Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: David lyddon on August 10, 2011, 09:25:40 pm
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Been wc for 26 years now,the money is good,as most of you guys know.
my problem is mental,this job does your head in,the weather,the sheer boredom,being tied to the job.
does anyone else struggle most of the time,or am i jst a moaning git.
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I am the same. 21 years at it now and I hate the job. The wfp excitement has long wore off and I get bored to hell and back, I can barely bring myself to read window cleaning posts anymore. I long to do summit more creative and I can but it don't pay like this does. Seems I am stuck with it.
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learn the skills of Richard branson the art of delegation! should keep ya money coming in and a new angle to work from! kept me in the game
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I get bored of it.
After 20 plus yrs it has taken a bit of a toll on the old bones as well. It is hard to keep going sometimes especially if its cold dark and wet and the joints ache, but I would still rather be doing this than sniffing other peoples farts in the same boring office day in day out.
Really its only the idea of having to put up with other people farting grunting scratching and moaning that puts me off having a real job.
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I thought this was a riot thread. ??? ???
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Only riot on here just now is you. How was Spain?
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Don't know yet. I hear it's plain.
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Do you not find that coping with the boredom of repetitive physical labour presents an interesting challenge in itself? ;D
Download talking books, pod casts, music; stick 'em on an mp3 and try that.
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get a few shags organised on the round to break up the day a bit.
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dont work every day!!some of you are working 5 days a week every week!!some even more!!dont get me wrong i work hard but you gotta get a balance between work and leisure time.
im currently having another week off.ive been decorating my girlfriends flat.ive quite enjoyed it and i know ill be in her good books for months now!! ;) ;).i was gonna work today and tommorrow but the weathers really wet here so im leaving it until monday.
dont get too greedy.money isnt everything especially when you have no time or your too tired to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
if you have to work 5 or even 6 days a week window cleaning every week then i feel for ya.i couldnt do it!as things stand i can easily pay my bills and have a fair chunk left over working part time window cleaning.
i work to live not live to work.dont take on big morgages and live within your means.price new work well and dont put extra pressure on your self just because your a week behind etc.if you find yourself with too much work then sell a bit on or get a part time helper.
just my take on things.
best wishes to you all
dazmond
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dont work every day!!some of you are working 5 days a week every week!!some even more!!dont get me wrong i work hard but you gotta get a balance between work and leisure time.
im currently having another week off.ive been decorating my girlfriends flat.ive quite enjoyed it and i know ill be in her good books for months now!! ;) ;).i was gonna work today and tommorrow but the weathers really wet here so im leaving it until monday.
dont get too greedy.money isnt everything especially when you have no time or your too tired to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
if you have to work 5 or even 6 days a week window cleaning every week then i feel for ya.i couldnt do it!as things stand i can easily pay my bills and have a fair chunk left over working part time window cleaning.
i work to live not live to work.dont take on big morgages and live within your means.price new work well and dont put extra pressure on your self just because your a week behind etc.if you find yourself with too much work then sell a bit on or get a part time helper.
just my take on things.
best wishes to you all
dazmond
surely it depends on your circumstances,single,married mortgage,kids.low rent housing so on and so on
ive still got three kids at home so 5 days a week is not a option but hopefully by next march two will be gone leaving one then i can ease of the pedal as i will need less income and i feel i will see the benefit of this job
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yes of course circumstances have an impact on days worked but so does pricing and living within your means!if you ve been window cleaning 20+ years then surely you can ease off the pedal a bit and not work every day or at least have the weekends off and a few early finishes in the week!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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ive only been cleaning 4 years bit at the moment iam finding the day to day hard work. i cant seem to get motivated to keep going half way though the day i feel the pull just to go home and do nothing, dont get me wrong i need the money to pay bills etc, and have to work 6 days just to pay these. so no money left over for fun things, hope this will change at xmas when a loan i have gets paid off. anyway thats my moan done for the day.
