Manufacturing to a Desk Job

[Dzimm]

Anyone ever go from years of manual labor jobs to a desk job?  

 

The company I currently work for is outsourcing all production to China over the next year or so, so I am currently on the job hunt.  I'm currently in talks about a BIM position (computer drafting) at an engineering firm which is a desk job.  I'm a little worried tho as I've never worked a desk job, I've only ever been on my feet moving around.  The closest I came was working at Geek Squad but that was still standing and moving the whole time.  

 

I've got back issues and sitting for prolonged periods can give me problems but they do have standing desks as well so I should be okay there.  I know my body can't take daily manual labor for too much longer so I'm afraid I will have to make this transition eventually regardless.

 

What's it like working a desk job and has anyone ever changed from manual labor to a desk job and what was the transition like?  How do you stay focused when staring at a computer screen all day?  

[derf]

I went straight through college to a desk job so I don't have any direct advice on the transition.  I suspect you're likely to go a little stir crazy at first.

 

One thing I do is to break up the desk work on a somewhat regular basis.  Step away from your desk several times a day.  I do a half hour walk each morning before lunch.  Go somewhere else for lunch, even if you just go to a break room.  You can even do a few minutes of stretching exercises at your desk a few times each day.  If anyone says anything, just explain you need to do it for ergonomic reasons to help your back.

 

Best of luck to you.

 

[75sv1]

I have gone from machining to drafting and now in metrology. I did gain weight. Went from a 33 inch waist to a 40 inch waist. It didn't help when I started drafting, the specs ladies were taking cooking classes. I would plan to do some exercise after work. I would take walks during break periods, lunch etc. While I was walking, a lot of the times I'd be figuring out work issues.  Drafting can be challenging and or mundane. My main problem was/is keeping off the internet.  I did get into some design work. Possibly a huge leap will be GD&T. That will depend on your firms movement to GD&T. My machining background helped. Still, it was and is a learning curve. 

[87Chief]

It's not fun at first. You will find things to keep you busy. I love working with my hands, but being at a desk it doesn't happen as often as it used to. I get more stuff done around the house though just to get my fix 

 

I do suggest getting a stand up desk!

[Manche757]

If you have ever thought seriously about going in business for yourself, now might be a good time for it.  Rumor has it you are a newly wed and the wife like dogs.  How about a dog grooming and boarding business?  You have the land for it.

 

Bad back? I bet your wife really hopes it heals.  

 

[Dzimm]

All good info, thanks!

 

The walks and stretches will do a lot for me I bet.  I get antsy when I'm not doing anything so I'm worried about staying on task at the desk.  In my current position Ive had to be talked to about not taking my breaks because I don't want to stop working to go sit on my arse somewhere.

The weight gain I'm a little worried about, I was 380ish when I went to nights and quickly dropped to 310 and stagnated, I'm closer to 320 now.  I'm not your typical 300+ guy tho, I was a football player so I'm built in that way it's just not muscle anymore, at least that I can use.  I would probably benefit from working out again and the 8-5 schedule would allow me to do that, maybe over lunch.

[Dzimm]

3 minutes ago, Manche757 said:

If you have ever thought seriously about going in business for yourself, now might be a good time for it.  Rumor has it you are a newly wed and the wife like dogs.  How about a dog grooming and boarding business?  You have the land for it.

 

Bad back? I bet your wife really hopes it heals.  

 

We don't actually own the land, it's owned mostly be her Grandpa currently, we just have the freedom to do whatever out there, aside from building.  It's also not a good location for a business unfortunately, except maybe a bar since the main bike path of central Iowa runs across the driveway.

 

We have been talking about opening a boarding facility.  Her and her close friend have both worked in boarding facilities and pet retail for a number of years and have the experience running them.  It's the capital that's a problem and I'm not really comfortable taking a loan with no job security.  I also planned on keeping my job for at least the first few years of having the boarding facility.  If I land this job tho, I may get a little bit of a pay bump so that would definitely help this venture.

 

I've looked for numerous ways of making money for myself with little initial investment and haven't really found anything that could produce a steady income.  I've had a few ideas to make a little side money making stuff but I don't have the time or energy for it.

 

Yeah my back is terrible, knees aren't great either, it's genetic, bad joints is a problem in my family.  Plus heavy contact in football doesnt help, sprained my neck which is why I quit.

