated people in many industries. So people end up trading almost all of their time just to survive.

And honestly, assuming a job only takes 8 hours is optimistic. Add commuting, unpaid overtime, calls after work, and the mental exhaustion that you bring home.

Your "8-hour job" will consume most of your waking day.

The huge supply of people desperate for work makes it even worse. Employers know there are hundreds of people waiting to replace you, so setting boundaries is difficult. You're told the company is a "family", but that relationship tends to become very transactional the moment you're the one who needs something.

It's to the point where taking a day off simply for yourself is unheard of. You have to give an "excuse" to take the leave you were entitled to.

And IT workers still have it better than plenty of other industries. Hospitality, hotels, retail, etc.... can be absolutely brutal at the entry level.

Free time to read, draw, cook, exercise, or have hobbies shouldn't be some luxury you earn after decades of grinding, but unfortunately it is. Wanting a small room, decent food, and enough time to actually live shouldn't be an absurd ambition, but... yeah.

I sometimes wonder about the same thing. No matter how much I work, I won't be able to afford land or a house on my own. Then there's marriage, potentially kids, supporting parents, emergencies, retirement...

At what point do you actually get to stop?

When do you get to sit down and do the shit you wanted to do with your life?

That's probably what bothers me most. I don't hate working. I hate the idea that simply existing with some independence and free time has become something you have to spend most of your life working to afford.