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Reading this thread is depressing, I have motivation, work 5 days a week, but I dont need to hear others woes. My bit of advice is dont read threads like this :)
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if i had to slog it out 6 days a week window cleaning just to pay the bills i would have packed it in years ago!!
i love the freedom,money and flexability of window cleaning.its a lifestyle choice for me.low stress as well.
regards
dazmond
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20 Years in, 6 years WFP, working around the Dorset / Devon border, scenery is still great, customers mostly great still enjoy the job.
I find the only way to really enjoy the job though is listening to something as you work otherwise I'd agree with the other comments that the repetition will drive you around the bend.
Invest in an mp3 player / A2DP Bluetooth Headset / Ipod etc and if your attitude is like me your working day is transformed from:
"Oh no! Not another day" to "Great I'll go and listen some music and clean a few windows!"
Music is good but I find comedy is better. Currently listening to the complete works of Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour.
Awesome stuff and hilarious (other comedy is available this just works for me)
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The afternoon play on Radio 4 was funny yesterday. Enjoyed that whilst working round some houses.
I use this
http://reviews.argos.co.uk/1493-en_gb/5005347/reviews.htm. Great little radio.
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I find that if I stay organised, and by that I mean:
1. I have plenty of stationery (stamped addressed envelopes with payment instructions, etc).
2. I finish work, fill up the van and get ready for the next day.
3. My window cleaning data base is upto date.
4. My work list for the next day is produced and all phone calls/texts (for access) is made.
5. I have stuff in the house for lunch.
6. I have something ready for listening too on my MP3 player.
7. Any invoices I have to e-mail are done.
That going out to actually clean windows isn't such a chore.
But if I let things go, don't update my database, don't stay on top of my invoicing (I have a bad habit of cleaning and forgetting to invoice), don't have stationery handy, there's nothing on my mp3 player ready; that getting out to work becomes much more difficult.
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Yes
Cleaning windows is not the most challenging occupation to have, but then there are many others that have the same level of boredom - ie filing clerk, till operator etc. I like some of Tosh's suggestions to help get through the day.
Since Henry Ford started the mass produced process into manufacturing, many jobs have become mundane, routine and boring - watching a machine stamp out components day in and day out must be the pits.
Maybe the time has come to organise a holiday away for a week or 10 days to recharge your batteries - like white water rafting.
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You lot gotta be nuts.
I've been going over 20 years and love it.
Hours to suit.
Days off when I want.
Cash flow good.
Meet new people alot.
Get hungry just stop and eat.
Having a bad day, I go home.
Get a job in a shop or office then you'll really moan working for £6.50 per hour, having to book weeks in advance time off and looking at the clock for lunch and home time and if the boss is an a**hole ????
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ive been having trouble motivating myself too, just the boredom of the job, etc. all i can recommend is as been said, some good tunes on the mp3. also only work 3 days if you can afford it. a good hobby, holiday, etc. ive decided to arrange a holiday to north wales soon, alton towers, gokarting, motocrossing. so ive got loads of cool things to look forward too. that should recharge my batteries.
i think it might be the weather weve been having, its like autumn the last few weeks.
at least we have the winter to look forward too. only 3 months til november! :D
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I struggle with the boredom side and I'm not yet two years into it. I have tried to break things up and do gutters, power washing and and considering a move into carpet cleaning too. I thought this would stop me using the same muscles all the time and avoid the bad shoulders etc as well as being a bit more stimulating.
I don't use mp3's when working but have got one so might give it a go.
Reading the thread, it seems that it's a mental thing that you can overcome with practice. Certainly thinking about the positives can only help.
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I was like this 2 years into it and have now done it 28 years and need booking into some sort of mental institution.
I even bought a whirlwind squeegee just to break the monotony and sheer boredom. Also bored of wfp now after 3 years of use. Shall I carry on whining or have you had enough? cos I can carry on if you so require. ;D >:(
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Keep going ;D
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it reassures me that ive not read/heard of any window cleaners crashing and burning.
