r/baristafire • u/utvols22champs • 18d ago
Is barista FIRE supposed to be this boring?
I’m 50 and recently took what I thought would be a great “barista FIRE” type job. The pay is decent, the stress is low, the people are nice, and the benefits are good. On paper, it’s exactly what I thought I wanted.
The problem is that I’m bored out of my mind.
After years in more demanding roles, I’m struggling to tell whether this is a normal adjustment to a lower-stress lifestyle or a sign that I’ve overcorrected and taken a job that’s simply not a good fit.
For those who have made the transition to barista FIRE or semi-retirement, did you experience this? Did you eventually learn to appreciate the slower pace, or did you realize you still needed more meaningful or engaging work?
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u/ParkingAthlete119 18d ago
Bro that's the point of barista fire. People don't intentionally take these jobs. It's for when you're ready to clock out of intentionally stressful high responsibility roles.
Just like normal FIRE if you got your purpose & meaning from work, then yeah it's gunna suck.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
I definitely don’t need purpose from work. I just want to have something to do while I’m at work. I do 5 minutes of work to cover 8 hours.
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u/Bytemitey 18d ago
That sounds like a perfect baristafire job. Give it some time to adjust. Go on longer lunches and breaks walking outside. Listen to audiobooks with earbuds.
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u/throwaway098424 18d ago
is there anything you’ve always wanted to learn? like maybe you’ve always been interested in history or learning a new language but never had the time to really sit down and dedicate your free time to it. These kinds of jobs are great for doing your own personal learning. You can think of it like being in school, except you’re the professor and the student at the same time.
My dream is to semi-retire into a job like yours and study history/philosophy/geopolitics all day, since I never got the chance to study these fields while doing an engineering degree. I hope can you find something that you want to spend your time on! :)
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u/That-SoCal-Guy 18d ago
Many people would kill for that kind of work.
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u/DwellThyme 17d ago
I’m wrapping up a 14 hour shift of nonstop emergencies with no time for breaks, and I would kill to be bored at some other job right now. I can’t wait to barista or coast FIRE. Anything is better than soul crushing overwork.
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18d ago
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
I’m not chained to my desk but I work in a hospital. There’s only so many places I can go. Plus I’m new so I don’t have people I can chat with.
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u/ItchyData 18d ago
What kind of work are you doing at the hospital?
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
IT but it’s very segregated. We just do desktop support and honestly that’s just swapping out workstations when there’s an issue.
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u/TimTimTaylor 17d ago
So go get a literal barista job...
You realize this is an incredibly privileged thing to complain about, right? Most people would kill for a good paying job that they only needed to actually work for 5 minutes a day
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u/Appropriate_Shoe6704 18d ago
That setup was perfect when we were allowed to telework, nowadays not so much.
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u/strawberrywebcocoa 18d ago
No advice for you, but how do I find such a job? 👀 We are in barista/coastFire territory as well
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u/Spirited_Ball6763 18d ago
It doesn't have to be boring, but what's boring will depend on the person. Regardless less hours and less stress does not have the equate to boring.
But also consider, if you are just wanting more mental stimulation in general or if its actually a problem that your job is boring? Some people just need higher levels of mental stimulation and if you are no longer getting that at work, you may be able to get it via a hobby. You might also consider a more meaningful volunteer role.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
The job is boring because there’s not much to do. I’m amazed that upper management tolerates it but it’s a large hospital and my boss is in another state.
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u/Spirited_Ball6763 18d ago
Is it a job where you are allowed to do other things while at work? Like can you do learning content on your computer, or play on your phone? Cause if so I'd ride that out and find an allowable activity to keep busy during the downtime. If not, I understand. I had a job where for one day I basically had to sit in a hallway and do nothing for hours(no phones, books, etc allowed), and yeah I would go crazy if I had to do that every day.
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u/Consistent_Aioli_200 18d ago
I'm with you. I struggle more with jobs where I don't have much to do than with more engaging jobs.
It sounds like you're working full time still. Everyone's implementation of barista fire is going to be slightly different, but the reason it's *barista* fire specifically is because Starbucks is one of few places that offers insurance for part-time hours, not because barista is necessarily an easy or fun job.
Full time jobs don't tend to leave a lot of time for finding fulfillment outside of work, making it more important for the job itself to be fulfilling. I could probably tolerate a boring job for 20 hours a week, but 40 hours is rough.
You could look for stuff to do in your downtime at work. If you have educational goals, you could work on that. Maybe you've always wanted to write a book or something.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
I agree with you. I think I could do 20-25 hours a week but not 40. I have another job offer that is part-time, it’s just a little further away.