[derf]

31 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

All good info, thanks!

 

The walks and stretches will do a lot for me I bet.  I get antsy when I'm not doing anything so I'm worried about staying on task at the desk.  In my current position Ive had to be talked to about not taking my breaks because I don't want to stop working to go sit on my arse somewhere.

The weight gain I'm a little worried about, I was 380ish when I went to nights and quickly dropped to 310 and stagnated, I'm closer to 320 now.  I'm not your typical 300+ guy tho, I was a football player so I'm built in that way it's just not muscle anymore, at least that I can use.  I would probably benefit from working out again and the 8-5 schedule would allow me to do that, maybe over lunch.

The exercise would break up the day, which helps.  And exercise is just good for you no matter what.  Especially when you're physically idle at a desk all day.

[Ωhm]

Cubicles are like cages without bars. One good thing is that your computer is more important then you, therefore you get AC in the summer and heat in the winter. Stay away from the snack machine, resist.

[75sv1]

The stand up desk is a good idea, or adjustable. We were suppose to get some, but that move never happened. A few drafting suggestions : get a 27-32" inch monitor. Get computer glasses. Maybe take eye supplements.  Lutein 4mg and I'd have to check what other.  

[DesertRat1991]

I think every young person should work at least one manual labor gig to help them appreciate the value of a good education and a cushy office job.

 

Office jobs ain't all bad.  There's nothing I miss about about coming home aching, sweaty and stinking everyday. 

[Dzimm]

5 minutes ago, DesertRat1991 said:

I think every young person should work at least one manual labor gig to help them appreciate the value of a good education and a cushy office job.

 

Office jobs ain't all bad.  There's nothing I miss about about coming home aching, sweaty and stinking everyday. 

I agree everyone should know what it's like to do manual labor.  

 

I am definitely looking forward to not getting home at 3:30am and only surviving the drive because of the rumble strips on the sides of the road...

[thecodemonk]

I've...never worked anything except a computer job, so I can't help with the transition.  But I can offer some tips that help me at the desk:

 

- Convertible desk.  Standing all the time is no better than sitting all of the time.  Keep changing from sitting to standing throughout the day.

- When you are standing, take a break every hour or so and do some stretches in your cubicle.  Good for the body and good for the mind.

- Go talk to your team members.  Walk over to their cubes.  It's good to walk around, gives your brain a break, and builds good team camaraderie (good for team morale).  Bouncing ideas off of each other helps keep the brain thinking in new ways too.

- In your calendar, reserve time for walks around the office or around the campus.  It takes about 25 minutes to go around the whole campus where I work and it's a great time to unwind if I'm alone, or catch up with a coworker (on top of the exercise).  If the weather is too bad, find a corridor to walk up and down...even if you only do it once and it takes 3 minutes, it's still helpful.

- Learn to multi-task on the screen.  My mind stays plenty active jumping between work tasks, chatting with co-workers on the company I'm, or browsing comancheclub when my brain is needing a quick break (I do this on a little personal laptop I keep to the side).  My other coworkers will listen to music while they work, which can make the day fly by too.

 

Hope that helps! 

[derf]

34 minutes ago, DesertRat1991 said:

I think every young person should work at least one manual labor gig to help them appreciate the value of a good education and a cushy office job.

 

Office jobs ain't all bad.  There's nothing I miss about about coming home aching, sweaty and stinking everyday. 

Coming home aching, sweaty and stinking isn't bad when it's after a day of wrenching on your hobby project once in a while.

 

I wouldn't want to do it for a living.

[derf]

Oh, and one more thing that helps me.  Noise cancelling headphones while I listen to music.  They're great at blocking out distractions when I want to concentrate on something.

[Smokeyyank]

I'll share my insight on becoming a paper jockey. I started as a delivery driver in healthcare back in my early 20's. I can say when I was younger I liked being able to get out in the truck but more likely to get injured and dealing with weather and traffic sucks. I had to transition to a desk job mid way through college because of my school schedule. Truthfully wasn't that bad. I was able to take my breaks and lunches and always used them to just go walk; even in bad weather.  Now I've been in a desk job for 14 years. Depending on where you are at within your career path will dictate how much "free time" you get to be up and about. Since I'm in upper management now I rarely get to go out from my office but in large part because I enjoy what I do and where I work. I still can do as want with in reason, but most days I'm eating lunch in my office and occasionally I will go take a walk around the parking lot. My advice would be.......