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Ive even considered going for a couple of sherbets with SSWC, just to see if life's any different! ;D
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Do you not find that coping with the boredom of repetitive physical labour presents an interesting challenge in itself? ;D
Download talking books, pod casts, music; stick 'em on an mp3 and try that.
this is what i do! ive been listening to "the power of now" & "a new earth" for months now! love it!
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20 Years in, 6 years WFP, working around the Dorset / Devon border, scenery is still great, customers mostly great still enjoy the job.
I find the only way to really enjoy the job though is listening to something as you work otherwise I'd agree with the other comments that the repetition will drive you around the bend.
Invest in an mp3 player / A2DP Bluetooth Headset / Ipod etc and if your attitude is like me your working day is transformed from:
"Oh no! Not another day" to "Great I'll go and listen some music and clean a few windows!"
Music is good but I find comedy is better. Currently listening to the complete works of Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour.
Awesome stuff and hilarious (other comedy is available this just works for me)
mate!!! ive been looking for some wireless headphones for a while now and i think youve just helped me out ! the wire on mine gets right on my nerves at times!!! thanks
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You lot gotta be nuts.
I've been going over 20 years and love it.
Hours to suit.
Days off when I want.
Cash flow good.
Meet new people alot.
Get hungry just stop and eat.
Having a bad day, I go home.
Get a job in a shop or office then you'll really moan working for £6.50 per hour, having to book weeks in advance time off and looking at the clock for lunch and home time and if the boss is an a**hole ????
damn right!!! stop whining ....some of you dont know your born
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it reassures me that ive not read/heard of any window cleaners crashing and burning.
Hmmmm. I know a couple who have. We're a funny trade in that although we have some contact with our customers, generally we spend an awful lot of time with ourselves; and sometimes that's not always a good thing.
I'm surprised we don't have more spree killings and serial murders committed by window cleaners.
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it reassures me that ive not read/heard of any window cleaners crashing and burning.
Hmmmm. I know a couple who have. We're a funny trade in that although we have some contact with our customers, generally we spend an awful lot of time with ourselves; and sometimes that's not always a good thing.
I'm surprised we don't have more spree killings and serial murders committed by window cleaners.
So what did they go on to do? ( if necessary embellish the facts to say they retrained after a short period underneath the aRches , and became a head of a large banking institution )
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I work with my brother and I'm really glad I do. I couldn't imagine doing this alone day-in-day-out. We're trad and it's nice swapping who does top floor and who does bottom floor. It's also nice psychologically knowing you only have to do half a house. It's the first job I've had working self-employed and I cannot imagine going back to working for someone else. The freedom is amazing and the money ain't 'alf bad either...
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mate!!! ive been looking for some wireless headphones for a while now and i think youve just helped me out ! the wire on mine gets right on my nerves at times!!! thanks
Note.... The wireless phones will not receive radio, whatever make you buy. It is the wire that is the antenna so bear this in mind. Good for MP3 or what have you but the technology at present does not exist, as far as I know, to receive wireless radio via Bluetooth or similar.
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Do you not find that coping with the boredom of repetitive physical labour presents an interesting challenge in itself? ;D
Download talking books, pod casts, music; stick 'em on an mp3 and try that.
this is what i do! ive been listening to "the power of now" & "a new earth" for months now! love it!
I'm so Zen, I make the Power of Now look like The Power of Then!
;D
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MP3 player is a must.
Not just music cos that gets boring. The BBC does a great line in free Podcasts.
They've got the lot Politics, Sport, comedy, drama, history you name it.
I think we all feel like we can't be bothered sometimes, but that's just like any job. Least with this one no-one is breathing down your neck or chasing your sales figures, and the only annoying bloke I work with is me.
I deal with it by working really hard for a few days a week and rewarding myself with time off, usually Friday. So I look at my list and think 'Right get this done and I'm off'.
I used to work 50-60 sometimes 70 hours a week as a Rep. Nice car, nice job title, good wage and NO LIFE. I know what I prefer.