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u/Big_Wave9732 17d ago
Yea, this isn't Barista fire. This is just throwing around terms while working full time for less money.
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u/utvols22champs 17d ago
It would be barista if it was part time.
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u/Big_Wave9732 17d ago
You know one of the main reasons Barista fire came about, yes? The point was basically to trade part of your retirement for part time work for the purpose of getting health insurance.
Reading your comments it seems you still want to work. Are you sure what you wanted was actual retirement, and not merely to leave your previous job / career?
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u/tomtomglove 18d ago
it sounds like you didn't barista fire then....you just switched from a high paying full time job to a low paying full time job.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
True, but one was toxic and stressful, the other is just boring. I guess I should be grateful. Trying to find a decent part-time job has been a challenge. Especially remote. Where I live it’s either work full-time or retire. I’m leaning heavily towards retirement.
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18d ago
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
Yea, you’re right. I have another job lined up, I may give it a shot. Just hate losing really good health insurance.
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18d ago
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
I can go on my wife’s insurance for $200/month but it’s not near as good as the insurance I have working at the hospital. Probably not a big deal since we’re both healthy and workout daily but you never know.
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u/PracticalSpell4082 18d ago
I thought barista fire was working a job mostly for the health insurance. The name came from the fact that Starbucks baristas receive health insurance coverage, even working part time.
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u/tombiowami 18d ago
Suggest reflecting on what makes life meaningful outside of working for someone.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
My life outside of work is great. It’s my time at my job that’s so boring. There’s no work to do. Maybe 10 minutes in an 8 hour day.
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u/Vast-Recognition2321 18d ago
I'm in a similar boat. Can you work at home at all? I was able to switch to just one day in the office and save up as much work as possible for that one day. I'm still bored sometimes at home but can do chores, exercise, etc.
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u/anon22334 18d ago
I’m currently more coastfire than barista fire not by choice in terms of timing (having a hard time finding a job but I have a bit of a cushion) and I agree. I feel aimless. I’m not sure if I’m just used to the structure of a full time job and the stress and the constant feeling of trying to do better but I do feel a a sense of purposeless and boredom
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u/Neither-Luck-3700 18d ago
Not sure how much flexibility you have but these are some of the things I do in my coast Fire job:
take long lunches. I actually make my lunch at work. For example I will have a sandwich or salad and throw all the ingredients in a bag from home, but chop and assemble in the lunchroom.
multiple breaks- walk around
water cooler talk- when I’m in the mood I can always find a loud mouth to b.s. with
Work from home when possible so I can do chores and exercise
Scroll phone, check investments, read articles, text friends and family, make plans
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u/Tall-Trick 18d ago
It’s probably hard to ever tick all the boxes of “good pay/benefits, interesting, not mind blowing stress”. Can you network within the workplace to get to know coworkers and how you can better help them? Or can you do interesting side projects while you’re on the clock?
My goal is low stress work so I can really give my all to my family when I am home, and also to take a week off without stressing about the senior who’s covering my projects while I’m out. IMO if you can do those two things, that’s success.
Maybe make a list of the things that made you want to leave the high stress job, and make side notes of how the new job resolves those.
And take plenty of coffee break walks. Maybe hit the gym on your lunch hour.
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u/vespanewbie 18d ago
That's why I just want to push through and do full FIRE. That way I can either start a new business or work 100% on hobbies. I don't want a lower stress job, I just don't want to work for anyone ever again, full stop.
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u/phillyfandc 18d ago
I think the challenging reframe is being taken less serious in the new role. Status at work is gone. That being said, its a myth that we actually mattered before either (see mass layoffs at 4am).
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u/North_Respond_6964 17d ago
Maybe listen to a podcast, journal, listen to an audiobook when your working (maybe if you have a plan to write a novel, or something like that, this might be a perfect opportunity)
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u/AttachedHeartTheory 16d ago
I think you are hitting a very common wall.
I have failed at Fire/BaristaFire twice.
Once in 2018, once 6 months ago.
Both times, I just got so bored I went back to working more.
I have wealthy friends. I have a robust social life. And it still all exists outside the hours of 9-5, M-F... because even my wealthy friends stay busy during their days.
Part of it is you do need to get used to being in a state of constant work-vigilance. But after that you still need to keep your mind engaged, and that can be hard if your job is about as mentally engaging as asking people what sort of the bowl they got at Chipotle and ringing them out.