 

1- Find a company that has a good culture YOU enjoy. Took me years to figure this out and is a MAJOR factor for enjoying being at your desk. Not saying you need to have ping pong in the break room and catered lunch daily, but since you're spending most of your day plugging away on a computer sitting on your @$$ make it enjoyable as much as you can. Seriously search for a company not a job.  Glassdoor is a great resource. 

2- Music is a saving grace. First thing I do when I get in is open Pandora. It keeps me sane and helps the day go by. 

3- Not all manual labor jobs transition to a desk job in the same way so explore your options within what you like. I was a delivery driver to start and went to verify insurance when I transitioned. Same industry but WAY different. At first it really did suck but I found a niche within my company and ended up enjoying it.  

4-Depending where you are in life, kids, wife, etc. Benefits are something to consider and small companies most times have crap benefits. I've worked for a ton of different places and people by far one of the worst was small company and for nothing else than I didn't have benefits (plus the owner ended up being one of the biggest dbags ever). Yes they where flexible, great place to work and I could work from home and have beer at lunch. I made more than the big corporate job I left, but once I factored in benefits I actually made less. Not knocking small companies by any means but something to consider. When I took that job I didn't have a kid when I did have a kid it was eye opening just how bad our "benefits" were.  

[Dzimm]

Good stuff to think about here!

[75sv1]

3 hours ago, thecodemonk said:

I've...never worked anything except a computer job, so I can't help with the transition.  But I can offer some tips that help me at the desk:

 

- Convertible desk.  Standing all the time is no better than sitting all of the time.  Keep changing from sitting to standing throughout the day.

- When you are standing, take a break every hour or so and do some stretches in your cubicle.  Good for the body and good for the mind.

- Go talk to your team members.  Walk over to their cubes.  It's good to walk around, gives your brain a break, and builds good team camaraderie (good for team morale).  Bouncing ideas off of each other helps keep the brain thinking in new ways too.

- In your calendar, reserve time for walks around the office or around the campus.  It takes about 25 minutes to go around the whole campus where I work and it's a great time to unwind if I'm alone, or catch up with a coworker (on top of the exercise).  If the weather is too bad, find a corridor to walk up and down...even if you only do it once and it takes 3 minutes, it's still helpful.

- Learn to multi-task on the screen.  My mind stays plenty active jumping between work tasks, chatting with co-workers on the company I'm, or browsing comancheclub when my brain is needing a quick break (I do this on a little personal laptop I keep to the side).  My other coworkers will listen to music while they work, which can make the day fly by too.

 

Hope that helps! 

'-Learn to multi-task on the screen'. I forgot to mention to get two monitors. It really helps, especially with drafting. Does not have to be a big monitor. 17" will do. You can keep email etc. up on it. It also helps if you have to search for standards or other stuff for drafting. Computer software is already set up to use dual monitors. Just have to have the right cables. I think most new monitors come with them. Also, takes away the stress of the job. The drafting group I was in was the first in our company to do this. It was actually my suggestion. I had to print out and other stuff to reply to emails. I was checking drawings  at the time. We were also going through a paperless process. I remembered one of my friends who did computer programming using two monitors to compare codes. A lot of those who rotated to other groups bought their own 2nd monitor. Monitors are relatively cheap these days. 

[Tex06]

It's been a year....how's the transition going? 

I went from Field Service to design engineer, living on my tools and on the road to an 8-5 in front of a computer.  You can tell because I post to here a lot more 

[Dzimm]

Actually went pretty good.  Was a little weird mostly just going from hourly to salary.  This whole Covid thing changed a lot of things but I got a few months in working at the office.  Been working at home since like April.  I definitely gained the weight back I had lost working second shift.  Really need to get back to eating better and some exercise.  My back doesn't hurt like I had expected it to sitting all day which is really nice.

 

The working from home has been nice though as it's allowed me more time to work on other projects. 

[Tex06]

Glad to hear you've adjusted well. I go to the gym for lunch 3-4x a week. Then eat whatever I brought while working at my desk (ADHD, much? lol). The gym breaks up my day and helps me be more productive in the afternoons I find.

 

Working from home is nice, I get 1x a week to do it, schedule permitting. I've managed to get my motorcycle maintenance done and fixed the driveshaft on my MJ with my WFH days....it's very nice.