I have been thinking about what my working future will look like recently. There are many reasons for my thoughts on this, but I will start at the beginning so you can get an idea of why I am looking at changing roles in the relatively near future.

What am I doing now?

I currently look after the large gardens at a school. I have been doing this sort of work for the last couple of years and before that a similar role for a local council. While this work can be enjoyable, especially when you see your hard work pay off, I’m starting to feel a little jaded.

Why am I feeling a little jaded?

I am at an age where the physical aspect of my job is taking a toll on me and I feel I can’t work at this sort of pace for much longer. I creak and groan enough already! I also want to be able to live a good life in retirement without doing too much damage now!

I also work on a team of several men. While I can keep up with them in terms of knowledge and brain power, physically I really don’t stand a chance! I am not a delicate fairy, but it is a fact that, no matter how strong or fit I am, there is no chance of me being able to keep up with them! This gets a bit wearing after a while (this doesn’t mean the guys I work with treat me badly, as they certainly don’t!). It is just a fact that females are weaker than men.

While routine is often a good thing, I am rather bored of it at this moment in time. I have recently been on holiday, and I genuinely thought that I would feel better after being away for a week or so, but I am still struggling with motivation. I don’t like this situation at all. My job is not bad at all, I work with good people and I have a great boss. I am lacking something and can’t find whatever that is!

Tiredness is a problem too. I am up ridiculously early during the week. I refuse to go to bed before 9pm in the week-it doesn’t feel right at all! Just the nature of my job means I am usually more physically tired than mentally, but that happens too!

What am I going to do to change my situation?

Some people will just say that work is supposed to be boring, tedious and annoying. Why does it all have to be? Fair enough, any job has crap parts, but there should be more good bits than bad. My Mums wisest words were that if three days out of five are enjoyable then you are onto something good. I do have to agree with that statement and need to get into that situation again.

So the first thing I am going to do is think about the good things I do have:

• A job
• Good colleagues-or at least not bad ones
• A very good boss at the moment
• Potential to move upwards in the company
• I still love plants-I want to share this somehow

The thing with horticulture as a ‘subject’ is that it is such a wide ranging one. It is not just garden maintenance, far from it. There is so much science involved, which is interesting to me. There is the growing of edible crops, teaching horticulture to people (including kids, which I don’t do now!) using horticulture as therapy for those with disabilities or injuries, or there is the growing of plants and flowers in nurseries to name a few. I’m going to look into all of these areas, and more, to see if any take my interest in any way to make a change.

Conclusion

While I am feeling like I need a change of work for many reasons, it isn’t all bad where I am. Horticulture is a great industry, I feel I’ll be working in it for the rest of my working life. I just want to explore what’s out there more so that I don’t go stale before my time. I’ll share my conclusions with you as I go. It will be interesting to see where I end up!

All photos are my own-showing some of the forms of plants is one thing I enjoy.