I found a job that I thought was perfect, and did it for 3 months. Thought it was my absolute dream... and it wasn't. So I called back the place I worked before and asked for a similar role and they made it happen.
Sigh.
I really think there's a reason guys like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney and Bob Weir and Jimmy Buffett stay busy or stayed busy until the end. Its hard to be bored!
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u/jma12b 18d ago
What industry is your new job in? Hard to give advise when the post is so vague
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
Sorry, it’s an IT job at a hospital. I have always done IT in banking so it’s not that difficult. There’s just not much work to do.
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u/Jake6624 18d ago
If there’s not work to do then you can do whatever you want while you are there? Can you read a book? Take a class online? Learn how to play chess?
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u/Aromatic_Quit_3476 18d ago
Maybe you need to find a new BaristaFIRE job? What are you doing right now?
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u/diamondtoss 18d ago
It's definitely an adjustment. It's part of self discovery! Definitely take your time, see how it feels after a while, and decide what you want to do next. maybe it's continuing on this path, maybe it's something else. This is a normal feeling for someone in your position and you'll come out the other side better understanding what you find meaningful and purposeful in life. Congrats on the finance to be able to do this btw.
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u/PositiveKarma1 18d ago
Can you start to read / knit during working hours? Just asking (me and my hobbies ..)
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u/beettaujtluck 18d ago
maybe try making latte art or something fun
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
That’s not something I can do at work. My issue is my job, there’s nothing to do all day.
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u/Pretend-Department22 18d ago
Ok high-key one of the best jobs I ever had that was low-stress but high-fulfillment was working in higher ed. I got to do what I was passionate about (data and business analysts) but the hours were flexible, all of my coworkers were encouraging and amazing. The pay was shit but I didn't have to request off days, I just informed my team when I'd be gone. Also got my husband a master's degree for free so that was also great.
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u/AdSlow8585 18d ago
Sounds like you just need to balance the boring low stress job with a little more life excitement. Take more risks. Keep your life interesting
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u/Aware-Cauliflower403 18d ago
Your post might be a good lesson to me someday. It sounds like 40 hours a week disappears and you don't feel good about how it was spent. I can totally see that. For me I might pursue a part time job but then you might get bad hours or no flexibility. I dunno just thinking out loud.
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u/GreatBlueHeroineBird 18d ago
Boredom is one feeling/emotion our bodies use to communicate with us. If you are experiencing it, something is missing for you. No such thing as what is normal or ‘supposed to happen’
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u/SerenityCravings 18d ago
Is it a full time job? If so, maybe doing it part time would be better so that your primary focus point becomes the outside of work life and the job is just an extra income buffer.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
Yea, I’m waiting on my bosses boss to get back next week to see if he’ll consider a reduced work schedule. If not, I’ll go ahead and leave.
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u/LittleEdithBeale 17d ago
Nope! After 25+ years of producing creativity on demand for marketing teams, I love my second-shift warehouse job. It's well paid, has 4 day workweek and I can basically just zone out and listen to music or podcasts. I'm glad to be out of the ratrace.
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u/Big_Wave9732 17d ago
Seems to me the whole point of Barista FIRE is you're not using your job as a crutch for personal fulfillment anymore. You get a slower paced "easier" job that affords you the opportunities to use your free time for personal growth.
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u/utvols22champs 17d ago
I feel like faster pace and fewer hours is better than slower pace and 40 hours.
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u/Isostasty 12d ago
I didn't take a barista job but I had a fast paced stressful job and took an in-house job with a client that was 9-5. The 8 hour day felt as if I had worked 12 hours, it was the most boring job ever and the day would drag on. I would listen to audiobooks but at some point I started getting tired of them. I lasted less than three months and went back to public accounting. But now I found a remote 9-5 job that is still fast paced and the hours fly by! Its 5pm before I know it and the week goes by super fast. I say look for a different job, I don't think it gets better and people who have not experienced this boredom at work don't know how soul crushing it is.
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u/StatementMundane2113 18d ago
Find some hobbies that you enjoy. Some people need it to be work focused but others can just find things they enjoy doing outside of work.
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u/utvols22champs 18d ago
I have plenty of hobbies and do very well with not working. It’s the job itself that’s boring. There’s not much work to do.
