Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: davetherave on October 16, 2007, 08:23:00 pm
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i've been cleaning windows now for about a year and a half and i'm bored to tears with it.
Does anyone else feel the same?
Everyday is just this constant battle against the boredom and loneliness. (i work alone)
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i work alone and have done for ages now. i must admit i have an mp3 player with loads of audio books on it. this gets me through the boring stuff.
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i`ve been at it for 20 years now,i work on my own i use to work with my brother on and off but always prefer it on my own, ;)
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i've been cleaning windows now for about a year and a half and i'm bored to tears with it.
Does anyone else feel the same?
Everyday is just this constant battle against the boredom and loneliness. (i work alone)
You thinking of selling up?!!
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Nice one JD, cheer the poor bugger up.
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Motivation is the biggest problem in this job imo
Try setting new targets i.e hourly rate minimum price or many other things
Without targets it is easy to get disillusioned with this job but can you earn the same in a 9 to 5 employed job or would you prefer the freedom of working for yourself only you can answer that
maybe you should give us more details as to why the job is boring you then members can give advise and help you through this
Dean
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Davetherave I thought you were the windowcleaning coach and pressure washer. I thought you had all the answers.
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i was at that point for a fair few months this year
a few things that helped me
1. Get a MP3 player, a cheapo does just fine
2. I thought of something i could do on my rainy days and days i felt like a change, these plans are about to be started
3. book a holiday
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keep ur chin up .n think of them guys in factories .etc 99% of those would like to b in ur shoes . i v been their . im so glad i got out .listen to the lads on here .theyll soon cheer u up
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2. I thought of something i could do on my rainy days and days i felt like a change, these plans are about to be started
What are your plans for those rainy days then Matt?
Andy
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yeah cheers guys, i am definately better off than when i was in the factory but i do miss the banter i used to have in there.
yeah lol davew unfortunately even the window cleaning coach gets fed up with it all. I think i do actually state on there somewhere that i hate being a window cleaner.
nah jdemarco im not thinking of selling up coz i haven't got anything to fall back on at the minute. maybe in the future i'll sell up tho, i don't want to be cleaning windows for the rest of my life.
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stick with it mate , i cant wait to get back out there . just had neck surgery to put 3 disc back in place . cleaning windows gets us all down at some stage but stick with it . whats better than being your own boss ;D
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i've been cleaning windows now for about a year and a half and i'm bored to tears with it.
Does anyone else feel the same?
Everyday is just this constant battle against the boredom and loneliness. (i work alone)
are you trad or wfp? if your trad get a water fedpole new toy great fun, if your wfp set something in your mind you want to pay, then work for it, i find this helps, also mp3 is good ;)
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yeah i am trad and having been thinking of going wfp but have just laid out a load of dosh for pressure washing gear.
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I didn`t know you was trad i know where your coming from now,your only hope is to go waterfed.If i had stayed trad i would have felt the same,after you`ve gone WFP you`ll laugh at yourself the way you used to clean window`s.
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yeah i'll definately have to look at going wfp in the future, i reckon its the way forward but it will have to wait for a while because of the newly purchased van and pressure washing stuff.
the thing is i think the loneliness is the worst thing with being a window cleaner rather than how knackering it is.
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get a roberts radio mate........hours and hours of chat,music,chat and more music...mp3s are great but hearing the same tunes over and over drives ya mad.......portable radio that hangs from my neck.£29.99.......absolutely priceless :) It's like having a friend workin with ya who never stresses ya out ;)
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get a roberts radio mate........hours and hours of chat,music,chat and more music...mp3s are great but hearing the same tunes over and over drives ya mad.......portable radio that hangs from my neck.£29.99.......absolutely priceless :) It's like having a friend workin with ya who never stresses ya out ;)
Where do you get one from dino? sounds good.
tony
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dave, i noticed your boxing avatar, why don't you box your way out of window cleaning, and become the next champ, am sure we guys will back you up, ;D
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just about any radio,fan,electrical shop mac....you know the ones............christmas lights etc etc....or go to roberts website.........worth there weight in gold.............crackin sound too for such a small speaker.Or you can attacth headphones if ya want..........if ya really need help finding one,let me know.....i'll locate a website for ya ;)
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just about any radio,fan,electrical shop mac....you know the ones............christmas lights etc etc....or go to roberts website.........worth there weight in gold.............crackin sound too for such a small speaker.Or you can attacth headphones if ya want..........if ya really need help finding one,let me know.....i'll locate a website for ya ;)
post the website address I'm interested aswell :D
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This one is £50, but there is a(i think) better model out there somewhere for £30........i'll have a look again tomorrow...............dunno why it's not on there site............might have stopped makin it...........I have the below model too..........no probs with that one either..........but it is one helluva lifesaver.....just ties around ya neck.
http://www.robertsradio.co.uk/pages/r9988.html
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£44 on amazon............hope i'm gonna get a beer out of this ;)
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Totally agree...window cleaning can be very boring at times....and some mornings I do not relish the thought of swinging the brush around yet another house.
But I do like to do other things and this job allows time to jump into the things I really like to do and I now gain some customers and 'pencil' the money aside to pay for things 'we' want...I am saving for a 'special' peice of equipment at the end of the year..some jobs I got at the start of the year wil pay for it.
I bet people with 'topflight' jobs get bored and down in the dumps with their jobs, perhaps more so than us....at least there is a lot we can change about our days...
Chin up ;D
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Totally agree...window cleaning can be very boring at times....and some mornings I do not relish the thought of swinging the brush around yet another house.
