WHY ARE WE EXPECTED TO WORK 24/7?! I NEED A PLAN

Summary

The video is a personal reflection by Simran about the emotional and mental strain of working a job instead of pursuing her own business.

After getting a job, her outlook changed sharply. What she once believed would “set” her life has instead made her feel that jobs are “dirty” and stressful. While her family’s encouragement pushed her toward studying and getting placed, she now feels she might have been better off starting a business earlier. She mentions ideas such as:

• Opening a beauty parlor
• Growing a grocery shop

Simran says she cannot quit her job because she is the primary earner for her family. Leaving would risk financial instability. Even though she earns money, she feels the compensation does not match the effort and pressure she experiences.

She describes struggling with the need to follow others’ instructions at work, which leads to anger and frustration with managers and with expectations such as being proactive on teams.

A major source of stress is her role and skill gap. She is working on a “9-year profile” project while she has much less experience (she contrasts “9 years” experience with her “2.5–3 years”). She also notes she is still learning technical areas like microservices and Kafka. She uses AI tools (including ChatGPT) to complete tasks, but says it makes her doubt whether she truly understands the work. She compares her situation to how experienced engineers historically solved problems deeply without AI assistance—arguing that hands-on understanding built real confidence—and worries AI-supported work may undermine her learning.

She also describes a recent period of heightened anxiety, saying she has never been as stressed as in the past few weeks. At one point, she even felt she might lose her job due to not knowing microservices well. She likens her internal experience to acting a role (“Trader Wala” analogy), feeling forced to present herself as more experienced than she actually is to meet client expectations.

Coping Strategy: “Oath” and Habit Reset

To cope, she shares that she watched a reel suggesting life can change through adopting better habits. She lists habits she plans to follow more strictly:

• Make the bed daily after waking (she admits it’s hard due to how she manages sheets)
• Drink water immediately after waking
• Do something outside her comfort zone (e.g., speak English more confidently with managers)
• Stop complaining for a week—specifically, not complaining about her manager/office/company
• Wake up at the same time daily, committing to 6:00 AM for 7 days

She frames this as her “oath” and a reset point, hoping it improves her mindset and reduces stress. The video ends with her saying she wanted to talk seriously, and that her next video will be interesting.

Presenters/Contributors

• Simran