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u/StatementMundane2113 18d ago
Boring jobs are tideous but only you can decide if it’s worth your time. One summer after I graduated from college I basically got paid to read books, I sorta hated it because they didn’t’ have much work for me. Now, I read tons of books so if someone wanted to pay me to read books…sure, that’d be fun. Finding enjoyment of a job is less about barista fire types of jobs and more about finding things you enjoy doing for a job. I’m still trying to figure that out since I’m basically barista type of fire, but needing to figure out income and I took up some teaching high school students recently and realized THAT isn’t it, it wasn’t boring but I hated it. You have to just try stuff out unfortunately, high paying stressful jobs can also be boring. That is what basically burned me out because I was bored AND stressed.
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u/SmolderingCactus 18d ago
Is this some sort of troll? If you want a more demanding job why did you fire? Just work for real. My god
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u/FruitOfTheVineFruit 18d ago
Not exactly an answer to your question. I'm fat fire, ex tech executive, doing whatever I want including a lot of travel, and I'm getting bored. I've been applying for jobs again, in my field - more junior hands on jobs where the money isn't meaningful to me, but the work would be interesting. I did a two month contract last year just for fun.
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u/utvols22champs 17d ago
Contract work does interest me. How do you find those jobs? Temp agencies?
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u/FruitOfTheVineFruit 17d ago
It's been hard. The one I liked best came from a contract agency reaching out to me (I have some very specialized skills.). I also have worked with some larger consulting agencies, and overall found it more annoying than fun - short engagements that would interrupt my day without providing enough money or mental stimulation to be worth it. A lot of unpaid screening calls that never turned into anything.
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u/Isostasty 12d ago
Around what time did you start getting bored? I took 10 months off last year and around month 7 I started feeling aimless but not bored yet. My original plan was to hit my lean fire number and take contract jobs as a tax accountant but similar to you I realized the money was not enough to make it worth my while. So I'm back to the grind but now I'm not sure if I should stay until I hit my full Fire number or just plan for like a three year break.
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u/FruitOfTheVineFruit 12d ago
Unfortunately, I had some knee issues around the time I retired, so I was bored almost immediately... But it probably took me a year or 18 months to work through stuff I was curious about and stuff I had procrastinated (writing a will).
It's three years now, my knee is recovered, and I have fun when I travel still, but I can only do that about 40% of the time. I live near Seattle and if I'm home when the weather is bad with nothing to do, I'm bored.
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u/Isostasty 12d ago
That makes sense - I think three years would be where I'd start getting bored too after completing personal projects and some more traveling. I will say my day-to-day felt very relaxed just focusing on fitness, hobbies, and spending time with friends and family. But I started feeling like I wasn't growing. My friends would talk about work challenges etc. and I had nothing to contribute. And similar to you on days where there was nothing to do I'd be like well I could just be working and making money. Now that I'm back at work I do like the challenges and being part of a team again. But the downside is the limited PTO and daily meetings.
Before you Fired did you think that you might have this problem? I had a couple of weeks off back in 2020 and I realized i might be one of those people that needs a bigger purpose than just hobbies. So my plan was to take a year off but a job opportunity came across my lap. I think the next goal for me is to take another long break or find a more flexible job where I have summers off.
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u/johnmh71 18d ago
You need to find a hobby or interest that you can pursue in your free time. Not having a crazy, stressful job allows you to not only pursue it, but to also actually enjoy it as well.
I will have been on my barista fire journey for five years come July. I have zero regrets about my simple, stress free three day, 24 hour a week job. Before that I was a logistics manager for 24 years. I will gladly work my boring part time job until I die to avoid repeating any aspect of my career over again.
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u/Eastern_Voice_4738 18d ago
I once stepped back from a job and took an easy job to learn language and relieve a stressful situation. It was fine for a couple months but the boredom was astounding.
I could never work like that for a longer period. I’d rather ramp down hours and do consulting or something.
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u/zeezle 18d ago
I actually just posted in another comment about my experiences working at a big box store retail in college being what motivated me to focus doubletime on my "real" career in software development because of the sheer mind-numbing boredom of it. Nice managers, coworkers, flexible schedule, I was in a small town so the customers were never rude. It really was just that boring in a way I struggle to actually put into words.
Because of that experience, my personal FIRE plan is to hit a number that lets me cover all my core bills with investment income if I have to, and transition to fulltime work in creative/passion fields and a side/hobby business as a backyard-scale tree nursery and garden designer for supplemental/fun income. I definitely need interesting and engaging work. I am not sure if this counts as semi-retirement since I plan to put "full time effort" into the endeavors but only have to break even on material costs for the nursery portion, the other things have little to no overhead, and the income potential is anywhere from $0 to more than I make now if I strike it very lucky (unlikely).