But I do like to do other things and this job allows time to jump into the things I really like to do and I now gain some customers and 'pencil' the money aside to pay for things 'we' want...I am saving for a 'special' peice of equipment at the end of the year..some jobs I got at the start of the year wil pay for it.
I bet people with 'topflight' jobs get bored and down in the dumps with their jobs, perhaps more so than us....at least there is a lot we can change about our days...
Chin up ;D
Like you say every job gets boring at the end of the day, a very small percentage of people enjoy their job, whether its factory or office!
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most MP3 players come with Radio built into the headphones
or
something like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-AM-FM-Portable-Pocket-Radio-Headphone-Battery-AAA_W0QQitemZ230181676764QQihZ013QQcategoryZ39993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
under 4 quid delivered, i have a MP3 USB stick player that also has a radio ( the Card slot broke on the MP3 side of it ) so i brought a new layer, but if i get bored of MP3's, then i use the radio bit of the other player, its a AAA battery and recharge 4 every other night
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Dave,
I come from a lively military background (army 17 years) and I also find the boredom gets to me at times, though I'm 'lucky' in that I work with Wor Lass 70% of the time.
For example, her A-Frame ladders slipped from beneath her today and she's torn a finger nail and winded herself. A few years ago she put her A Frame on a door to clean the window above and nearly killed a hefty customer who then opened the door. It's the laughs like that, that break up the day. ;D
I'm not so good when I work alone; MP3 Players are a godsend though; so are talking books, but I only use them when I'm working alone. Talkative customers spoil it though, disturbing you by trying to pay you 'n' stuff.
My advice is to charge well and you won't have to work a long day; so you won't be getting too bored!
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yeah cheers guys, i am definately better off than when i was in the factory but i do miss the banter i used to have in there.
That is what you are missing.
I must admit I get bored with the job (it's not exactly stimulating is it?) when I'm on my own but it's much improved when I have my son with me. You chat away and the hours fly by.
You sound like you need more human interaction rather than targets etc.
Have you thought of taking on a helper?
The radio idea seems a good start though.
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The best advice i`ve read on this thread is to charge well and finish early,if you charge well you have the choice to finish early and if you work longer you can then have a day off.
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cheers guys for the support and advice. i got to remember that theres worse jobs out there.
by the way jouk45 i am a boxer and i'm already currently trying to box my way to riches and glory but unfortunately boxing is a hard game with a lot of hard, hard men doing it lol.
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I actually like working on my own, when I want some banter etc I just log on here after work. :)
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Surely nearly every mobile phone these days has a built in radio, that's what I use all day with just the one wired earpiece in, also easy to answer the phone while still working(cant stand those bluetooth headsets).
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Surely nearly every mobile phone these days has a built in radio, that's what I use all day with just the one wired earpiece in, also easy to answer the phone while still working(cant stand those bluetooth headsets).
Trouble is, phones don't have MW, and I listen to TalkSport.
Don't think many mp3 players have MW either, so no use to me.
I agree about those daft plastic things people have stuck on their head.
It's the number one way to look a tool. ;D
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do what i do get some one to do it for you ;) i do 4 to 5 hrs a day come home and send them two back to do some more ;D , im geting bored of being at home now lol
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Thing that gets me is that I am a natural day dreamer and I day dream big time.
I was told at school that if I carried on day dreaming it would affect my working life and ultimately cause me to have problems in work. Funny thing is how good is it to day dream in this job.
One minute I'm spending six million that I've won on the lottery and then the next Im collecting money from a customer. Lol if it gets any worse I'll probably say " Nah you keep that Love, I'm a millionaire!" ;)
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Thats where ya get ya fiery streak from sqeaks........Too much Jon Gaunt ;D
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colley sounds like me ;)
already won the lottery 5 times this year got several massive contracts got spotted playing football of united 13 times ;D
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Lol, if I counted up the money I've won on the lottery this year I would have about £150m in the bank. I've already bought my local football team about 3 times and had about a hundred different interviews in the media about how I'm going to invest in the future and in the youth. Then it starts to rain :'( Lol ;D
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Thing that gets me is that I am a natural day dreamer and I day dream big time.
I was told at school that if I carried on day dreaming it would affect my working life and ultimately cause me to have problems in work. Funny thing is how good is it to day dream in this job.
One minute I'm spending six million that I've won on the lottery and then the next Im collecting money from a customer. Lol if it gets any worse I'll probably say " Nah you keep that Love, I'm a millionaire!" ;)
:D :D
I do this all the time, just drift off somewhere else. infact, there's many a time i drive off from a job & suddenly think, dam, i can't remember doing that & that window. i've even driven back a couple of times just to check i'd done em all!! ;D
tony
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Thats where ya get ya fiery streak from sqeaks........Too much Jon Gaunt ;D
;D Gaunty's great.
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The grass always looks greener as they say and it`s true,look how many people pack up this job and then come back to it.I think packing up or selling your round needs serious thought,other than winning the lottery i couldn`t see myself doing anything else that gives me pure freedom.
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2. I thought of something i could do on my rainy days and days i felt like a change, these plans are about to be started
What are your plans for those rainy days then Matt?
Andy
first plans are to build custom units for VW split screen campers, ive been thinking of it for a while now :) then when i get enough spare money together i have stage 2 of my plan ;) but thats secret for now
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Roberts are the best. You are not alone Dino Chris evans says pretty much what you do.
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hi i find the best way to get past the bordom is to take a few days off and go surfing .this works for me i have been cleaning windows for 26+ years .all the best
elite mike