8 years in I still love this job
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20 Years in, 6 years WFP, working around the Dorset / Devon border, scenery is still great, customers mostly great still enjoy the job.
I find the only way to really enjoy the job though is listening to something as you work otherwise I'd agree with the other comments that the repetition will drive you around the bend.
Invest in an mp3 player / A2DP Bluetooth Headset / Ipod etc and if your attitude is like me your working day is transformed from:
"Oh no! Not another day" to "Great I'll go and listen some music and clean a few windows!"
Music is good but I find comedy is better. Currently listening to the complete works of Tony Hancock in Hancock's Half Hour.
Awesome stuff and hilarious (other comedy is available this just works for me)
mate!!! ive been looking for some wireless headphones for a while now and i think youve just helped me out ! the wire on mine gets right on my nerves at times!!! thanks
May I recommend the Sony MW600 headset. Works very well, if you have a Sony phone it auto pairs the bluetooth, if not it can be paired simultaneously with two bluetooth devices and has a built in FM tuner, so I have calls on one phone and music / comedy on the other. I got fed up with the wire as well!
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At the mo' I have the incentive for the big push - it's all quite exciting.
But generally my domestic day goes in 4 stages:-
1) The first £65. If I am less than 2 hours in when I hit this figure then weather permitting I "know" I'll get the double ton.
2) £100. I want this 3 hours in but I want £125 by lunch at just before 1pm.
3) £150 If here by 2pm I can coast in as I'm getting tired and want to finish by 4pm.
4) £200 at 3.30 is nice - then one more house to pay for the fuel and grub.
It's strange - although I could do £250; if I do I just feel so knackered I have a cruddy day next day. So unless I'm off next day I try to get to £210/220 and go home.
It's a good feeling. And no, I don't manage it week in week out at 5 days a week.
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It's strange - although I could do £250; if I do I just feel so knackered I have a cruddy day next day.
Ive conducted a number of experiments under 'controlled' conditions Malc, and this phenomenomenomenomenomenon occurs at varying intervals; depending upon at least one but not necessarily all of the following factors: your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition, and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition, and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition.
The tipping point (the point at which knackeredness is likely to set in at a premature moment in my working day) I believe for me occurs at approximately the £229.47p mark. :)
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It's strange - although I could do £250; if I do I just feel so knackered I have a cruddy day next day.
Ive conducted a number of experiments under 'controlled' conditions Malc, and this phenomenomenomenomenomenon occurs at varying intervals; depending upon at least one but not necessarily all of the following factors: your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition, and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition, and/or your general level of fitness and durability, attitude and sense of well-being and ambition.
The tipping point (the point at which knackeredness is likely to set in at a premature moment in my working day) I believe for me occurs at approximately the £229.47p mark. :)
that be after 2hrs for you then. :o
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MATT - Good points.
I think it might be bisycolpscycologogogogoogogicle too. But being the wrong side of 50 I reckon its pretty cool.
Also I have a "treat" for a £200 plus day - I go to the nearest corner shop and see what choc or biccies are available for a pound or less.
Big bar of mint aero from the spar/co-op or a pack of jammie dodgers.
But ... if I do then I have to do a final house at top speed to burn off the calories!
I reckon I'm lazy OCD - too lazy to bother but too OCD to not bother - its a dichotomy I tell you! ;D
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i started my first round at 17,did till about 26 then 3 or 4 years in building trade were literly i slept on couch most nights through exsaustion,been back 10 years now and realise how easy job is.try steel fixing or scaffolding 6 days a week,some guys cant physically do it.yes the job is boring but think of the alternatives.
a great tool to use in life is cognitive behavioral therapy,u can look at a situation in 2 ways,i got all this work to do and behind with work its all getting too much,or pop out for couple hours and see how it goes and end up doing a full shift.google cbt and it may improve ur life.just about being positive told ma bird about it and she amazed cause it works .basicaly its work and is boring but it is WORK not to be confused with sitting on arse drawing dole.life is hard,get used to it.
good intentions mike