By the sheer grace of God, I started out in the workplace early. I still had classmates when I handed in my first monthly report at work. That meant a few Ugandan shillings in my wallet before I finished school. But those shillings didn’t arrive at the same pace as wisdom. Starting work early meant making my mistakes sooner. As I look back, here are 10 things I would do differently if I were starting out at work again.
1. Save More Money
Ouch! I had to start here with what is probably the most common mistake people make when starting to work. There is something about being young and naive. I mean, the only money that you save is what your employer is legally required to save on your behalf. This means if the national laws don’t rescue you, you’re on your own.
The saving culture comes very slowly to most of us.
Starting out again, I would put aside more money. It’s interesting how slowly the saving culture comes to most of us. I look at my involuntary social savings now, and I suspect I could have done better. I constantly remember that the ant in Proverbs 6 is there to always teach us a lesson: gather as much as you can, for the weather might change and then you won’t be able to collect anymore.
2. Be More Relational
To be honest, I tried. But work pressures have a tendency of making us task-driven and largely unconcerned about our colleagues. My temperament kind of rescued me from that. But I still could’ve been more intentional. If I had to do it all again, I’d talk to workmates at lunchtime, instead of gazing at my phone; listen more; and be interested or curious too about the things that outlast our outputs: people.
3. Share the Faith More Lovingly
Like yourself, probably, no? I was such a firebrand when I had just come to know Jesus. God, in his providence, used my zeal. But I recall incidents where I could have just tried to befriend people, rather than starting arguments. And who knows, God could have used that perhaps more widely. Instead, my faith featured a lot of proving facts rather than living out what I believed. It takes time, I know. But I could’ve started sooner.
4. Better Outputs Among Friends
My identity was too wrapped around my roles and titles.
This follows on from the previous point. There is a tendency to not think of your work in biblical terms, but only in commercial terms, if not identity terms. As a result, I don’t remember often praising the work of my unbelieving workmates, while I regularly inhaled the praise of my own hands to the brim. Many times, I needed to be more humble regarding my achievements and more aware of others’. A lot of my identity, too, seemed wrapped tightly around the roles and titles I held throughout my 8-5 working career. Business cards and what I said to my former classmates about my workstation whenever we hang out seemed to often matter more than who I am in Christ.
5. Learn Productivity
I was quite late to this party, too. But I should have known that reading about “redeeming the time” (Ephesians 5:16) or “numbering our days” (Psalm 90:12) is one thing; implementing their implications is another. God’s grace rescued me from a lot of my folly in time usage. But I still could’ve used my hours better if I’d known what I do today about productivity, or if I’d developed a commitment to a tracking system and set regular long-term and short-term goals. I should’ve sought evaluation from others and also evaluated myself more.
6. Unplug and Grind
I shudder at what could have befallen me if I had started out my work in today’s age of TikTok. Only I still wasn’t safe from social media distractions—namely, the massive Facebook hysteria crashing into our analogue lives back in the day. We scrolled more on the desktop. But, boy! Hours slid by as we amused ourselves to death, too. Small minutes here and there could have built a legacy to be admired later in life. Yet our young energies often got spent by ‘clicking’ rather than beholding God’s glory through outputs. I’m told things haven’t changed much since then.
7. Work to Serve
Probably resulting from poor theology, I didn’t really see myself as a servant when I first started working. All work is meant to love your neighbour. Regrettably, there were many times that I worked to please the boss. This mistake only made me insecure, weary, and frustrated at work. I wonder what difference it would have made if I’d thought through God’s purpose for me in that workplace, beyond the salary and transport allowances.
8. Handle Job Loss Better
My calling doesn’t come from my employer but from God.
I had episodes where I suddenly lost work. I recall anxiously rushing into job interviews and new job prospects out of fear, rather than faith. My identity had been tied to that corner desk and its perks. But now it was all gone. If I had to do it again, I would remind myself more that my calling doesn’t come from my employer but from God. I would probably give myself more to cultivating entrepreneurship or waiting on God’s timing for my next workstation, while redeeming the time in between jobs.
9. Appreciate God’s Gifts
There are moments in conversations with workmates or chit-chat with friends where my discontent with work sounded louder than my satisfaction with where God had me. Those small but heart-draining talks undermined God’s sovereignty by elevating those in our circles who’d hit a quick deal or cut corners to enrich themselves. We often elevated and adored the wicked who prospered, as if we knew not Psalm 73.
10. Cultivate a Robust Theology of Work
By and large, I stumbled into employment like a headless chicken. And because ideas have consequences, I was often swept away by the prevailing secular narratives about work. Survive. Hustle. Tick boxes. Do what you like. Chase the money. As a result, some jobs I left could’ve used more of my endurance, and some workmates could have seen more Jesus in me.
Because ideas have consequences, I was often swept away by secular narratives about work.
I am thankful for God’s kindness in preserving me through the worst of my work mistakes. Now, as I look out at a sea of Gen Zs entering workplaces, my prayer is that they can share in the graces I enjoyed without sinking into the same follies I experienced.
